Chicken Cacciatore

It's fall!!
I used to really despise "The Cold Seasons" and absolutely love "The Warm Seasons", but I've mellowed in my old age and have come to enjoy the slow turning of the year and each season in its time.
This only really works when the weather behaves.
I live in Canada, the weather seldom behaves.

I don't like wearing pants in the summer.
I don't like snow before Hallowe'en.
I don't like not having to bundle up in February.
And I was really not impressed by our week-long spring we got in Southern Ontario this past June.

But it is actually fall now, and I like my wool socks and comfy sweaters almost more than I love my bathing suits and linen dresses, so... it's nice!  And cozy.  Especially if you've got something cooking in the oven!

I had the idea for chicken cacciatore back when I had a bunch of tomatoes and didn't want to eat pasta again.  I made the soup and I made this too.  It's not something that my family ever made but I figured there was a recipe out there that was to my tastes.  In my search for the perfect cacciatore, I discovered that the name is literally "hunter's chicken", which I guess makes sense.  It is a stew, afterall.

The recipe that I settled on is one I stole adapted from Giada DeLaurentis.  I've cooked it a few times my way, and feel that braising the meat is the way to go here.  It takes a little more time to actually cook it, but it's way less active cooking time, which is a win for me.  I'm sure it would do well in a slow cooker, for folks who can't sit around their house all day with food in the oven.

Chicken Cacciatore

One whole chicken cut into 6-8 pieces
Two teaspoons of salt + more to taste
1/2 cup all purpose flour
3 Tbs olive oil
1 large red pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3/4 cup dry white wine
100 mL can of chopped tomatoes (or weigh out some fresh chopped tomatoes with the juices)
1 cup chicken broth
3 Tbs drained capers
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Season the chicken with salt and pepper.  Dredge it in the flour.
3. In a large heavy saute pan, heat the oil over medium heat.  Brown chicken on all sides and set aside.
4. Add bell pepper, onion, and garlic to the pan and saute until tender.
5. Pour in the wine, simmer until reduced by half.
6. Add tomatoes with their juices, broth, capers and oregano.
7. Let this simmer as you get the roasting pan ready and check your seasoning.
8. Oil the bottom and sides of a large roasting pan.
9. Add the chicken with any juices, and cover with the tomato mixture.
10. Cover and cook in the oven for at least 1 hour.
11. Check the meat.  If it seems close to tender (it shouldn't really be there yet) go to the next step. If it feels quite tough still, let it cook covered for another 1/2 hour.
12. Take the lid off and let it cook for another 1/2 hour or until nice and tender and the liquid has reduced a bit. 

This is good with pasta, gnocchi, mashed potatoes, polenta or... pierogies.  It's really good with pierogies, I would like to thank our Eastern European friends for their wonderful addition to our culinary experience.  

Thank You.