Doing it Hunter-Style

After a brief hiatus from Food Guru-ing..... I am back and better than ever. Thank you for all the support Food Guru Nation, it was much appreciated.

So let's get into this.

©Raj Rao

Why did the chicken cross the road? Because it was running away from the hunter. Barump-pum. Anyone? Anyone? No? Ok, bad joke. What you want from me, it's a "Why did the chicken cross the road" joke. The comedic bar was already set low.

From a culinary standpoint though, I am talking about a dish called Chicken Cacciatore or Hunter’s chicken, hence the bad joke.

The dish itself originated between 1450 and 1600 in central Italy. The actual name for the dish is Pollo Alla Cacciatore which is Italian for hunter-style chicken. Hunter-style means a meal that is usually prepared with tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, herbs, bell peppers, and sometimes wine. The dish has many variations from the choice of meat, the choice of wine and the mushrooms used. Traditionally rabbit or pheasant are the primary choice of meat. Remember when you freaked out about goat meat? Yeah, humans have been eating anything they can catch for a while now so get with it. The hunters will usually use the day’s catch for the dish. I am convinced that's why Elmer Fudd was obsessed with stalking Bugs. He wanted some Bunny Caccia-Wabbit for dinner. Eh? Eh? See what I did there? Cacciatore.....Caccia-Wabbit.... Still nothing? Whatever, I don't have to impress you.

I am here to talk food anyway, so here is my recipe for the delectable Chicken Cacciatore

Ingredients:

Whole chicken cut into 8 pieces. Skin on.

Shallot – 1 medium size

Garlic – 6 medium sized cloves (Yes, I love garlic and you should too)

Red pepper flakes – 1 tablespoon

Crushed tomatoes – 3 cups

Tomato paste – ½ cup
Chicken stock – ½ cup

Dry white wine – ½ cup (theory on wine for cooking, only cook with wine that you will drink. And drink while you cook, always makes for a happy dinner.)

Green Bell Pepper – 1

Red Bell Pepper – 1

Orange Bell pepper- 1

Baby bella mushrooms – 2 cups (halved)

All purpose flour – 2 tablespoons

Cayenne pepper – 1 teaspoon

Salt – To taste

Pepper – 1 tablespoon

Olive oil – 2 tablespoons

Bay leaf – 2

Method:



©Raj Rao



Mix the all-purpose flour, cayenne, salt and pepper on a plate. Coat the chicken with the flour mixture and shake off excess flour. Coat a non-stick cooking pot with the olive oil. When the oil is hot, place the chicken in the pot with the skin side down and start browning on all sides. Once all the chicken pieces are browned take them out of the pot and place them on a plate. Don’t freak out if you see the bottom of the pot looking brown or coated with brown chicken bits. That is the good stuff. Place the bay leaf in the pot along with the onion and start sauteing them. After about 2 minutes add the garlic and red pepper flakes. You knew I'd add a little heat to this.



©Raj Rao



Now add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken stock and white wine. Stir for a few seconds and turn up the heat to high. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium and add the bell peppers and mushrooms. Now add the chicken to the pot. Stir a few times to make sure everything is coated with the sauce. Put the lid on and let it cook on medium for about 25 minutes. Make sure the heat is on medium or else you will have a disaster of a dish.

After 25 minutes, the sauce would have thickened up a bit. Taste the sauce to make sure it has the right amount of salt. If needed, add more to the dish, adding salt is no culinary sin kids. Once you are happy with the taste, remove it from the stove and let it sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes.

Serving suggestions:

This dish can be served with your choice of pasta, bread or rice. Yes I did say rice and there is nothing wrong with that. Who's the guru here?

Taste:

This is it. Time to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

©Raj Rao

Visually this is a stunning dish because you get the vibrant and bright colors from the multi-colored bell peppers and mushrooms. I mean it's truly a work of art in the Italian tradition. The chicken is very tender due to the slow cooking. It absorbed all the tomato and wine sauce. The crushed red pepper gives just the right amount of heat to flirt with your pallet. The sweetness from the tomatoes is balanced by the tartness of the wine. The bell peppers are al dente and give a good crunch to the dish. Mushrooms add another layer of flavor and texture to the dish.

The entire dish was a success. Feel free to add more things to the dish. I have tried adding asparagus and it worked just fine. You can also use red wine instead of white wine if you prefer a bold sauce.

Hopefully I have managed to stir up the inner hunter in you to go catch a chicken and make this dish. Right. I realize that in your case you will just visit your local grocery store and buy one but make it an adventure in the poulty aisle and evoke the hunter inside of you.

Grazie e arrivederci

Food Guru out….

©Raj Rao