Steamed Artichoke with Roasted Garlic Dipping Sauce

Artichokes were on sale a while back, so I decided to finally try making one myself as I knew I loved eating them!  Artichokes can seem intimidating to make for the first time (at least for me), so I found this recipe on Food.com and it was great at explaining what to do, step by step, and it was delicious!

2 artichokes
1 lemon
1 head garlic ( whole bulb)
2 tablespoons mayonnaise (I used low fat)
2 tablespoons sour cream (I used low fat)
salt and pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

Cut off the bottom stems of the artichokes with a serrated knife and rub the artichoke bottoms with the lemon. Cut about 2 inches off the top of the artichoke, drizzle some lemon juice over the top as well.

Optional: Using kitchen scissors, snip off prickly ends of each leaf for easier enjoyment later.

Place the artichokes in a steamer and steam 40 to 55 minutes, or until the bottoms are tender when pierced and the leaves pulls out easily. When it's done, quickly plunge into a bowl of iced water to stop the cooking and drain.

While steaming the artichokes, prepare the garlic for the sauce: Cut off top of garlic bulb (enough to expose tops of most garlic cloves). Drizzle enough olive oil over the cut cloves to drench the top and sides, sprinkle a pinch of salt as well. Wrap foil around the garlic bulb and seal at the top. Roast in 400 degree oven (I use my little toaster oven) for about 30-40 minutes until soft and roasted, browned around the tops and edges is a good indicator. Let it cool for about 10 minutes.

When cool enough to handle, squeeze the garlic cloves from their bulbs by pressing with your hands from the bottom of the bulbs to the top (cut side) into a small bowl. Add the mayonnaise and sour cream, and stir with fork to blend well. Add salt if needed and black pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate until needed.

To eat the artichoke, pull the leaves and dip the bottom tender part into the sauce, pull the tender "meat" with your teeth on the bottom part of the leaves, don't eat (discard) the rough tops. Towards the inside you can bite off more of the tender bottoms of the leaves. Towards the heart of the artichoke, you will see pins and needle-like fuzzy stuff which you can scrape off with a spoon, then you can eat the best part of all, the center or "heart" of the artichoke.
 
Sidenote: I didn't have a head of garlic, so just seasoned the mayo and sour cream with salt, garlic powder, garlic salt, and pepper, and it was still delicious!