Baby artichokes, shallots, and garlic with Pork medallions

Saturday 28 April
A foraging trip to Findlay Market discovered some baby artichokes at Madison's. At $2.89 for nine cuties, they were irresistible. We still remember a woman sitting in the shadows of the Rialto in the Venice market, snapping, peeling, trimming artichokes with incredible speed and dexterity. It seems hard to discard so much of the tasty thistle, but in the end it's actually fairly economical, since the tender innards can be braised and eaten whole. Shallots and whole cloves of garlic make a tasty addition. The basic recipe and technique is here at Epicurious.
Just snap till they're pale, trim a bit, cut in half, dunk in some acidulated water, and Roberto è tuo zio.
We served these with a couple of pan-seared pork medallions, dusted with thyme leaves and pepper. The meat was definitely the side-dish to the splendid spring vedge.