Fried Baby Artichokes

Confession. I am horrible at preparing fresh artichokes. Just horrible. I rarely make them correctly, and after I make them I usually swear I'll never mess with them again (while using swear words, actually.... haha). Luckily, this time around went better than expected. The drool-worthy appetizer you see above only had one tiny problem. Either I needed to peel them more, or I over-cooked them a bit because the outer leaves were a little chewy. It wasn't a problem though because I just peeled off a few leaves and they were good to go.

After watching David Ziff make these on Barefoot Contessa, my first thought was that is might be oily. The recipe calls for starting the artichokes in cold olive oil and then increasing the temperature to fry them. Yes, they had oil on them but no, they weren't oily. Just a normal amount of oil that you would expect from fried food. Although, since a bit of oil does remain on them, you definitely want to use some good quality olive oil, which brings me to my second concern. I didn't want to waste an entire bottle of olive oil. But this isn't really a problem. Once you finish cooking the artichokes, let the oil cool, strain it with cheesecloth (to remove the thyme, garlic, and any pieces of artichoke), and then pour it back into the bottle to re-use. The oil takes on a little bit of the garlic and thyme flavors, so it's perfect for most recipes. And don't waste the garlic either, smear it on some bread and serve it with dinner. It's heavenly.

Peel and slice the artichokes

Place into cold oil and turn on the heat

Bring the temperature up to cook

Bring the temperature up again to fry until brown

Serve as an appetizer

Fried Baby Artichokes
Serving Size = 4
Original Recipe: David Ziff, Barefoot Contessa

• 10 baby artichokes
• Olive oil
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 bunch fresh thyme (I had to use dried, about 1 1/2 teaspoons or so)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1. Remove the artichoke stems and discard. Remove approximately 18 leaves from each artichoke, dispose of the leaves. Slice the top half of the artichoke off, so that only the light green part remains (they will be about 1 1/4 inches after being trimmed). Cut the artichoke in half, lengthwise.
2. Place the artichokes in a medium pot, cut side down, and pour on olive oil until just covered (a little over 17 oz, roughly). Add the garlic, salt, pepper, and thyme. 
3. Bring the olive oil to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. It's done when a knife can be easily inserted.
4. Remove the thyme and garlic (I used dried thyme, so it stayed in the pot), raise the heat and fry uncovered for 2 - 3 minutes, turning artichokes halfway (I cooked them longer though, which might have been a mistake). They are done when they are golden brown and crispy.
5. Remove to a paper towel to drain, sprinkle with salt and serve.

Linking to: Gallery of Favorites, Foodie Friday