Fried Artichokes

Hey there, before my relocation to Italy I'd never think that this kind of flowers, that looks like a huge thistle, would become one of my favourite dishes. Artichokes are actually flowers, not vegetable as we take them for, but in order to eat them you won't wait for them to flourish.

During my trips around the world I had a chance to see that in many nations they really use artichokes as flowers, I saw them among the ornamental compositions and that seem to be a great waste for me.... that's why I even don't have a picture of the artichoke flowers :-)
Usually we find artichokes in a preserved version, as a starter or parts of various salads. Not so many people outside Italy know how wonderfully tasty they are if you FRY them!!!
Artichokes are rich in minerals, vitamins and even used for medical purposes: they act as a diuretic, improve liver function, have antioxidant capacity, reduce cholesterol and aid digestion. Here in Italy we even have a liqueur called Cynar, this can be used on the rocks as an aperitif or as a part of the Negroni Cocktail (1/3 gin, 1/3 red Vermouth, 1/3 Campari), substituting Cynar instead of Campari.

INGREDIENTS:
Servings: 2

2 round artichokes
1 lemon
For batter:
 2 eggs
1/2 glass beer
flour
salt
peanut oil (sunflower, corn, soy...)  

1. How to choose a good artichoke? 
There are many varieties of artichokes but I prefer the round ones that we call here "Romanesco", Roman. You need to choose one that is green in colour, compact and has the petals tightly stuck one to another. Don't take them if the artichokes started to bud, even a bit, if you feel them being "loose" as you touch them! In this case they will result in being woody... In fact the big one from the picture was not so tender when I cooked it couple of days later. This time I cooked only those smaller ones.
2. How to prepare artichokes for cooking? 
   1) Wash the artichoke
   2) Prepare a lemon cut in halves.
   3) Cut the stem 2-3 cm to the base of the artichoke and leave it aside, you can peel it later and cook as it's eatable and has the same taste as the artichoke itself.

   4) Start ripping the petals off one by one starting from the bottom. From time to time pass the lemon over the artichoke to prevent from browning. You need to rip as many petals as it's necessary to see the lighter colour of them.  
   5) Cut off the top of the artichoke with a sharp knife. And refine the petals in a spiral way.
  6) Rub the lemon over the artichoke.

  

7) Cut the artichoke in halves. 

  8) In the centre of any flower there are the stamens and even artichoke has them but they are too hard and prickly to be eaten so we need to remove them.  
  9) Try to cut the tops of the inner petals as they also result in being prickly. I usually cut them as a little triangle... And that's it, we have our artichoke clean and ready to be cooked!

3. Let's go back to cooking as the toughest part is over!!!
Now we need to prepare the batter. My version of it is based on cold beer. So you need to mix the eggs with some flour and salt, then add beer, if you see that the batter results in being too liquid add some more flour. The beer needs to be really cold as this help the crispiness. The batter shouldn't be smooth, it may have some grumps in it, this way it will be crispier.
4. Cut the artichoke in thin slices and gradually emerge them into the batter, fry them in the hot oil, not many at a time, they will be crunchier like this and will cook faster.
5. Drain the artichoke slices and place them on the brown paper to remove the excess of the oil. Salt them a bit.     

 

Serve them immediately, while still hot!

 

Note: you may season the fried artichokes with lemon juice.