Cooking the Perfect Artichoke

Have you ever met a 5 year old that loves artichokes?  Well, I was that girl, along with my sister.  We begged our parents for artichokes, such weird kids right?!

I've been so excited lately because artichokes are really cheap right now in Texas so we've been eating them at every meal! 

Here's the trick to the perfect artichoke.  I had to learn since I'm not near mom and I'm not near the Plaza Art Fair in Kansas City where I really loved them!

Cut off the stem, and cut off the top of artichoke. You can trim the leaves down if you like.

Start your water boiling (enough water to cover the artichoke), and add:

salt

Juice of about half a lemon.

1-2 bay leaves

Then let it boil away for about 20-30 minutes, until you can pierce it with a knife easily, (like a potato).

It comes out perfect!!

As for the dipping sauce(s):

I make two.  The first one is just melted butter, how can you go wrong with that?!

The second one is this amazing concotion that I found here.

3 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/8 tsp garlic powder
few pinches cayenne pepper, to taste
pinch sugar or two drops agave nectar
pinch salt

Enjoy!!

We have been!!



And after you're all done with the leaves, don't forget to scrape out the fuzzy stuff and eat the artichoke heart, it's the BEST part!!