Artichoke - How to Cook & Eat

Ingredients
1 Artichoke - the larger the better.
1 cup of Water for Steaming - depending on the size of the pot. Just enough to cover the bottom of the pot an inch deep. Add more water as needed during steaming.
1 tablespoon Lemon Juice - optional. This will retain some of the artichoke green color.

Garlic Mayo (or Sour Cream) Dip
1 teaspoon of powdered garlic - okay to add more to taste. Can use raw crushed garlic fresh or from a jar.
2 heaping tablespoons of mayo - light, regular or vegan. Depending on the size of the artichoke may need to double the recipe. Sour cream is a great substitution for mayo.

Directions for Garlic Mayo Dip
In a small bowl add dried powdered garlic to mayo (or sour cream.) Mix well and set aside in the refrigerator for at least half an hour as the artichoke steams.

Directions for Steaming Artichoke
You want an artichoke with green (or light olive-colored) leaves. Sometimes there is a slight scarlet color in the petal tips. The petals on an older artichoke turn brown and become stringy, but the inner petals and the artichoke heart are still tasty.

Trim off the stem of the artichoke.

In a pot large enough to hold and cover the artichoke, add water and the artichoke. Add a tablespoon of lemon juice to keep some of the artichokes green color.

Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low. Cover the pot and steam/simmer for about 30 minutes.

Check on water every 10 minutes to make sure it doesn't boil out -- add a 1/4 cup at a time if needed. Done when the base of the artichoke is tender and pierces easily with a knife.

Now it's time to chow down. Place the artichoke on a plate and allow it to cool for 5 minutes. Get out the Garlic Mayo Dip.

Artichoke petals should easily peel off the choke. The inside of the petal closest to the wide end is the edible part (the pointy ends do not soften.)

Just dip or scoop some Garlic Mayo Dip onto the inside petal end and scrape off the leaf flesh with your teeth. There won't be much on the outer petals, but as you work your way to the inner petals, they become more fleshy.

You are now close to the best part. But when you get close to the middle of the artichoke, you'll reach the inedible 'choke' - when the leaves become stringy, you'll know.

If you look at the profile of the vegetable that remains, you'll see the seam line where the choke is. Take a spoon, or butter knife, and scoop out the fuzzy choke. Dig out a little at a time, careful not to scoop away the fleshy edible center. You will have a bowl-shaped 'heart' left. This is the tasty, meaty finale. Dip and eat the whole thing!

Hindsight
Instead of garlic and mayo, try other ingredients added to mayo, like dried ginger or a favorite fresh chopped herb. Plain melted warm butter is a great decadent dipping sauce. Lately, I've been using sour cream with garlic powder as a dipping sauce.

To keep the artichoke from turning brown while cooking, some directions call for adding a tablespoon of lemon juice (or a lemon slice) to simmering water -- I don't mind a color change so I left that step out. You can add lemon if you want to, but I find the acidic flavor permeates the artichoke heart.

Once you've eaten a few steamed artichokes you will know when you get to the inedible inner choke -- I have munched a few stringy, fuzzy, and bitter choke petals, blech!

Some artichoke petals have sharp barbed tips. You can trim them off with kitchen scissors if you are feeding a youngster. For my video, I left them on.

[Mr_brut]

Felt like I was watching an episode of gumby .😂
Will try this today thanks

[MrGWfanboy]

if this video was better quality it would be the best video on how to eat artichoke on YouTube. I've watched all the top videos but they don't simplify it well like you have, the stop motion and time lapse also makes it to the point.