Risotto with Chicken, Artichokes, and Mushrooms
— Serves 4 as a main dish
Artichokes are wonderful eaten leaf by leaf as a vegetable, but equally fabulous when trimmed down to their meaty centers and added to pasta, risotto, and braised dishes. This risotto combines artichokes with sautéed mushrooms, then boosts the mushroom flavor with dried cèpes.
Risotto recipes usually direct you to stir small quantities of broth into the simmering rice over a 20-25 minute period. This recipe uses Cooks Illustrated’s ‘almost no stir’ technique to produce a rich, creamy risotto with only a few minutes stirring time. You will need a heavy Dutch oven with a tightly-fitting lid (une cocotte!) to use this technique.
For a vegetarian risotto, omit the chicken and use a vegetarian stock and/or the mushroom soaking liquid (strain through a coffee filter to remove any grit).
*Ingredients marked in green are available from The Gourmet Corner.
Suggested wine pairing: Saumur Rouge, Reserve des Vignerons 2008
Ingredients
** Chef’s Truc! If you have access to an Indian grocery store, many carry powdered citric acid (lemon phool). It’s a convenient and shelf-stable alternative to fresh lemon juice when you need acidulated water to prevent cut fruit or vegetables from browning. Use 1½ tsp to replace juice of one lemon.
Chicken
Place the chicken stock in a saucepan and heat to a simmer.
Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add chicken, skin side down, and cook 4-6 minutes until golden brown. Turn chicken over and cook until second side is lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Remove Dutch oven from heat, but do not clean it.
Transfer chicken into simmering broth and cook 10-15 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part reads 165 °F.
Transfer chicken to a plate to cool. Cover the broth, and keep it at a simmer.
Artichokes & Mushrooms
Halve the lemon and squeeze the juice into a large bowl of cold water. Working with one artichoke at a time, snap off the leaves (try to preserve as much as possible of the fleshy base of the leaf). Stop when you reach leaves that are mostly pale greenish yellow except the tips. Slice off the dark tips of the leaves. Use a vegetable peeler or small sharp knife to pare the tough, dark green leaf bases from the artichoke heart. Quarter the artichoke lengthwise and use the tip of a small knife to remove the fuzzy choke. Cut the quarters into ¼-inch thick wedges and drop them the acidulated water.
Add 2 Tbs butter to the Dutch oven and heat over medium heat. When butter has melted, add onion and ½ tsp salt. Stir until onion is softened and beginning to brown, 10-12 minutes.
Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until well-browned, about 10 minutes.
Drain and rinse artichoke slices, add to mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally, until artichokes are tender, about 15 minutes (time will depend on how thick the slices are). Transfer vegetables into a heatproof bowl. Do not clean Dutch oven.
Risotto
Add 2 Tbs butter to Dutch oven and place over medium heat. When the butter had melted, add the rice. Cook, stirring, until the rice is turning translucent at the edges, about 3 minutes. Add wine and stir constantly until it is absorbed, 2-3 minutes. Add 4 cups simmering broth to the rice, stir well, then put the lid on the pot. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until almost all the liquid has been absorbed, 16-19 minutes.
While rice is cooking, discard chicken bones and skin, then shred meat into bite-size pieces.
Soak cèpes in 1 cup boiling water for 5 minutes until fully rehydrated, then drain (strain the mushroom soaking liquid through a coffee filter to add to the risotto, if desired) and carefully rinse away any grit. Coarsely chop and add to vegetable mixture.
Remove lid from Dutch oven and stir in remaining cup of hot broth. Cook, stirring constantly, until rice becomes creamy — about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
Stir in vegetables, chicken, and parmesan. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir again, then serve.
Tags: artichokes, chicken, mushrooms, risotto