Artichoke Lamb Stew

This takes a little prep, but I think it's worth it. This was a bit unusual as dishes go, but I think the result was awesome.

Ingredients

• 3 large artichokes (prep instructions below)
• 1 lb ground lamb
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped (rounds)
• about 1/2 lb cannellini beans (or similar), soaked
• 1.5 tbsp flour
• 2tbsp lemon juice
• oil / fat of your choice (we used leftover bacon fat, but olive oil would work fine)
• rosemary, thyme, basil (we kind of eye-balled it - maybe 1 tsp / .5 tsp / 1 tsp, respectively)

Okay, the artichokes. Pull off the outer layer of roughed-up leaves. Wash the artichokes. Cut off the top inch or so of the artichoke to expose the leaves. As you do all of this, every time you remove a leaf or anything, rub the cut / damaged area with lemon juice. With a paring knife, peel the outer portion of the stem (but leave it attached. Or, if it came detached at some point, just peel it) and, again, coat in lemon juice.

Pop the artichokes in a steamer for 25-45 minutes, until the outer leaves come off pretty easily. Remove and let cool. Then begin removing the leaves. You can eat the ends of the leaves as you go or just save them for later. We saved all the leaves for an up-coming stock we're going to make. Anyway, when you get all the bigger leaves off (the top 5 layers or so) you can usually pull out all the center layers in one go. Then you're left with the heart (and the choke). Scrape out the choke using a spoon. Now chop the heart and the stems into 8 pieces (or so, I don't know - bite sized). ARTICHOKES DONE. If you didn't understand a step, go google it or something.

In a heavy-bottomed soup pot, add the lamb and some oil/fat. Break up the lamb a LITTLE, but not into tiny bits - it's nice to have larger pieces of lamb kicking around. Brown the lamb pretty well. Then add the onion and carrot. Cook until the onion is getting soft. Then add the flour and continue to cook for another minute. Finally, add everything else. Fill with water JUST to cover. Bring to a boil (scraping up the bottom of the pot as you go), then reduce to a simmer. Cover and let simmer for about an hour. Season to taste with salt and additional lemon juice.

Thoughts: The game-y-ness of the lamb was wonderfully balanced by the acidity of the lemon. It was a really nice, hearty winter soup. The artichokes had great flavor the FIRST day, but after sitting in the fridge the flavor diffused a bit so it wasn't as distinct the second day. Since the hearts were already cooked, next time I might not boil them for an hour with everything else, but instead pop them in with about 5 minutes left in the cooking process. If I had stew meat available (rather than ground) I think that would be better, but this was still really good.

Disaster Index: 1/10