I Made Chokes! (Well, not me exactly...)

Last week, inspired by a warm afternoon and a long walk, I decided to have a little cookout. I called my peeps, Leigh and Ruble, to see if they were hungry and scanned my tastebuds to see what might satisfy my charcoal cravings. In popped the Carribean Chicken with Avocado Relish that we made last year at my mom's Bon Voyage/Mother's Day party. It was just what I wanted, so after our workout, me and Leigh and Ruble headed to Kroger to load up on some groceries. I'm all for new food experiences, but sadly, my cooking knowledge base is restricted to what's in the cookbooks my mom gives me or the old standby Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook that I have lost somewhere along the line. So when Leigh, the mistress of the kitchen, suggested we make an artichoke, I was all for it. Well, all for watching her do it.

A pot of water set to boil was flavored with olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette, as best as I could see, and a spikey, weird artichoke was placed on top in its grated bowl to steam for 45 minutes. It came out looking more sage green than avocade green, but it still was a mystery to me. How do you get to the goodness that is the artichoke? Leigh whipped up a creamy dressing from mayo and worchesteshire sauce and did a little demo for us. Take a "leaf" from the outside edges, dip the bottom half in the dressing (you could also use melted butter) and then scrape it into your mouth using your teeth. It's weird at first, but it's how I've been eating bananas for a few years now, so I warmed up to the teeth scrape pretty quickly.
We ate around the core until a weird last layer was left, sitting in a wad on top of a round base.
Leigh pulled it up and offered it to me. It was just like the leaves I'd eaten before, hearty like a meat but still vegetablish, except this was a lot less work for a lot more reward. Underneath this wad was a prickly little sheild, something that I would have thought meant the end of the artichoke if it were just me.
But I would have missed out on the heart... The heart is the richest, thickest, heartiest part of the artichoke and is just beneath the prickle. It's worth the effort, and is even better when you've got three pals on a warm spring evening helping you seek it out.
Here's the delicious, fresh Carribean Chicken w/ Avocado Relish in case you're inspired to cook out (and maybe if you ask really nicely, Leigh will give more extensive tips for the artichoke):

Caribbean Chicken With Avocado Relish

Ingredients:

3-1/2 pounds boneless -- skinless chicken
breasts - split and trimmed
(12 small pieces or 6 large pieces)
-----marinade-----
3 medium clo garlic
3 medium oranges
1 cup peanut oil
1 can chipotle peppers in -- (7oz)
adobo sauce
1 cup loosely packed cilantro
leaves
-----avocado relish-----
1 large tomato concasee
2 medium avocados; peeled and pitted
cut into 1/4" dice
1/2 small lime
1/2 small orange
1 small onion - minced
1 small cl garlic - minced
3 medium scallions - thinly sliced
1 small jalapeno chile - seeded and
minced
2 tablespoon minced cilantro
1/8 teaspoon hot red-pepper sauce
1/8 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
salt & freshly ground black
pepper to taste
3 small plantains or bananas
2 tablespoon vegetable oil

Instructions:

For the marinade: peel the garlic and put in processor work bow l fitted with metal blade; squeeze in 1 cup orange juice and remaining marinade ingredients; process until pureed; transfer to a non-reactive bowl; rinse chicken, pat dry and add to marinade insuring chicken is covered completely; cover and refrigerate 12 hours or up to 2 days. (I'm never prepare long enough in advance to fully marinade the chicken and it's still delicious... I usually marinade for 45 minutes to an hour)

For the relish: put tomato and avocado in medium bowl; squeeze in 1 tbsp lime and 2 tbsp orange juice; add remaining ingredients; mix well and set aside. (May be covered and refrigerated up to 2 hours). (I never buy plantains, but instead use banana in the relish. You can also use bananas or omit them below. If you don't like something, leave it out. I usually use 1/4 the amount of onions.)

Remove breasts from marinade and let drain; grill turning once during cooking until juices run clear when chicken is pierced with a skewer, about 6 minutes. Peel plantains and halve lengthwise; oil lightly and grill, turning once, until marked by grill surface, about 2 minutes. Transfer 2 pieces of chicken and 1/2 plantain to serving plate; spoon 1/4 cup relish along side chicken. Serve immediately.