Suzanne’s Artichoke-Chicken “elegant”

Our last, but by no means least shout out this month goes to Patty Charhut and her son Nick, with a posthumous recognition to Patty’s mom Suzanne Wilson Sheehan. It’s another family affair and reflects how our business is committed to not only being “nourishing” but “relevant” – what you need, when you need it.

Meg and Patty were cohorts on the Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Learning Disabilities Association (LDA) and discovered they were kindred spirits. Some months ago, Patty generously offered to share her Marketing Communications expertise just at the right moment, when our message required pinning down and tightening up. With all the other components of zen to focus on, perfecting our public messaging became akin to pinning down a raw egg with a fork.

Patty is responsible, amongst other things, for honing the Marketing section of our business plan while lending an extra pair of hands for our face-to-face events; the Farmers’ Market and our Holiday Boutiques. We are thankful and continue to work together having fun along the way.

In addition, the zen business plan is firmly stamped with the work of another Charhut family member, Patty’s son Nick. While Meg and I upped our game for our Farmers’ Market debut last summer, Nick was busy number crunching in the background. We really appreciate Nick’s financial foray into our spice innovations and fitting in as an intern with our dynamic business.

But this post would be incomplete without a recipe and with it recognition of a third generation of Patty’s family. Thanks to Patty’s late mother Suzanne, for our Artichoke-Chicken “elegant” recipe this week. As a member of the Junior League of South Bend, Indiana, Suzanne was on the cookbook committee when it was formed in 1979. Their first printing of “Nutmeg and Nostalgia” totalled 5,000 and by 1985 they had doubled their printing quantity.

Artichoke-Chicken “elegant” is so simple and tasty and I couldn’t pass by that title from another era. Naturally our adaptation was made for your slow cooker so the chicken thighs replace the split chicken breasts and we used whole onion in place of onion powder. Interestingly, the recommended serving suggestion was as follows “serve with small tea rolls, sliced cantaloupe and raspberries.” I chose a more pedestrian accompaniment, brown basmati rice, but feel free to experiment!

2 lbs chicken thigh meat, cut into cubes or *3 chicken breasts, split, skinned

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

2 1/2 tbsp Hungarian paprika

2 tbsp light olive oil

1 white onion, diced small

3 tbsp/ 1/4 cup flour

1 can artichoke hearts, drained

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup white wine

Cut the chicken into pieces over it’s original packaging tray. Measure and sprinkle the salt, pepper and paprika over the chicken and toss to coat evenly.

Heat the oil in a skillet over a medium heat and add the spice covered chicken pieces. Leave to sauté in the skillet for 2-3 minutes before turning. Sauté on the other side for a further 2-3 minutes. Once the chicken has started to take on a lighter color, transfer to your slow cooker.

Add the chopped onion to the same skillet and briefly sauté for 1 minute before adding to the slow cooker.

Add the artichokes and flour to the chicken mixture and stir to combine.

Stir in the chicken broth and white wine. Cover and cook on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 8 hours.

* If using split chicken breast instead of thighs, rub the salt, pepper & paprika onto the chicken before sautéing as per the recipe. Cook for 2-3 hours on HIGH or 4-6 on LOW, depending on the thickness of the chicken.

In February we look at healing power of food and are cooking for heart health, with an introduction by Steve Devries, MD of The Gaples Institute.

“Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.”
-Theodore Roosevelt