Recipe: A Perfectly Cooked Artichoke with Tapanade-Mayonnaise

The following recipe is a bit quirky; I've never seen or heard of anyone preparing them like this, but it is quite simple and yields an incredibly tender and flavorful artichoke.

Yield: 1-2 artichokes

Active Time: 5 minutes (if not trimming)
Boil and soak time: 8-12 hours

Ingredients

• 1-2 globe artichokes, the biggest you can find; woody bottom trimmed off and tips of leaves trimmed (I use scissors) if desired
• 1 lemon, halved
• Black peppercorns
• 1-2 bay leaves
• Mayonnaise, homemade or bottled
• Tapanade, homemade or bottled

Directions

1. Place artichoke(s) in a large pot and cover with salted water. Squeeze lemons into the water adding the squeezed lemon as well, peppercorns, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, covered, then reduce to a simmer.
2. Cook a good hour or more until you can wiggle a leaf, but it doesn't leave the choke easily. Turn off heat and let sit 4-8 hours, covered.
3. Combine 2 parts mayonnaise to one part tapanade and serve with the artichokes.

 This recipe was written by Peggy Lampman and originally posted on AnnArbor.com on April 19, 2011.