Grilled Artichokes with Lemon Mayonnaise

As promised, here are the grilled artichokes with lemon mayonnaise.

4 Medium Artichokes

3 Lemons, cut in half

Olive Oil

Mayonnaise

Fill a large pot with water and squeeze the juice of one of the lemons in the water and add the lemons with the pulp and rind that you just squeezed in the water.

Remove the bottom petals of the artichoke and trim the tips of the petals. Cut the top tips off. Trim the bottom of the stem and with a paring knive, carefully trim the outside of the stem. Cut the artichoke in half and rub both halves with one of the cut lemons. This will prevent them from turning brown. With a teaspoon, scrape away the choke from the center and discard.

Immediately place the artichoke in the water and continue with the rest. Turn the heat on to boil the water and place a wooden spoon or a wooden chopstick between the lid and the pot (this is a clever trick as you get wood chopsticks free when you order Chinese, so keep them around for these things - they're also good to tie up a wayward plant!) Boil the artichokes about 20 minutes until they are fork tender. Remove to a plate and let cool.

The next stop is purely optional, but I did it and it made a world of difference in presentation and taste. Drizzle the artichokes with olive oil. On a grill or a panini, grill the cooked artichokes for a few minutes to get a nice char.

Mix your mayonnaise with fresh lemon juice (I used the juice of a half a lemon for 1/4 cup mayonnaise). With a zester or a fine grater, grate a the outside of a washed lemon to add some zest to the mayonnaise.

I served these with olive oil drizzled on top and squeezed some more lemon juice on tip with the lemon mayonnaise.