CHICKEN CACCIATORE
4 to 5 lbs chicken, butcher to cut chicken cut into 16 pieces, plus extra drumsticks
Measure out:
Wine: 3oz red
Stock: 3oz chicken
Small tomatoes: (14oz can, Italian, San Marzano region,) broken with a fork
Dutch oven:
Pour ½ cup garlic oil and heat
Set the chicken pieces in the pot
Sprinkle all over with:
1t dried oregano
1t each salt and freshly-ground pepper
1½ T flour
Aggressively brown all pieces
(I use a large frying pan to brown the pieces that don’t fit into the Dutch oven and then add that oil and juices and chicken to the Dutch oven. This way I’m frying all the chicken at the same time rather than in two or three waves.)
Add:
12oz sliced onions
12oz sliced bell peppers
4oz of mushrooms (brown the mushrooms separately and add them into the casserole when done.)
4oz medium pieces celery
½ oz serrano pepper
2 Bay leaves
Toss with browned chicken pieces
Heat the Dutch Oven on a simmer burner with cover.
Add 3TB tomato paste. (The paste is set in a blob on the pan bottom until it has a chance to caramelize in the olive oil. 4 minutes.)
Braise the ingredients in the oil and the natural juices that come out of the ingredients.
Turn every 5 minutes for a total 15 minutes of hot braise.
Remove the cover. We won’t need it anymore.
Add the wine, the stock, and the small tomatoes
Bring to a boil and immediately move the Dutch Oven to the 350* oven.
Cook for 40 minutes
Go in every twelve minutes to stir and make sure to keep the temperature at a simmer.
Serve with shell macaroni.