Chicken Stuffed Artichokes

Remember a while back when I was ranting and raving about finding and cherishing your Grandmother's recipes?  Well, I've got a new rule/pointer for you.

If your mother happens to be a fabulous cook (like mine)...steal her recipe cards.  That's right, I said it.  Steal 'em.  And then blame it on me.  That's fine.

Before I moved to Boston, I pulled a stealthy little move and cleaned out mom's recipe drawer.  And while I was cleaning I may or may not have slid a few things in my back pocket.  And when I say a few...I mean enough recipe cards to fill a box.  No big deal.

As I was browsing through my treasure chest (mom's recipes) I stumbled upon this lovely thing, which you can find in this Meal Plan Monday post.  I had just bought some artichokes, I had some baked chicken and I knew immediately...it was fate.  I had to make them.

I ended up more or less changing the entire recipe but knowing how my mother cooks (the same "little of this, little of that" Grandmother principal) I know that at whatever point in time she made these there is no possible way that they turned out like the recipe card describes.

Now, some of you might be concerned about the whole artichoke thing.  But it's simple.  I promise.  And I'm going to walk you through it.  So don't fret.  Also, Simply Recipes has a wonderful post about how to cook and eat an artichoke which you can find {here}.

Chicken Stuffed Artichokes

Makes: 4 servings   Prep Time: 20 minutes   Cook Time: 1 hour   Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

{Print Me}

Ingredients:

• 4 medium to large artichokes
• 1 lemon
• 1 1/2 cups cooked chicken, diced
• 3/4 cup plain yogurt (or sour cream)
• 1/3 cup mushrooms, diced
• 1/3 cup onion, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup feta cheese (or any other cheese!)
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup chicken broth

1. Rinse the artichokes.

2. Cut off their stems.

3. Cut about 3/4 of an inch to an inch off the tip of the artichoke.

4. Using scissors, cut the tips off of all of the leaves.

5. Rub every part of the artichoke with a lemon.  This keeps it from turning icky colors.

6. Place in a large pot, stem side up.

7. Fill pot with about 2 inches of water.  Place over heat and bring to a boil.  Once a boil is reached, reduce heat, cover, and let simmer for 25-35 minutes or until the outer leaves can easily be pulled off.

8. While your artichokes are cooking, saute mushrooms, onions, and garlic in 1 tablespoon of olive oil until tender.
 

9. In a large bowl combine, diced chicken, yogurt, mushroom/onion mixture, bread crumbs, thyme, feta, salt, and pepper.  Mix it up and set aside.

10.  This is what your artichokes will look like when they are done!  Easy right?  Go ahead and preheat the oven to 350°.

11. Once they are cool enough to work with, start spreading the leaves out.  And uhm...doesn't this look like the flower *monster* thing from Jumanji?!

12. Once you get it all opened up, spoon out the inedible fuzzy part called the choke.

13. Place the prepared artichokes into a baking dish.  Pour 1/2 cup broth into the bottom of the pan.

14. Stuff the artichokes with the chicken mixture.

15. Really pack it in there and then toss it into the preheated oven until heated all the way through.  Around 20-30 minutes.

16. And....

17. Devour!