Steamed Artichoke with Dips
Artichoke, the majestic food
Artichoke is native to the Mediterranean. Different varieties of artichokes were cultivated in Sicily beginning in the classical period of the ancient Greeks. The Dutch introduced artichokes to England in 1530 and they were taken to the United States in the 19th century by French immigrants and to California by Spanish immigrants.
Like I mentioned there are different types of artichokes. In this recipe I used the globe artichoke which is the most common. It also goes by the name French artichoke or green artichoke. The edible portion of the plant consists of the flower buds before the flowers come into bloom.
Unfortunately, it is a rather expensive vegetable. There could be a few reasons why that is the case. The first possible reason is that each plant has several buds and they all mature at different times. Making it labor intensive as each needs to be assessed and picked by hand. Second, artichokes don’t proliferate from the seeds. It needs to be propagated by hand by separating each baby shoot from the mature plant with some roots and plant them again. This means the roots must be cut into pieces and each piece put into the ground by hand, which is also labor intensive. The last reason is snobbery. Grocers take advantage of this and price artichokes even higher sometimes.
How to eat artichoke?
I made a classic steamed artichoke dish with dips. After steaming the lower half of the leaves are very soft. We dip the leave into the sauce then we eat the soft part and threw the hard part out. When we sucked all the leaves, we get to the heart and the thicker but very fine part as well.
The mass of immature florets in the center of the bud is called the “choke” or beard. These are inedible in older, larger flowers.
When you reach the bottom, the most delicious part, you can finally use the knife and fork.
Steamed artichoke is an appetizer for which time must be devoted, but it’s worth it because it’s very delicious. And while you are slowly eating the artichoke leaves, you have time to talk with your guests.
Steamed Artichoke with Dips
Equipment
- Instant Pot or Steam pan
Ingredients
- 2 big artichoke
- 1 lemon juice
- 250 ml water
- 2 tbsp salt
Paleo Hollandaise
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 180 ml ghee melted (or melted butter if you use)
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 pinches black pepper freshly ground
Garlic Dip
- 200 gram coconut yogurt Greek style
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbsp parsley finely cut
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 pinches black pepper freshly grounded
Lemon Dip
- 200 gram lactose free sour crème
- 2 tsp lemony spice mix
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 2 pinches pepper freshly grounded
Lemon Spice Mix
- 1 tsp dried lemon grass grounded
- ¼ tsp dried thyme grounded
- ¼ tsp dried ginger grounded
- ¼ tsp dried marjoram
- ¼ tsp dried parsley
Instructions
- Prepare the artichokes. Cut off the hard outer leaves then the top 1/3 of artichokes and cut the stem.
- Cut the sharp and spiky top of the leaves with scissor.
- Rub the ends of the leaves with a lemon to prevent oxidation.
Skip this point if you steam the artichokes in Instant Pot.
- Pour 800 ml water into a large steamer pan (it has to be just below the basket) and add lemon juice and salt. Place the artichokes in it, cover and steam for 30 - 40 minutes, depends on the sizes, until the hart is tender and inner leaves pull out easily.
Do this if you use Instant Pot.
- Pour 250 ml water into the IP, put the steamer basket in it and place the artichokes upright. Cover with the lid and use “Manual High” adjust, and steam them for 20 minutes, until hart is tender and inner leaves pull out easily.
- While artichoke is steaming, make the dips.
Hollandaise
- Put the egg yolks, water, lemon juice, salt and pepper into blender, and mix them for a minute. Add melted ghee (or melted butter if you use) very gently, start dripping into the egg mixture slowly and incorporate before adding more. It will be thickened.
Garlic Dip
- Put all ingredients into a bowl and mix them by hand whisk.
Lemon Dip
- Mix the ingredients for the lemon Spice Mix.
- Put all ingredients into a bowl and mix them by hand whisk.
- Place artichokes to serving plate with the dips and enjoy.