For our second week of the Fresh Produce Tuesday series, we are featuring another great spring vegetable- artichokes.  Thank you to all of you who submitted your asparagus recipes last week!  If you missed it or have another asparagus-related post you would like to submit, the linky party is still open on the Asparagus link below.  Also, here is the current schedule for the Fresh Produce Tuesday series by week:

Week #1- March 27th: Asparagus
Week #2- April 3rd: Artichokes
Week #3- April 10th: Spring Onions
Week #4- April 17th: Peas
Week #5- April 24th: Garlic Scapes
Week #6- May 1st: Rhubarb

I’ve actually only made fresh artichokes once before, and that was just a couple weeks ago.  I used Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking to learn how to prepare them, how long to boil them and what to serve them with.  The stem needs to be snapped off and the ends of the leaves need to be trimmed with scissors.  The artichokes then need to be boiled uncovered for 35-45 minutes.  I served them warm with her simple red wine vinegar and olive oil vinaigrette poured over them.  Here is how Julia describes what to look for when picking artichokes:

A fresh, desirable artichoke is heavy and compact, with fleshy, closely clinging leaves of a good, green color all the way to the tips.  The stem is also fresh and green.

Even after reading an entire section of Julia’s cookbook, I still think artichokes can be a little intimidating to prepare and to figure out how to eat them.  Here is a helpful article (with pictures) to show you how to cook and eat an artichoke.

For our second Fresh Produce Tuesday, here are some great sounding recipes featuring artichokes:

• Artichoke Dipping Sauce from Average Betty
• Boiled Artichokes with Dijon-Worcestershire Dipping Sauce from cookthink
• Braised Greek Artichoke Bottoms with Lemon and Olive Oil from The New York Times
• Fried Baby Artichokes from Steamy Kitchen
• Grilled Artichokes with Remoulade Sauce from Waltzing in the Kitchen
• Herb Gorgonzola Crusted Artichokes with Parmesan Hollandaise from how sweet it is
• How to Cook Artichokes in the Slow Cooker from the kitchn
• Roasted Baby Artichokes from spoon fork bacon
• Steamed Artichokes with Lemon Butter Sauce from Whole Foods
• Stuffed Artichokes from Allrecipes

Now it’s your turn to share a recipe that you have made which includes artichokes!  Please link up below- the post can be new or old.  Since there are so many great sauces (hollandaise, a homemade mayonnaise, etc) that could be served with artichokes, we would love to see some of those recipes as well even if the post isn’t specifically about artichokes.  It would be great if you could link back to 2 Sisters 2 Cities or add our button to your artichokes post (our button can be found in the right-hand column), but it is not required.  Please link up even if your recipe is similar to one of the recipes posted above- it’s always great to see various pictures of a dish.  If you don’t have a blog, feel free to try out any of these recipes and/or click the “like” link on any that sounds particularly appetizing to you!