Tag Archive: Artichokes

Grilled artichokes, French lentils, pickled beets and cucumbers

July 2, 2017

This spring was not a good season for artichokes locally. I barely saw an artichoke once or twice at the local grocery store and nothing at the markets. That’s unfortunate because I love cooking with them. On my last trip to the store though I found a few reasonable looking specimen and thought I’d take them. Instead of cooking the artichokes whole, I  cut the outer leaves down almost to the heart and then into... View Article

Raw artichoke salad with grilled bread

May 9, 2017

When baby artichokes are available one of the ways to serve them is raw, very thinly sliced and tossed with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. I serve them with spring greens and baby arugula to layer the flavours, and shave parmigiano on top. It is a delicacy that if you love artichokes I am sure you would appreciate. Baby artichokes work best but for this salad but if you don’t have them use... View Article

Back in my kitchen: Artichokes with olive oil and lemon

March 8, 2017

It’s good to be back in my kitchen after three months away. We came back from visiting first the Mayan Riviera and then Central America where the weather was warm and sunny, only to face the last of the snow and cool temperatures of latitude 50° at home. For some strange reason it makes me feel better knowing that the Champagne region in France is also at the same latitude. Ahhh, champagne. The first adjustment... View Article

Steam fried baby artichokes with lemon-chive aioli

August 12, 2015

One of the local organic farms here grow lovely baby artichokes and whenever I go there I clean up their daily harvest of these little gems. Today I thought I’d cook them to a golden crispiness in olive oil, although I forgot about grilling them, that would have been good as well. So many options, so little time. Trimming a full grown artichoke is a bit of an undertaking but well worth it. The little... View Article

Artichoke Fritters with Sorrel Aioli

May 24, 2015

It’s a perfect summer day here today and I was lazying in the hammock for a while reading a book but soon visions of the kitchen lured me in and I stepped inside to see what I can make. I am (almost) always ready to cook something. No need for dinner today as we are off to a Joy Road dinner in Penticton so I thought perhaps a little appie to have before we leave... View Article

Artichokes alla romana – it’s spring

April 27, 2015

I have been waiting for artichokes to arrive and they finally have. Nothing says spring to me like these compact soldiers wrapped in protective layers of thorny armor. I have written more about them here. Once you get past the initial intimidation this not-so-familiar vegetable tends to cause, you find that it really is a rather simple affair to work with. You slice it through the middle, peel back the thorny leaves around the stem... View Article

Artichokes with lemon butter parsley sauce

April 6, 2015

The simplest way to prepare artichokes is to boil them in lemony water and serve with lemon butter. To eat them you peel back each leaf and scrape the fleshy part at the bottom of the leaf with your teeth. It’s not the most graceful way to eat but can be quite interesting, raising the leaf to your lips, closing your teeth on the flesh and slowly pulling the leaf back with the silky, fleshy... View Article

Roman Style Artichokes (Carciofi alla Romagna)

May 4, 2014

People seem to be afraid of artichokes. They worry about how to eat them, how to trim them, how to cook them. Really, they are not any more difficult to handle and cook than anything else. Yes, it’s more work than, say, peeling a carrot, but it’s completely doable and so worth it. Needless to say I love artichokes and cook them in season (spring) whenever I can. I even wrote a post about artichokes... View Article

Spain – The Art of Tapas

January 29, 2014

One of the charms of España is the culture of tapas. Tapas originated in the southern province of Andalusia, where we are headed to soon. The word tapa means “to top” and the tradition started accidentally when vendors used a piece of bread to cover the customer’s drinks, so that flying insects don’t  drown in the wine. Customers were eating the bread and vendors begun to top it with thin slices of ham or cheese to... View Article