Greek Artichoke Stew

Wednesday May 18

We made this before, but wrote it up so wrong.

Anginares a la Polita actually goes kinda like THIS:

12 fresh baby artichokes

1 lemon for acidulating water, another lemon's worth of juice, and keep a third lemon ready for squeezing at the end

cold water in a bowl, deep enough to cover cleaned artichokes

3 carrots, cut in thick slices

4 Yukon Gold potatoes, cut in chunks

3 scallions, chopped (separate whites from greens)

a big droozle of olive oil (NOT 3/4 cup!)

1 teaspoon salt

grind of pepper

2 Tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

1 big sprig dill, chopped

Preparation:

Squeeze two lemons; reserve the juice of one, and put the other's juice, plus both squeezed-out rinds, into the bowl of water. Clean the artichokes: snap off the leaves without remorse until you have just the pale colored heart. Trim stem and top, cut in half. Rub each artichoke half with lemon as soon as it is trimmed and immediately put it in the water, to prevent them from turning black; set aside until ready to use.

In a soup pot under low heat, sauté the scallion whites, carrots and potatoes in the oil until for a few minutes. Add the artichoke halves, lemon juice, salt, and pepper, and parsley. Add enough acidulated water to cover the vegetables, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and cook over low heat for about 45 minutes, until vegetables are all tender, checking water level occasionally.

In the last 15 minutes, open the pot to let any extra water boil off, and add scallion greens; taste, and add about a half a lemon's worth more juice, salt, and pepper if necessary. Stir in fresh dill, and serve.

NOW we're cooking in Greek.