Chicken and Artichoke Hearts, for a crowd

My contribution to my first Xmas eve with my boyfriends family had to be great, but not fancy and pretentious but not too simple, not fattening but not low fat...a lot of pressure on this dish.

I landed on a chicken breast with artichoke hearts and a light, but intense white wine/lemon sauce.  I'm happy to say it was a hit, but I made way too much.  Not a bad thing for a holiday.  We have a few containers in the freezer and its really really good the next day or re-heated.  The chokes fall apart and thicken the sauce, great over angel hair or rice...with asparagus or peas.

I don't have exact measurements since I made it for 20 people and recall buying about 9 lbs of chicken breast and using an entire bottle of wine (+1 for me to drink). So, the recipe is a guide with estimated measurements, you may need more or less of all of these:

Lots of Chicken

• 4 Chicken breast, cut thin and pounded flat - preferably antibiotic/hormone free (it makes a difference in the taste and its generally better for you)
• 1 Bag Frozen Artichoke hearts - defrosted and drained, Trader Joe's has great ones; do not use the jarred marinated or canned in liquid, the jarred ones have lots of oil and extra seasoning and the caned ones are just plain gross
• 1/4 cup Chopped shallots
• 2or3 cloves Garlic chopped
• 1/3 cup Dry White wine
• 1/3 cup chicken stock
• Juice and zest from 1 lemon
• Fresh or dried Thyme and Parsley
• 2 Tablespoons Flour

1. Add Lemon zest, salt and pepper to flour, lightly coat each piece of chicken...shake off excess
2. Brown on both sides in pan with olive oil over medium heat
3. Remove from the pan and keep warm on a plate
4. Add artichoke hearts to pan and brown lightly...you may need to add more oil and do in small batches, it takes a few mins at medium/high heat - remove from pan once each heart has a bit of color
5. Add shallots, garlic and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes to pan, cook for 5 mins or till lightly browned
6. Add wine and deglaze pan, simmer for a few mins and add stock, lemon juice and thyme, simmer for 5 mins add S/P to taste
7. Add chicken back in, simmer and cover for about 5/8 mins till sauce is to your liking and chicken is cooked through

*The picture has the chicken in a roasting pan with a lot of liquid to keep it moist in re-heating