Weeknight Dinner: Chicken Stew with Artichokes

In the previous column, we cooked with artichokes, one of the fundamental ingredients of California cooking. Their delicate flavor and chewy texture add a luxe touch to any dish where they happen to find themselves. These prickly herbs can be enjoyed fresh by anyone with the fortitude to hack through them, canned for usage in such classics as warm artichoke dip, brined for placement on the antipasto tray alongside the roasted peppers, the marinated olives, and the salumi.

Artichokes lend their sophisticated presence to this month’s weeknight dinner: a rich, fragrant chicken stew with a Mediterranean influence. Chicken evokes these early days of spring, from the peeping of the newly hatched chicks to the fresh eggs for Sunday omelets. On these first days of open windows, the aroma of chicken at the hearth is the homiest of kitchen smells, as welcome as that of fresh bread, apple pie or hot coffee.

It is an open secret among experienced cooks that the richest meat of a chicken is the thighs. In this stew, those richest pieces of fresh chicken are braised in a sauce of lemon, capers and white wine. Stew isn’t stew without potatoes, which add substance to the dish even as the surprise of canned antipasto awakens the springtime palate. Serve your chicken stew with a fresh arugula salad or leaf lettuces with sherry-orange vinaigrette. Because the dish is relatively easy to prepare, there is time to bake a quick bread for dessert. This stew pairs well with a fresh Italian white such as 2011 Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio, a flinty Sauvignon Blanc such as Babich Marlborough, or, for a true California sunset dinner, Gainey’s complex Riesling.

Chicken Stew with Artichokes
Free-range organic chicken has become widely available in grocery stores; there is no substitute for it for both its flavor and for supporting humane husbandry. If there are no boneless thighs in the case, get bone-in thighs and have the in-store butcher debone them for you while you do the rest of your shopping. Brined artichokes should be available in the Italian specialty section of the supermarket, as well as at the deli counter.

1-1/4 – 1-1/2 pounds boneless chicken thighs, preferably free range organic

½ cup cake flour

2 6- or 1 12-ounce jar brined artichokes
3 tablespoons preserved capers

1 small white onion

½ pound white or Yukon Gold baby potatoes

4 medium cloves garlic

2 medium lemons, preferably

1 cup dry vermouth

Chicken stock, homemade or low sodium canned

Extra virgin olive oil

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

3 sprigs fresh oregano

3 leaves fresh sage

1 bay leaf

Dried or chopped fresh parsley

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1. Cut a square of cheesecloth long enough to hold the herbs. Place the rosemary, oregano, sage and bay leaf in the cheesecloth; fold the edges of the cheesecloth over the herbs to form a pouch. Tie the loose ends of the pouch with a generous length of kitchen twine. Place the sachet near the stove top.
2. Inspect the potatoes; safely use the tip of a paring knife to remove and discard any brown spots or sprouts. Place the potatoes into a colander. Rinse the potatoes with cool water and leave the colander in the sink to drain.
3. Peel the onion and remove the root and stem ends. Place the onion on the cutting board. Halve the onion from root to stem; halve each half. Cut each quarter into thin crescents. Cut across the crescents to form dice. Scrape the diced onion into a bowl and place the bowl near the stove top.
4. Peel the garlic and remove the root end. Half each clove; remove and discard any sprouting from the center. Slice each half longways into slivers and then slice each sliver longways into matchsticks. Cut across the matchsticks to mince the garlic. 
5. Gently scrape the minced garlic into a bowl.
6. Place a drop of food safe vegetable cleaner in the palm of your hand. Rub the lemons with the cleaner. Rinse the lemons under cool water until they feel clean. Dry the lemons with a paper towel.
7. Hold the lemon over the bowl containing the garlic. Use a zester to remove just the yellow outer skin of each lemon. Try to get just the yellow zest and not the bitter pith beneath the zest. Deposit the zest into the bowl as you go. Once you have zested both lemons, place the bowl containing the garlic and lemon zest near the stove top.
8. Cut one of the lemons into thirds and place the cut lemon along with a lemon press near the stove top.
9. Measure the flour into a large, clean plastic food storage bag. Sprinkle the flour with salt and several grindings of fresh black pepper.
10. Unwrap the chicken pieces and place them on a clean, disinfected cutting board devoted to poultry. Safely use a sharp knife to cut the thighs into the bite-sized pieces. It is okay if they pieces aren’t uniform in shape. As you go, place the pieces in the bag containing the flour mixture.
11. Once you have prepared all of the chicken, close the bag and shake it well to coat all of the pieces with the flour mixture.
12. Place a large Dutch oven or soup pot on the stove top. Heat the burner to medium.
13. Drizzle the pot with a five-count of olive oil. Position a heat-proof plate safely nearby.
14. Once the oil is shimmering, use tongs to carefully remove the floured chicken pieces from the bag. Shake excess flour from each piece and gently each piece into the hot oil. Brown each piece on all sides, and, once browned, place each piece on the plate. Work in batches; do not crowd the pan. If the pan starts to run dry, add more olive oil.
15. While the chicken sears, give the colander a shake. Cut each potato into coins about ¼” thick. Return the potato coins to the colander to continue draining.
16. Once you have seared all of the chicken, use a wooden spoon or spatula to loosen any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. It is okay if you can’t get all of the fond; just get what you can.
17. Replenish the oil in the pan. Add the onions to the pan and sauté the onions until they start to soften; about two minutes.
18. Once the onions start to soften, add the garlic and lemon zest to the pan. Stirring quickly, sauté the mixture until the garlic gives off its fragrance.
19. Measure the capers into the onion-garlic-lemon mixture. Stir to incorporate.
20. Gently pour the vermouth into the pan, standing back to avoid flare-ups if any. Use the wooden spoon/spatula to stir the mixture together and to scrape up any remaining browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
21. Gently transfer the chicken back to the pan along with any juices that have accumulated in the plate. Use the spoon or spatula to mix the chicken with the onion mixture.
22. Add the potatoes to the pan. Stir the mixture together.
23. Nestle the sachet into the stew mixture.
24. Gently pour enough chicken stock into the stew to cover the top of the ingredients plus 1 inch.
25. Use a lemon press to press the three pieces of reserved lemon over the pot, releasing the lemon juice into the stew.
26. Use the spoon/spatula to stir the mixture together until thick.
27. Place the lid on the pot. Reduce the heat to low.
28. Simmer the stew, covered, for 20 minutes, no peeking.
29. While the stew is simmering, open the jar/s of artichokes and decant the artichokes with their brine into one of the bowls you used for the onions or garlic. If there are large pieces of artichoke, use kitchen scissors or a knife to break those into smaller pieces.
30. After 20 minutes, remove the lid from the pot. Gently stir the stew, taking care to move all of the ingredients from the bottom of the pot. Replenish the stock if needed.
31. Add the artichokes and their brine to the stew. Stir the stew, then return the lid to the pot.
32. Simmer the stew for an additional 20 minutes, no peeking.
33. After 20 minutes, remove the lid from the pot. Use the tip of the paring knife to test a potato; it should be soft. If it is not, replenish the stock if needed and simmer the stew, covered, for an additional 5 minutes.
34. Turn off the burner. Ladle the stew into bowls and garnish with parsley and several grindings of fresh black pepper. Serve.