Chicken Cacciatore

St. Joseph’s Feast Day, March 19, is celebrated all over the world but probably most enthusiastically in Italy, especially Sicily, and in Italian-American enclaves in the United States.  A wonderful custom started centuries ago when sailors returning to Sicily from the mainland were overtaken by a fierce storm.  The sailors prayed to St. Joseph that if he helped them reach shore safely, they would gratefully prepare and share a large feast in his honor.  St. Joseph did his part, and the sailors did theirs.  To this day, people of Italian descent prepare elaborate St. Joseph’s tables for favors granted by their saint.  I attended one such feast at St. Peter’s Church in Chicago’s downtown Loop.  The hosts set up a separate table for seating twelve children in imitation of the twelve apostles.  Strangers were invited in off the street outside to help themselves to some of the food, which kept being replenished.  St. Joseph’s tables (generally meatless) usually have lavish displays of flowers, fruits, especially oranges, and breads shaped into religious symbols.  In New Orleans, home to a sizable population of Sicilian descendants, the Rouse chain of grocery stores sets up a ‘display’ St. Joseph’s table in some of its stores.
 
To honor St. Joseph in a simpler fashion, I offer this easy recipe for Chicken Cacciatore.  The Italian word Cacciatore means ‘hunter’ as this dish originated with hunters who could cook it easily outdoors.  It probably was made with rabbit rather than chicken as hunters could snare them while hunting for larger game.  Wild herbs for seasoning were readily available.  Originally, this stew-like one-pot meal did not have tomatoes as they had not yet been imported from the New World—which makes this  dish akin to Hungarian Goulash, also a hunters’ meal, which also originally was not made with tomatoes for the same reason.  Wear red for St. Joseph as you cook and eat this meal.
 
EnJOY

A New Mexico acquaintance told me she had a new friend who was building an horno for her.  While he was mudding the structure, he told her of a dish—Chicken Cacciatore—he enjoyed eating while growing up in a family of Italian descent, but he had no idea how to make it.  I also remember eating this dish in Chicago’s Italian neighborhoods but had never made it.  “Do you have a recipe for this dish?” she asked.  “I would like to make it for my friend.”  I checked all of my Italian cookbooks to no avail, leading me to conclude that this is an Italian-American dish.  Further research, however, indicated that this dish did indeed originate in Italy—with hunters.  Finally, I found two recipes—one from Time-Life cookbook and one from Woman’s Day Encyclopedia of Cookery—and combined the best of both to develop this delicious version.

1 large chicken,
   cut into 8 pieces
salt
pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup butter, melted

​Salt and pepper chicken pieces.
In a large deep skillet, heat olive oil and butter.
Working in two batches, sauté chicken in olive oil and melted butter until golden brown—about 10 minutes.
Warning:  Combined hot oil/butter splatters.  Be careful.
Remove browned chicken pieces and keep them warm.

2 cups onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
2 garlic cloves, mashed
1 teaspoon basil, dried
1 teaspoon oregano, dried
1/2 teaspoon celery seed

​If necessary, add a little more olive oil to pan.
Sauté vegetables and seasonings for about 5 minutes.

​1 can, 28-ounce, tomatoes,
   diced
2 bay leaves

​Add diced tomatoes, including liquid, to the skillet.  Stir.
Add bay leaves and stir again.  Then cook for 5 minutes.
Return browned chicken pieces to the skillet, cover the pan, and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

1 cup wine, red or white
​

​Add wine and cook for 10 more minutes.

12 to 16 ounces flat pasta,
   boiled and drained
Italian cheese, grated

​Heat a large serving dish and heap it with the hot pasta.
Arrange chicken on pasta.  After removing the bay leaves, pour sauce over chicken.  Sprinkle with grated cheese.

​EnJOY