I usually steam artichokes as apposed to boiling them. I don't know what difference it makes, but that's just the way I learned. Cut the sharp part of leaves off, and peel a few of the outer leaves off and rinse thouroughly before steaming. I steam them untill the leaves pull away from the choke easily. I usually use mayo as my dipping of choice.

Yes, do try whole artichokes. They are a treat. They are best here in the US either in January - February, or April-May. In January the artichokes are grown in the desert of southern California. In April-May, they are grown where you may think of as the normal range of artichokes, which is the Castroville, California area. If you can get fresh artichokes in peak season they're incredible. I went to Castroville in 2001 and brought some fresh artichokes home on the plane with me. We ate in heaven for a few days!

We boil them for about 45 minutes (after snipping the sharp points off the leaves), and then serve the whole artichoke with a lemon butter dip. We eat the whole artichoke, scraping the meat from the leaves with our teeth after dipping the leaf in the lemon butter mix. The choke in the artichoke is the prize we reach after eating all of the leaves with some meat on them.

You really need to try them. If you haven't had them yet, wait until the big ones get to the stores in the early winter / spring. Otherwise you'll not get the real artichoke.

I think some people stuff them, but I haven't stuffed an artichoke. I just eat them leaf by leaf until I get to the choke.

When I look at artichokes in the grocery store I think "who would eat those". Much like I wonder who was the first person to want to eat a Maryland Blue Crab.

I haven't had an artichoke in my lifetime. Sounds like I might be missing out on something and will try to remember to get one when they look fresh in the store. Most of the time I see them, they are these dried out looking green things.

I am with you. never had them either. But this topic make me want to go out and buy some to try. thanks.

I just always used canned quartered artichoke hearts :p. But I think that Rachael Ray has a whole artichoke recipe in her 30 minute meals 2 cookbook!