chicken cacciatore

i was disgruntled because i hadn't cooked all week; if you know me, i get kind of grumpy and unsettled when this is the case. so since i had no plans for the weekend, i decided to make chicken cacciatore. i had made the joy of cooking version with rocco a few weeks back, and it didn't require much in the way of ingredients beyond mushrooms, tomatoes, herbs, and some chicken stock and wine. i decided, as i often do, to make a labor-intensive version of it. i looked at my joy of cooking - which i have to say, in my kitchen, serves more as a reference than a real cookbook - and noted the ingredients, then looked online at epicurious to see what the range of ingredients was from recipe to recipe. i found one that roasted the vegetables, which sounded really excellent, but the thing i liked a lot about the one rocco and i made was the thickness of the sauce - ie, the vegetables and the sauce are equally important.

essentially, i combined the two recipes, and modified them to the proportions that i like. i used a combination of fresh and canned tomatoes, to try to balance flavor versus my pocketbook. luckily, it's summer, so tomatoes are cheaper than they usually are. i also probably doubled the mushrooms: i like mushrooms. especially sliced thickly, which doesn't usually happen - most restaurants either use tiny mushrooms that don't need to be sliced, slice them thinly, or slice them in half. and i like mine sliced thickly. i also increased the amount of onions, because onions are good...

anyway, this recipe is somewhat time intensive, requiring a fair amount of mise en place. but the end result is more than rewarding - thick, satisfying, hearty, with a lot of depth of flavor. so if you're bored one day, you're craving comfort food, or you want to impress someone - go to it.

chicken cacciatore
2 10-oz packages baby bella mushrooms, sliced thickly (slices should be a little less than 1/2" thick, about four slices per mushroom)
2 large red onions, one sliced into thin rings, one diced
6 cloves garlic, minced finely
1 package fresh sage, chopped fine
1 package fresh basil, chopped fine
2 1/2 lbs fresh tomatoes, chopped coarsely
3T olive oil
2T balsamic vinegar

1 can tomato paste
1/2c red wine
1 28-oz can whole tomatoes in juice (not ground or diced)
1 can chicken stock

3-4 lbs chicken thighs (or mixture of chicken parts; not chicken breast)
flour for dredging
vegetable oil

salt and pepper

1. preheat oven to 400F. in a large bowl, combine half the mushrooms, half of the tomatoes, and the sliced onion to the bowl. add about a third of the fresh herbs and half of the garlic to the bowl. toss with olive oil and balsamic vinegar until evenly coated. spread on a large baking sheet in 1 layer and roast, stirring about every 10-15 minutes, until roasted and no liquid remains, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

2. heat 3-4T vegetable oil on medium high heat in a large pot. dredge chicken thighs in flour and fry until browned on each side. remove chicken to a plate when browned. add the minced onion to the pot with the remaining garlic, and saute about 10 minutes. add tomatoes and tomato paste. add red wine and turn heat down to medium, simmering the sauce about 10 more minutes. add the remaining mushrooms and the chicken stock. crush the canned tomatoes by hand and add to the pot. simmer the mixture for 10 minutes.

3. remove the skin from the chicken thighs and add to the pot. when the roasted vegetables are done, add to the pot. simmer over medium heat, stirring every 10 minutes or so, for at least an hour, until the chicken is ready to fall off the bones and the sauce is thick. season with salt and pepper and serve with pasta (i like barilla's pipette pasta - for this recipe, pasta with ridges is best) tossed with olive oil and fresh basil.

[serves 8-10, depending on how many chicken thighs you buy]