Artichokes discovered!

Thank goodness for friends. After playing around with a couple of them last night with some really patient fellow foodies, we found a method that worked.

Cut off stem except for 1 inch, and any pointy tips of leaves.
Trim approximately 1 inch off the top.
Place in pot with water, lemon juice, 1 clove garlic, 2 bay leaves, and some salt.
Weigh down the artichokes by placing a steamer basket (those flying saucer things) upside down over the veggies.
Boil for 25-45 min.
Dip leaves in melted butter and scrape clean with your teeth.
The inner most leaves can be discarded, and all thistle-y parts should be as well.
The heart can be dipped in sauce, or saved to throw in a later salad.

What sauce? Well, that's up to you. Some swore by ranch, others mayo with lemon juice. I personally like a mild vinagrette.

Artichoke?

It's been a long winter of CSA squash and collards. And soon our CSA will start up again, probaby with more greens to start with. In the meantime, I stuck wandering the grocery store produce section with the power to choose my own vegetables.

Lately, I've been roasting asparagus with olive oil, salt and pepper. Eggplant gets baked with tahini. And this week, I have artichokes and have absolutely no idea how to cook them.

I remember my mother steaming the leaves, serving them with butter (I mostly sucked the butter off) and chopping the hearts into salads. But how long do you steam an artichoke? And how do you get to the center?