Steamed Artichokes - cooking recipe

Ingredients

2 fresh artichokes
1 large lemon
1/2 - 1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic (or to taste)
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leave
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons butter, melted
pepper

Preparation

Cut off stem end as well as 1 inch of the top, remove outermost leaves of artichokes and snip off pointy tips of remaining leaves. Steam, covered in a rack over boiling water about 1/2 hour until base of an artichoke is soft enough to pierce easily (you'll probably have to replace the water over time).
Microwave lemon 15 seconds (releases more juice) and then juice lemon--you should end up with 3-4 Tbs juice. Discard peel.
In a small skillet, saute garlic and thyme in oil about 1 minute. With a fork or tiny whisk, whisk in lemon juice, butter and pepper and remove from heat.
To eat, dip individual leaves in lemon-butter and scrape the \"meat\" of the artichokes into your mouth with your front teeth. Yum!