I just want them streamed. Dipped in mayo.

Those look good. Thanks for sharing!

That was fun to look at. I didn't see one I wouldn't like if someone served it to me, but the little devil on my shoulder kept whispering, "That looks like a lot of work to put into ruining a nice artichoke!" I do like grilled or roasted, but given I have a steam oven, just rinsing them, putting them in a perf pan and shoving them inside has immense appeal. The ones from the firam don't even have stickers, so there's no need to turn or clip them. And they're SO good! The big variation is hot with drawn butter or cold with a thick sauce for dipping.

I was thinking about you a little while ago. The first decent sized artichokes of the season came with 6" stems, and for the first time in forever, the cores were soft and lovely and very tasty. That was a few weeks ago. Now that're back to average, hard, stringy and flavorless, or just bitter.

plllog, ”soft, lovely and tasty” is an artichoke lover’s dream! I do love them steamed. I’m not a fan of frozen artichoke hearts, but always have some canned from TJ’s on hand for various recipes (like the lamb/artichoke stew I posted). The canned have more flavor than frozen IMO. Also, DH keeps our pantry well stocked with the marinated ones from TJ’s.

I would be happy to use those in the recipes in the article. ;) i have something in my pantry, but I never think to use them in stews and other dishes. But I need to make more stews and stuff. They used to be my mainstay. Hm….

So, I only ordered two artichokes this week. Good thing. Not sure if this motivates me to make a stew. Or quarter and grill them. Or yell, ”Mine!” and run away with them. The stems are hard and make me wonder if these are woody. That's my test the beater height dime in the foreground, looking bigger than it actually is… ;)

plllog, report back on them. Steaming or grilling would be my choice for them. The leaves look pretty tight/cpmpact.👍🏻 Do they sound “squeaky?” Do the chokes feel heavy?

Agree with not for stew. Canned work best for me with that.

They feel gigantic. But otherwise like good artichokes, but that's no guarantee for flavor. I'm just not sure if steaming whole would give a good outcome…

Steaming should be okay if they’re not dry inside. I once got my hands on truly gigantic artichokes from a co-worker. His dad grew them in Fallbrook, and they almost looked fake, like green velvet. I steamed most of them whole…amazing! Never seen any like them since. So wish I’d taken pix!

I almost feel like a fresh and jarred/frozen heart are two different food subjects, with different uses. I used the frozen kind but carmelized their sides recently for a pasta dish (brought out the flavor). But fresh make me dream of the deep fried artichokes like they make in Italy (carciofi alla giudi - in the jewish quarter of Rome)

"I almost feel like a fresh and jarred/frozen heart are two different food subjects…”

Agree. Fresh, canned, jarred/marinated all have uses for me.👍🏻

I've never used preserved in recipes like the OP list. Just salads and relish plates and the like. Nor fresh. I've tasted friends' artichoke dip and didn't think it did anything to highlight the artichoke. I do like sauce (inc. butter) on my fresh artichokes, but mostly because I like sauces, not because the artichoke needs them, and even with a lot of garlic or salt or pickle flavor, the artichoke still tastes firmly like itself and doesn't get masked or overpowered. But I have to go out in the rain :( and last night we had on-again-off-again-on-again-off-again dinner plans, so the giants are still waiting to be cooked. No breakfast artichoke for me! :(

Sounds darn good, plllog…now I want one!

Ahhh, rhubarb!👍🏻