I made Chicken Cacciatore for my birthday yesterday. This time I tried to avoid the soggy chicken skin and inedible parts of the dish and focus on a better understanding of what flavors the sauce and keeping the chicken super crisp.
I again used Tyler Florence's recipe (elsewhere in the blog) as a starting point sans lemons. Basically made a marinara heavy on the roasted red peppers (2 jars, divided) and no, I did not roast them myself as the jars were way cheaper. Before adding the capers and mushrooms (my addition) I buzzed the sauce with the hand blender to smooth things out a bit.
Now the chicken: I used bone in, skin on thighs and breasts for the ladies. The thighs, I de-boned and saved all the scraps. It made neat little skin enveloped thigh packages of dark meat that fried up after a dredge in flour (no egg, what mess that is.) Super golden brown before flipping over, I then did the same with the bones and discard pieces of chicken, fried them brown then added them to the sauce for a long slow cook.
I placed the completed browned thighs and breasts in the oven on a rack at 325 till they were cooked through and then held them at 180 till dinner. I removed the discard stuff from the sauce and added in my reserved jar of peppers and mushrooms and capers. I heated everything, made the polenta and then served it by spooning the polenta on the plate, a piece or 2 of chicken and covered the chicken with sauce. The result was crispy chicken and a great sauce. this is the way to make a Cacciatore. Great eats.
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