Pickled Artichokes

So, a day after those last artichoke photos, it got very windy.  The top-heavy plant fell over and I had to harvest all the buds at once.  That was a dozen of a decent size and several tiny ones.  Still too many to eat before they dried out, so I decided to preserve them for later.

It did make me nervous how few boiling-water canning recipes for artichokes there are online, and none in my canning cookbooks, but you find them in glass jars at the market all the time, so pressure-canning must not be necessary if you add enough acid.  The recipe I chose from the Washington Post had a lengthy description of safe canning practices and the bonus of using the number of artichokes I had in the bag.

All the work in this is in the prep.  You prep the jar set-up, you prep the brine, and you spend an unfortunate amount of time prepping the artichokes.  It's not your imagination; no one likes trimming artichokes.  They stain your hands, you have to keep them immersed in acidulated water, and if your knife slips you end up bleeding.  This is why they cost so much.  Once you've done it yourself, you will never complain about the price in the market again.

*4 lemons
*9 medium or 15 baby artichokes
1/4 C plus 3 tsp kosher salt
1 C distilled vinegar, more as needed
*1/4 C white wine vinegar
1/4 C mild olive oil, more as needed
*1 Tb dried oregano
3/4 tsp red pepper flakes
*3 cloves garlic, peeled and root ends trimmed
3 1" strips lemon zest

1.  Peel off the lemon zest strips from the whole lemons and set aside for Step 5.  Halve and juice the lemons.  Toss spent rinds in a large nonreactive saucepan.  Fill pot about 3" deep with cold water.  Strain pulp from juice and reserve juice for Step 4.

2.  Trim the artichokes.  Start by pulling off the leaves, letting them snap where they naturally break.  This will get you down to the tender, yellow leaves in the middle.  Use a sharp knife to peel off the base of the leaves, leaving as much of the "meat" as possible.  Trim off the stem base.  Cut off top 1/3 of leaves.  Cut bud in half to reveal choke.  Scoop out the fine hairs and any thorny pink leaves with a melon baller or tomato corer.  If artichoke is on the large side, cut again into quarters.  Toss result in the saucepan so it doesn't discolor and move onto the next.  Repeat until all buds are stripped, about 1 hour.

3.  Add 1/4 C salt to the pot.  Bring to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer.  Cook until fork-tender, about 10 minutes.  Remove from heat.

4.  While that's going on, make the pickling marinade.  Place lemon juice, both vinegars, oil, oregano, and pepper flakes in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat.

5.  Prepare three pint jars, rings, and lids.  (For non-canning, you can drain the artichokes after Step 3 and boil them with the brine, lemon peel, and garlic in Step 4, refrigerate, and be done.)  Set up a pot for water-bath canning.  Into each sterilized pint jar, place 1 clove of garlic, one lemon peel, and 1 tsp of kosher salt.

6.  Drain the artichoke pot and discard the lemon halves.  With a slotted spoon, pack the jars with the prepared artichoke hearts, starting with the smallest pieces on the bottom.  My artichokes must have been smaller than the ones at the WaPo, because I only got 2 pints.  Not disappointed, since everything in this recipe was either home-grown or something I already had on hand.  It would be quite expensive if you were starting with nothing.  Whisk the marinade and divide evenly between the jars.  Run a clean chopstick or thin knife around the edges to dislodge any air bubbles.  If there isn't enough marinade to cover the artichokes, add a touch more oil and vinegar, up to 1/2" headspace.  I had some left over because of my lower yield, so I kept it as a version of Italian dressing.

7.  Wipe rims with a vinegar-soaked paper towel to remove all traces of oil.  Fit on warm lids, secure rims finger-tight, and process for 15 minutes in the boiling water bath.  Turn off heat and allow to sit in the pot for 10 minutes, to reduce the risk of siphoning.  Carefully remove to a toweled surface and wait for the ping.  Any jars that do not seal within 4 hours should be refrigerated immediately.  Allow the rest to cool to room temperature.  Remove rims and test seals.  Wipe jars, date, and store.  They need to marinate for at least one month before opening (or one month in the fridge).  Jars are good for one year, refrigerated for three months.

Yield 3 pints

Difficulty level  $@%!