1. Place a steaming rack inside a large pot with a lid, and add enough water to come just under the rack. Use a paring knife or vegetable peeler to trim away the stem's fibrous outer layer, rub with lemon to prevent discoloration, and leave intact when cooking whole artichoke. Bring water to a boil over medium heat. Place artichokes, stem down, on rack, cover, and steam until you can easily pull out a leaf, 30 - 40 minutes. Check water occasionally to be sure it hasn't boiled away, adding more boiling water if necessary.

2. When artichoke is cooked, remove from pot and set on a plate upside down to cool. When cool enough to handle, remove choke, or serve the artichoke as is, with mayonnaise, vinaigrette, or melted butter.

REMOVING THE CHOKE: It's much easier to spoon out the choke from a cooked artichoke, but some stuffed-artichoke recipes call for removing the choke before cooking. To do this, gently spread apart the trimmed leaves, pull out and discard the pale, thorny, innermost leaves, then scrape out the choke with a spoon or melon-baller and discard it. To prepare hearts, raw or cooked (it's easier once they are cooked), remove all leaves and choke, then trim heart, rubbing cut surfaces with lemon.

COOKING: Steaming, described above, yields the most vivid flavor, but boiling is also an option. Put artichokes in a large pot of salted water, weighting them with a heavy plate to keep submerged. Simmer over medium-high heat until tender, 30 - 40 minutes. Some cooks add lemon to the water to keep them green, but artichokes turn gray-green anyway. Test for doneness by carefully plucking a large outer leaf. If it pulls out easily, the artichoke is done. Scrape pulp out of leaves with a spoon, for ravioli stuffing and other uses.