Cold smoked Artichokes...

[muebe]

CB at the Sizzle forum was asking someone to try and cold smoke artichokes. So I offered to try since I had a couple in the fridge and here are my posts from that forum...

Well I got home from work at 9:30pm and promptly grabbed the two chokes. I cut down the stem and then split them down the center. I fired up the Bradley smoke generator and loaded it with one hour worth of cherry bisquettes. Loaded the water tray with ice and cold smoked them for an hour. It is in the low 40s tonight so great weather for cold smoking. The chokes were still cold when I removed them from the Bradley cabinet and appeared to look the same as they went in. They did absorb the smoke though as they were very fragrant with cherry smoke. There was not enough time to cook them tonight so I will steam them tommorow for lunch and post the results ;)



Ok so I was able to steam the chokes this morning for lunch before work. I added rosemary, basil, fennel seed, thyme, and hickory smoked salt to the water for steaming. I dropped in the steaming basket into the pot and then put the chokes in cut side up. They were steamed for 40 minutes and I made a dipping sauce using mayonnaise, garlic powder, and some chili powder. They were really good. You can see the steam brought out the smoke color in the choke :o There was just a hint of smoke flavor to the choke and a hour of cold smoke seems to be just about right ;D

[OU812]

What the he!! is that?  ;D  ::)

[Tenpoint5]

What the he!! is that?  ;D  ::)

People actually eat them things on purpose?? Where's the Bacon? Something that nasty looking has to be wrapped in Bacon!!

[muebe]

What the he!! is that?  ;D  ::)

People actually eat them things on purpose?? Where's the Bacon? Something that nasty looking has to be wrapped in Bacon!!

Well it does have a heart ;) Maybe it is a "California" thing...we are a little weird out here :D

[Tenpoint5]

What the he!! is that?  ;D  ::)

People actually eat them things on purpose?? Where's the Bacon? Something that nasty looking has to be wrapped in Bacon!!

Well it does have a heart ;) Maybe it is a "California" thing...we are a little weird out here :D

A Little Wierd??? Kinda stretching it there aint you?

[OU812]

What part of that thing do you eat?  ;D

[Ka Honu]

muebe - Ignore those provincial fools.  Artichokes is good eats.

Provincial fools - Artichokes is good eats and you can do lots of bacon stuff with the hearts.

[Tenpoint5]

muebe - Ignore those provincial fools.  Artichokes is good eats.

Provincial fools - Artichokes is good eats and you can do lots of bacon stuff with the hearts.

Now I get it it's Turtle Food!!

[OU812]

muebe - Ignore those provincial fools.  Artichokes is good eats.

Provincial fools - Artichokes is good eats and you can do lots of bacon stuff with the hearts.

Ok can some one explain to this Provincial fool what is that thing and what is the heart cause this Provincial fool aint never seen or heard of those things.

Maybe this Provincial fool dont live were those things are sold.

[squirtthecat]

Artichoke hearts come in jars (or sometimes cans) of brine here...   Without the armor plating and prickly bits.

I've never ever seen a 'live' one in the store.

[SoCalBuilder]

Muebe - We need to excuse some our bretheren who may live off the beaten path. Not too long ago, relatives of mine excitedly drug me to the market to show me this new exotic fruit they now had, called an 'alligator pear'. They had just been intorduced to avocados ;D

[Ka Honu]

An artichoke is a big thistle; the ones we usually see are known as globe artichokes and originated in the Mediterranean area. Lots of them grown in California (Castroville bills itself as the artchoke center of the world).

You generally steam or boil them and serve whole (hot or cold).  Peel the leaves, dip in melted butter, mayo, aioli, etc. and scrape the fleshy portion off the underside with your teeth.  When you get to the center, you scrape out the "choke" (undeveloped leaves) and eat the "heart" or base.

As STC says, you can buy just the hearts packed in brine or oil.  Costco usually sells artichokes 4 to a bag for about $6.

[OU812]

Ok so there a snack type thing?

What do you do with the heart?



Now I have seen avocados in the store, still dont know what there used for.


Also some of are land locked right dead center of the states and allot of things dont make it here.

[SoCalBuilder]

OU812 - I guess you would call them an appetizer if you are doing the whole artichoke and peeling off the leaves and dipping them as our Hawaiian friend described. The ones in jars or cans are used a lot on salads and such. I'll admit, they are a bit too much work for me when you consider that you throw away about 90% of the whole ones. The heart just happens to be the 'meatiest' part of the plant.

[squirtthecat]

We chop them up for salads and dips.    Even put on an occasional Poppa Murphy's pizza..