Artichoke Stock
I ate some artichokes (mine all mine... Brad doesn't like them) and decided to try out making artichoke stock from the trimmed leaves. It always seems a waste to put them into the compost pile without extracting the artichoke goodness out of them first. I didn't see a LOT of information about making them into stock, though there's an artichoke soup recipe floating around that uses artichoke stock mixed with chicken stock.
Anyhow, this made a surprisingly balanced stock for a single-ingredient vegetable stock. There's a hint of the bitter note that artichokes have (especially in the stems) but it's mostly pleasantly vegetal with the sweet aftertaste you get from them. It had the same effect upon drinking milk after eating it of turning it sweet, though not as pronounced as after eating an actual artichoke.
I cooked some up with arborio (not as a risotto, more as soft rice since I just threw it all into the rice cooker with extra broth) and while the texture came out a bit mushy because I used a little too much stock, the flavor was very nice. I think this would make a good base stock for a true risotto. (Especially if adding artichoke hearts to it, yum.)
I like artichokes with mushrooms so this would be a good base for a mushroom risotto or soup, too.
Update: I looked up the artichoke sweetness thing, and apparently artichokes have chemicals similar to miraculin, the chemical in miracle fruit that makes acidic foods taste sweet, that modify your tongue to taste sweetness after eating them. It is unlike miraculin in that some people taste increased bitterness instead of sweetness, and more people do not notice any difference at all. Also, acid seems to neutralize the effect. Cooking can also break it down, which would explain why it was not pronounced in my stock. Anyhow, it's an interesting effect and I wonder if it could be used for a safe sweetener?
Anyhow, this made a surprisingly balanced stock for a single-ingredient vegetable stock. There's a hint of the bitter note that artichokes have (especially in the stems) but it's mostly pleasantly vegetal with the sweet aftertaste you get from them. It had the same effect upon drinking milk after eating it of turning it sweet, though not as pronounced as after eating an actual artichoke.
I cooked some up with arborio (not as a risotto, more as soft rice since I just threw it all into the rice cooker with extra broth) and while the texture came out a bit mushy because I used a little too much stock, the flavor was very nice. I think this would make a good base stock for a true risotto. (Especially if adding artichoke hearts to it, yum.)
I like artichokes with mushrooms so this would be a good base for a mushroom risotto or soup, too.
Update: I looked up the artichoke sweetness thing, and apparently artichokes have chemicals similar to miraculin, the chemical in miracle fruit that makes acidic foods taste sweet, that modify your tongue to taste sweetness after eating them. It is unlike miraculin in that some people taste increased bitterness instead of sweetness, and more people do not notice any difference at all. Also, acid seems to neutralize the effect. Cooking can also break it down, which would explain why it was not pronounced in my stock. Anyhow, it's an interesting effect and I wonder if it could be used for a safe sweetener?