frozen artichoke hearts

[eddy]

anyone know where one can get frozen artichchoke hearts in toronto? I keep seeing recipes calling for them but I can't seem to find them anywhere Thanks in advance

[kchurchill5]

I have had a few friends ask me this as some of my recipes have them. My local grocery store didn't carry them either I just asked. They ordered them. Birds Eye carries plain no seasoning frozen hearts. A couple of other brands too. Most places will get them for you. I had to ask.

[wingged]

I just found this post, hope all of you that are looking will see this after so long.
You can find frozen artichoke hearts in a store called ARARAT
1800 Avenue Rd. (at Lawrence Ave. W.)
416-782-5722

[berbere]

I'm pretty sure I saw frozen artichoke bottoms at the Highland Farms on Ellesmere/Kennedy.

[truenorth]

I too have searched for the frozen variety with no luck however, I too once bought the jarred variety at Nasr foods (Lawrence ave. e). They are pickled (little sour) but soaking them in water helps them along. I'll go back to Nasr & test the frozen type.

[kabiss]

Hello Eddy, for frozen artichokes try your local mediterranean store (lebanese, egyptian etc...) they usually carry them frozen in plastic bags. Good luck
/k

[embee]

Mid Eastern stores usually have them. I got several bags of frozen artichoke bottoms at Nasr on Lawrence E. I've seen them elsewhere. I found them quite disappointing.

[orangewasabi]

that's really good to know, embee. I have been looking for them in TO and never found them. Now I can either try Nasr or stop looking because they aren't that great. THANKS!

[domesticgodess]

the no-frills at bathurst and wilson carries frozen artichoke hearts.(in the kosher section..not sure why?) However they dont compare to fresh artichoke hearts at all!!

[Splendid Wine Snob]

Just curious, why would you use frozen over fresh? And couldn't you just buy fresh ones and freeze them?

I don't have much experience cooking with artichokes, so I'm honestly just curious.

[chloe103]

I've been looking for these myself (no luck yet, though I'll post if I find anything). For me the appeal is convenience and ease, as preparing fresh artichokes is quite labour-intensive. If I'm just serving them with butter or putting them in a salad then I'll happily (and only) use fresh, but if I want to make a dip or use the artichokes in something where texture doesn't matter, then it would save heaps of time to have them ready to go. And the bottled ones in brine I just can't take - most pickled/vinegary things I like, but subtle artichoke flavour gets totally obscured, for me at least, in the bottled varieties.

[Alan408]

I use prepared vs fresh because I can always find canned/frozen, my markets seldom have the small artichokes that are processed into canned/frozen. And, I live about an hour from the artichoke fields (Half Moon Bay, Castroville).

I feel there is too much waste turning a larger artichoke into a heart, I prefer to steam and eat the larger artichokes.

[embee]

You'll only need to prep one fresh artichoke, when you want just hearts or bottoms for a recipe, to understand. Fresh artichokes taste incomparably better than frozen and very different from canned. But at least 90% of a typical artichoke is inedible. When you eat one, the debris that remains occupies more space than the artichoke occupied when you started. The work involved in preparing fresh artichoke hearts for cooking can be daunting.

I've always felt that the first person to discover that artichokes are edible must have been in an advanced stage of starvation.

While baby artichokes are mostly edible, and thus easier to prepare, you'll rarely find one for sale in Toronto and you'll pay dearly when you do.

You can't freeze an artichoke without preparing it first. It's not worth the bother.

[Splendid Wine Snob]

Thanks Embee. I've been recently perusing the lot of fresh artichokes in the markets and have been wanting to try some recipes. I've only had experience with the jared and/or canned variety and hated the taste. I'll make sure I'm not starving when I start prepping!

[embee]

You need to learn how to eat one. (No, that's not a joke). The bases of the large leaves get scraped between your teeth. The remainder of the leaves and the fuzzy parts inside aren't edible. The stems, which most people discard, are edible and taste like the bottoms (the premium morsel below the fuzzy choke).

[sam_1]

I can't ever find them either....my solution has been getting artichoke hearts packed in water and rinsing them before use. Probably not as good, but a reasonable substitute. If you find any frozen ones, let me know!

[Alan408]

I can get both canned and frozen, I like Reeses canned over C&W frozen.

I would have not tried canned but a local newspaper performs and reports taste tests. Canned came out ahead of frozen. Reeses comes in two sizes of artichokes, on the test, the different sizes tasted differently. I don't remember which was better. Newspaper is the San Francisco Chronicle if you want to search their site.

Frozen has texture closer to fresh, but no taste. Canned has a mushier texture, some can/metallic taste, but tastes more like artichokes than frozen.