Chicken Cacciatore

One of my all-time favorite meals from growing up was my mother's chicken cacciatore. I would always request this as my birthday meal, along with stuffed artichokes and spaghetti. Since living on my own, I have been trying hard to perfect my chicken cacciatore to emulate my mother's and I think I am there.

In Italian, cacciatore translates to "hunter." This meal is almost like a stew, but the meal I grew up with is nothing like you will find in any restaurant. Upon their first glance, I've heard people comment, "that is not chicken cacciatore, Olive Garden's looks so much different." To begin with, Olive Garden tends to miss the boat on traditional Italian meals. (Jenny and Meggie....I hate to break it to you, but no where in Italy will you find plump breadsticks to dip is alfredo sauce and a giant salad served before the main meal. I thought you should know this now.) Typical cacciatore has capers, peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, and a variety of spices. The dish is cooked until the meat falls off the bone and served over rice.

Just came out of the oven

The recipe I am used to is a little different. I am not sure if it is a Sicilian version or a family version, but it is one of my favorites.

• 2-chicken breasts, 4 chicken legs (any part of the chicken will suffice)
• 8-garlic gloves (ballpark figure....more is welcome)
• 5-red skinned potatoes cut in cubes (leave the skin on)
• 1-large onion sliced
• 3 cans of Delmonte tomato sauce
  
• parsley flakes
• salt and pepper, to taste
• Rice
  

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Place the chicken, chopped garlic, cubed potatoes, and sliced onion in a deep greased baking pan. Pour the tomato sauce in with two cans of water to rinse residue out of the cans. Season with salt, pepper and parsley flakes. Stir the mixture to make sure everything is coated with the sauce. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and bake for a good two hours. Stir the mixture after about an hour of cooking. You will know it is done when the meat is falling off the bone...this can be longer than two hours. Sometimes, I like to remove the foil after the two hours and broil it for a few minutes. Serve over a bed of rice.

I think I'm back...

I have had the urge to blog recently. Not because that there has been any great material to write about, but because I finally have time to write again. I looked back at my blog statistics to find that before I started my public health program (9/07), I blogged 117 times. Since then, I have only blogged 29 times.

Since finishing my public health degree, I have:

1. traveled through Spain with Roommate and a rubber ducky named Pato.
   
2. become an aunt to Sophia....child of Joe Ribods. My auntie duties have to be shared with four cubs now instead of three.
   
3. come to the conclusion that I am not sure where the last two years have gone.
   

sauteed tomatoes with basil, olive oil and garlic to be served over linguini

Needless to say, I have begun documenting what I eat through photos again. I am carrying my camera more with me these days...much lighter than binders and my laptop. I'm on a journey, not sure where exactly it will take me, but I anticipate summer vacation being quite interesting to say the least. Only time will tell....