Grilled artichoke

Yesterday we went to a barbecue at the home of our friends H. and M., where I had the giddy experience of encountering artichokes in such abundant quantity that I could eat absolutely as much as I could possibly want and still leave plenty for everyone else who wanted some, and still there was artichoke left over. I also learned a simple and delightful thing to do with artichokes, above and beyond the breathtaking cleverness of simply providing a great many of them, which is a very good idea indeed in itself.

The artichokes were first boiled, or maybe steamed, and doctored with a little cayenne and kosher salt, I think, and then given some time on the grill to get all charred and smokey. Let me strongly recommend this delicacy to anyone considering an event at which a grill will be fired up. It seemed not at all difficult, as you can pre-cook the artichokes quite a bit ahead, and then grilling is always easy, and they were wonderful, wonderful, delicious. I loved the way the grilling dried them out a bit, and also the grilled flavor. The dry cooking made the edible parts somehow a little meatier, and the overall effect was just keen.

Many people think of artichokes primarily as a hollandaise or melted butter delivery system. And indeed H. made hollandaise sauce to go with these, which certainly never hurts, but I was perfectly happy eating these tasty little things entirely devoid of additional ornamentation. Go make some for yourself and see what I mean.

Posted by redfox at April 20, 2003 11:02 AM (lunch)

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