Chicken Cacciatore (Hunter's Chicken)

[Fiorella]

This is an authentic Italian dish, made with either chicken, rabbit or any game fowl. The French would dispute that it is their creation (Poulet Chasseur)…whatevs…

Unfortunately, this recipe has been bastardized in America…where it became chicken in tomato sauce sitting on a bed of mushy spaghetti. Wrong! Chicken Cacciatore is an ancient recipe that has roots earlier than the introduction of tomatoes that were imported from South America! This image should guide the description of Chicken Cacciatore:

It’s the hunter’s catch of the day, with a handful of herbs and flavourings found wild in the forest (like rosemary, bay leaves and mushrooms). Ain’t no wild tomatoes found in a forest in Italy!!

First start with dismembering a chicken. If you don’t know how to do this, check out the tons of videos on youtube. Buying whole chicken is a great way to save money!

Salt and pepper the pieces. Leave in fridge to “dry brine” between 6 hours to 2 days

Porcini are mushrooms found growing wild in Italy. They are commonly found dried at grocery store (seasonal produce hard to get fresh) and they impart an incredible taste to food (a lot like the taste of a beef bouillon soup cube)

Take a handful of pieces into a bowl (this represents about 2 net carbs)

Add water, and let soak at least 2 hours. This can be done the day before

Add a few tablespoons of fat (lard, duck fat, tallow, butter) to a sauce pan. I happen to have fat floating on the top of chicken broth I made yesterday, so I used that instead

Let fat melt

Get it smoking hot and bubbling

Add chicken pieces, but do not crowd the pan

Brown first batch, and start browning second batch

When all pieces are brown, throw them all in the sauce pan

Add some herbs (of your choice). I added some bay leaves, as well as sprigs of sage, thyme and rosemary (again…think of a hunter grabbing herbs found while hunting)

Pine nuts and dried juniper berries are also classical “wild treats of the forest”, and add more forest flavour to the dish

I added a heaping tablespoon each of pine nuts and dried juniper berries

I then added the moistened porcini mushrooms and a half cup of white wine (Pinot Gris)…because a hunter obviously has wine back at the cabin!!

I then added about a cup of chicken broth

Covered the pan and let cook about 30 minutes

I wish there was a way to convey smell through the internet. The resultant “hunter stew” smelled incredibly good!!!

And now for the fancy shmanzy plating shot

With close up

The perfect bite: juicy chicken meat with caramelized coating, with a luscious piece of umami-explosion porcini and mini, creamy fat bomb pine nut

[larry]

Presumably the recipe is traditionally made with fresh porcini, which are a different thing entirely than the dried (much like a dried tomato, once rehydrated, does not turn back into a tomato). Porcini grow over much of the North American continent as well.

[Fiorella]

Mushrooms are seasonal, so in Italy, the use of dried porcini is quite acceptable. In fact, encouraged. It’s considered good home economics.

Now…I’m going to refrain comment on difference of taste of italian porcini to North American porcini…ahem…

[larry]

I’m going to refrain comment on difference of taste of italian porcini to North American porcini

Yes, it’s true that American edulus are generally inferior to the European ones although on recent trips to Italy it’s appeared to me that many boletes are being sold as porcini that are, in fact, inferior mushrooms (pine boletes, etc). Chanterelles, on the other hand, are often superior here (if fresh, of course).

We do, however, have a little known pale-skinned (almost albino) variant of the porcini called the boletus barrowsii that grows in the Rockies at an elevation of 8,000 to 10,000 feet or so (a little lower than the true edulus is found in the same area) and that variant is as flavorful as European edulus.

[Fiorella]

Really?! I’m intrigued. Would love to get my paws on that stuff! I’ve made this dish with wild morels from Canada, and some type of wild oyster mushrooms that grow on oak trees (Canada, too). They all have their unique tastes.

I also made this stew with truffles from Italy. I’ve been on truffle hunts (with dogs) and holy crap what a long day to find a freakin thumb-sized piece…it’s quite exhausting…and, way too expensive to justify making stew. Very very very rarely do I do this with truffles.

There is a taste in the italian porcini, though, that I really long for. Nice buttery umami taste.

[cansel]

That looks insane! I love the level of breakdown you’ve done for this recipe, it’s beautiful. My chicken broth never comes out as rich looking as yours - do you have a detailed recipe for that lurking around?! LOL Thanks for this - definitely going to try this

[Fiorella]

The broth came from this recipe below. But, there are different ways of making broth. This broth recipe was just using up leftovers from another recipe called chicken confit (I’m very thrifty in the kitchen)

Chicken Confit

This recipe makes chicken melt in your mouth and taste like butter. The original recipe comes from the famous French “duck confit”, but it works with chicken just as well. The resultant meat is so fatty, they say it can last for weeks in your fridge (but, I never have been able to test if this is true ). At the end of this recipe, I will also show you how to separate the final by-products, to make delicious herb-flavoured rendered fat (for future cooking), as well as chicken br…

[Pilotbob]

The broth came from this recipe below. But, there are different ways of making broth. This broth recipe was just using up leftovers from another recipe called chicken confit (I’m very thrifty in the kitchen)

Chicken Confit

I really need you to come and be my live in cook. All your stuff looks awesome.

[Healthy1]

Can I move in with you?!

[Fiorella]

Sure…if you agree to wash the dishes then we have a deal!

[cansel]

I saved the Chicken Confit recipe, too. Both look delicious. I’m always concerned about getting bored, but looking at the stuff you make, I really don’t think that should be an issue.