stuffed artichoke

one day a few years ago, i bought some nice looking artichokes. but i couldn't find a recipe i liked that told me exactly how to prep the choke. here's one from breadandhoney. it's steaming now, while the kale soup is cooking. and it smells good, i'm sure we're going to like it. meatless sunday dinner, we are planning to watch obama on 60 minutes and then either watch: the blues part 2, or syriana.

Stuffed Artichokes

Ingredients:

1 artichoke per person
Stale bread (preferably Italian or French) *About 2 pieces per artichoke, broken up
Stem from artichoke, peeled and chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
Fresh parsley
Oregano
Parmesan or Romano cheese, lots of it
Olive oil

Directions:

Wash and and cut off tops of the artichokes, about ½ inch across to get rid of the prickly ends, and cut stem off and save.
Put all other ingredients in bowl and drizzle with enough olive oil to moisten. Add tablespoons of water as needed to moisten. Stir all together.
Turn artichokes upside down on flat surface and press down gently with a rocking motion. This will open up the leaves. Turn over; pull leaves gently apart to form a bowl-shaped area to stuff, and stuff.
In a large pan, cover bottom with olive oil and brown 2-3 cloves of garlic. Let cool, add one cup of water to oil and put artichoke(s) in pan. Bring to a boil, and then turn heat to medium and cover. Artichokes will steam in pan, but be sure to check every 15-20 minutes to be sure water has not evaporated. Keep adding water as needed. Cook for one hour. Artichoke leave should pull off easily when done.

Serve with melted butter or oil and garlic. *I recently served an artichoke on a beautiful plate with olive oil dotted with Balsamic vinegar and sprinkled with pepper, and a scoop of mayonnaise whipped with some horseradish. It was wonderful!