I have to once again thank my mom for introducing me to weird vegetables at a young age, and the artichoke is a perfect example. I truly don’t know that I’ve met a vegetable that I don’t love and this certainly includes the artichoke.
This week I realized that while I’ve eaten an artichoke many times, I’ve never cooked one on my own. This could be because I’ve never owned a steamer…until now! Merry Christmas to me! When I opened the steamer Christmas morning, the first thing I thought was that I can finally steam an artichoke whenever I want.
Sure, I cook with frozen or canned artichoke hearts, which are absolutely fabulous (and not the cheapest item). But growing up when my dad wouldn’t be home for dinner, and we didn’t have to have meat and potatoes (although I do love meat and potatoes – don’t get me wrong), my mom would treat my sister and I with our own steamed artichoke that we’d eat with drawn butter.
So this week, my final cooking week of the year, I decided to take myself back and steam an artichoke. As I cleaned the artichoke and trimmed it, I was taken back to when I was a kid and would get so excited by this treat. Some people may look at this recipe and think that cleaning an artichoke and eating it leaf by leaf is a lot of work, but that’s what I enjoy about it. You have to work for your food, and it is so cool to work your way through the artichoke and see all of its layers. Maybe I’ll be more adventurous and stuff an artichoke sometime, but for now, if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.
Before I end this post, I have to give myself props (if you don’t mind) for working hard to post a new culinary adventure (sometimes many new recipes) every week, this entire year. It began with the pomegranate and ends with the artichoke and includes a lot of delicious dishes in between. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading and cooking from this blog the past 52 weeks as much I have enjoyed creating it. I’m excited to see what is in store for next year!
Happy New Year my friends! Please click here for step by step instructions and this simple recipe for enjoying your very own artichoke.
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Whooo! Way to go, Kelli! I've really enjoyed keeping up with your delicious dishes!