Chicken Cacciatore

It wasn't until I was much much much older that I realized how creative my mother had to be in the kitchen:  one income, four mouths to feed, not much money.  This was one of her go-to dishes and we all loved it.  A true Southern girl, Mom had never had Italian food until she married my father and moved close to NYC.  In those early days of marriage, when they would go to a restaurant, Mom would take careful notes on items in the menu and then recreate them at home.  She was one of those people who could figure out a dish and how to put it together either by tasting it or just by reading about the item on a menu.  Over the years, she took on a variety of cuisines  - one of her rules was to add new recipes to the dinner menu constantly.  I think one of my best gifts from her is the ability to "taste" a dish just by reading the ingredients.

Chicken Cacciatore

Mom cooked hers on the stove.  I do, too, but I've also made this in the microwave and in a pressure cooker.  It's pretty hard to mess this one up!!!  This was the first meal I made for Carlene after I showed her how to use her pressure cooker.  I may get her addicted to PC cooking yet - my favorite time saver!!!!

Ingredients:
olive oil (always - extra virgin - don't waste your money on anything else)
on the stove - chicken pieces
pressure cooker - boneless chicken, preferably chicken thighs (breast meat gets "dry") - figure 2 pieces per person
2 large onions
3-4 green peppers
small container of sliced mushrooms
garlic (#1 rule in my kitchen - you can never have too much garlic!!)
large can crushed tomatoes
red wine
oregano
basil
crushed red pepper
S/P
pasta

Procedure stove top:
In a large pan, brown the chicken pieces on both sides in a few tablespoons of olive oil - don't turn the heat too high - olive oil smokes at high heat

While the chicken browns, slice the onions, peppers, mushrooms and garlic.

Remove the chicken when browned and then saute the onions and peppers until the onions are limp. Add the garlic slices during the last minute. (Don't overcook garlic!  When it's just barely cooked it's very sweet.  When you overcook it, it gets bitter.) Saute the mushrooms in a separate pan as they sweat out a lot of juice!

Add the tomatoes, a good slosh of wine, about 1/2 tsp each of dried oregano and basil, a pinch of crushed red pepper and S/P to taste.

Cover the pan and let simmer gently about an hour. If the sauce is too watery thicken it with a slurry of cornstarch/water or flour/water, stirred into the simmering sauce.  Serve over cooked pasta.

Procedure pressure cooker:
In the cooker, brown the chicken pieces on both sides in a few tablespoons of olive oil - don't turn the heat too high - olive oil smokes at high heat

While the chicken browns, slice the onions, peppers, mushrooms and garlic.

Add the onions, peppers, mushrooms. garlic slices, tomatoes, a good slosh of wine, about 1/2 tsp each of dried oregano and basil, a pinch of crushed red pepper and S/P to taste. NOTE: The vegetables will really be COOKED - if you like your veggies to have more "body", saute them separately and then add them at the end.   Just cook the chicken with the tomatoes, wine and spices.

Place the cover on and bring the pressure cooker up to 15 lb pressure for 10 minutes (if you use pieces with the bone in, you do get the benefits of the calcium in the bones but you are forced to pick out the bones before serving.  Use boneless!)   If the sauce is too watery thicken it with a slurry of cornstarch/water or flour/water, stirred into the simmering sauce.  Serve over cooked pasta.

A tossed salad, a glass of Chianti, and some garlic bread are good serve-alongs.