Hunter Chicken Cacciatore

Hunter Chicken Cacciatore looks very impressive on the dinner table, but it’s simple and easy to make. All you’ll need to make this delicious tasting Hunter-Style Chicken is chicken thighs, flour, olive oil, onions, chopped red bell peppers, plum tomatoes, green olives, fresh minced garlic, red wine, chicken stock, thyme, fresh basil, a touch of oregano, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper.

Hunter Chicken Cacciatore is an old traditional Italian dish that combines the harvests of local gardens and the surrounding forests of Italy. However, this popular rustic chicken dish has many authentic versions, depending on Italy you visit. If you are making Chicken cacciatore in Southern Italy,  red wine is most likely used in the sauce, and if you were visiting  Northern Italy, you might find they tend to use white wine. You may also notice a rabbit being used instead of chicken in this dish.

Did you know not all Chicken Cacciatore recipes have tomatoes and that it was a traditional Italian dish that hunters could easily make in the field if they needed to cook a meal? That is why you will find some recipes vastly different on Pinterest or the web. I like using tomatoes in mine, so my recipe will call for tomatoes today, you all.

Hunter-Style Chicken {Chicken Cacciatore } is more of what I would call a chicken stew with chicken, sautéed veggies, garlic, and herbs as a base. I like using red or green peppers to give my Hunter-Style Chicken {Chicken Cacciatore } an extra layer of flavor.

Some of the ingredients that may have been modernized from the early Renaissance period, when the only Italian people who could afford poultry or the sport of hunting were the well-to-do upper class, which brings me to one question? Why was a chicken/turkey so expensive to eat? Couldn’t the average person afford to make bullets? I find the story hard to believe. Indeed they could have used a simple bow and arrow, couldn’t they? Points I will be pondering for the rest of this blog post, I imagine.

Back to my original point of the ingredients being modernized over time, some items I believe to be upgraded are flour, tomatoes, and maybe even peppers. Since food was simpler and down to earth in the Renaissance period, these items may be a later addition to the recipe when handed down to each generation. I mean, I don’t see a Hunter dragging a big burlap bag of peppers, tomatoes, and flour off on his hunting excursion, do you? One will never know, though

Hunter Chicken Cacciatore

•  Four pounds of chicken thighs, bone-in, skin on

• One cup of all-purpose flour

• Three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil + more if needed

• One medium onion, chopped

• One red bell pepper, seeded, chopped

• Five garlic cloves minced

• 1/3  of a cup of quality red wine *Only use wine that you would drink*

• 1/4 of a cup of chicken stock

• One- 28 -ounce can of Organic diced plum tomatoes + the juice

• Ten green olives

• Two teaspoons of chopped fresh thyme

• Two teaspoons of fresh chopped oregano

• Two teaspoons of fresh chopped basil +more if desired

• kosher salt to own taste

• freshly ground pepper to own taste

Instructions

1. Rinse the chicken thighs and pat them dry.

2. Season the chicken thighs on all sides with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

3. Place 1 cup of all-purpose flour on a plate, dredge the chicken thighs in the all-purpose flour, and evenly coat the chicken thighs.

4. Heat the olive oil in a large metal skillet over medium heat, then place the chicken thighs skin side down in the metal skillet.

5. Cook the chicken thighs until lightly browned, about 7 minutes, then turn them over and lightly brown the other sides of the chicken thighs.

6. Remove the chicken thighs from the metal skillet with tongs and set them aside on a clean plate.

7. Drain off most of the chicken oil or fat from the metal skillet,  leaving about two tablespoons of the rendered fat, just enough to coat the bottom.

8. Add the chopped onions, chopped red bell peppers. Cook the veggies until the onions are translucent and the red bell peppers have softened for about 8- 10 minutes. Add the minced garlic to the metal skillet and cook 1-2 minutes.

9. Add the red wine to deglaze the metal skillet, which will remove all the little bits in the bottom of the pan to give another layer of flavor. Simmer until the wine has reduced itself by about half.

10. Next, add the chicken broth, canned diced plum tomatoes + juice, green olives, chopped thyme, oregano, basil, kosher salt, and freshly ground black peppers to your own taste.

11. Reduce heat to low and slowly simmer uncovered for 6-7 minutes.

12. Place the braised chicken thighs on top of the tomatoes and onion mixture, ensuring the skin side is up.

13. Cook on low heat for about 20 minutes uncovered, then 15 minutes covered.

14. Serve while hot with your favorite pasta, couscous, or even rice if desired.

15. Enjoy!

Suggested Recipes

• Southern Fried Chicken is a Southern staple on our table all year round and is lovingly served on several occasions, whether it be a family meal, a church potluck, or even a wedding.  In other words, we want our deliciously crisp, crunchy, yet super juicy chicken and will look for any reason to make it. Can you blame us?
• Chicken Salad with fruit recipe makes a quick, delicious meal! It also has toasted pecans for the best chicken salad recipe and makes excellent chicken salad sandwiches!
• Chicken Enchiladas with Red Sauce are so darn good; you may want to make two batches of this Delicious Chicken Mexican goodness wrapped in fresh corn tortillas with fabulous homemade red sauce, a hint of lime, and fresh Spanish herbs.

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