A few weeks back, on a whim, I ordered a case of baby (baby!) artichokes from California and then promptly forgot all about them. They arrived, unexpectedly, when I was in the midst of a stomach thing. Among other things I was supposed to stay clear of was roughage. I am pretty sure whole baby artichokes fall into the roughage category.

So there they sat in the kitchen, waiting for me to summon the energy and inspiration to do something with them. Eventually, I decided to dispense with energy and just cook.

I made one of my favorite Joanne Weir recipes — braised lamb with artichokes. It’s a sensational dish — and I don’t eat lamb. All you do is seat a leg of lamb in olive oil, add a couple of chopped onions til they brown, and braise it in chicken broth and white wine with some thyme. Along…