The Ospidillo Cafe Chicken Cacciatore

Bone Man's Note:

Does your family love chicken like mine does? This is my clan's all-round favorite dish of any sort. The original recipe came from Mr. Food (Art Ginsberg) before I messed with it a bit to suit our tastes. It's easy, fairly cheap, feeds 6, sticks to your ribs, and can be prepared easily in 90 minutes. Once you have it going, you just monitor it and make your spaghetti to serve it over (you could serve it over rice). I make this chicken cacciatore at least once a month and they'd be happier around here if I made it once a week! It is much better if the skin is left on while cooking (chicken doesn't get leathery that way) -- you can pull it off (it practically falls off) when you serve it if you wish. Also, if you use plain table salt, cut it back to 1/2 a teaspoon. Sometimes I use whole chickens, cut up, (without the backs, necks, and organs, which I save for making stock), and sometimes just legs and thighs -- it really doesn't matter. We often take this recipe camping, making up the spaghetti ahead of time and storing it in zip-lock bags in the cooler. One final variation -- you can substitute an equivalent amount of fresh Roma tomatoes instead of the canned ones for a "brighter" flavor but, if you do, add 6 ounces of V-8 juice to the recipe. Enjoy, my friends!

• Total Time: 1 hrs 25 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs 10 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 12 chicken pieces , various, skin on
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground red pepper
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup white onion , sliced lengthwise
• 1 bell pepper , de-seeded and chopped (optional)
• 2 fresh garlic cloves , minced
• ½ cup dry red wine
• 30 ounces Italian-style tomatoes , diced, with juice
• ½ cup fresh parsley , chopped
• 1 cup fresh mushrooms , sliced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried sweet basil leaves

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, or in a large electric frying pan (my method), brown the chicken parts in the olive oil.
2. When the chicken is browned, remove the pieces from the skillet and saute the onions in the oil until tender. Drain the oil (do not scrape the pan!).
3. Deglaze the pan with the wine, whisking over medium heat for about a minute. Add the chicken pieces and onions to this sauce, then add in all other ingredients, adding the seasonings and herbs to the top. Cover and allow to cook at a very low boil for one hour and ten minutes, turning the chicken only once. If you want more liquid, add canned chicken stock (about 15 ounces).
4. Serve over cooked spaghetti.

Reviews

[Curlee]

Prepared as stated but I finish mine by baking in the oven and it comes out great every time. Thank you.

[TJW]

Good stuff Boneman! Thanks for the recipe.

[damienducks]

Awesome flavor! We used thighs and legs (skin/bone on) and it turned out great. Next time I will cut back on the olive oil, as there was waaaay too much while browning the chicken, but otherwise, a very solid recipe! Thanks!