My First Attempt with Fresh Artichoke

I've never really experienced fresh artichoke before, although I haven't met an artichoke dip (probably not so fresh), that I haven't liked.

When I saw the fresh artichokes on sale at the grocery store this week, I knew I had to be adventurous. I wasn't sure what the outcome would be, but I knew that at least I hadn't blown a lot of money in the process.

I used this tutorial from Simply Recipes (who is always a good resource for learning how to cook).  

An artichoke can be simply eaten steamed with a little butter. First wash the artichoke, and discard all but one inch of the stem. Then snip off the little pointy barbs on the tip of the petals. Steam with 2 cloves of garlic and 2 slices of lemon for about 25-30 minutes, or until tender.

Peel the petals off one by one, until you get to the center. Here's were the tutorial mentioned above does a much better job of explaining what to do with the heart and choke much better than I ever could.

I melted some butter with a dash of thyme in it to serve with the petals, which you scrape the artichoke meat off of with your teeth (again, the tutorial is helpful and there are pictures...).

Be adventurous!