Artichokes Jewish Style

Title:
Artichokes Jewish Style

Yield:
6 Servings

Categories:
Italian,
Vegetables




Ingredients:





    12    Artichokes; medium, fresh


     2    Lemons; juice and rinds


     2 tb -salt


     1 ts -pepper; freshly ground


     3 c  Olive oil






 Carciofo All Guidia To quote the author, "This is the most famous of all


 Italian Jewish foods. It originated with the Roman Jews, and owes its fame


 to having been served at a restaurant in the Roman ghetto where it was


 discovered and quickly adopted by connoisseurs of excellent food all over


 Europe. Utimately it found its way into many Italian cookbooks, My mother,


 a Jewish woman who was born and raised in Rome, prepared especially


 delicious Carciofi all Guidia (better than you could find in any


 restaurant!). I watched her prepare them, and have prepared them myself,


 practically all my life. Here in my mother's technique in detail"


 


 Trim the artichokes as detailed in "How to clean artichokes- Jewish style"


 and keep them in lemon water till you are ready to use them. "Drain the two


 artichokes and, holding one in each hand by the stem and bottom, gently hit


 the leafy parts against each other until the leaves of one open up a


 little. Place the opened artichoke, bottom up, on a board or a working


 surface. Drain another artichoke from its bath and repeat what you did with


 the first two, and line up the one that opens next to the last one.


 Continue until all the artichokes are opened up. The last one will have to


 be tapped against the board. In a small bowl, combine salt and pepper. Take


 one artichoke at a time and sprinkle all over, including between the


 leaves, with salt and pepper mixture. Heat the oil in a deep earthenware or


 similar saucepan. Cook as many artichokes at a time as fit in one layer


 over moderate heat for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the bottoms and the sides


 are well browned. During the cooking period, sprinkle some cold water over


 the artichokes to produce steam, so that the inside will be cooked, too. To


 do this the authentic way, have a bowl containing cold water near the


 range. Dip your closed fist in the water and then open it forcefully over


 the roasting artichokes. Repeat sprinkling several times. When all the


 artichokes are done, transfer them to a plate, bottom side down to keep the


 moisture in.* Pick them up at the bottom with a fork and dip them, one by


 one in the hot oil again, pressing the leaves to the bottom of the pan. The


 artichokes will open up like roses and the leaves will become golden and


 crisp. Serve immediately.


 


 NOTE: Although traditionally Carciofi alla Giudia are served piping hot,


 they are delicious at room temperature.


 


 *Up to this point you may prepare the artichokes several hours ahead of


 time and keep them, bottom side down, so that they do not lost their


 moisture. Should they become too dry, sprinkle some cold water on them when


 reheating and press the leaves down against the bottom of the pan.


 


 From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini