Chicken Cacciatore Paleo

I have mentioned before that I have a subscription to Paleo Nick's website.  Have I mentioned that it is the best 40 bucks I have spent in a long (very long) time?  It is.  Because I get recipes, complete with video, for some AMAZING meals!

I had heard of chicken cacciatore on TV, on restaurant menus, and various other places.  My understanding of it was that it was basically a chicken spaghetti.  Then, I saw this video on the Paleo Nick site... http://www.paleonick.com/articles/Chicken-Cacciatore  and I was inspired.

My "reduced for quick sale" tomatoes!!

I forgot to take a picture after the carrots were chopped. Oops...

6 chicken leg quarters (1/2 of one of my 6.99 bags)                                              3.50
Garlic 2 tsp                                                                                                            .20
Oregano                                                                                                                .15
Paprika                                                                                                                  .10
Salt & Pepper                                                                                                        .10
Olive Oil                                                                                                                 .20
2 onions                                                                                                                  .40
7 Roma Tomatoes  ($ .58 bag minus 2 tomatoes)                                                     .45
2 squash                                                                                                                  .98
2 zucchini                                                                                                                .85
Mushrooms (8oz clamshell)                                                                                    1.59
2 green bell peppers @  .50 each                                                                          1.00
3 medium carrots                                                                                                    .60
3 cans diced tomatoes, blended in the magic bullet @ .59 each                               1.77
2 cups red table wine                                                                                             1.00
                                                                                                          Total =     12.69

Chicken goes into a bowl, sprinkle with your seasonings, then  drizzle with oil and mix until coated.  Get your pan hot, then sear the chicken.  I seared hard for 5 minutes per side, then I took my chicken off to a plate on the side.  Reduce the heat of the pan, then start adding your vegetables.  I added my onion first and waited until some caramelization was going on, then added my carrots and peppers.  After a minute or so, I dumped in diced garlic, mushrooms and tomatoes.  I waited and stirred for between 5 and 10 minutes, so we will call it 7, although I was not looking at the clock.  When all the other vegetables went wilty, I dropped in my zucchini and squash.  I stirred again for about 5 minutes, then added the wine to de-glaze all the wonderful flavor off the bottom of the pan.

After that had a chance to simmer for a minute or two, I put the chicken back into the pan, and covered the whole mess with my diced tomatoes, which I had blended in a magic bullet.  Cover and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour.  We wound up with a rich stew that the entire family loved.  Yes, Thing2 went wild for it after her first bite.  Well, at least the chicken itself.  The vegetables she avoided, but she ate (get this) an ENTIRE LEG QUARTER!!!  Yes, it was an amazing thing.  Angels sang, heavenly lights shone down.  It was wonderful!

This time I was out of sausage, but next time I make Cacciatore, I will definitely be adding some sausage.  :-)

We ate it like a stew.  The weather was cold, so it was nice to tuck into a savory bowl of comfort food.  Mmmmm. 

 

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