Artichauts à la Provençale

Artichauts à la Provençale (small artichokes with peas and lettuce, cooked in olive oil) teaches cuisson à l'étouffée, cooking tightly covered in the vegetables' own moisture. The one true thing to know before touching the pan is this: the lid makes the dish. Let the moisture escape or drive the heat too fiercely, and the vegetables scorch before they soften.

The canonical entry assumed a saucier could watch an earthenware stewpan over a perfectly judged fire; unlike many dishes around it, it calls for neither stock never off the fire nor a salamander. Your honest equivalent is a heavy 10-inch sauté pan with a close-fitting lid. The separate service pan is brigade scaffolding and can go, but the hot olive oil, ten-minute head start for the artichokes, and covered cooking without added liquid are the dish and must stay. The book speaks in twelve artichokes; this version uses eight, with the peas and lettuce reduced to two-thirds, keeping its proportions intact for four people. One cook, one stove, one evening.

When it lands correctly, the artichokes are tender through their bases, the peas remain sweet, and the lettuce has collapsed into silky green ribbons, all carrying a fine gloss of olive oil and vegetable juices. Prepare the peas and lettuce before trimming the artichokes, then guard that covered pan. Every unnecessary look under the lid costs you moisture.