Grilled Artichokes

Ingredients:

4-6 large artichokes
6 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1/2 cup fresh basil, chiffonade
juice from 4-6 lemons
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste (about 1 TBSP salt and 30 turns of the pepper mill works well

Mix all ingredients except artichokes in a bowl and set aside.

Cut stems and tops off artichokes and trim thorns from leaves with scissors. Boil artichokes in a large stock pot of water seasoned with salt and garlic and with the rinds from the lemons you juiced above. Boil artichokes about 25 minutes until a cake tester inserted into the bottom of the heart goes in with little resistance.
Remove artichokes from the pot and let cool and drain in a large bowl until they can be handled comfortably.
Cut each artichoke in half lengthwise through the heart being careful not to press too hard and crush them.
Remove the thorny internal leaves and the fuzzy choke.
Place face down in a 9x13 glass dish (do not use metal the citrus will react with the metal and it will not taste good) and pour the marinade over the artichokes making sure to get garlic and basil on the top of each one. Let the artichokes marinate at least one hour.
Prepare your grill, heat well and leave burners on high.
Place artichokes on grill leaf side down for about two minutes. Carefully turn over and grill another two to three minutes.
Serve with your favorite artichoke dipping sauce (We use a garlic basil aioli. For tips on making easy homemade aioli, Kenji Lopez-Alt at seriouseats.com has a great two minute video that shows you how to make fool-proof homemade mayonnaise).