Tried and True - Recipes with a Reputation

This has become a staple in our house because it tastes SO good. I owe it all to the Macon Chronicle-Herald Lifestyle section, where I first saw this recipe presented by Saimi Bergman. Click the link for all the great additional info included by Bergman. And the best part? The "dinner for a dollar" part. Yes, that's right, a dollar.

I modified this recipe a bit for the two of us, but I'll start with the original ingredients and we'll go from there.

The Ingredients:

4 chicken thighs
1 chicken breast
2 onions, sliced
6 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1 green pepper, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced fine
1 (28-ounce) can petite diced tomatoes
1/2 cup wine
1 teaspoon oregano

(from here on out, it's what I do with the recipe. If you'd like to prepare it like Bergman, feel free, but obviously I'm partial to my tweaks, and this is MY blog...) :o)

I'd add - enough boiling water to cook some rice to serve it on, and get it started early if you're not using the quickie kind. Brown rice is GREAT, but it takes 30-35 minutes to cook so start it first!

If I'm in a pinch, I use canned chicken that is pre-cooked (just drain it) or if you're wanting to use leftover chicken, go ahead, just toss it in after the veggies are cooked. Otherwise, I use a couple chicken breasts and fry them on each side in a bit of vegetable oil until lightly golden and mostly cooked through, but not dry. Set them aside, and toss in the onions (I prefer chunky-diced) and add some more oil if needed (not much) and cook until translucent, stirring as much as needed.

MMM... a skillet full of onions browning smells amazing

While the chicken and onions are cooking, prep the vegetables. Wash the mushrooms well. I use a whole 8 ounce container, because I don't want to keep track of two extra ounces of mushrooms (although the husband might enjoy a mushroom and cheese omelet some morning...hmm, there's an idea). I pick the mushrooms out and give to Husband, but I like the flavor it adds, even though I'm NOT a mushroom fan. It works because he is. If everyone eating the dish detests mushrooms, you could probably leave them out, but I'd encourage you to give it a shot just because you never know what you might like unless you try it once in a while.

When you're chopping the pepper, if you don't already have an efficient way to contain the seeds or are a pepper-newbie, read and learn: wash the pepper first. With a paring knife, cut into the pepper along each of the creases from the top to the bottom. Set the knife down and grip the pepper like you're doing the bridge shuffling cards. Break the top loose from the stem and pull away, leaving the seeds intact on the core inside. After you've removed all the sections, trim the white membranes with the knife and toss all the waste in the compost.

The membranes aren't trimmed off yet, but the seeds are all contained on the stem!

(During the summer when peppers are incredibly cheap I buy them in bulk, prepare like above, and lay them on a cookie sheet to flash freeze in the freezer. When they're frosty, I toss them all into a freezer bag and pull out when I need some to cook with)

Anyway, when the onions for your Cacciatore are cooked, add the mushrooms, peppers and garlic (I buy it in a jar, pre-minced). Cook until peppers are softening and mushrooms are darkening, still stirring occasionally. Then add the wine. The first time I made this, I had white cooking wine with lemon on hand, so I used that. Over the MANY times I've made this recipe, I've always preferred that wine to any others I tried. If you have plain white, you can toss in a bit of lemon extract (1 teaspoon-ish) if you'd like to try it.

Let it all cook down a bit (3 minutes or so) then it's time for the tomatoes. I really like the garlic and olive oil canned tomatoes, and because I usually make a smaller batch, the standard 14.5 oz can is just fine. If you use seasoned tomatoes, you can probably skip the extra oregano. Put the chicken back in and cook it all down until the flavors have melded. Serve it over rice (I haven't ever used anything else...It just works so well together!) and ENJOY!

Chicken Cacciatore on white rice