en.gi.nar.

Whew, we're going for two foodie posts in a row.

So, one of the other great additions to my diet this spring has been enginar [ehngeenar; artichoke]. Until now, artichoke was a food I had never eaten outside of artichoke hearts in pasta salads. Sadly, the whole leaf chewing bit was not part of my repertoire.

Wait, I guess there was that one time when Eliot tried to make artichokes for us, but I remember it as being an unsuccessful attempt. Eliot?

Well, either way, I don't remember eating a whole artichoke. So, a few weeks ago I made some and got my fill of scraping out leaf innards with my teeth. I enjoyed it, it was a nice slow-eating experience.

While the leaf chewing was a fun and new experience for me, it didn't thrill me as much as the prospect of using the peeled artichokes, i.e. the hearts. Nowadays, you can find hearts all over the place--in the grocery stores they fill up huge buckets, and at the pazar guys just sit in piles of leaves that they are peeling off. And if you forget to put them in water+lemon juice when you get back, you end up with some prettily patterned browning. I really don't know why people are so down on oxidation!

So, I bought some. They just sat there tempting me for weeks...and I buckled. That's ok, though...they were only 50 kurus a piece [~35 cents]. And with them I made one of my favorite olive oil dishes: zeytingyagli enginar.

It's an easy dish that looks quite dramatic on the plate. It's best eaten cold, like all Turkish zeytinyagli dishes, making it perfect for a light spring or summer supper. With a radish salad and some tabbouleh--so so refreshing!

Zeytinyagli Enginar // Artichokes in Olive Oil

2 artichoke hearts, fresh or frozen
water to cover
1/2 lemon

1 medium onion, chopped
1 carrot, cut into rounds or half rounds
1/2 c fresh or frozen peas
2 small or 1 medium potato, cubed
1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 c olive oil
1/4 c dill, chopped and divided


1. artichokes brown quickly when exposed to air, so keep them covered in water+lemon juice until ready to use. don't discard the liquid.

2. in a medium bowl mix together the vegetables, sugar, salt, and half of the dill.

3. place artichokes in a broad pot or a saucepan. it's ok if they are on top of each other. add the vegetables and olive oil.

4. add the water+lemon juice used for soaking [note below]

if hearts are next to each other: add liquid to 3/4 of the height of the artichoke hearts
if hearts are on top of each other: to cover the first layer and halfway up the second layer

if you don't have enough water+lemon mixture, just add extra water. for this quantity of hearts, you should use about 3/4 c - 1 c of liquid.

5. bring to a boil. lower heat and simmer 30-35 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. there should still be liquid in the pot. if you see it running out, add 1/4 c of water at a time until vegetables are tender and some liquid remains.

6. refrigerate until cold.

7. to serve, place an artichoke heart on a dish and pile with vegetables and juice. sprinkle remaining dill on top.


Turp Salatasi // Radish Salad

Radishes, sliced in rounds
Lemon juice
Sumac
Salt

Throw it all together to taste. Refrigerate. Serve.

Afiyet olsun.