I share your love of artichokes and have steamed many so far in the last few weeks since they showed up in my supermarkets. I am looking forward to adding your final step of a pan searing. No matter how tempting a nice fat stem is and no matter how far down I peel it, I have not found even one that is at all edible – they are just too fibrous – at least in the artichokes that have been available to me in any of my local supermarkets.
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Steamed Artichokes
Published on: April 18, 2024
Back when I lived with roommates in a four-bedroom apartment, one of my roommates (hi, D!) would bring home artichokes every spring, about a dozen at a time. I’d never had them before. She’d steam them in a big stockpot, and we’d each get two or three, served with lemon butter or mayonnaise. It was the most glamorous-feeling, ritualistic, slow, messy meal I’d ever been a part of. We would laugh and talk and pick and scrape for what felt like hours, maybe to get to the choke, maybe just because it stretched out our conversation. It was just the best.
I feel like it’s a meal people don’t do enough. Or maybe it’s just me? My kids, ages 10 and 15, had never had them until a few weeks ago, when I picked up two from the market on a whim, remembering those dinners. I wasn’t sure they’d go for it, but they loved them. My 15-year-old was particularly taken, and I sent him to buy three more the next week. He and my husband polished off two, and I ate the third alone the next day for lunch.
There is nothing complicated about steaming artichokes. You just need a vessel (steamer basket in a big pot or instant pot), water, a lemon half, maybe a bay leaf, and that’s it. They’re done when a leaf pulls off easily from the stem. It takes 25 to 45 minutes, depending on the size and freshness of your artichoke. It’s hard to tell from the outside how big a choke (the fuzzy, inedible part) is inside, so it’s something you learn to eye. You can also boil or pressure cook them, but steaming is the most hands-off, fail-proof way.
I almost always serve them with lemon-garlic butter for dipping. I just melt butter, add a minced or grated clove of garlic, and a heavy squeeze of lemon juice. If I’m in a more mayonnaise-y mood, I’ll whisk lemon juice, a dash of vinegar, and a lot of black pepper into mayo for a dip. Either way, you just can’t go wrong.
And yes, you absolutely can eat artichokes. It’s a very common question! You peel off the individual leaves, scrape the tender flesh from the base of the leaf with your teeth, discarding the fibrous top half of the leaf. Once you get to the light green, small, spiky leaves in the center, scrape them off, too, and then use a spoon to scrape away the hairy choke. What remains is the artichoke heart, which is all edible. It’s delicious. This is the part that often comes canned or jarred in brine or oil. It’s great fresh.
Here’s what I do.
