Eatwell Farmhouse Kitchen

Yesterday I was reading “An Everlasting Meal” by Tamar Adler which always inspires me to use every bit of a food ingredient, turning peels and trimmed stalks or stems into soups etc.  Then I switched to “The New Book of Middle Eastern Food” by Claudia Roden where I found a recipe for Artichokes and Preserved Lemons with Honey Spices.  Both of these women inspired me to make something different with our Artichokes.  Here is what I came up with.  It was so good I can’t wait to eat the leftovers for lunch today.

All the Artichokes from this week’s share
2-3 TB good Olive Oil
1 stalk Green Garlic, trim the very top and the bottom then chop
1 TB Honey
1 tsp grated fresh Ginger
1 tsp Turmeric
1 Lemon
1 cup Water
2 cups Vegetable Stock or Chicken Stock
1 tsp Eatwell Farm Smoked Chili
Freshly ground Black Pepper, to taste
Cream or Creme Friache, optional

In a medium saucepan heat the olive oil over medium high heat, add the garlic, ginger and turmeric.  Mix well and cook a quick minute or two.  Add the honey, water, juice from the lemon and then toss in the juiced lemon.  Continue cooking on low while preparing the artichokes.  Trim the bottom stem and cut at least 1/3 of the top portion of the artichokes.  Remove the really tough outer leaves.  Quarter the artichokes and remove any of the fuzzy choke from the center if there is any.  Add them to the pot and cook on a low simmer, covered for a good 20 minutes or so until really tender.  Remove the lemons, then put everything else into a blender or food processor and puree until completely blended.  To remove fibers from the artichoke leaves, strain through a fine mesh sieve back into the pot.  Add the stock and salt and cook over medium heat, a low simmer, not a boil, for another 15 minutes.  You can add cream or creme fraiche if you want, or keep it lighter and don’t.  I added about a cup of cream to the soup and just warmed it, but a dollop of creme fraiche in the soup bowl would also be delicious!