Artichoke 1, Knife 0

The Civee and I are huge fans of artichokes.  We love our daughter, but we’re not looking forward to dividing artichokes into thirds instead of halves like we do know.

I have a few different ways to cook the artichokes, but some of the best results I’ve gotten involve grilling them.  Usually, I’ll just stuff them then stuff them down into the coals, letting them catch fire and cook off for 20 minutes or so.  But there’s another way I’ve done it- cut the artichokes in half, boil them for 10 or 15 minutes, then finish them off on top of the grill.

Last night, I was getting the artichoke ready for boiling.  I cut it in half (after some struggling) with a large knife.  Then, using a smaller knife, I started to dig out the annoying fuzzy choke part of the thistle.  While digging out the innards, I heard a snap, but didn’t think anything of it.  It wasn’t until I took the knife out that I realized there was something wrong: the tip of the knife had broken off inside the artichoke.  I dug out the tip of the knife and finished preparing the artichoke.  But here’s an after shot of the knife:

It’s a shame because until yesterday, that knife had served me well.  But then I boiled and grilled the artichoke and it was worth it.  It was one of the best artichokes I’ve ever made.  The knife was a sacrifice the grill demanded.