Artichokes with Hollandaise Sauce

Do you know about artichokes???

I mean REALLY know about artichokes?

I am determined to have you go out to your grocer as soon as you read this post and buy them.

My dad used to go away on business and come home with a crate of fresh ready to eat little gems.

Mom would then prepare them, make a hollandaise if we were lucky, or simply have mayonnaise and melted butter to dip our tasty leaves into and we would "ooooooooo" and "aaaaaaaaaa" knowing the joy that came along with eating them. You didn't need anything else but the dipping sauce and a spoon to separate the choke from the heart at the end. Then in high school, if we had extra or if I was really pro active, I would make a few to then have for my lunch. I could laugh out loud at some of the looks I got, but every once in a while someone would "oooooo" and "aaaaaaaaaaaa" with me and then of course we would become friends!

I promise you you will make these a regular part of your diet, and the happy news is they are in season now!!!!

  Ingredients
1 Large artichoke per person
1 stick of butter
1 lemon
3 egg yolks
white pepper
4 fresh rosemary sprigs to season the water
4 garlic cloves
Sea Salt
Pepper Corns
Mayo and Melted butter if you don't make hollandaise sauce

boil your water

step 1

step 2

step 3

trim the tips off your artichoke so it doesn't poke you!

Prepare


*Place a very large pot on the stove top to boil with your rosemary, garlic and sea salt added
* Take your artichoke and cut off the bottom as shown above
* Next cut off the top as shown above
* Take your artichoke and gently open it up a little as seen in picture 3
* Trim the tips of the leaves all the way around, this way you won't get poked! The tips are very sharp!

* Add your artichoke to the boiling water and place a small dish on the top to keep it under the water
* Boil for about 45 minutes to an hour, or until the leaves pull out very easily( pay close attention to how hot the plate will be when you take it out! I use tongs)
* Drain the Chokes, they will have lots of water in them, and place aside while you make your hollandaise sauce

 Hollandaise Sauce
* Get a small pot to make the sauce
* Seperate your eggs, yolk from whites, you need the yolks
* Add the juice of 1 lemon and stir together with your yolks with a wooden spoon
*Add half your stick of butter to a very low heat, constantly stirring all the while
* When your butter is melted, add your last half of butter, again constantly stirring
* Remove from heat, sauce should be thick, add 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper and give a final stir
*Its ready to serve!

Also good with mayonnaise and melted butter

To eat, take the leaves out and put between your teeth and pull the meat off, discard leaves into a bowl
At the end when the leaves are done, remove the  soft, purplish leaves, and with a spoon remove the pokie parts to reveal the heart, enjoy !!!!!