Fried Baby Artichokes Stuffed with Cheese

Deep Fried Stuffed Baby Artichokes

1 lemon
baby artichokes (3 per person)
1 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp salt
1 qt extra-virgin olive oil or vegetable oil for deep frying
1 or 2 eggs
1 cup fine bread crumbs
spices for seasoning the bread crumbs (e.g. salt, pepper, thyme, paprika)
stuffing for the artichokes (e.g. pepper jack cheese)

Cut lemon in half. Squeeze the juice from half the lemon into a bowl and drop the same half in. Fill the bowl with cold water.

Clean the artichokes: Cut off the stems. Bend the outermost green leaves back until they break off. Continue snapping off the leaves until the remaining leaves are pale yellow with green tips. Cut off the top 1/2 inch of the artichoke. Trim the remaining dark green portions with a paring knife. Rub all cut surfaces with the other half of the cut lemon.

Fill a 2-qt pot with cold water, 1 Tbsp flour, 1 Tbsp oil, and 1 Tbsp salt. Squeeze the remaining juice from the lemon that you used to rub the cut parts into the pot. Bring to a boil. Add the cleaned artichokes and simmer partially covered for 8 to 12 minutes, until the artichokes are just tender when pierced with a knife. Drain and pat dry.

When the artichokes are cool enough to handle use the back end of a small spoon, chopstick or something similar to gently separate the leaves until you reach the choke. If the chokes are not purplish, then it isn't necessary to remove them, but you may want to remove a few of the innermost leaves to make room for your stuffing. Stuff the artichokes with whatever filling you desire. You should pick a flavorful cheese that melts well such as pepper jack or Gruyere. (Fresh mozzarella is too mild.) You can also use other ingredients such as roasted red peppers or procuitto with the cheese. Cubes of cheese will retain their shape better than grated cheese--you can use either depending on the effect that you desire and the meltability of the cheese. You could also consider marinating the artichokes in balsamic vinegar, but I haven't tried this yet.

Heat 2 inches frying oil in a large heavy pot over moderate heat until it is 350 degrees F. Put eggs and bread crumbs in separate bowls. Beat the eggs. Season the bread crumbs with salt and pepper and any herbs and parmesan that you desire. Taste the bread crumbs to make sure that you have added enough salt. When the oil is hot, dip the stuffed artichokes into the egg mixture. Let the excess egg drip off and then roll them into the bread crumbs. Place on a tray. Fry the artichokes in small batches until they are golden brown (approximately 2 minutes). Drain on paper towels. Season with salt and pepper immediately after they come out of the fryer and are still hot so that the seasonings stick to the artichokes. Serve whole or cut in half.

Adapted from "Gourmet: The magazine of good living" March 2002, "The San Francisco You Need To Know" issue.