This was my first artichoke I have ever attempted to make, ever. This is weird because I seriously love steamed artichoke. Even as a picky child, my favorite appetizer was this very dish made at my favorite Italian restaurant. I am happy to say that I have successfully recreated it with my sister and mother as witness! The secret to making the leaves taste so divine that you want to suck them, which I do, is adding fresh parsley, garlic, vinegar and peppercorns to the steaming water. The roasted garlic and shallot mayonnaise is the perfect sweet accompaniment to the savory leaves and rich butter. My new chef boss has me crazy over roasted shallots! In his words, “It’s a beautiful thing.” I totally agree!

RECIPE

1 large artichoke

1 bunch parsley

1 garlic bulb plus couple extra cloves

2 tbsp. vinegar –  I used regular white

1 tbsp. peppercorns or ground pepper

2 shallots

1/4 cup mayonaisse

Olive oil – Tsp. or so

1/2 stick grass-fed butter

H2O for steaming

TOOLS

Stock pot with lid

Steamer basket

Foil – couple sheets

Pot for melting butter

DIRECTIONS

1.Preheat oven to 350.

2. Cut stem from garlic bulb so you can see each clove. Remove the skin from the shallots. Place cut garlic bulb, peeled shallots, and a little olive oil in foil and wrap completely. Place in oven and roast for 1 hour to 1&1/2 hours.

2. Wash artichoke. Cut bottom stem so that it can sit straight up. (This can requires some force-use a good, heavy knife) Trim the pricks from the leaves.

3. Place stockpot filled with couple inches of water and bring the water to a boil. Add parsley bunch, vinegar, peppercorns, and extra garlic cloves to the water. Put steamer basket on top. Water should barely be coming through the basket.

4. Insert artichoke in with leaves pointing up and cover with lid. Let steam for 45 minutes to an hour depending on size & thickness. Make sure water doesn’t evaporate completely. When a leaf near the middle can be pulled off relatively easily, the artichoke is ready.

5. Make the roasted garlic & shallot mayonnaise. After garlic bulb has cooled, squeeze the sweet roasted garlic into small mixing bowl by pressing on outsides of the bulb. Add shallot to the bowl (it should be squishy, also). Add mayonnaise (preferably homemade). Mix thoroughly until garlic and shallot lose their figure and blend into the mayo. Salt and pepper to taste.

6. Melt butter in pan but don’t overdo it and kill it’s liveliness.

7. Put melted butter and mayo in little serving bowls.

8. Serve artichoke on serving plate alongside accompaniments and with a space nearby for leftover leaves.

* If you don’t already know how to consume the artichoke, ask someone who does. Don’t eat this on a first date… it could be awkward. Besides that, dip in mayo first (not too much) then dip in butter and let extra drip off.

9. Once most of the leaves have been consumed, it’s time to eat the heart! Remove all leaves. Remove hairy stuff. This can be difficult to do without cutting into the meat. Save as much of the heart as you can, it is life or death. Cut up the remaining unattractive but delicious artichoke heart and claim as much for yourself as possible.

* On second thought, it may be good to make multiple artichokes. In my family, one medium artichoke serves about 2 people.