Growing up, “cacciatore” basically meant stewed tomatoes and chicken. I never questioned its authenticity, I just knew it was boring veering on unappetizing. It wasn’t until I was searching for something to make with chicken thighs (the second healthiest cut of chicken next to chicken breast, and 1/3 the cost!) and eggplant when I realized that what I’d grown up eating wasn’t real cacciatore at all. And I know I’ve got a hard sell ahead of me to convince any un-fans-of-cacciatore to believe that it’s really quite tasty when I show you a picture like this one. It doesn’t look very appetizing from that angle, but here are some reasons to trust me:
1. It has bacon.
2. It’s inexpensive to make.
3. It’s relatively easy, and dirties up only one pot.
4. It has bacon.
Now will you try it? I should mention, if you still have doubts, I adapted this recipe from Lidia Bastianich (the one from the Lidia’s Italy TV series, and Pittsburgh Italian restaurant superstar). If anyone can make a good cacciatore, I figured it would be her.
Grocery list: 1 pound eggplant, 3 pounds chicken thigh, 1 cup vegetable oil, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons flour, 1/2 cup chopped bacon, 6 garlic cloves, 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, 1 cup red wine, 1 28-ounce can whole Italian tomatoes, handful of chopped parsley.
Wash the eggplant, slice into 1-inch thick pieces, and sprinkle generously with salt. Lay them in a colander over the sink. The salt will draw out the water from the eggplant so that it won’t turn to mush when you cook it. Rinse them and pat dry with paper towels.
Sprinkle flour over all the eggplant pieces so they are lightly covered. Heat the vegetable oil in a large dutch oven over medium high flame.
Fry the eggplant pieces in a single layer until they are browned on both sides (about 2-3 minutes per side). Carefully remove the eggplant with a slotted spoon to a paper towel-lined baking sheet to drain. Continue cooking the remaining eggplant in single layer batches.
At some point while the eggplant is frying, rinse the chicken thighs and pat them dry with paper towels. I prefer to cut off at least half of the skin, so it’s a little healthier (and unless I’m eating really crispy buttermilk fried chicken, I really don’t like the texture of too much skin). Sprinkle a little salt and flour all over the chicken pieces.
After the eggplant is done, cook the chicken pieces in the same skillet (in the same oil the eggplant was fried in, also over medium-high heat). Cook for about 3-4 minutes per side, just so the pieces are brown all over. They’ll continue to cook later in the tomatoes, so don’t worry about cooking them all the way through right now.
When they’re brown, set them on the paper towels alongside the eggplant. Drain the remaining vegetable out of the pan, and wipe down with paper towels.
Using the same dutch oven, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and again heat over medium-high flame. Stir in the bacon pieces and cook for about 4-5 minutes. Peel and thinly slice the garlic, and add that to the pot, along with a pinch of red pepper flakes.
After the garlic has cooked about 2-3 minutes, add the wine. Stir well to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, and bring to a boil. Let the wine reduce by about half - this should take a couple of minutes.
Pour in the tomatoes, and use a potato masher to gently crush them. Add one cup of water and bring to a boil again. Reduce the heat so it’s just simmering.
Carefully lower the chicken pieces into the tomato sauce. Cover the pot (keep the lid on crooked so steam can escape), and allow the chicken to slowly simmer for about 20 minutes.
Add the eggplant pieces, moving them around the chicken so everything is submerged. Cook for another 10 minutes. If the sauce is still kind of runny when you add the eggplant, keep the lid off so that the sauce will reduce and thicken. Turn off the heat and stir in the chopped parsley; allow the dish to rest for 15-20 minutes before serving.
Just one word of caution: you should probably serve this in a shallow bowl or rimmed plate, due to the sauce. Unless of course you’d like to decorate your rug with little dribbles of tomato sauce (ahem).
Tue, Apr 7, 2009
Chicken