Slow Cooker Artichokes

We live about a half an hour away from the Artichoke capital of the world - Castroville, CA.  So I thought it high time I cooked with them.  I am familiar with them - I used to have them all the time as a child.  For some odd reason though, I could never remember how to make them.   This recipe is pretty easy to do - although working with artichokes can be a little time consuming.

Slow Cooker Artichokes

Ingredients

4 large artichokes
2 cups chicken broth
at least a cup of herbed bread crumbs (I used garlic and herb bread crumbs)
olive oil

Steps

1.  Wash artichokes.  Cut off the stem at the base so that the artichoke can sit flat.  Then cut off the top inch of the artichoke.
2.  Use kitchen scissors to cut the tops of the outer leaves as they are still prickly.  Pull the out the very center leaves creating a tiny bowl in the center for the bread crumbs.
3.  In a mixing bowl, drizzle some olive oil into the bread crumbs.  Keep adding and mixing the oil until the crumbs begin to clump together.
4.  Fill each artichoke with the bread crumb mixture and cover the top with crumbs.
5.  Place artichokes in slow cooker, drizzle some additional olive oil on top of each, then fill bottom of slow cooker with chicken broth.
6.  Cook on HIGH for 3 - 4 hours.

The Final Product

These were great!  I have not had them in so long and they just hit the spot.  I plan on making them much more frequently now.