Chicken Cacciatore

Chicken Cacciatore is such a great dish… hearty and delicious… great for the family… and special enough for company… what more could you ask for?

Chicken Cacciatore is chicken in a Hunter’s Sauce… I find it interesting that different countries have similar dishes … this dish is from Italy… and is almost identical to the German version of Chicken Cutlets in a Hunter’s Sauce… the spices are slightly different… and a few different ingredients… but the overall flavors though are close… both recipes are delicious.

TIPS

I used canned tomatoes with garlic, basil and oregano… I still did added dried basil and oregano to the dish… if you use plain canned tomatoes… increase the dried herbs slightly to compensate.

I used thick boneless skinless chicken breasts… many recipes use whole breasts, thighs or legs with skin on… you certainly can use them.. but the dish will be greasier.

The recipe calls for dry white wine.. I use a sauvignon blanc… you can use whatever you like… or you can leave it out… the dish is cooked for over 30 minutes after the addition of the wine so the alcohol is mostly cooked off… leaving a pleasant light flavor… if you are trying to avoid using alcohol in cooking.. you can try using a non-sweet grape juice or some people suggest apple juice in place of the wine(although I have never used either).. . or simply omit it altogether.

As you can see from the picture I used more sliced mushrooms than the recipe calls for.. we love mushrooms… and I needed to use them up… so I added more… which brings me to an important tip.. don’t be afraid to alter recipes to your own tastes… if you really like mushrooms, by all means add more.

The onion and pepper are "rough" chopped… this is a hunter’s dish so you don’t have to be very precise as to shape of the dice.

Make sure you drain the capers before adding them in, do not add the liquid they come in. For information on what are capers... click here.

I don’t list quantities for the salt and pepper …. I use a sprinkling in the flour to season it… and I also adjust the seasoning when I taste the sauce… adjust it to your tastes.

I served this with buttered noodles and green beans… this recipe will serve 4.







Recipe: Chicken Cacciatore

All you need:

4 thick boneless skinless chicken breasts
½ cup flour
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
Sprinkling of salt and pepper
About 3+ tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 pkg. (8 oz.) mushrooms, sliced
¾ cup dry white wine
3 tablespoons capers (drained)
¾ cup chicken broth
1 can (14.5 oz.) Hunts Diced Tomatoes with Basil Garlic and Oregano (do not drain)
1 teaspoon dried oregano (or to taste)
2 teaspoons dried basil
Fresh chopped parsley for garnish

All you need to do:

In a small shallow bowl, mix the flour and garlic powder. Add a sprinkling of salt and black pepper and mix.

Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture.

In a large heavy skillet, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat.

Add the chicken to the skillet sauté the chicken until it is brown on both sides, about 5 minutes a side.

Remove the chicken to a plate and set aside.

Add a little more olive oil, just enough to coat the skillet.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the onions and peppers.

Add the garlic on top of the onions and peppers, so the garlic doesn’t brown. add the sliced mushrooms. Sauté until the onions are translucent and mushrooms are soft.
(about 7 minutes).

Add the wine and simmer for about 3 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, capers, chicken broth, oregano and basil.

Add the chicken back to the pan and bring to a low simmer. Cook for 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through, turning the chicken once.

Please note: thinner chicken breasts or thighs will need less cook time.

Remove the chicken to a platter. Simmer sauce for a few minutes if it needs to thicken a bit.

Spoon the sauce over the chicken and serve with hot buttered noodles.