Preparing fresh artichokes takes some effort, but it’s worth it because they are so delicious. In The French Laundry Cookbook Thomas Keller says that cleaning artichokes is one of his favorite things to do. I’m just the opposite. When I started out at Louis XVI, I had to clean two cases a day. My fingers were perpetually dried out and stained a nasty tobacco brown, and they didn’t want to come clean, no matter how much lemon I rubbed on them. I still clean the occasional case myself, and cuss under my breath the whole time. So, if you’re not put off by this introduction, read on to learn how to clean, cook, and stuff your way to happiness.
This recipe gives a more arduous but elegant presentation for stuffed artichokes, allowing you to eat the entire thing without creating a pile of tooth-scraped leaves. However, most folks simply trim the top third off the artichoke, cook it, scrape the choke out with a spoon, and stuff it, and that’s fine too. For a delicious appetizer, you could also cut the (chokeless) artichokes in half, add some crabmeat to the stuffing, then bake and serve with a drizzle of lemon butter.
