For those of you living in the San Francisco Bay Area, as I do, you may have noticed that our spring produce season has been off to a VERY slow start. Today, April 7, we have just begun to see our typical spring produce grown within 50 miles of the San Francisco Bay Area coming to market. Asparagus, artichokes, green garlic, spring onions, and fava beans (all favorites that indicate that spring is officially here) are not yet available — at least not in the abundance we are used to.

Artichokes have just started to appear, coming from the Monterey area. I thought I’d give everyone some great recipe options (beyond steaming) to use when the season actually comes around.

Using fresh artichoke hearts, as opposed to the jarred and marinated varieties, is a great way to incorporate them into your everyday spring cooking. This technique does involve a fair amount of waste (compost), as the leaves are removed and discarded (unless you care to steam the leaves and enjoy them with your favorite dip). For this method, I suggest you look for large artichokes with large stems (as noted in the photos).

To deconstruct an artichoke, first prepare a bowl of cold acidulated water (with cut lemons) to store your work and keep the artichokes from discoloring due to oxidation. This will naturally occur regardless of how quickly you work, but this step will reduce the amount of discoloration. Next, remove the leaves until you are down to the lighter colored leaves and the edges of the heart are exposed. Next, carefully use a paring knife to trim the stem and the green parts around the heart, which are bitter. Using a serrated knife, trim the tops off the artichokes to expose the inner thistles. Using a tablespoon, dig out the thistles and expose the firm, inner heart. Quickly transfer the heart to the lemon-water. Lastly, cutting from the end of the stem down, cut the hearts into wedges. Store the wedges in the lemon-water until ready to prepare.

I will be offering two recipes in the coming days: Braised Pork, White Bean and Artichoke Stew and Tuscan Fried Artichokes — both a great use of the cleaned artichoke hearts as we have described. Stay tuned…