Chicken Cacciatori

Chicken cacciatori, Chicken cacciatore,... the words rolled round and round my head like an 80's pop song.  In a desperate attempt to purge my mind I spewed the words out of my mouth.  "Chicken cacciatore!"  My husband looked at me oddly, and asked, "What's that?"  To my surprise I couldn't answer him.  I've heard of chicken cacciatore a lot, but I didn't exactly know what it was.  A quick recipe search, some cooking, and soon I had my first taste.  It was rather delightful if I do say so myself.

Although the recipe calls for a whole chicken cut up, I used chicken breast cut into slices.  After it thawed out I dredged the chicken by putting it in a plastic bag with flour and shaking until the chicken was covered.  With my flour I had 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder and onion powder, as well as some salt and pepper.  In my skillet I added a little oil and placed the pieces of chicken in, cooking them until they were brown on all sides.

When the chicken was cooked, I added two chopped garlic cloves, a handful each of chopped onions, red peppers, and yellow peppers.  Keeping the heat on medium I slowly mixed the ingredients together.

I then added 1 1/2 cups of diced tomatoes, some oregano and basil. 

 

I covered the dish and let it simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  After that time, I added mushrooms.  The real recipes calls for some white wine (which I don't have).  However, when it appeared that the dish needed more moisture, I added half a can of chicken brother and a smidge of water.  Then I let the dish continue to cook while everything melded together. 

When everything was done we served it over some cooked pasta.  Now I know what chicken cacciatore is (as does my husband).  It was a little different than our usual fare, but we enjoyed it.