Ingredients
2 cup fresh lemon juice
4 cup water
36 to 40 medium artichokes
3 lemons, halved
4 cup distilled white vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
2 garlic cloves
4 bay leaves
1/2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
2 to 4 small dried red chile peppers, (optional)
2 cup olive oil
Directions
These pickles are worth every bit of the time it takes to prepare
them. They're one of the best tasting and most beautiful preserves on
my pantry shelf. The pale, creamy yellow leaves around the artichoke
heart glisten in the oil-herb vinegar brine, and sometimes a faint
hint of purple on the chokes is evident, too. Their rustic taste
recalls the simple antipasti of Italy's country trattorias.
Combine the lemon juice and water in a saucepan large enough to
eventually hold all the trimmed artichokes.
Prepare the artichokes, one at a time. Cut off and discard card the
stem, then halve the artichoke from tip to stem end. Immediately rub
the cut surface with a lemon half to prevent discoloring. Scoop out
the furry choke, then gently rub the exposed surface with lemon. Cut
off the outer layers of leaves, so the only leaves remaining are the
tender, pale yellow ones. Older or larger artichokes will have more
tough outer leaves so more will have be removed than on younger or
smaller artichokes. Immediately drop trimmed artichoke into the lemon
water.
Repeat process until all artichokes have been trimmed.
Cook the artichokes in the lemon water for 3 to 5 minutes, depending
upon size of artichoke hearts. If mixed sizes are used, remove the
small ones after 3 minutes. Drain artichoke hearts and pack them
tightly into 2 clean, dry, pint canning jars with sealable lids. Add
cup of vinegar and 1/4 teaspoon of salt to each jar. Cover with the
lids and let stand overnight.
The next day, drain off and discard the vinegar. Add 1 cup of
vinegar to each jar. Let jars stand 4 to 6 hours. Drain off and
discard vinegar. Add 1 garlic clove, 2 bay leaves, 1/4 teaspoon
basil, 1/2 teaspoon oregano and 1 or 2 dried chiles (if desired) to
each jar. Fill to within 1/2 inch of the rims with olive oil. Cover
with the lids.
At this point, the artichokes will keep up to 1 month stored in the
refrigerator. alternately, they may be processed for 30 minutes in a
canning kettle using the hot water process. The sealed, canned
artichoke hearts keep up to 1 year.
Makes 2 pints.
PER ARTICHOKE HALF: 35 calories, 1 g protein, 6 g carbohydrates, 1 g
fat (0 g saturated), 0 mg cholesterol, 47 mg sodium, 3 g fiber.
From the San Francisco Chronicle, 4/21/93.
Posted by Stephen Ceideberg; May 11 1993.
Servings: 2 servings
Pickled Artichokes Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Vegetable
The History of Recipes
We can track the history of written recipes way back into antiquity, in fact as far as ancient Egypt, and possibly even further than that. Having said that, these, early records were just very basic hieroglyphic or cunieform recipes for meal preparation.
Fascinatingly, the oldest recipe discovered so far, according to experts in ancient history is a series of tablets in Sumerian which recount the preparation of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making anyone who drank it feel `exhilarated, wonderful and blissful`. During the time of the Roman Empire a man called Apicius assembled a number of scripts detailing recipes enjoyed by the Romans. In his scrolls, he tells us how the meals of wealthy Romans were split into starters, entrees and dessert, something we still use today. Aspicius also recounts how the cooks of Roman times used many different aromatic flavors, including a few you will know like thyme, fennel and parsley. As our culinary historical trip moves on a few more years there are a couple of recipe books from the fourteenth century - a book called `Forme of Cury`, and another, similary titled `Curye on Inglish`. Despite their titles, they have no connection with the indian food that is familiar to us all today, but rather recipes for the types of food served to the rich and wealthy people of those days. In the fifteenth century, the Crusaders brought back a variety of foods, spices and herbs from Arab cuisine, including spices like coriander, parsley, and basil. The introduction of these new culinary ideas was responsible for an outbreak in recipe manuscripts, most of which still exist in private libraries. By the arrival of the 20th century, recipe publications were highly popular due to higher levels of literacy, people having increased free time and a general increase in wealth. |
We hope you enjoy this Pickled Artichokes recipe.
