Revive this forgotten recipe
Sometimes we forget things.
I was cleaning out a box the other day and ran across recipes that we prepared in the Tea Room many years ago – including one for chicken with artichokes and sun-dried tomatoes.
This recipe has a connection to Russellville – though never in 100 years could I have known I would live here one day.
Miss Elizabeth Ingram, whose father started the Bank of Bolivar that is now owned by CB&S Bank, was a member of the St. James Episcopal Church. Being a small church, we were all like family. She was a wonderful cook and traveled all over the world. She loved England and spoke with an English accent, which everyone was as excited to hear. She was so proper.
Miss Elizabeth ran a finishing school for children in the basement of The Columns. It is a large Southern mansion now and event house run by a foundation she ordered established, so the house would be used and not just sit there and fall down like a lot of beautiful old homes.
When I opened the Tea Room at Mallory Manor, she had to give me some of her recipes.
Chicken with Artichokes and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
2 tablespoons of olive oil
½ onion sliced, about 2/3 cup
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch squares
½ cup chicken broth
14 oz. can quarter artichoke hearts with juice
7 oz. jar of sun dried tomatoes, drained and cut in quarters
¾ cup of pitted olives, halved – I use black ones
½ teaspoon of salt
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon dried basil
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¾ pound of angel hair pasta, about 12 ounces
4-6 ounces crumbled feta cheese
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook onions, stirring until softened, three to four minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for one minute, then add chicken and cook, stirring, until no longer pink outside.
Stir in broth, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, olives, salt, oregano, basil and pepper and bring to boil for about five minutes
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Cook pasta, stirring occasionally, until done, four to five minutes. Drain well, then transfer pasta to serving plate.
Spoon chicken mixture over pasta and sprinkle with feta cheese.
Miss Elizabeth loved to have people over, and she had to have the table set with all the English silver she brought back with her from one of the first trips to England.
If you are ever in the area, the house is beautiful – formal gardens and furniture of the period of the house.
After her death, the house was restored by Jim Stevens and Dunn Mask to the original glory. They did a beautiful job and keep the house – they restored it well.
Thanking a great lady for some of my training.
