Cooking for Zo

Taste Level: TF
Cost: $20 and under
Serves: 4
Prep Time: 1 hour-24 hours
Cook Time: 25-30 min.
Difficulty: 1

All I can say about these are WOW! Zo and I usually eat one half of an artichoke and save the other half for lunch the next day. After eating some chowder, getting Gelato and eating some peanut butter filled chocolate cookies we sat down and both ate a whole one! It wasn't that we were hungry, they were just so good we could not help but to finish them off. We had to run some errands after I was done boiling the artichokes so I decided I'd grill these to warm them back up. I made a quick marinade to soak them in while we were gone and when we got back I felt they were still not seasoned enough. I tossed them on the grill and went to making a brushing sauce for them. My sauce was missing something so I went through the seasoning cabinet tasting different ones until turmeric hit my tongue! It was exactly the flavor I thought was missing! I added some to the brushing sauce and boy we liked them so much we barley even used any of our butter lime dipping sauce! *Updated method and ingredients 6/30/2010*

Ingredients:
Artichokes
2 large artichokes (stem removed, petals trimmed, top 1 1/2-2 inches of artichoke cut off)
1 1/2 tbsp lime juice (for water)

Marinade
1/3 cup 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2-3 garlic cloves (minced, 1 tbsp)
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp fresh crack pepper
2 tbsp 1/2 tsp lime juice
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp turmeric

Fill a deep sauce pan with water until full enough to fully submerge artichokes. Add 1 1/2 tbsp lime juice and bring to a rolling boil. Add artichokes to boiling water cover and cook 15 minutes or until bottoms can be easily pierced.

Drain artichokes, cut in half lengthwise and carefully cut out all of the fuzzy center and pull away any purple petals.

Mix ingredients for marinade in a small bowl. Place artichokes petal up in a a large seal able container or plastic bag and drizzle marinade over artichokes and down into their petals. Sit in refrigerator and let marinate for 1-24 hours.

Preheat grill to medium heat. Remove artichokes from container and pour left over marinade into a small bowl. Place artichokes cut side down onto grill and cook for 5-7 minutes or until browning. Flip artichokes over and brush artichokes heart and petals with left over marinade . Grill an additional 3-4 minutes or until petals are charring.

Serve warm with a lime butter dip!