My mother gave me a wonderful cookbook that started out as a novelty and wound its way into my heart through the use of artichokes. Shakespeare’s Kitchen is a wonderful cookbook that gives you recipes from the olden days of yore that have been adapted for today. They are wonderful for parties and fancy dinners or just indulging yourself in something tantalizing. The following recipe is one of them. I am blogging it the way I have adjusted it because I have made this dish before and know the pitfalls of it.
Chicken and Artichokes:
3 tbsp evoo (extra virgin olive oil)
1 chicken cut up
1/2 c whole wheat flour (i use all purpose)
1/4 c Renaissance stock (I used leftover soup stock that I keep on hand)
3/4 cup white wine (only had red)
1 lemon, unpeeled, diced and seeds removed (this i cut into wedges because it sucks biting into a chunk of lemon expecting chicken)
1/4 tsp ground mace
6 dates, pitted and chopped
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp salt
5-6 artichoke bottoms, cleaned and parboiled (canned work well here)
heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. dredge chicken in flour and brown on all sides. Remove chicken from pan and add the stock, wine, mace, lemon, dates, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil and add the chicken and artichokes. Cook for about a half of an hour on med simmer. turn the chicken over and cook for another 15 min or until it is fork tender.
Other dried fruits can be substitued with great success for the dates such as raisins.
The Experimental Chef 
