How to Eat an Artichoke

Before I met Stephen I had never eaten a Whole Artichoke before. I loved artichoke hearts in things so I wasn't scared at all. The process can take awhile but it is totally worth it. Plus it is Super Fun to eat, especially for kids. So if you have yet to ever eat a whole artichoke give it a try. I would wait till they go on sale and then buy one for each member of your family.

First the artichokes must be steamed.

- cute off most of them stem until there is only about 1/2 left

-place in a steamer pot and let go for a good 1/2 hour to 45 min depending on how many you have.

-check to see if they are done by pushing a fork into the stem and if it goes in smooth and easy it is done.

- you can also pull off some of the small leaves on the bottom around the stem, which are not very good

-next make some little dishes of either melted butter or mayo ( with a splash of balsamic vinegar) for dipping.

( I know mayo sounds kinda nasty, it did to me so it took me forever to try it but it goes so well with it I now only use mayo)

Start peeling off the leaves one at a time

dipping them in

and then scraping the bottom part off with your teeth

(this is where the "meat" of the artichoke is)

eventually you will get to here

which is where you get to pull off multiple ones at a time

these ones aren't as good but can still be eaten

when you get to the purple ones just discard

Then you will reach the "hair"

in which you will need to take a spoon and shave it all off

till you have reached this the grand finale!

The heart, my husband thinks this is the best part, where as I like pulling off the individual leaves to eat.

The heart can be eaten with a fork and cut up in small bites, dipped in whatever you like.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and that you will give this a try, at least once.

Enjoy!