Fire Roasted Artichokes

Went for an impromptu trip to Trader Joe's for some milk and eggs and came home $50 poorer... BUT, I did come home with some smallish artichokes. I was immediately inspired to make the roasted artichokes from Claim Jumper that I fell in love with this past week. (As a side note, we went to the Claim Jumper for the first time and it was yummy, a bit more expensive that we are used to, but VERY family friendly. It was a successful evening out.)

Since we were at my mom's house this evening, I didn't use anything from my csa stash or things I had in my fridge. BUT, we did use up my mom's garlic and a bunch of butter. :)

Verdict: *****(**) My mom and sister ate with us and both enjoyed the artichokes.

Comments: I didn't measure precisely and apparently I used too much lemon juice (or it was too lemony) so next time, I would use a lot less. We used dried basil as we had no fresh basil on hand. Also, since we were having ravioli for dinner, we didn't want to fire up the grill JUST for the artichokes, so we faked it with a grill pan. Worked well! I also think that bigger artichokes would have been better/sturdier. The relish was good, but hard to eat with the artichokes with the flimsy leaves. Anyhow, overall a success for everyone.


Fire Roasted Artichokes

Ingredients:
1 large artichoke
1 tablespoon butter, melted

***Roasted Garlic Mayonnaise***
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 head garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
1 dash salt

***Tomato Relish***
1 medium tomato, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon minced onion
2 basil leaves, minced
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 dash ground black pepper

Directions:

Roast the head of garlic by preheating your oven to 325 degrees. Cut the top off of a head of garlic and cut the bottom (the root end) so that the garlic will sit flat. Remove most of the papery skin from the garlic, but leave just enough to hold the garlic together. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the garlic, then place it in a small oven-safe casserole dish.

Cover it with a lid or aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour or until the garlic begins to brown.

While the garlic is roasting prepare the tomato relish by combining all of the ingredients in a small bowl. Stir well, then cover and refrigerate until needed.

Prepare the artichoke by cutting about an inch off the top with a sharp knife. Use scissors to clip the thorny tips off of all the outer leaves so no one gets poked. Cut the artichoke in half down through the middle, then bring some water to a boil in a large saucepan to steam the artichokes.

The water should be a couple inches deep in the pan, but not so much as to cover the artichokes. If you have a steamer, that will work as well. When the water is simmering, add the artichokes, cover, and steam for 40 to 45 minutes or until the artichoke is tender. Preheat your barbecue grill to high heat.

Squeeze about 1 tablespoon of roasted garlic from the head and combine it with the mayo, lemon juice and salt. Stir well.

When the steamed artichokes are cool enough to handle, use a spoon to scrape out the fuzzy choke inside each half. Brush melted butter over the entire surface of each steamed artichoke half and place each half, flat side-down on the preheated grill. Grill for 4 to 6 minutes or until dark charring marks appear on the face of each half. Serve grilled-side-up with tomato relish (strain the liquid from the relish before serving) and roasted garlic mayonnaise on the side.