Martini Artichokes

These artichokes take on all the gin-y goodness of their braising liquid, and come out tender and caramelized. Dunk the leaves in the olive and cocktail onion infused mayo and you’ve gone straight to Martini heaven.

Artichokes
2 artichokes
3 tbsp olive oil
6 cloves of garlic
1 tsp juniper berries
1 tsp coriander seed
Juice and peel of 1 lemon
1/4 cup Gin
1/2 cup Dry Vermouth
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Olive & Cocktail Onion Mayo
6 cloves of roasted garlic (from above)
1/3 cup pickled cocktail onions
1/3 cup pitted green olives
1/4 cup mayo
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp olive juice
1/2 tsp salt

TL;DR

• Preheat oven to 425

• Trim and halve artichokes. Leave the choke in.

• Drizzle 2 Tbsp olive oil into a glass roasting pan. Place the artichokes cut side down onto to oiled pan and use them to rub the oil around evenly.

• Lightly crush the juniper berries and coriander seeds and add to the roasting pan.

• Peel and crush the garlic cloves and add to the pan.

• Use a peeler or paring knife to remove pithy strips of rind from the lemon. Express the oil across the artichokes and drop the rinds into the pan.

• Halve the remaining lemon and squeeze the juice into the pan.

• Add the Gin and Dry Vermouth into the pan along with the salt, pepper and remaining 1 Tbsp of olive oil.

• Roast for around 1 hour or until all liquid has evaporated and artichokes are nicely browned on the cut side.

• Make the mayo; once the artichokes have roasted for at least 30 minutes, remove the garlic cloves and add them to a blender or food processor with the rest of the mayo ingredients. Blend until very smooth.

The Deets

This recipe takes all the flavors from a Gin Martini (is there any other kind?) and infuses them into earthy and fragrant artichokes to create a truly delightful medley, best enjoyed with a side of a dirty Martini.

To begin, find the absolute best 2 artichokes you can. Look (or rather sniff) for that intoxicating and particular artichoke-y smell to guarantee big flavor. The first step to this recipe is to preheat the oven to 425º. Then we can turn our attention to the ‘chokes. First we trim; cut the top inch off with a sharp knife and then use kitchen shears to cut the pointy end off all the remaining leaves. Trim the stem and then slice the whole thing in half.

I like to leave the chokes of the ‘chokes in, because they are much easier to remove at the table, once the artichokes are cooked. But if you have fussy or non-choke-literate guests, feel free to scoop them out now.

Pull out your most well loved, or easiest to clean baking dish. And I mean it. Don’t use a cute baking dish because this recipe really burns out the pan. You want something with high sides (at least 2 inches) that won’t make you go ballistic when it is covered in a layer of burned on grease. This mess is totally worth it, but using a glass Pyrex or similar instead of your fancy ceramic pan will save you a lot of elbow grease.

Drizzle 2 (of the 3) tbsp of extra virgin olive oil into the baking pan. Plop your artichokes in there, cut side down and use them to rub the oil around so it is evenly distributed. Then you need to go about prepping all the martini inspired aromatics that will go into this braising liquid. Lightly crush the 1 tsp of juniper berries and 1 tsp of whole coriander seed. I like to do this in a small mortar and pestle, but you could also do it on your cutting board with the side of your knife, or the bottom of a jar. Sprinkle the crushed aromatics into the baking dish.

Peel and crush 6 cloves of garlic and add them to the pan as well. You want to just give these cloves a very light crush with the side of your knife, just to break open the outer paper so it is easier to remove. You will be fishing these cloves out of the pan, after it has roasted, to add to your mayo, so you don’t want them to fall apart.

Have you been at a fancy cocktail bar and seen the bartender take a big wide, pithy strip of rind off of a lemon, and then squeeze it over your drink? They do this to squeeze the fragrant and delightful citrus oils out of the rind and onto the surface of the cocktail. Martinis are often garnished with a twist, so taking this technique and applying it here is my homage to that.

So, grab a peeler, or a paring knife, and remove strips of rind from your 1 lemon, from tip to tip, all the way around. You should have around 6 strips. Hold 1 of the strips of lemon rind balanced between your fingers and thumb, with the shiny side pointed towards the baking dish. Now squish! By bringing your fingers and thumb together you should be causing the rind to bend outward, and the citrus oils to spray across the artichokes in the baking dish. Repeat this with all the strips, and then drop the strips themselves into the baking dish. Cut the peeled lemon in half and squeeze all the juice, from both halves, into the baking dish as well.

Pour the 1/4 cup Gin and 1/2 cup Dry Vermouth into the baking dish as well, along with the 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper. Then drizzle the remaining 1 tbsp of olive oil over the artichokes, making sure to get it directly onto the backs, and between the leaves of the artichokes.

Now pop the whole baking dish into the oven and roast for around 1 hour. Depending on your oven and the size of your artichokes, the cook time can vary, but start checking at around 45 minutes. Once you see all the liquid has evaporated, you can use tongs to check the cut side of the artichokes. You are looking for browning and caramelization. As I said before, your pan will get all scary and burn-y looking, but really, let it keep going until you see that caramelization on the cut side of the artichokes. Its worth it, and with a good soak, the burn-y will come off your pan. If you notice your garlic is starting to brown too much, you can pull it early, around 30 minutes or later.

Once you have pulled your roasted garlic cloves, you can make the mayo! Combine the 6 roasted cloves of garlic with the 1/3 cup pickled cocktail onions, 1/3 cup pitted green olives, 1/4 cup mayo, 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 1 tbsp olive juice and 1/2 tsp salt in a blender or really powerful food processor. Blend until this is very smooth. I find a blender works better for this, but I haven’t met your food processor. You know your tools.

Serve these artichokes with the mayo as a dipping sauce. We like to eat it along side a small steak, some lightly creamed spinach and a dirty martini.