Recipe Links
Basil Oglio Fra Diavlo Black Pepper and Fennel Shortbread Crackers Bleu Bacon and Italian Burgers Blueberry Almond Crumble Pie Braised Beef Short Ribs Breakfast Sausage Butter Pecan Shortbread Cookies Buttermilk Pancakes California Grilled Artichokes Capressa Fra Diavlo Cherry Garcia Icecream Cherry Sangria Chicken and Polenta Chicken Cacciatore Chicken Vegetable Soup with Broccoli Rabe Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache Frosting Chocolate Sparkle Cookies Christmas Shortbreads Classic Hummus Coconut Cake Coq Au Vin Wine Braised Chicken Cranberry Orange Crumb Cake Cream Corn and Lima Bean Succotash Devishly Chewy Brownies Eggplant Parmesan Fetticini Alfredo with Bacon and Peas Fusilli a la Vodka Sauce Ginger Chocolate Spice Cookies Gnocci with Broccoli Rabe and Sausange Gramma Daly's Cole Slaw Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Blue Cheese Butter Grilled Swordfish Hazelnut Biscotti Cookies Heavenly Blondies Homemade Italian Sausage Homemade Sauerkraut Hot Artichoke Dip Italian Meatballs Little Sister's BBQ Ribs Molten Chocolate Cake Olio fra diavlo pasta salad Pumpkin Gingerbread Cake Quiche (Sans the Lorraine) Red Velvet Cake Seafood Francaise Shaved Brussel Spouts & Polenta Cake Slow Cooker Thai Pork and Coconut Rice South Florida Fish Stew Spagetti ala Olio Aglio and Pepperoncino Spiced Pear and Cranberry Chutney Steak Braciole Sunday Tomato Sauce Sweet Potato Corned Beef Hash Swordfish Oreganade Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin and Spicy Thai Peanut Sauce The White House Maryland Crab Cakes Tomato Bisque with Chichen and Rice Turkey Paprikash Soup Walnut Shortbread Christmas Cookies White Bean Pasta Fagioli

Better ingredients, better technique, better results.

Entries in Chicken Cacciatore (1)

Sunday
Jan222012

Chicken Cacciatore

This is my take on the classic "hunters chicken" recipe from Tuscany.  Since I am a fan of cooking chicken on the bone, but not fighting with the bones once it's cooked, have added a couple of extra steps to the classic recipe for Chicken Cacciatore.  

A little more time, but you don't want your guests fighting with their food, do you?

For the chicken:

4-6 Split, bone-in, skin on, chicken breasts
2-4 Bone-in, skin on, chicken thighs
1 cup flour
1 tps salt
½ tps ground pepper
Olive Oil for Browning
¼ lb thick cut smoked bacon, diced

For the vegetables:

4 cloves garlic, minced
4 sweet onions, diced
4 red or green frying peppers, cut in ½ inch pieces
1 lb fresh mushrooms, thickly sliced  (optional)

For the seasoning:

1 tsp kosher salt and ½ tsp fresh ground pepper
1 Tbs each Dried Italian Seasoning (oregano, basil, marjoram, rosemary, savory)
Pinch crushed red pepper flakes

For the Braising Liquid:

2 cups Hearty Burgundy Red Wine
2 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes (not with added puree)
(I use fresh crushed when I can get them at the farmers market)
2 Bay Leaves

Brown the chicken:

  • Combine the flour, salt & pepper in a large flat dish.   
  • Heat a large Dutch oven with the Olive Oil.  
  • Dredge the chicken, shake off excess, and brown, meat side down, until very golden.  
  • Turn, brown again, and set the browned chicken aside in a bowl while you finish browning the other pieces.  (Chicken will not be cooked through)

Caramelize the vegetables:

  • Add the bacon to the pan and cook until just starting to crisp.  
  • Add the garlic and the red pepper, and sauté for one minute, then immediately add the onions and stir to get the garlic off the bottom of the pan.  
  • Cook the onions until they soften and start to brown, and then add the peppers.  
  • Cook the vegetables until they begin to caramelize. 

Season:

  • When the vegetables start to stick, season with salt & pepper, and the dried herbs.  
  • Let the herbs salute with the vegetables for a minute or two.

Add the braising liquid:

  • Add the wine, and let it cook in the vegetables for a few minutes, until it starts to bubble.  
  • Then add the tomatoes and stir together.  
  • Once the tomatoes start to bubble, add the chicken, and turn the heat down to a simmer.  
  • It should just bubble slowly
  • Check to see that the chicken gets turned carefully in the sauce to keep it covered.  This will take about 1 to 1-1/2. 

Prepare for storage/serving

  • In about 1 hour, check the chicken to see if it is starting to falling off the bone. 
  • Remove the chicken from the pot.  
  • When it is cool enough to handle pull the chicken meat off the bones and set aside. 
  • At this point, you can allow the sauce to cook down a little more by turning up the heat and letting it boil.  
  • You can also refrigerate the sauce and the meat separately overnight. 

Serving:

  • When you want to serve, skim the fat off of the sauce, return the meat to the sauce, and allow it to simmer another 15-30 minutes, depending on how tender you want your chicken.
  • Serve over angel hair pasta or with a great loaf of Italian bread and a generous sprinkle of parmesan cheese.  
  • Enjoy with a glass of Chianti, which is the classic wine of Tuscany.