Artichokes & easy homemade mayo

Preparing and enjoying delicious food is probably our number one priority in life. We’re both retired, we’re both avid cooks and we both have hearty appetites. Damn, we eat well. The biggest disappointments usually involve restaurants!

The artichokes were in abundance at the farmers market this morning. We brought home these big boys for dinner tonight. I trimmed them up, doused with lemon juice and steamed the artichokes upside down for about 35 minutes. When they are cool, I’ll pry apart that middle section and scoop out the choke (the inedible part).

UPDATE: For such large artichokes, 35 minutes wasn’t enough time. They were delicious but slightly under. Next time I’ll cook them for 45 minutes or try the Instant Pot.

If you are unfamiliar with artichokes, you pull off a leaf and scrape the “meat” off with your teeth. When all the leaves are gone, you’re left with the heart, which is a disc-shaped bit of artichoke flesh that might be the best part.

Most of us like to dip the leaves and the heart in some sort of sauce. We like homemade mayonnaise. I’ve been making mayonnaise for years with many failures. It seems like the whisk of the food processor isn’t wide enough to fully emulsify the ingredients. I annotated the recipe below after one miserable experience.

Enter one of our favorite food guys, Kenji. I’ve adapted his recipe just a smidgen, and it’s amazing. So easy. But as always, you need the right tool, which in this case is an immersion blender that comes with its own blending cup. I suppose there are other ways to do it, but the blender head needs to fit snugly in the cup.

A big artichoke is filling enough to spoil dinner, but light enough I still want more. This is kind of decadent, but Dale is making shrimp cocktails to go with! Maybe some wine? I usually pick out the wine. With apologies to Tolkien, Dale started calling me the Silmarillion because we can never pronounce Sommelier.

A white or dry rosé? I’m just a Silmarillion with no real wine expertise. I make it up as I go.

Easy Mayonnaise

Homemade mayonnaise is an unparalleled treat. This is the easiest way to make it that I know of. It’s hard to mess it up. You will need an immersion blender with the blending cup that comes with it. I’ve adapted this recipe from Two-Minute Mayonnaise by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt at Serious Eats.
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Ingredients
  

  • 1 Whole Egg
  • 1 Tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
  • 1 Tsp Dijon Mustard
  • 1 Clove Garlic (Minced)
  • 1/2-1 Cup Vegetable Oil
  • 1/3-1/2 Cup Olive Oil
  • Kosher Salt

Instructions
 

  • Put the egg, lemon juice and mustard in the bottom of the blending cup. Add the garlic (optional) and pour the oil on top. Let it sit for 15 seconds or so. 
  • Using the attachment with the mixing blade (not the whisk), place the head of the immersion blender at the bottom of the cup. Turn the speed on high. Do not pulse or move the head. As the mayonnaise forms, slowly tilt and lift the head of the immersion blender until all the oil is emulsified. 
  • If you want basic mayonnaise, use one full cup of the vegetable oil. Add salt to taste, and you're done. You can do the same with all olive oil, although some people find it bitter.
    If you want to experiment with a stronger flavor, you can mix oils to your taste and make the mayonnaise per the instructions.
    If you are worried about bitterness, make the mayonnaise using 1/2 cup of vegetable oil and transfer the emulsified mayonnaise to a bowl. Slowly whisk in 1/3 to 1/2 cup of olive oil. Go slow and stop when you like the taste. Add salt to taste.
  • Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

7 thoughts on “Artichokes & easy homemade mayo”

  1. The artichokes are really great right now. Do you have the guy from Watsonville with artichokes at your farmers market? His are the best. Enjoyed your blog.

    1. Hi Chris! Thanks for visiting. I don’t think these are from Watsonville, but I will be on the lookout next time. We used to live in Morgan Hill, which is not all that far from Watsonville. For some reason, I just have a fondness for that town. We used to stop in to buy artichokes off the side of the road.

  2. We always loved artichokes as kids which I guess sounds weird. My grandmother always did them in her big ole cast aluminum pressure cooker. They always came out great and we ate them with mayonnaise, too.

    Have you thought about using your instant pot?

    1. I just read about cooking artichokes in the Instant Pot and will probably try it next time. I added an update to the post — 35 minutes for big artichokes wasn’t enough. They were yummy but slightly under. I’d stick with 45 minutes. That is, unless I go the IP route!

  3. I’ve thought about making my own mayonnaise but never seem to try it. I’m going to give this a try. I already have the immersion blender so no excuse!!!

    1. I can’t believe how easy it is with the immersion blender. My cup recently cracked, and I bought this as a replacement:

      I haven’t used it yet, but it’s about the same size and should work well. Good luck!

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