Monday = market day in Selami Çeşme!
So earlier this week despite a rather fearful sky, off I set. Would there be any signs of spring in terms of produce, I wondered or was it still a bit early?
After all those carrots and potatoes, onions and leeks, it did the heart good to spy piles of enginar or artichokes. These are a real treat here as the hearts, sold in plastic bags containing acidulated water to stop them discolouring, are beautifully cleaned and prepared on the spot ready for cooking. They are graded and priced according to size. The biggest and best today were 2.50 TL each: about £1 so not given away. Apparently these early ones are coming in from N. Cyprus ie where the climate is milder. Later the bayrampaşa ones will make an appearance and they are magnificent both in size and flavour. It is still very much early days.
Decorate with the sprigs of dill. Serve at room temperature.
I have seen nice little airtight bags of prepared rounds of carrots, onions, and potatoes in the main supermarkets eg Carrefour, which would speed things up in the kitchen.
That looks absolutely delicious! I've never seen them done up that way before. We love artichokes in our house…will definitely give these a try.
Thanks for sharing!!
I can see the post, thank you Alison in California. I hope you will be able to post and comment on your own blog soon. I absolutely love artichokes though I normally eat them when I am dining at restaurants rather than prepare them at home. Might well have to give this a try. Thank you. x
For the first time today I can read your blog again. Thank you Alison!
This is definitely a new way to prepare artichokes for me. We love artichokes but generally eat them as whole by the leaf and save the hearts for last. We roast/braise them in olive oil/lemon juice mix. But given I like to try to new ways, I will definitely keep your recipe to prepare when I need a delicious starter for a meal. I hope you get your ability to read your blog back very soon.
Artichokes are just starting to make an appearance on Fethiye market but they're still really small. I'd like to experiment more with them.
As you might have gathered, we're still here Claudia! Glad you're still posting. :)))