Instructions: 1. Prepare a large bowl of water with lemon juice, to hold cleaned and trimmed artichokes. Trim and clean artichokes: Cut bottom stem, cut off tips of each leaf (the spiny part), and cut 1/2" to an inch off the top.

Seperate leaves slightly, and clean under running water. Put cleaned artichoke in bowl of lemon water to keep from darkening as you prepare the rest.

2. Pour about 1/4" to 1/2" of oil into large pot (add butter to oil, if desired). Saute garlic in oil over a low flame, but dont allow garlic to brown. (Be VERY generous with the garlic; use at least 1 large clove or more per artichoke. Use ONLY fresh garlic in this recipe.)

3. Remove artichokes from lemon-water, and place quickly in the pot stem side down (do not drain, you need some of the liquid in the pot to stop the garlic from browning).

4. Generously salt each artichoke, then splash lemon juice on each. Pour a little of the lemon-water into the pot, to have the liquid cover about 1/3 of each artichoke.

5. Cover tightly, bring to a boil then lower heat to a simmer. Continue cooking about an hour, or until artichokes are thoroughly tender (test by pulling gently on a leaf - it should remove very easily - taste for tenderness).

6. Uncover pot, bring to a full boil (artichokes may be removed, if desired - but drain all liquid off them & back into pot). Continue boiling until all watery liquid is boiled off, and just the oil/butter/garlic remains.

7. Pour mixture over the artichokes, and serve. (Sauce may be strained as you pour it over to remove garlic pieces, if desired.)

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