Chicken and Le Creuset
This was by far one of the best gifts I got this year (along with the carpet steam cleaner, Coach bag, and pink Yankees hat :), I have been wanting and lusting over these for ages. I made my Mom go into the outlet store in Smithfield just so I could drool over all of the beautiful pots…yes they are beautiful! So needless to say this gift brought out the 8 year old in me when I opened it Christmas morning. I shrieked and danced and skipped for joy when I opened the mammoth gift. I couldn’t figure out how to open to box, which was frustrating in and of itself and I all about carried it around with me all morning. My kitchen felt complete.
So it was about time I broke this baby in. She weighs a ton but her heft is worth the incredible cooking job she does. She retains heat like no ones business and I have never cooked such a meal so fast and efficiently. I made a true one pot meal.
I took some inspiration from Giada on this dish and had all intentions of following her recipe exactly but when I was at the store the mushrooms looked superb so I decided to try them out. I figured I had had such luck with brunch yesterday that I would see if the food gods were on my side again today. Oh yeah…I must have been a good girl because I made an incredible meal that made the whole house smell cozy and even perked up the hubby who was engrossed in a college bowl game.
This takes about an hour or so in all to cook and the flavor is just amazing, I think it has to do with the lemon juice added at the end. I could literally just eat the veggies, they were so flavorful and the artichokes pick up the lemon so well. Yum!
Chicken and Artichokes
4 tablespoons olive oil
4 chicken thighs
4 cloves of minced garlic
6 small red potatoes, cut in quarters
1 small package of button mushrooms, wiped clean
1 15 oz can of artichokes, quartered
1 cup white wine
1 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary
salt and pepper
1 lemon
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Over medium high heat, heat olive oil then add thighs skin side down and allow to brown. Flip and allow to cook about 8 minutes or so. Remove from pot and add potatoes. Allow to carmelize a bit, about 7 minutes. Add wine and broth and scrap brown bits from bottom. Bring to boil and add mushrooms and chicken to the pot. Add garlic, salt and pepper (about 2 teaspoons each), rosemary and juice of one half of the lemon. Cover and put in oven for about 20 minutes.
3. Check chicken after 20 minutes, the temperature should read 180 degrees. When done remove from oven and stir in artichokes and juice from the other half of the lemons.
I whipped up some biscuits and dinner was done! One pot to clean!
As you can see, I tend to be a bit like Rachael Ray and not measure much when I cook, but I tried to take better notes of what I was putting in. I hope you enjoy!
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
January 5th, 2006 05:53
I keep watching for these to go on sale at a store by my house where they do have pretty good sales. I’ve kind of wondered if they were worth the investment, but it sounds like you were impressed.
January 5th, 2006 20:52
Oh yeah I think they are worth it. They also have outlet stores which sell them for much less!