First I needed sugar (2 tablespoons), vinegar (8 fluid oz), dry red wine (8 fluid oz), and some meat. I chose a basic white vinegar so not to interfere with the Malbec I bought. I chose lamb chops mostly because I enjoy them, and its not often that we eat it. The wine I chose has hints of dark cherry, blackberry and oak. I paired the wine with some of my new favorite herbs, rosemary and thyme. For extra measure I added some bay leaves. I rough chopped some white pearl onions (2) and added them to the mix. Of course I had to have the Holy Trinity of spices, but decided on a little extra flair and dusted the chops with smoked paprika. I mixed it all together, added olive oil (2 fluid oz) and let it marinade for about 45 minutes. I flipped them once at the 20 min marker so that they would be evenly marinated.
I had originally wanted to braise the meat, but I ended up changing my mind at the last minute... mostly the kitchen was already hot and I didn't want to make it any hotter. I still created the sweat base of carrots, celery, and one final pearl onion for pre-cooking. I sweated the base until the onions were a golden brown, and the celery was soft. I then added the marinade and the meat to the mixture. I brought it all to a boil, then simmered covered until it reached the desired done state. For me this was somewhere in between medium-rare and medium. It took about 15 minutes on a medium-low heat.
After that I reduced the sauce and made it thicker by adding sugar and cornstarch. The sugar helped take away some of the zing that the vinegar left. Overall it was one of the best lamb dishes I have ever had.
