Ack ! I keep forgetting to snap a picture before I stash the goods away into the crisper. Next pick-up, I swear....
Anyways, yesterday I got a bunch of mint, scallions, dinosaur kale, beets, GARLIC (!!), about 2 heads worth, so fresh and pungent, avocados (yay, again !), turnips, zucchini (including one I could use to club a T. rex to death, I swear. That puppy must weigh over a pound.), and a HUGE head of red cabbage (THAT thing weighs in at over 3 pounds, 9 ounces. It's massive.) Left in the "share" box was yet another bunch of collards. I've decided collards and I need a vacation from each other.....
Blue_dolphin, do not fear the artichokes ! They are so marvelous. Simplest (and best) way to cook them is just to trim off the spikey tips of the leaves, cut off about the top 1/3 of the thing, trim the stem flush, and then snap off the lowest row of small, tough leaves. Rub the cut edges with a lemon wedge as you work, it'll keep them from oxidizing. Rinse them, sort of prying open the rosette of leaves, to ensure any little stow-aways are flushed out. Put them into a deep saucepan or stockpot (non-reactive), add water to cover, some mashed garlic, lemon slices and juice (toss in the one you were rubbing the 'chokes with as well), and, sorry, this is so ghetto, but it's the way I like them, a handful of dried "Italian Herb" seasoning that you crush a bit between your palms. Bring the water to a boil, reduce to a brisk simmer, cover, and let go until the 'chokes are tender. Large ones (baseball to soft-ball size) take about 45 minutes. Smaller ones about 1/2 an hour. From your pic, I'd say the ones you got should take somewhere between the 30 and 45 minutes. Start checking after 30, paring knife into the butt end where you cut off the stem. Mix together some mayo (homemade is best, but whatever is your favorite commercial brand works too), mix in some minced garlic, some lemon juice and more dried Italian herbs. Let that stand in the fridge while the 'chokes cook to blend the flavors. Pull the 'chokes out of the water, and turn them upside down to drain. Pull the leaves off, dip, scrape, and repeat. When you get down to the inner, purple leaves, pull them all off in one cone. Scrape out the choke (the hair), and cut the heart into bite-size pieces. Dip into the pseudo-aioli and smile. If the 'chokes you get are smaller than roughly tennis-ball size, most of the outer leaves will be too small and tough to yield any good results from the scraping action. Those, I trim down to the very inner leaves, boil/simmer until tender in the same seasoned bath, drain, and either saute or bake after cooking. Even then, many of the leaves will stay too tough to really eat. For those "babies", you're really after the heart, and not much else.
ETA --- Easiest way to trim the thorns is with a pair of kitchen shears.
Edited by Pierogi, 01 June 2012 - 11:37 PM.