The owner of Istanbul's Zencefil restaurant, Ferda Erdinc, showed Ana how to prepare this age-old Turkish dish. Before a meal, serve it with fries or as one of several mezze.
Components:
Six whole artichokes
To taste, add salt and pepper.
Two teaspoons of honey, one-quarter cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice, and
One cup of pure olive oil
one cup of white wine, dry
12 garlic cloves, split in half after peeling.
4 scallions, cut finely after the root ends are clipped
¼ cup of freshly chopped dill
Instructions:
Set oven temperature to 375°F.
Using a serrated knife, cut the top third of each artichoke off after trimming the stem end halfway off. Using your fingers, remove the dark green outer leaves until the fragile yellow leaves are visible.
Using a paring knife, cut and remove most of the dark green hue from the artichoke's base to clean and shape it. The artichoke's shape should be preserved, but it should be consistently reduced. Cut each artichoke in half lengthwise, then use a tiny teaspoon to scrape out the fuzzy insides.
After seasoning each artichoke on both sides with salt and pepper, arrange them cut-side down in a Pyrex dish or heavy roasting pan.
Whisk together the flour, lemon juice, honey, and olive oil in a small mixing bowl. Transfer the mixture to the artichokes. Pour in the wine and garlic, then cover the pan firmly with foil twice over.
Bake the artichokes for thirty to forty minutes, or until they are tender. Every artichoke will have a little gloss from the liquid that evaporates a bit. Garnish the artichokes with scallions and dill and serve warm or room temperature, accompanied with more salt and pepper and any leftover braising liquid for dipping.
To learn more about how to prepare, watch the video:
