• Cooking Time: 15 minutes
• Servings: 2
• Preparation Time: 15 minutes
• 1 medium artichoke
• 2-3 Tbls. olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 lemon
• For aioli: 1 egg yolk
• 2 tsp. dijon
• 1 cup olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1 Tbls. lemon juice
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. Garlic chili sauce (optional, and watch it, this stuff is HOT!)

1. Prepare your artichoke by cutting off the stem and trimming off all of the barbs (those sharp little points at the tip of each leaf) with kitchen shears. Pull of any dark leaves.
2. Set in a steamer (or just boil in water), salt generously, and squeeze lemon over the top.
3. Allow to steam for ten minutes, or until a fork inserted in the base of the artichoke goes in easily.
4. Remove artichoke and shock in an ice bath until cool.
5. Slice artichoke in half lengthwise.
6. Remove the choke. The easiest way to do this is to run a small sharp knife under the heart (that fleshy white part beneath all of the threads) in a U shape, then stick your fingers in and pull the whole thing up and out. You want to remove all of the threads and purple bits.
7. Whisk garlic into a few tablespoons of olive oil.
8. Brush over both sides of artichokes.
9. Grill on high heat until tender and slightly charred, about 5 minutes per side.
10. Prepare the aioli while the artichoke grills.
11. Put yolk and dijon in a food processor or small bowl.
12. While whisking or running the machine, add oil in a thin stream.
13. Once emulsified, add garlic, salt and pepper to taste, chili sauce if using, and lemon juice.

The aioli is perfect for dipping, but is also great in place of tartar sauce with fish, or as a sandwich spread. Adapted from a recipe by Mark Bittman