Artichoke's are back in season!!!

So in what feels like a recurring theme, i am once again heading out on the road ... but before I head out I wanted to enjoy one more nice dinner at home.  I had a soccer game today so I asked Shells to pick up the stuff for dinner tonight.

She came home with all sorts of good stuff: Chilean Sea Bass, red potatoes, avocado and ARTICHOKES!

For the pieces that I am not going to highlight tonight I did broiled fish, oven cooked potato waffle fries & sauteed avocado slices with parmesan.

Steamed Artichokes:

First of all, you'll need a steamer insert and a lid to make this work.  I like to use a transparent lid for this so I can see what's going on.  Also, I normally take the center part of the steamer out so that I can put whatever I want into it.  Fill the pot with water until just beneath the steamer insert and turn the pan on medium/high.

Rinse the artichokes off and trim off the bases of the artichokes.

Put the artichokes in the pot and cover.  You'll want to cook them for about 30 minutes (more or less depending on size but you'll want to see the leaves opening up and the base should be soft to the touch.  Remove from heat and serve.

As stated above, I served them with broiled Sea Bass and sauteed avocado & parmesan served over baked waffle fries.  Once you've pulled off all the leaves and enjoyed them (dipping them in butter as needed) you'll want to enjoy the heart.  Before you eat that, you'll need to clean out the gristle from inside of the heart.  I recommend using a knife, stick it in between the gristle and the edge, and move it in a clockwise fashion until you cut the whole thing out (as below).

Hope you enjoy some nice summer artichokes this year, I'll be off again on travel this week but Shells will be posting & maybe I'll surprise post in the meantime.