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Artichoke Salad

Artichokes are one of my favorite veggies. I like 'em every which way, steamed, grilled, fried, stuffed. But, I have to say fried in butter and served with fried pork is my new most favorite.

Artichokes are a flower from the thisle family of plants.

Ingredients

Conversions to European measurements can be found here!

For 4 people

4 Artichokes (trimmed with chokes removed)
10 Slices Pancetta or Smoked Bacon
2 tablespoons Butter
1 Bunch Radishes
4 Green Onions (Scallions)
1/4 cup Olive Oil
2 tablespoons Basalmic Vinegrette
1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard
1 teaspoon Thyme
1/8 cup fresh finely chopped Parsley
Small bunch chopped Chives

Procedure

Prep'ing the artichokes is the worst part of this. It takes a little time, a really good quality sharp knife, and a little patience. Make sure to peel away all the tough ends of the artichoke. They break off really easily just by pulling them off with your fingers. But before your add them to the pan make sure you take a knife and cut away any of the tough fibers that are left behind.

Fry off the bacon or lardon. Preserve a bit of the grease for frying the greenbeans, enough to coat the frying pan. Keep the fried bacon in the pan.

Throw the greenbeans into the hot pan. Watch out for the grease splatter and smoke. Smoke is OK because in this case it will add flavor to the final product and you won't be cooking the greenbeans for very long. Do not turn down the heat.

Put all of the remaining ingedients into the pan right on top of the greenbeans. Mix and turn the greenbeans to coat them and combine the ingredients. Pull the greenbeans out of the pan and serve immediately when the greenbeans begin to get coated in a thick black sauce. The brown sugar will help to create a very sticky sauce which is exactly what you want. When you plate the greenbeans the sauce should not run onto the plate.