Quartered and prepped artichokes are braised in white wine and olive oil with shallots, garlic, bay leaves, parsley and mint. The artichokes are served slightly warm or at room temperature, having marinated in their braising juices. A perfect make-ahead dish. This dish is inspired by a classic Roman-style braised artichoke. For that dish, more of the outer leaves are trimmed off, and the artichokes are braised until they are completely tender and you can eat the whole thing with a fork and knife. The globe artichokes we get here in California are larger and tougher than the purple Roman artichokes used in the classic dish. So, we are still braising them, but keeping the leaves on and eating the leaves as if we would with a regular steamed artichoke. If you want, you can just trim more of the leaves off of the artichokes, until you get to the most tender leaves in the center, and braise the artichokes that way. Use kitchen shears to snip off the thorny tips of the artichoke leaves. Use the serrated knife to cut the artichokes into quarters. Use a metal teaspoon to scrape away the hairy choke above the artichoke heart. Remove the small, papery, purplish leaves close to the choke. Rub the cut areas again with lemon. Place the quartered artichoke hearts into the bowl of acidulated water as you finish prepping them. When the oil is hot, add the shallots and sauté for 3 to 5 minutes, until softened. Add the garlic and cook an additional minute. Cover the pot with a tight fitting lid and lower the heat to medium. Simmer for 20 minutes. (If it looks like the pot is at risk of running out of liquid, add more hot water to the pot.) Note that older artichokes may take a longer cooking time (and therefore more water/wine in the pot) to get tender. Let cool to slightly warm or room temperature. Serve with some of the pan juices and shallots from the braising liquid. Especially good if you make a day ahead, giving the cooked artichokes more time to marinate. Just chill, and return to room temperature before serving.
