Cutting up an artichoke

I have been using artichokes in a few recipes lately, but I either used frozen or jarred artichokes.  Both good, but one day at the grocery store, I came across some fresh ones, and thought to my self “this shouldn’t be too hard, right?”.  (famous last words?)

I looked up some instructions and tried to follow.  I don’t know if I followed them correctly, but this is what I did.  And oh boy, cutting up an artichoke was it tough!

Cutting up an artichoke is a multiple step process

First I cut off the tip of the artichoke and part of the stem.  The petals of the artichoke are a lot tougher than what they seem!  Don’t let them fool you!  Make sure you have a sharp knife, a strong-arm, and determination!

Next, I flipped it over and tried to cut off as many of the outer green petals as I could.  Cut them off all around.  Also, keep a trash can nearby because your cutting board will be full of petals after every step!

Then I cut off another section of the tip….in hind sight, I should have probably cut this far down in the first step.   I also forgot to mention to have a handy-dandy lemon half sitting nearby.  Artichokes, like avocados and apples, oxidate (or turn brown) pretty quickly.  When you start getting into the light-green/yellow areas, rub the lemon half along the cut edge so it doesn’t turn brown.

Start picking off the lower petals with your hands.  Then trim away as much of the dark green at the bottom as possible with your knife.

Cutting an artichoke in half length-wise is the next step.  This reveals the evil “choke” portion of the artichoke that is not edible.  Use a spoon and some awesome flexing power to get all the light furry stuff from the center of the artichoke.  Quickly rub the lemon all over that bad boy as soon as you do.  (I took the time to take a picture first and it started to turn brown)

As an alternative after cutting up an artichoke, have a bowl or something filled with water and the juice of a lemon that you can drop the now completely trimmed artichokes in.  Now you can steam them or boil them until tender and eat to your heart’s content.  I used these for the spring minestrone soup that I love…. and just realized that I haven’t posted yet.  Oops!  Coming soon!

Lessons Learned:

• Clean off cutting board after each section of trimming or it is going to get crowded
• Rub cut portions of artichoke immediately after cutting to avoid weird coloring (still tastes fine)
• Only cut up artichokes like this if its going to be a main dish or something.  This was overkill for it being 1 out of 10 vegetables in a dish.  Frozen artichokes are awesome even if they are a little pricey.