Stuffed Artichokes

I love stuffed artichokes but it's something you don't often see in grocery stores or restaurant menus. While at my local Kroger, I noticed the fresh artichokes were on sale for fifty cents each. What a steal! I bought two and looked up a recipe for stuffed artichokes in my Cooking with Entergy cookbook. The recipe I used (page 57) is for 6 stuffed artichokes, I cut it down to two, but I'll give you the recipe for the six anyway.

Stuffed Artichokes

Ingredients:

6 small artichokes
1/3 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups French bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon hot sauce

Method:

Trim steam of each artichoke, leaving 1/2 inch. Remove any damaged or rough lower leaves and trim off upper edges of remaining leaves. With palm of hand, gently press down on artichoke to open up or separate leaves. Wash artichokes in cold running water. Heat oil over medium heat; add garlic and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in crumbs, cheese, parsley, salt, pepper and hot sauce. Stuff each leaf with crumb-cheese mixture. Place artichokes in a large sausepan and steam in 2 inches of water over low heat for 1 hour or until leaves can be removed easily. During steaming period, occasionally baste artichokes with additional olive oil. Yield: 6 Servings.


The ingredients


The artichokes, washed and trimmed


Stuffed, ready to be steamed


In the steamer basket


All done!

Verdict: While quite tasty, the end result was so NOT worth the effort! This is an involved process and did you know that artichokes have pickers on them?? My thumb is hurting today! I also added some garlic and onion powders. It was delicious but seriously, whatever the grocery store is wanting to charge for stuffed artichokes - pay it. Don't attempt at home! I will NOT be making this again!