Artichokes

I buy just the hearts in glass jars in oil.

Which reminds me, Contrex, I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier today.

On artichokes - to me, in the prepared jars, they almost always add too much vinegar in proportion to the olive oil. NOT the way I like them.


To die and go to heaven is to have artichokes in Rome. Don't get me started....

Fresh, steam them and eat the pieces with butter!

I'm posting while too sleepy. Will be baaaaaaaak.

Don't worry, Osso, I did some looking on the forum, the case was genuine, I jumped to the wrong conclusion.

Contrex,
Well, that was easy for me, as I know her from her postings, and she's landed in one of my recent neighborhoods.

On artichoke and Roma... lord love a duck - I have to look up a restaurant, something like settimo d'arancio - there were three allied restaurants, and I landed at one. I ordered the artichoke. It was the whole giant artichoke flower fried... like the best set of potato chips ever. I forget what else I had, perhaps a salad, other apperitivi. Then the waiter and I talked about California and movie scripts... in a mess of italian and english, my speech being the messy part.

But that's just one kind of artichoke...

I have never even tried one! DO they have an individual taste?

I don't have the ability to describe it well, but the flavor is addictive.

Her are a couple of links -

http://www.e-rcps.com/pasta/rcp/antipasti/artichoke_rom.shtml
http://www.italiaplease.com/eng/megazine/sugar/2002/04/artichokes/index.html


None of these are what I was talking about with the fried artichoke flower, sigh, but they all look good -
http://www.artichokes.org/recipes.html

Well, this is closest to my own photo (what box is that in, eh?).

Looks uninteresting, is extremely delicious.



And I'm going to have to look at this guy's blog (he likes Parma, I like Parma, to be my most contained about it) - the blog is where I got the photo of the fried artichoke...
http://blog.dongenova.com/so_much_on_my_plate/index.html

Here we go...

Carciofi alla giudea -

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/232077

These are delicious.

Never heard of fried. Got to try it.

Osso, that flower looks like a Durian fruit. Ill pass.

When I lived out near Stockton Calif. I would drive over to Point Reyes on Sats to do sketching. Id pick up fresh artichokes at a farm near Vaccaville. Id have artichokes for supper, nothin else. (Oh , and a good Montrachet). There was a garlicky butter, not infused but from the cream that they sold there and It was just the right dip. MMMM butter all over my chin, burrowing down to the heart . The neat thing about artichokes is that the leaves get thicker with flavor, the deeper down you go.
Then you hit that prickly mass that guards the heart .
We get artichokes at the Supermarket here and its just nowhere the same freshness. Its like eatin a Supermarket lobster thats been in a tank instead of the ocean. No food travels well, everything is best eaten locally.

How about bananas, ever eat one a them badboys from a Costa Rican or MExican plantation? damn good, no comparison to the ones we slice onto our cereal.
Sorry, Im getting hungry and thats not what my diet allows.

I agree, farmer, local = best. I had different kinds of artichokes in italy, way different. (Where is Raphillon to explain...). That flower thing was incredible, but I don't fry stuff myself. Not so much anti fat as that I'm afraid I'd set the house on fire.

I don't like the vinegary taste in the jars either, so I buy them frozen.
Sauteed in butter, mmmhhhh.

Spaghetti with artichoke hearts, garlic and olive oil is good too.

They have all kinds of bananas at some markets in So. Cal.... yes, I like them.

I've never bought frozen artichoke hearts, should look into that, thanks..

I also didn't know they came frozen. I hate them out of cans and jars.

Canned and jared artichokes are too salty - the frozen kind is good quality
without any additives.

http://www.birdseyefoods.com/birdseye/inspire/productDetails.aspx?name=ArtichokeHearts9oz