Braised Globe Artichokes

Although we think of them as rather exotic, globe artichokes used to be a familiar sight in British gardens, introduced from Italy (as so many vegetables were) in Elizabethan times.

They can have a variety of uses. The outside leaves can be cooked and used as garnishes or in salads. There is a small bite of flesh to be eaten at the base of them. The small, younger leaves attached to the artichoke bottoms in the centre can be cooked still attached and then used in salads, or as compl