Grill/Barbecue

Very Good Grilled Artichokes

by:
May  7, 2011
4.3
3 Ratings
Very Good Grilled Artichokes
  • Prep time 20 minutes
  • Cook time 30 minutes
  • Serves 2
Author Notes

Spring in Texas means a lot of things, but one of the biggies is GET GRILLING (OK well we grill year round but about now we really move ops outdoors as much as possible) We made this last night and we both agreed - this is a very good artichoke. I could say somethig like - if you don't have a grill do this in a griddle pan indoors but you know what? No! Get outside! Buy a mini grill if that's all you have room for. Get some fresh air and sunshine! - aargersi —aargersi

Test Kitchen Notes

"Very Good Grilled Artichokes" isn't a very good name for this dish -- they should be called "Amazing Grilled Artichokes". The preparation is simple, and reduces the cook time for those of us who have been (mistakenly) steaming all this time. Halving the artichoke and removing the inner leaves and fuzzies not only makes the end product easier to eat, they are also more appealing to the eye. The boiling cooks them in a garlic-lemon bath and the grilling -- well, this step just takes the artichoke to a whole new level. The char from the grill makes the leaves tender and the meat easily removed. The cracked pepper on the subtle lemony, sweet, soft meat adds a sassiness that makes this artichoke a delightful light summer treat. - edamame2003 —edamame2003

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1 large artichoke - hopefully with some good stem still on it
  • 1 big pot of heavily salted water
  • 2 lemons
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • olive oil
  • pepper
  • a hot grill and some smoking chips - we used maple but pecan or any sort of fruitwood would be good, or some rosemary sprigs
Directions
  1. Get the water boiling. Add the garlic (just crush it a little and throw it in there - don't even worry about removing the paper or anything) Squeeze 1 lemon in there and drop in the peel too.
  2. While the water is getting hot prep the choke. First cut the pointy tops off the leaves. Trim away the tough outer leaves - now, we LIKE eating the leaves so we leave some. If you don't enjoy that part, chop 'em off. Peel the stem. Cut the choke in half and use a spoon to remove the fuzzy stuff and the inner leaves. Put the artichoke in the boiling water and boil until just tender, about 8-10 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile heat the grill to hot and throw the wood chips on.
  4. Drain the choke and drizzle it with a good amount of olive oil and grind some pepper over. Head out to the grill - put it on the grill cut side down - beware of olive-oil related flare ups. Grill for just a couple minutes until it starts to get some good marking, then flip and grill them leaf side down.
  5. To serve we uncermoniously plopped them on a cutting board, squeezed a bit more lemon on them, and sat on the back porch and ate them up - easy cleanup!!
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aargersi

Recipe by: aargersi

Country living, garden to table cooking, recent beek, rescue all of the dogs, #adoptdontshop

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14 Reviews

sl(i)m
sl(i)m September 22, 2013
Here in SE Vermont we are getting a few small artichokes just now at our farm stand. I've made this recipe twice with 10+ artichokes. After boiling, I drain them on a clean dishtowel, then drizzle with oil and pepper and let stand until we're ready to grill. Served room temperature. They are a big hit at my table!!! Thanks a lot!
 
Corkage
Corkage June 6, 2011
Drool. These were amazing! Thank you!
 
boulangere
boulangere June 5, 2011
We had an abundance of artichokes land on us last week. Some of my students had never tasted artichokes, and they certainly didn't know how to break them down, so we had an anatomy of the artichoke lesson. We followed your instructions and recipe to a T, and had a fantastic feast. Thank you!
 
aargersi
aargersi June 5, 2011
VERY COOL! Thank you for letting me know - I am so glad you liked them!
 
gingerroot
gingerroot May 31, 2011
Made this over the long weekend and I may not ever cook artichoke any other way. You've converted me, aargersi! Easy and really delicious. I also made Oui, Chef's Herbed Beef Skewers and enjoyed my artichoke with some of the horseradish cream - YUM!
 
boulangere
boulangere May 27, 2011
This has Memorial Day Weekend written all over it.
 
TiggyBee
TiggyBee May 9, 2011
Very good? More like excellent!!
 
aargersi
aargersi May 10, 2011
I will make them when you get to Austin :-)
 
wssmom
wssmom May 8, 2011
Never thought of grilling them! Yum!
 
TheWimpyVegetarian
TheWimpyVegetarian May 7, 2011
This is my favorite way to have artichokes! Yum!
 
edamame2003
edamame2003 May 7, 2011
i just started grilling my chokes a few weeks ago too, but the boil first with garlic and lemon is a great idea. i wound up steaming mine after grilling cuz they weren't quite ready. now, I'm excited to try this again.
 
mrslarkin
mrslarkin May 7, 2011
mmmmm...very good indeed.
 
enbe
enbe May 7, 2011
I've been making something very similar recently. I'd never grilled artichokes before two weeks ago and now I can't stop!
 
drbabs
drbabs May 7, 2011
yum