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Fried Artichokes
Wash, trim, and boil the artichokes as directed in recipe previous for boiling. Remove the chokes and the outer leaves, leaving only the most tender. Cut them into about a dozen pieces, then dip them in batter, fry in hot oil or dripping until they are lightly browned, drain, and serve with fried parsley. Time to fry, five or six minutes.
A simple fritto of globe artichokes, written on the assumption that you already have boiled artichokes to hand. The one thing that will make or break it is getting the artichokes properly dry before they meet the batter.
- Which artichokeThese are globe artichokes, not Jerusalem artichokes. The recipe does not say how many; two large or three medium globes would give roughly the dozen pieces described, enough for two to three as a side dish.
- The boiling stepBoil trimmed globes in salted, acidulated water 25-40 minutes depending on size, until a leaf pulls away without resistance and the base takes a knife tip easily. Drain them upside down so water does not sit in the cavity.
- Choke and leavesScrape out the fuzzy choke with a spoon and strip the tough outer leaves down to the pale tender ones. What you want in the pan is heart, tender inner leaves and the trimmed stem; anything fibrous stays fibrous after frying.
- Dry before batteringBoiled artichokes hold a surprising amount of water. Pat every piece dry and leave them to air a few minutes, or the batter will slide off and the oil will spit.
- BatterThe book gives no batter recipe. A plain frying batter suits: roughly 1 cup flour, a pinch of salt and about 3/4 cup water, milk or beer whisked to the thickness of heavy cream. It should coat a piece and drip slowly, not cling in a lump.
- Dripping and oilDripping is rendered beef or pork fat and gives a good flavour here; any neutral oil with a high smoke point works as well. The book gives no temperature; "hot" is usually taken today as about 350-375F, and the five to six minutes the recipe specifies suits already-cooked pieces.
- Fried parsleyFry small dry sprigs of flat or curly parsley in the same fat for 10-20 seconds, until the sizzling stops and the colour deepens. Wet parsley will erupt in hot fat, so dry it thoroughly and add it a few sprigs at a time.
- ServingSalt the pieces as they come out of the fat and serve at once with lemon wedges. Fried artichokes go limp within minutes of sitting.