Artichoke Hearts?!
Answers: Are artichoke hearts good? Can you compare the taste to something I might be familiar with?
I love artichoke hearts!
You can buy them frozen or in cans (usually marinated) but the best way to eat them is fresh and steamed. The ones that are prepared in a can or frozen just don't taste like a real artichoke heart. Making your own is a bit of a process, but well worth it. They are truly unusual.
They are part of the thistle family. Nothing else quite tastes like an artichoke. It's sort of nutty and earthy tasting for a vegetable. Maybe asparagus is the closest thing I can think of in terms of flavor.
Take a fresh artichoke (make sure it is green and everything looks fresh (the stem is clean and there are no major spots on it.).
Rinse it in the sink carefully (the artichoke leaves have spines that are sharp...be careful!)
I lay the artichoke on a cutting board and cut about 1/4 to 1/3 of the top off. Then I take kitchen shears and trim the sharp spikes off the other leaves. I cut off the stem and cut off the bad end of it (you can throw the good part of the stem into the pot to steam with the rest of the artichoke...it is edible)
Place the artichoke in a steamer basket in a pot with enough water on the bottom to steam it (about an inch). I cover the pot and turn the heat to medium high to high and set the timer for 20 minutes. After steaming 20 minutes, I check to be sure the water level is okay (refill if needed). I steam another 20 minutes. If the artichoke is small, 40 minutes is enough. If it's large, it may take an hour.
When you can poke the bottom easily with a fork, it's ready.
The house will smell like artichoke! Yum!
Then I take it out carefully, and pull the leaves off one by one (you can dip them in melted butter...some people like mayo, but I prefer butter). Just scrape the bottom of the leaf with your teeth. It's just a bit to eat on each leaf.
You can also eat the stem if you steamed it. It's fibrous, but tasty. You can dip it in the butter too.
When you are finished with the leaves, cut off the top of the artichoke carefully. The heart is right under those thistle-like hairs. Throw all those parts away (the hairs and top). The heart is small but very tasty. My 2 year old son fights me for it! I usually cut it in quarters and dip it into a little butter. So delicious!
Try this some time. It's worth it for a culinary treat!
they are very good, i dont know what to compare them to
they are awesome...but ...wow...hard to compare to anything.......kinda their own thing....MAYBE....spinache
i really cant compare..but they are outof this world...i buy them in a jar from the super market, and put they in salads, cook with chicken, paninis, etc.
Really good. But, can't compare with any particular flavor. Really good in a green salad with a hot bacon vinegarette.
It's hard to compare them exactly to anything as they have their own unique flavor. I guess the best description is to that of spinach but with a more pleasant flavor.
I like to eat mine plain (after the thistles have been scraped off) with ranch dip. Some mix theirs into salad and others even just throw it away after eating the artichoke leaves.
Yum! Put them in my salad!
you know i happen to absolutly love those hearts but that is about the only heart i would eat imagine a human heart ewwwww nibble nibble nibble!!!! :P
Yes they are very good. I would describe the taste of a plain, cooked one as kind of nutty. Most people dip them in melted butter or mayo. MMMM good! You can also buy them canned or marinated in a jar. These are used mainly for recipes like artichoke dip etc.
mmmm. they're fantastic!!
If you ever eaten pasta, el dente, with extra virgin olive oil, capers, artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes and fresh parmasian you'll never go back to drowning it in tomatoe sauce. Or a green salad with artichoke hearts and heart of palms, mmmmmmmmm
No, I can't think of ANYthing to compare them to. It's like asking what watermelon or fish tastes like (in case you don;t know they taste like watermelon or fish...)
PS Don't buy the cheapest ones if you are just trying them. Go to a good Italian restaurant and get a pasta dish, or an antipasto salad.
I am a Californian and we grow lots of artichokes here. So, I grew up eating artichokes and love them. Artichoke hearts have a citrusy/nutty flavor. Their flavor isn't very strong and should be offensive. There are lots of things you can do with them, too. I love them in a frittata with gruyere cheese and thyme. The whole artichoke is delicious grilled or steamed. Italians like to stuff them or deep fry them too.
Yes Delicious
compare ???
Avocados
Asparagus
???
The best way to know buy one!!!
Clip the little thorns off
boil
then strip the leaves one by one and scrap the meat at the center with your teeth - - - you will KNOW instantly if you enjoy it ...
there are many dips from melted butter - - mayonnaise or spicy stuff..
after the leaves are gone your looking at the fuzz or choke
scoop them out with a spoon and indulge the heart..
They are delicious. If you have them fresh & steamed, the parts that you eat are kinda creamy like avocado(dip them in butter). If you have them marinated in a jar, they have a slightly pickled taste & you can eat the entire leaf.
To me, if they are eaten by themselves they do not have much taste. I think it is the sauce that is poured over them, or that they are dipped into that makes them tasty.
In non-marinated form, they taste something like asparagus but are not as sweet. These are a thistle BTW. If you give a cow a choice between clover and thistles, even though the thistle's have barbs on them, they will eat the thistles in a field first-They must be good, eh? These have many applications in recipes. In the Marinated form from the jar-just give me a fork and a loaf of french bread and I am in heaven.
ew gross
Grosssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!!...
Artichoke Hearts