These recipes are a little involved, so I won't go into them, but they are again from a book by Jacques Pépin, called Jacques Pépin Celebrates. This was a Happy Birthday meal for Elyse!
I would like to recommend that you make your own stock. That is the only way I was able to pull this meal off. The sauce is a reduction of my stock, along with a reduction of the water that I soaked the morels in, butter, and some cognac, which I flambéed. Making your own stock will mean that you spend an entire day relaxing at home, and if you have it frozen you can produce an impressive meal in no time.
Most of the effort in this meal for me was in the artichokes. I haven't worked with them a lot, and the artichoke can be a little daunting. Really, make sure that your knife is sharp and then just remove everything that doesn't look edible. (There are a lot of artichoke heart slices on the plate, because I bought jumbo artichokes at Whole Foods today. Half as many would have been plenty.)
I should mention tarragon, the garnish, which you should try to substitute the next time you have a hearty meal which is garnished with parsley or chives. We don't use tarragon often in this country, but we should!
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