Chicken Cacciatore

This is such a classic dish which was designed to be made with rabbit meat but over the years we've changed our dietary habits in the US and now use it for chicken only. If you prefer rabbit meat, then use it as it is found greatly in Britain and all over Europe.

I've made Chicken Cacciatore dozens of times over the years from various recipes. But I think that I finally found one that I put my own twist on and it comes so delicious that I now feel comfortable to serve it to my friends. So here goes...

The original recipe calls for chicken thighs I hate using thighs as they are usually full of fat and gristle while yielding very little meat -basically a total waste of my time to cook them! I decided to go without the fresh basil and use dried, just using what I have on hand and saving a few dollars in the process.

I used the following ingredients;

• 4 to 6 chicken breasts
• salt and pepper-I use kosher salt in my cooking
• ½ cup flour for coating the chicken
• Olive oil
• no salt butter
• 1 large Red Bell Pepper- chopped
• 1 large Green Bell pepper-chopped
• 1 medium sized Red Onion- chopped
• 3 cloves garlic- minced
• ¾ cup dry white wine- make it's something that you would drink
• 28 ounces of chopped tomatoes with the liquid
• ¾ cup of reduced sodium chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons of capers-drained
• 1½ teaspoons of dried Oregano
• 1Tablespoon of dried Basil (or a little more)

I used a large 5 quart skillet w/ lid to cook all of this in- bought it at Sam's Club about 5 years ago, it's one of the best things I ever bought as I use this skillet ALL of the time!

I find that it's best to have all of your ingredients already measured out and chopped as this will go fast!

*heat the oil and butter over a medium setting

*I cut the chicken breasts in half, sprinkle salt and pepper the raw chicken (both sides) and then drag it through the flour to lightly coat it. Put chicken in hot skillet that has oil and butter (I love combining the 2 as the flavor is so rich). Saute until just browned (about 5 minutes per side), it's okay if the pieces are not thoroughly cooked, they will go back in to the skillet later on to finish the cooking process. Don't crowd the skillet, having too much meat in there will cause the chicken to steam rather than to fry because of the excess moisture- so, you may have to do this is a couple of batches. Transfer chicken pieces to a plate and set aside.

*Add bell pepper and onion saute for 4 minutes, then add garlic continue to saute for one more minute. Cooking garlic too long can make it turn bitter. Season with salt and pepper.

*Add the wine, stir and let simmer for about 3 minutes or until the liquid is reduced by half.

*Add the tomatoes with the juice, the chicken broth, capers, oregano and basil, place lid on skillet and let simmer over a medium heat for about 15 minutes. Be sure to stir occasionally so nothing sticks to the bottom of the skillet. The liquid will have reduced greatly, then place the chicken pieces in and cook another 15 minutes.

The chicken will be tender and delicious and the sauce delectable! I like to serve this with fettucine pasta, garlic bread and a side salad. My teenagers gobbled this up! I even took this recipe on a test drive made it for my lovely neighbors who just had a baby and another neighbor who is just a sweetheart who does a lot of volunteering with me. I will be making this recipe for a deployed spouses function later on this week to serve at least 20 people.

Side note...Now if you don't have capers don't sweat it! It does add a little bit of a zing to the recipe but it also won't fall flat if you don't have them.