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Artichokes with Hot Garlicky Melted Butter

Source of Recipe

From "Cravings: All Together" by Chrissy Teigen


Recipe Introduction

"Steamed artichokes! Oh my goodness, you make these once and you will never stop because the dirty little secret is how laughably easy they are to prepare. Fun to eat, too—once they're cooked in their lemony garlicky broth, you get to pluck off individual petals from the artichoke, dip them in garlic butter (or mayo, or Wishbone, or anything else you want!), then scrape the luscious veggie velvet off with your teeth before discarding the leaf and starting all over again...and then you get to the meaty heart and go to town. They're first-course dinner party-worthy, but also a perfect sort of light lunch kind of a meal that will satisfy you without weighing you down."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 4 large artichokes
â—¦ 1 lemon
â—¦ ½ cup dry white wine (optional)
â—¦ 1 dried bay leaf
â—¦ 10 whole black peppercorns
â—¦ 5 garlic cloves
â—¦ 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
â—¦ 2 teaspoons Sriracha or Cholula hot sauce, plus more to taste
â—¦ ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning


Recipe

Make sure you have a steamer basket that fits into a pot (a metal colander also works) that has a tight-fitting lid. Place an artichoke on a cutting board and trim off the top ½ inch with a sharp knife. Peel off and discard any loose, dried bottom leaves. Use scissors to trim just the thorny tips off the remaining leaves. Repeat with the remaining artichokes.

Halve the lemon, then cut one half into thin semi-rounds and the other half into four wedges. Place the lemon slices in the pot and add about 2 cups of water along with the wine (if using), bay leaf, peppercorns, and two of the garlic cloves. Place the steamer basket in the pot; it's okay if the liquid comes up into the baskets a bit. Bring the liquid to a boil over high heat, then add the artichokes to the steamer basket, reduce the heat to low, cover, and steam until the artichokes are tender and a leaf pulls off easily from the inner part of the artichoke, 40 to 45 minutes.

During the last 10 minutes of the steaming, warm the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until melted. Mince the remaining 3 garlic cloves and add to the butter; cook, stirring often, until fragrant and the garlic has softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the 2 teaspoons hot sauce and ¼ teaspoon salt, and cover to keep warm.

Remove the artichokes from the steamer. Uncover and whisk the butter until well blended, and serve each artichoke with 2 tablespoons of the garlic butter and a lemon wedge.

To eat the artichokes, pull off individual leaves and scrape the meaty flesh off the bottom with your teeth. Once you get to the artichoke center, pull off the more papery leaves surrounding the choke (the hairy, fuzzy part) and remove the choke with a spoon, making sure to reserve the artichoke heart sitting just beneath. Savor that heart and stem!

Serves 4