Text 19358, 49 rader
Skriven 2007-08-23 01:05:44 av mark lewis (1:3634/12.0)
  Kommentar till text 19172 av Carol Shenkenberger (3:800/201)
Ärende: EZ BAKE  70527
======================
 CS> *** Quoting Barbara McNay from a message to Carol Shenkenberger ***

BM> I grew some Jerusalem artichokes one time.  They are crisp and pretty
BM> much flavorless, like water chestnuts, when raw, but I was dismayed to
BM> discover that they developed a taste on being heated, which I don't ca

 CS> I've never eaten Artichokes.  I've seen them but they look like too
 CS> much trouble to make anything out of so I bypassed.  They also sell
 CS> them sometimes at the commisary but I havent noted them out in
 CS> town.  Perhaps I just didnt notice them?

hummm... if you're talking about the normally seen green flower looking things
that are artichokes, you don't "make anything out of them" ;) 

what you do do with them is to cut the stem off of them so they have a flat
bottom and trim the points off the side leaves... the very top is generally cut
so that it is flat, too... then you boil them until an outer leaf pulls off
easily... when you cut off the stem section, you don't want to cut too far up
because that's where the heart is...

server them whole with garlic butter... to eat, you pull a leaf, dip the bottom
third into the butter and then bite on the bottom and pull it out of your mouth
scrapping the meat off the leaf... you may be able to scrape from half
depending on how tender they are... you work your way into the interior leaves
which are the most tender... generally, in the center, there're be a lot that
are small and not worth the trouble... just pull them off... under them is what
is called the "choke"... it is kinda hairy looking... carefully pull it off and
set it with the uneaten portions of the leaves... the choke pulls away easily
and leaves what looks like dimples on a golf ball in the underlaying heart...
them you just cut the heart into pieces and dip it into the butter, as well...

sure, it sounds like work but no more than peeling shrimp at the plate... it is
pretty good, too... for some reason, i'm also thinking that there's some lemon
juice added to the garlic butter... i know that it is a good idea to add some
to the water to keep the green color looking nice ;)

of course, you could dispense with all the fun of eating artichoke and just
purchased canned artichoke hearts... i don't really like them because they come
in "juice" like canned mushrooms which i don't like, either... in the case of
canned mushrooms, they've absorbed all that liquid and there's no room for them
to absorb any other flavors like garlic with butter or olive oil... besides,
i'll take fresh over canned processed schtuff any day O:)  

jerusulem artichike is a whole lot different than the "normal" artichokes
described above... JA is a tuber instead of a green flower ;)

)\/(ark

 * Origin:  (1:3634/12)