Really Really Simple Artichokes

Growing up, we used Catalina salad dressing. They've since re-formulated it to be sweeter-tasting, so nowadays I try to mix it half and half with a good tart French dressing lacking mayo. Some people like to add in mayo; frankly, I DON'T. The tartness is the appeal here. If you want to talk about Comfort Food, for me you can't get much more comfortable. To serve as a main course, instead of a side: serve two regular sized artichokes per person. I've done this.

• Ready In: 1 hr 2 mins
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 4  artichokes
•  water, to cover
•  salad dressing
•  lemon juice (optional)

Directions

1. Wash and clean four medium artichokes. You don't need to remove the points at the tips of the leaves unless you want to, (By around the age of 8 I knew to respect the tips -- ). Remove the stem; you can cook it and eat the center core, or you can discard it.
2. Place in saucepan that will fit them all.
3. Cover, or near cover, with water.
4. Bring to a boil, then down to a simmer. Cover the top of your pan. Regular artichokes will take about 50-60 minutes. Huge monsters will take up to 1 hour 20 minutes. The baby ones (usually sold in 6 or 12 packs around here) will take 30 - 40 minutes). Watch water levels and replenish as needed.
5. Dipping sauce: combine Catalina with a good French dressing to cut the sweet but retain the tart. Perhaps an optional dose of lemon juice if you like.
6. Each person gets one artichoke when served (still hot), unless you are serving baby chokes, in which case they could be served two.
7. The feathery "choke" is inedible, remove it when you get to that state in eating, although with some of the smaller baby artichokes, you can indeed eat it. Otherwise, eat the bottoms of the leaves, remove the feathery choke, and eat the heart. All dipped.