RED FLAG! (1) either those other people never actually made the recipe ~or~ (2) they made it and had no clue about eating them, so actually ate the fuzzy bristles & sharp purple leaves inside ~or~ (3) they purposely left off that step! And, yes, I knew someone who would leave out a step or ingredient in a recipe so that when anyone else made it, they think "I made it exactly like the recipe said, but it wasn's\t as good as hers!" ** I wouldn't want to eat shrimp at those authors' houses either, because they probably haven't a clue about cleaning them!
So, I'm telling you upfront that you will need to remove all that fuzzy white stuff in the middle (which can irritate your throat) and the purple leaves (which don't have any "meat" on them, but DO have sharp points). You can clearly see that in the photos where I cut the artichokes in half. Yes, you can make whole artichokes this same way, but be sure to dig all the way down to the soft artichoke heart with a small spoon (or melon baller) and get all of that out from the inside!
I also put lemon juice in the water that I microwave them in, since it will help them from turning dark. AND ~ artichokes are fairly expensive and there's a big-ish stem on them. So, just cut about 1/2" off the stem (pull those little purple leaves off) and use your vegetable peeler to get down to the bright green of the stem under the tough outer layer. Then it will be almost as soft and yummy as the artichoke heart inside!
Micro-Steamed ARTICHOKES
1 fresh artichoke (1/2 per each person for side dish)
Cut off the stem, leaving about 1/2" ~ trim the leaves straight across with kitchen scissors ~ then cut the artichoke completely in half length-wise. With a spoon, scoop out the “fuzzy” part that’s over the artichoke heart (don’t leave any of those little fibers because they’ll scratch your throat)
Lay (cut side down) in a microwave-safe dish with about 1/2"water and a shake of salt. Cover with waxed paper and microwave on high for about 8-10 minutes (or until very tender, and a toothpick can slide into the stem easily).
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Extra-virgin olive oil ~or~ melted butter (about 2-3 TB per person)
coarse salt…………………………………………..pepper
lemon juice ………………………………………… Dried oregano
You eat an artichoke by pulling off the leaves ~ hold by the tip and pull the bottom half of each leaf through your teeth. Cut and eat the artichoke heart. You can either brush each artichoke with a whisked mixture of the above ingredients (whatever amount of salt, pepper, oregano & lemon juice you want) ~or~ put a little dish of all of the above whisked together for each person ~plus~ an empty little dish or bowl for each person to put their used leaves.
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Just simply served above with grilled steak and my "go-to" parsley potatoes (cube a Russet potato ~ 1 med/large will serve 2 people) and put into cold, salted water on stove. High simmer until they're tender (a knife should slide into them). Drain and toss with lots of butter, salt and chopped fresh parsley (or cilantro ~ or dried parsley, if that's all you have)