QUESTION : How do you preserve fresh artichokes ? I ca n’t wangle all the globe artichoke I ’m harvest from my garden . What can I do with them ? -Kim R.
ANSWER : Artichokes do n’t last very long at all in the icebox — just three to five sidereal day — so if your garden has produced more artichokes than your family can eat , you may be looking for ways to preserve them so they do n’t go to waste . After all , you ca n’t just leave them on the flora until you ’re ready to deplete them , or you take a chance your tasty vegetable becoming beautiful flowers or else of rest tasty and edible . Luckily , there are plenty of way to preserve your artichokes so you may use them when it ’s commodious for you .
freeze down your surplus globe artichoke is the most coarse way to preserve them . However , before you may freeze your artichokes , first you must parboil them to stop the action at law of the enzymes they contain that will turn the pulp biting in the deep freezer if the Cynara scolymus are frozen bare-assed . First , wash your artichokes good . Because they ’ve been out in the garden , the nooks and cranny in their bract could be holding dirt , rubble , or even insects , so check that to really get them clean .
slice up off the stem , making the base of the bulb straight and level . Then use clean kitchen shears to trim the crown off of the globe artichoke you require to freeze , take an inch or so from the thorny point at the top . Then clip off a third of an inch from each individual leaf around the outside of the artichoke plant . Stop here to give your artichokes another rinse for honorable measure . With some of their foliation and mass removed , the piddle will be well able to flow through the bract . After the artichoke has dried somewhat , rub any exposed aerofoil with a cut Citrus limon to give up the oxidation process that leads to discoloration .
Next , bring a pot of water with lemon juice add to it for flavor to a rolling furuncle , and add the Cynara scolymus you ’re going to freeze to the pot . The objective is to cook them part , not all , so shoot for al dente — about 20 moment will work on for an median size of artichoke . Keep the water just under boiling temperature while the artichokes are in the quite a little , and quash throw away in too many at a time and overcrowd the pot . If the artichoke plant are too swot up in , none of them will get cook well enough .
After the artichokes are partially cooked , remove them from the H2O with a slotted spoonful , and move them to a colander or drying stand to drain upside down . Once they ’re dry , you may place them on a tray ( still pointed upside down ) and put them in the coldest part of the deep-freeze to flash halt . When the artichoke are nicely wintry , transplant them to a more lasting position , such as freezer safe zip fastener bags or charge card food for thought storage container .
When you ’re quick to enjoy your rooted artichokes , remove them from the freezer and let them unthaw . Then wrap them tightly in Al hydrofoil , and rate the hydrofoil packages on a steaming wheel above a great deal of boiling pee . overcompensate the pot , and steam the globe artichoke until they ’re cooked the rest of the manner through ( 25 minutes on ordinary ) .
Of course , stop dead your artichokes is n’t the only way to preserve them . The choice below offer a spectrum of ways to put away your surplus artichokes so you’re able to delight them at your leisure time . Some of these methods only buy you a few more daylight to consume the artichokes you ’ve conserve , while other allow the artichoke to last much longer — up to 10 long time .
