Grilled Artichokes
Ingredients
Instructions
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Rinse the artichoke off under cook water, making sure to rinse between the leaves as much as possible, to get any dust or dirt off the leaves. Using a sharp pair of kitchen shears, clip the tops off the artichoke. You may want to use plastic gloves for this step, as the tips of the leaves of the artichoke are pointy and the artichoke itself has a kind of a sticky resin on the outside of it that will leave a bitter taste on your hands.
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Using the half lemon, wipe the freshly cut parts of the artichoke with the lemon, making sure to get some of the lemon juice onto all freshly cut areas--the freshly cut sites will oxidize quickly and turn dark if you don't hit them with some acid right away.
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Trim a little off the bottom of the stem and wipe with the lemon, but if the artichoke is nice and fresh, leave as much of the stem as possible because once peeled, it's edible and is a good bit like the heart of the artichoke, which is where most of the meat is.
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Place the artichoke in a steamer and steam for 30-40 minutes until it is fork tender at the base, where the heart is.
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Preheat your grill to about 450*. Remove from the steamer and when it is cool enough to handle, cut the artichoke in half to expose the hairy choke. Using a small knife or, as I like to do, a grapefruit spoon, remove the hairy choke and inner leave, leaving the heart and exterior leaves.
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In a small sauce pan, add the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper and bring to a simmer. Simmer for a ,minute or so and then, using a basting brush, baste the artichoke with the marinade, making sure to baste not only the interior, but also in between the leaves.
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Place the artichokes cut side down on the grill and close the lid. Allow the artichokes to stay on the grill and get some good grilll marks. Watch that the oil from the marinade doesn't ignite to many flames in the grill. Check after 2-3 minutes and turn the artichokes a half turn to get criss-cross marks. The artichoke will absorb some of the nice smoke flavor from this process and the marinade will soak into the flesh to give the artichoke a great smoky-garlicky flavor. The grilling process will take about five minutes total.
Note
These make a great appetizer or side dish to any grilled main.
If you look at the cut artichoke, you'll see that there is a kind of gray-green line of flesh in the stem, with an outer layer of green. If you peel off that green outer layer, the interior gray/green flesh is much like that of the heart and totally edible!
