Sunday, October 24, 2010

Chicken Cacciatore - ish

Autumn is here!  Time for pumpkin breads, pear tarts, cheesy foods, and soups/stews/crockpots.  Here is a chicken cacciatore recipe from Martha Stewart that I modified to fit what I had on hand.  It's fast and great for a week night, but is also an easy dish to cook on Sunday and then box up leftovers for the week.  I think it was even better the next day.
Original ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
salt & pepper
1T olive oil
1lb mushrooms, trimmed and quartered
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (14.5oz) stewed tomatoes
1/4t dried oregano

My modifications:
- Chicken - I boiled the chicken breasts and cut into chunks.  Bone-on/skin-on would work as well.
- Mushrooms - I used a few generous handfuls of organic crimini mushrooms and then roughly chopped.
- I used italian stewed tomatoes and then omitted the dried oregano.  I also added some fresh tomatoes from the farmers market.
- I added zucchini and onions.  And more then 2 cloves of garlics.  Kale would be yummers too.
- I served with herbed mashed red potatoes, and topped with fresh cilantro and parmesan.  Parsley would be good, but Ken isn't a fan.

Instructions:
1) Cook the chicken.  The original instructions say to heat the oil in a skillet, and then add the chicken.  I boiled it.  You could also bake it, or go super easy and buy a pre-cooked rotisseries chicken.  Whatever, cook the chicken however you like, and then cut into smaller pieces.
2) While it's cooking, chop up all of the fresh veggies.
  3) In a saucepan, or in an awesome french oven like my hubby bought for me, heat up the oil.  Add the onions and garlic and saute until clear and fragrant.
 4) Add the mushrooms and zucchini and cook until softened.  Then add the tomatoes, and whatever spices you want.  Let it stew and bubble and fill the house with yummy smells.
 5) Add the chicken and any accumulated juices.  I know, doesn't that look awesome?
 6) Dish up some taters, some cacciatore, and top with cilantro and parmesan.  Mmmm...

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