Here I go again with the hearty, stewy dishes that I JUST CAN'T SEEM TO STOP MAKING. I promise you that I will bake something sweet to post next week. And nothing that vaguely resembles a soup or a stew. Maybe I'll even throw in an all-veggie dish (stranger things have happened). But for now, I've got one last amazing, down-home, cold-weather recipe for you: chicken cacciatore.
This is a "hunter's stew" of sorts made from a whole chicken (I used chicken legs), tomatoes, onions, peppers, and some good red wine that will warm you right up during these cold days. The recipe below will serve a hungry group of four, or it will be enough for one w/ leftovers to last you a few delicious days. Serve it over a bed of noodles or rice. Talk about a dish designed to get you through the winter. xo
Chicken Cacciatore
Adapted from Gourmet, January 2006; originally published in 1948
Ingredients:
3 pounds of chicken legs, cut into 8 serving pieces
1 3/4 teaspoons table salt
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped, most seeds removed
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 (28-oz) can whole tomatoes in juice
1/2 cup chicken stock or reduced-sodium chicken broth
Directions:
Pat chicken dry and sprinkle on all sides with 1 1/4 teaspoons salt and pepper. Heat oil in a deep 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown chicken in 2 batches, turning over once, about 10 minutes per batch. Transfer chicken to a plate.
Reduce heat to moderate and add onion, bell pepper, and garlic to skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally and scraping up any brown bits, until onion and garlic are golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Add wine and simmer, scraping up brown bits, until liquid is reduced by half, 1 to 2 minutes. Add tomatoes with their juice and simmer, breaking up tomatoes with a wooden spoon, 5 minutes. Add chicken stock and nestle chicken pieces in sauce.
Reduce heat to moderate and add onion, bell pepper, and garlic to skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally and scraping up any brown bits, until onion and garlic are golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Add wine and simmer, scraping up brown bits, until liquid is reduced by half, 1 to 2 minutes. Add tomatoes with their juice and simmer, breaking up tomatoes with a wooden spoon, 5 minutes. Add chicken stock and nestle chicken pieces in sauce.
