Chicken Cacciatore (a la Andreina)

Like I said, I don't follow recipes and quite honestly I don't even know if this is the "proper name" for this dish (so I apologize in advance to anyone that actually knows how to make Chicken Cacciatore!). But, it has tomatoes, it has some veggies and olives...sounds like Cacciatore to me!

I usually try to utilize whatever veggies I have on the fridge when cooking. This is the first time I make this and my fridge happened to have these ingredients, so next time I probably won't use the exact same thing...but the "essence" will remain the same (ie: tomatoes, onions and garlic!).

I also would like to apologize in advance for all the unnecessary comments next to the ingredients. I have tried to type up a recipe without the comments, but I just can't do it!

Chicken Cacciatore

Organic Chicken -- (I used breasts, but this would probably be really yummy with chicken thighs..or both!)

1 Large yellow Onion

2 Celery Sticks -- (just because I had some)

Garlic -- (I used like 4 teeth)

1 - 8oz package of mushrooms -- (I loove mushrooms :))

1 can of peeled Italian tomatoes with Basil -- (I like the "Cento" Brand, which only comes in the big can...I used about half)

White wine -- (Don't use cooking wine!! I usually buy a $6 bottle of white wine or so and leave it in the fridge for cooking....I used about 1/2 cup on this dish, maybe a little more)

2 Rosemary Sprigs -- (I just go to my backyard and grab some..it is the easiest herb to grow and yummm, so tasty!)

Spanish Olives

Capers

Dry Oregano and Dry Basil to taste

Salt and Pepper (and sugar) to taste

Season Chicken with Salt/Pepper (or Toro/Torero!) and with some Oregano. On a Ducth Oven (or big pot!), heat some olive oil at Medium/High Heat and brown the chicken on both sides (about 3-4 minutes per side). Remove Chicken.

Reduce heat to Medium and sautee Celery, onions (sliced to 1/8ths) and Rosemary Sprigs for about 5-10 minutes. Season w/ S&P.

Add Mushrooms and Garlic and continue to sautee.
Optional: At this point you can also add some flour if you like your sauce to be a little thicker (I added less than 1/2 teaspoon of flour...just a little bit goes a long way!).

Add Wine to deglaze and scrape the brown bits at the end of the pan.

Add Tomatoes (I used about half of a big Cento can and blended the tomatoes quickly with a hand blender before adding them.

Season with S/P, a little bit of sugar, herbs (I used Basil and oregano)

Add olives, capers and chicken.

Lower heat to low and simmer for about 30 minutes.

Enjoy!...Alejandro had this over brown rice and he quite enjoyed it. I enjoyed watching him eat while I drank my protein shake :/

(I did have it for lunch today and it was great :))