Stuffed Artichokes Recipe

I am a huge fan of stuffed artichokes. Both my grandmothers boil artichokes and stuff them with real stuffing or bread crumbs. This is one of those recipes that I could never master, and no one can make stuffed artichokes better than my grandmothers. As a kid, I would watch my father peel off the artichokes leaves and carefully scrape them with his teeth. Even as I become an advocate for stuffed artichokes, it took years before I could eat them like my dad. To this day, he will hover over my discarded artichoke leaves and insist there is more meat on them. Of course, this taught me to do a once over on all those artichoke leaves before I had officially given up on finding more delicious artichoke meat on the them. The best part of stuffed artichokes is the artichoke heart filled with stuffing. After all the leaves are eaten and officially inspected by my father for leftovers, I grab a fork and dig into the artichoke heart. This is when the last of the artichoke leaves tend to be have sharp prickled edges and I do not recommend eating those. mmmmmm.... Perhaps I will request stuffed artichokes from my grandmother this Memorial Day Weekend. Most of my dinner requests go unanswered, but sometimes Nana will surprise me and make me one of my favorite meals. For those of you that cannot request stuffed artichokes from my grandmother, I have provided this recipe for you to try out.

Ingredients for Making Stuffed Artichokes:
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups seasoned bread crumbs
1/3 cup olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon of pepper
1 teaspoon garlic salt or powder
1 teaspoon of onion salt
2 tablespoons freshly grated pecorino cheese
4 cups of water
4 large artichokes

Cooking Instructions for Making Stuffed Artichokes:
OK, let us start by combining all of your ingredients into a large bowl. Put your artichokes and water aside. Pour the water in a pot. Cut off the stems to the artichokes and peel off the first layer of artichoke leaves. The small ones near the bottom to be more specific. Cut off the top part of the artichoke, at least 1/4 inches off. Shake off the excess water and spread artichoke leaves to stuff your ingredient mixture into each set of leaves. place your stuffed artichokes into pot. Cover your artichokes and bring the pot to a boil. After about 5 minutes, you can lower the heat and simmer your stuffed artichokes for about an hour. To check to see if your stuffed artichokes are done, attempt to peel off a leaf and see if it pulls off easily. Serve your stuffed artichokes warm or cold. Warm is always better! Enjoy!