I love artichokes (aka garlic butter delivery mechanism)

Harvesting seeds from the artichokes I let go to seed last year. I hope it's not too late to start the seeds for this year. Notice the difference between the infertile pieces on the left and the two fully developed seeds in the middle. Be careful if you try this, because you could get the worst splinter ever from something on this plant. I think I still have a little irritating piece in my thumb, but it is all worth it for fresh artichokes.  I learned last year that artichokes do come back from the root left from the previous year and the second year was way more productive for me - possibly because I added worm tea.

To cook artichokes, I cut off the smallest end of the stem I can, and then steam in a large pot with a steamer basket for about 30 minutes (longer for larger artichokes). For the sauce, when I was little we used mustard mixed with mayo, which I absolutely loved, but now I prefer garlic butter. Mince fresh garlic and brown in butter over a medium low heat with a dash or four of salt. Any leftover garlic butter can be refrigerated for future recipes.

To eat artichokes, come over to my house and I'll cook them for you. Or, serve one to each person, or cut in half if they are large. Pull off one leaf at a time, dip in sauce, and use your teeth to scrape off the flesh from the inside of the leaf. Keep doing this until you get to the very center where the leaves are very soft - you can pull these all off at once and nibble off the tender ends. Then comes the best part: scoop out all of the furry center with a spoon until the artichoke heart is smooth and concave, dip in sauce and eat, stem and all!

Using what I've got

Saw this in a book this weekend and decided to try it for breakfast on Sunday. I used from my organic garden: red ruffle bell peppers, one little tomato, a tomatillo and cilantro (basically picked everything clean). The leeks and cabbage were from Muir Ranch and the celery was from Vons. All organic, except maybe the eggs.

So, the way the picture looked in the book was mostly red bell peppers and onions, but since my pepper harvest was not yet bountiful and I had no onions on hand I improvised by adding in the other veggies to fill the pan. I sauteed all of the veggies together in a teaspoon or so of garlic butter I had left from the last time I made artichokes, and then I added in a tablespoon of olive oil and some salt. Once the veggies were soft, I cracked the eggs right on top and it looks absolutely delicious, which it was, but it would have been even better if I had left the eggs just a little runny. I put a lid on at the end to speed up the process and that completely cooked the eggs. I'll try it again and let you know.

@MuirRanch #sustainable #organic #eatlocal