ARTICHOKES HOW TO GROW COOK AND EAT THEM

A magnificent plant with beautiful Jurassic looking flowers, harvest before flowering and the artichokes are a delicate treat for the tastebuds, a fair amount of effort for a small edible portion of the artichoke, but so worth it especially when served with a buttery hollandaise sauce.

Artichokes like to grow in a warm sunny spot with free draining soil, they will need wide area of space as their Jurassic looking leaves get rather large, a meter between plants is a good space.  Propagated plants generally flower in year two and if you have grown from seed in a glass house from early spring you can plant out early summer once the plants have five true leaves, artichokes grown from seeds often flower in their first year.

Mulch the plants in spring with manure or homemade compost, add potassium in to feed them.  Artichokes should be divided in half or three every 2-3 years and generally stop producing artichokes by year seven.  Artichokes get more prolific each year and can be harvested from June onwards.

Cut the artichokes leaving a 2-3 inch stalk, place in a steamer with lemon halves and steam for 20-30 minutes depending on the size until a tip of a knife slides easily into the heart.

Pull the outer leaves off, reserving the base ring of leaves as the inside of these leaves can be dipped in butter or hollandaise sauce and you can suck out the juicy flesh.  

Pull off the hairy stems, they just lift off with ease and this will reveal the succulent heart of the artichoke, enjoy this with a sauce or marinate in a herby garlic olive oil, alternatively the hearts can be blitzed into a sauce and tossed through some pasta.

The prized succulent artichoke heart.

Hollandaise Sauce

150g - 200g hot melted butter

3 egg yolks

1/2 lemon juiced

fresh chopped tarragon (optional)

1 pinch Himalayan sea salt 

1 pinch white pepper

1 pinch cayenne pepper (optional)

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard (optional)

There are two ways to make hollandaise sauce, the quick and easy method is to place the egg yolks, lemon juice and seasonings in a food blender, meanwhile melt the butter either in a double boiler or the microwave then blitz the egg yolks to combine with the lemon juice and seasoning and slowly drizzle in the hot melted butter until you have a medium thick sauce that coats the back of a spoon, serve immediately.

To make on the stove top, place the egg yolks and lemon juice in a bowl over simmering water, whisk constantly until ribbons appear, slowly start to drizzle in the hot melted butter whisking all the time until the consistency coats the back of the spoon, season and serve immediately.