A&M: This is a simple recipe that really showcases the best part of the artichoke: the heart. Dymnyno said: “Once, I spent a couple of hours watching Marcella Hazan fix an artichoke dish. An entire room full of students hypnotically watched her peel the leaves off an artichoke one by one until she had a pile next to her. Finally, someone asked, ‘What are you going to do with those?’ She looked puzzled for a few seconds and then announced that she was going to throw them away. ‘What would I do with them?’ Now I understand that the artichoke heart was all she needed. If you have a fresh, just picked artichoke, the heart is pure gold!” She’s right: you get rid of all of the leaves (don’t despair, it’s worth it!), gently steam the artichoke hearts until just tender, and then coat them in egg and bread crumbs before crisping them in a shallow pool of olive oil. The richness of the crust and the slight bitterness of the artichoke are offset by the bright, aromatic lime and cumin dipping sauce.
CREAMY CUMIN-LIME DIPPING SAUCE
½ cup crème fraîche
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted and ground
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lime
Salt
ARTICHOKE HEARTS
2 globe artichokes, preferable with some stalk
½ lemon
1 large egg, beaten
1 cup dried bread crumbs (panko works well)
2 tablespoons olive oil
- Make the sauce: Mix all the ingredients except the salt. Add salt to taste. Chill until ready to serve.
- Prepare the artichokes: Peel all the leaves off each choke. Peel each stalk and with a paring knife neatly trim the bottom where you removed the leaves.
- Cut the trimmed artichokes in half vertically and with a spoon remove the hairy choke. Be careful when cutting in half to cut the stem evenly, too.
- Rub immediately with the cut side of the lemon so the artichoke doesn’t get brown (which happens very quickly). Steam the hearts until tender. The time will vary depending on the size of the hearts, but it should take about 15 minutes.
- Dip each artichoke half into the egg and then into the bread crumbs.
- Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat and fry the artichokes until golden, turning them so they brown evenly, about 5 minutes.
- Set the artichokes on paper towels to absorb the oil.
- Serve the golden hearts warm with the creamy dipping sauce.
Photography by Sarah Shatz
TIPS AND TECHNIQUES
As dymnyno noted, the fresher the artichoke the better. Make sure to serve these warm, while they’re still nice and crisp.
ABOUT THE COOK
To learn more about dymnyno, read her recipe for Lazy Mary’s Lemon Tart.
WHAT THE COMMUNITY SAID
Culinista Annouchka: “Great combination: this looks delectable, can’t wait to try it!”