Steamed Artichokes

As soon as the weather starts to get warmer, one of the first things Erol and I look forward to eating is steamed artichokes! Other foods that say "summer" to me are panzanella salad - already made twice so far since winter! - and gazpacho, which I'll wait for real summer to hit before enjoying.

There's really nothing I love more than sitting on the sofa with Erol late in the evening, watching tv or movies, and eating a huge artichoke dipped in melted butter, fresh lemon juice, and crunchy kosher salt. We'll do this every couple of weeks, at least, until fall!

Have you ever eaten a steamed artichoke? They are so much fun to eat. Plus they're like popcorn or mashed potatoes in that they're an ideal vehicle for butter and salt. Add some lemon and you're pretty much in heaven. Here's how to do it TONIGHT:

Steamed Artichoke
1. Buy the largest artichoke you can find that has no major blemishes and has fairly tight leaves. Some have leaves that are closed in and some, like the ones we had yesterday, are sticking out a little, but they're still tight and not loose.

2. Place a saucepan on the stove (one pan for each artichoke), and fill it with about an inch of water. Use ether large rings of raw onion or a piece of foil crumpled and formed into a ring shape, and place this in the saucepan for the artichoke to sit on. You can also add to the water a clove of garlic, but it doesn't need many extra flavorings.

3. Wash the artichoke, then cut the stem leaving as much as an inch. Peel off the last row or two of leaves from the stem end, and use a small paring knife to trim away the outside skin of the stem. Cut the top 1/4 off using a serrated knife. With scissors cut the tips off of the remaining leaves to remove the spikes.

4. Immediately after prepping the artichoke squeeze lemon over the whole thing generously for flavor and also to prevent it from turning brown.

5. Place the artichoke upside down in the center of the pan on the ring of onion or foil. Throw the spent lemon wedges in the pan too. Cover the pan with the lid if it fits, or tightly with foil if it doesn't (it probably won't unless you use your biggest pot). Turn the heat onto medium and let 'er rip for about an hour. If the water gets low add some more.

6. Check for doneness by poking a skewer or dry piece of spaghetti straight down into the stem. A toothpick won't be long enough for this job. If it goes straight through the artichoke pretty easily, it's cooked!

7. Take out the artichoke using tongs and let it drain for a minute on a paper towel.

Erol ate his with just lemon and salt, but you know me, I gotsta have the butta.

Eating artichokes is similar to eating blue crabs in that you have to work for it, and it's not going to fill you up. We had a small dinner and then later ate artichokes, like popcorn.

My rule is pretty much if it's soft, it's good eats. Start peeling the leaves off from the bottom, dip in your poison, and scrape the inside of the leaf on your bottom teeth. For first few rows you're not getting much artichoke because they're generally tough. But soon you'll get little nibbles of soft artichoke at the ends of the leaves, and later, half of the actual leaves will be soft and yellow and you can eat that part, like you can see below. Those are the best ones.

Now when you're done with the leaves it gets even more interactive. You get to the choke, which is inedible, and you have to scrape it out with a spoon. This part is spikey little blades, but they're easily removed.

When the choke is gone, you have the artichoke heart. Break it apart and eat the middle and any part that's soft, all the way down the center of the stem.

Margee's Fudge

My grandma Margee is an excellent cook with several specialties - and every time I try to make one of her recipes, it is just not the same as when she makes it. Doesn't it usually turn out that way when you try to make someone else's signature dish?? Especially with older, handwritten recipes, when you just know there's more to it than what's written down.

Of course, if you go and change the recipe on purpose, yet expect it to have the same qualities as Grandma's, you're going to be in for a surprise! I always do that to myself... The results are always fine and good, but I've decided that no matter what, nothing is better than the real thing when what you want is the real thing. (The exact brands of ingredients may have something to do with it too... Remind me to ask Margee which chocolate she uses...)

That's why everyone looks forward to Christmastime when Margee makes tons of her homemade fudge and passes it around in tins collected over the years, with wax paper in between the layers of chocolate fudge with pecan halves or pieces on each irregular (but perfect) rectangle piece.

My reason this time for altering the recipe is that I didn't have too much chocolate in my cupboard (wha???? it was true), and I had some white chocolate that I never had a reason to use. So I made Chocolate-White Chocolate Swirl Fudge. I made this as a thank you token for some friends, and it got great reviews. But they've never tasted Margee's.

Margee's Original Chocolate Fudge
Margaret Waldrop

18 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
1 jar marshmallow fluff
2 cups chopped pecans (optional)
1 t. vanilla
4 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/8 t. salt
13 oz. evaporated milk

Butter a 12x7" pan. In a saucepan, put sugar, butter, salt, and evaporated milk. Stir 20 minutes until softball stage (236 degrees). Remove from heat and add marshmallow fluff, nuts (if using), vanilla, and chocolate. Beat until thick, then pour into prepared pan to cool. Once cool, cut into pieces.

-In stead of stirring in the nuts, Margee places pecan halves on the fudge while it's cooling in the pan so they stick. I think she estimates one piece of pecan for each square and cuts the pieces of fudge accordingly once it's cool.

-Chocolate-White Chocolate Fudge variation: Use 9oz. semi-sweet chocolate and 9oz. white chocolate. After combining all ingredients except the chocolate, divide the mixture into two bowls and add the dark chocolate to one bowl and white to the other. Layer them in the pan and swirl with a knife.