Lorene’s Chicken Cacciatore
*(I usually have the butcher split 5-6 bell & evans whole chicken legs for this dish)*
6 Drumsticks
6 Bone-in chicken thighs
1 Large Spanish or Vidalia onion, sliced thick strips
2- 5 oz or 1-10oz container of sliced shiitake mushrooms
1 Large Spanish or Vidalia onion, sliced thick strips
8 whole cloves of garlic
2 sweet red peppers, cleaned, sliced into large strips
5 large carrots, peeled trimmed cut into large pieces
½ cup good sherry wine
1 small can tomato paste
2 whole long hot peppers (optional)
2 cups rich Chicken Stock
½ cup of port or dry red wine
1 32 oz can of tomato sauce
2-3 swigs of fresh rosemary
2-3 fresh or dry bay leaf
Veg Oil for browning
Olive Oil to Drizzle over chicken
Salt & Pepper
Flour
INSTRUCTIONS:
Wash & DRY chicken, place COMPLETELY DRY chicken on tin foil then paper towel-lined baking sheet, season good with salt & pepper. If chicken is wet, it will splat when browning
Heat veg oil in a frying pan or dutch oven on med-high heat to almost smoking.
Brown chicken pieces on both sides and set aside in oven deep safe roasting pan or dutch oven
Deglaze pan “OFF HEAT” with sherry & port then turn up the heat and boil out for a couple of minutes
Whisk in tomato paste first to thin out, then add tomato sauce, simmer for a minute or two Sauce should be rich & thick
Add the rest of the ingredients to the chicken (the sliced onions, garlic, carrots, peppers and shitake, rosemary & bay leaf)
Pour tomato sauce & chicken stock, and a few drizzles of olive oil over chicken and vegetables roast on 375 for a good hour. Make sure to baste chicken a couple of times during the hour to keep moist and prevent from over-browning, you can always lightly tent with tin foil if the chicken is getting too brown.
Serve over rice or pasta or simply by itself – Bon Appetit!