Chicken Cacciatore

The chicken finally thawed! I usually get packages of 2 breasts from Otto's, so I drastically underestimated the time that it would take for one of their whole-chicken packages to thaw. Alas, I was patient, and now you can look forward to several chicken recipes in the next few days!

Chicken Cacciatore (adapted from Ellie Krieger's "The Food You Crave")

1 tsp olive oil

2 bone-in chicken breasts, skin removed

salt and pepper

1 onion, sliced

1/2 red bell pepper, sliced into thin strips

4 oz. mushrooms, sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup dry white wine

1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1/8 tsp crushed red pepper

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in deep skillet. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper and brown on both sides (will take 6-8 min). Remove chicken from pan and set aside. Reduce heat to medium and add onions and bell pepper to pan. Cover and cook until they begin to get tender (about 5 min). Add mushrooms and cook uncovered until they brown (about 5 min). Add garlic and cook for 30 sec, and then add wine and let reduce for about 5 min. Stir in tomatoes, oregano, and red pepper, cover, and simmer for 10 min. Finally, add chicken back to pan, cover, and let cook for 20 min or until juices run clear (turning once about half-way through cooking time). Serves 4.

This was really good... better than I expected, actually, and that's saying a lot. I loved the taste of this chicken. Otto's chicken always has great flavor, but this was incredible. It wasn't overpowered by the sauce, but complimented it perfectly. I don't normally cook bone-in chicken, and perhaps that made all the difference. Next time I might make more sauce because it was incredibly tasty, too. Ellie was right about this one, because I'll definitely be craving more of it.