Pinot Noir Braised Lamb with Olives and Artichoke Hearts

Serves 8

One of my resolutions this year has been to learn how to braise, an embarrassing omission in my culinary abilities. Once I figured out what it was (ridiculously easy), I decided that I wanted to come up with my own braised lamb dish. This is what I came up with, and we LOVED it. Could be nice with some feta sprinkled on top, too. 

Ingredients: 

• 6 pounds lamb shoulder chops
• Canola oil (why canola? because it has almost no taste and a very high smoke point so it won't burn)
• 1 bottle decent pinot noir
• 1 onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• Two 29 ounce cans diced tomato, San Marzano brand preferably
• ~2 cups chicken stock 
• 1 pint castelvetrano (very green) olives, pitted and roughly chopped. You can get these at Whole Foods in the deli section. They are not pitted, so you'll have to do it yourself. It's not fun, but takes only about 15-20 minutes, which you'll have while this is simmering.
• 2 pints (appx 5 whole) artichoke hearts, roughly chopped, no stems. You should get the artichoke hearts from the deli rather than canned. The deli ones are far better, and really taste, as opposed to just providing another texture. 
• 2 small, or one large bulb fennel, sliced into a 2 mm slice.
• Salt & pepper to taste
• Brown rice, cooked according to package directions

Preparation: 

Dry each lamb chop with a paper towel, then liberally salt and pepper each. In a 6-8 quart pot, brown all of the lamb in canola oil. You'll need to do several batches. Remove lamb and place to the side and reserve as browned. Once all lamb is browned and removed from the pan, saute the onion and garlic, adding more canola oil if necessary. Add back lamb, then add all of the pinot noir, and all of the tomatoes, including juices. Add 2 cups of chicken stock to start. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for an hour (or so). Continue to simmer until the sauce is fairly viscose, but not stew like. Add water if it starts to get too thick. After an hour of simmering, add in the olives, fennel and artichoke hearts. Cook for another 10 - 20 minutes. The goal here it to get a nice "saucy" viscosity, but not cook out the flavor of the wine. Much more than an hour-and-a-half and you will kill the wine flavor. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Serve over short grain brown rice.