Artichauts en ragoût/Stew of Baby Artichokes with White Onions and Garlic

MONDAY, MARCH 15, 2010

Before the Lydie Project I would pick recipes to try based on their apparent appeal as I read them over – ingredients I liked or an interesting preparation. The thing about doing this project is that I am forced to make recipes that I would ordinarily overlook. Sometimes that results in a pleasant surprise. This is the case with my latest Lydie experiment. The baby artichoke dish looked kind of uninteresting. Just artichoke hearts braised with some onion and garlic, with herbs added. Boring. Au contraire. It’s quite the little gem of a dish. I saw some baby artichokes at the grocer’s and thought I'd give it a try. It turned out delicious. I also liked that the preparation was short. Braising takes just 30 minutes.

I was initially put off by the prospect of using only the hearts of the artichoke. It kills me to pull off all those succulent leaves and just throw them away. Another thing: the directions call for removing the choke, the hairy part at the base. I’m never sure what I’m doing or how to execute this maneuver. Well, I managed with a little paring knife that I stuck in and rotated at the base. It seems to have done the trick. They turned out just fine. (I only mourned the discarded leaves for a second.) This is a great little side dish that will go with many foods. The artichokes accompanied a pasta dish with almond sauce that I’d been wanting to try. (Not in the Lydie cookbook.) I’m sure I’ll make these little morsels again.