Chicken Cacciatorie, on the Stovetop or in the Slow Cooker

I first made Chicken Cacciatorie in grade eight.  My mother was often out and about, with her many activities, and when she was not home after school, it was my responsibility to make dinner for the family.  Coming home from school, and finding chicken in the fridge, I wanted to make something other than "Shake and Bake", so, I pulled out my cook book, and looked for something that we had ingredients for.  There were frozen carrots and onions in the freezer, and canned tomatoes and spaghetti in the cupboard.  We didn't have any garlic, but we did have garlic salt.  Chicken Cacciatorie looked like it would work.  I thought cacciatorie sounded Italian, so, substituted my Uncle Dave's  Italian Herb mixture for the seasonings called for in the recipe.  Chicken Cacciatorie became and instant family favourite.

Over the years, this recipe has evolved, as have my cooking skills.  It continues to be a staple comfort food for my family, so when Claire, in her last week before crits and exams, was grumbling about the quality of take out food available in her university town, it was Chicken Cacciatorie that I prepared and dropped off as a care package.

Chicken Cacciatorie

6 chicken thighs with bone in
2 medium onions coarsely cut
1 shallot finely cut
3 or 4 cloves of garlic depending on size
olive oil
2 cups chicken stock for stove top, or 1 cup for slow cooker
1/2 cup of red wine
1 28oz can of stewed tomatoes, preferably San Marano tomatoes
2 or 3 large carrots, peeled and coarsely cut
2 parsnips, peeled and coarsly cut
1/2 cup of dried black olives
a couple of sprigs of fresh thyme
1branch of rosemary
2 or 3 bay leaves depending on size
1/2 teaspoon of pepper corns
1/4 teaspoon of dried chile flakes
salt and peper
parmigiano reggiano shavings

Heat olive oil in large cast iron pan.  Cook onions, shallots and garlic until soft. Set a sisde.  Brown chicken, and add onion mixture back into pan.  Add chicken stock, tomatoes and wine. Add herbs, carrots and olives and pepper corns and chile flakes.  Bring to boil, turn down heat, cover and simmer for about an hour.  Spoon off any oil or fat that is on the surface.  Remove chicken and vegetables and reduce liquid by half over medium heat.  Replace chicken and vegetables in liquid.  Taste and salt as required.

I also cook this in my slow cooker, reducing the chicken broth by half.   The night before, I  brown the chicken and sauté the onions.  I put the chicken in the bottom of the slow cooker,  carrots next, and then everything else on top.  I leave the crock from the slow cooker in the fridge overnight, and then the next morning, before leaving for work, take it out of the fridge, place the crock back in the slow cooker and set it at low for the day.  If for cooker has a timer, set it for 6 hours,  however I have found an extra couple of hours still works.  When I get home, I remove the chicken and carrots, turn the slow cooker to high, remove the lid  and reduce the fluid to half.  Adjust seasoning, return chicken and vegetables to crock and serve.

This is good on it's own, or served over pasta. Finish with cheese shavings.

Pomelo Salad with Grilled Shrimp

One of our favourite neighbourhood restaurants is Thai Basil and it was here that I first encountered Pomelo Salad.  It became an instant favourite.  After a multiple of attempts, and much coaching from Denis,  I have landed on this version of Pomelo Salad.  While it varies from the Thai Basil version, the use of bean sprouts, rather than the more traditional toasted coconut, is borrowed from Thai Basil.  I like the freshness and crispness of the bean sprouts as a counter balance to the soft texture of the pomelo.  

Pomelo Salad with Grilled Shrimp

The pomelo is a yellow or green skinned citrus fruit that looks like a grapefruit on steroids.  It is the pomelo, crossed with an orange that gives us the grapefruit.  It has a thicker skin, is sweeter than the grapefruit and not as acidic   

.

Serves 4 - 6

3 mid sized shrimps per serving

1/2 inch of grated ginger

1 clove of garlic finely minced

zest of one orange

salt and pepper 

1 large pomelo ( about 3 cups of fruit pulp)

1 cup of bean sprouts

1 handful of cilantro leaves

1/4 cup of raw cashews

1 large or 2 small shallots

1 blood orange ( a normal orange will also work)

1 lime

2 tablespoons of maple syrup (honey or brown sugar are suitable alternatives)

1 stalk of lemon grass, cut in half length ways

a pinch of dried chili flakes or 1/2 tsp of finely chopped Thai pepper, with the seeds removed

1 tablespoon of fish sauce

1 tablespoon of soy sauce

salt and pepper to taste

Combine shrimp, ginger, garlic, orange zest and salt and pepper. Cover and set aside in fridge for at least an hour. 

Peel pomelo, and divided into sections.  Remove membrane from sections and gently separate cells of fruit.  This may seem labour intensive, but is worth the work.  Place fruit, in bowl, on top of bean sprouts.  Place cilantro on top and set aside.  

Spread cashews on tray and brown in oven, being careful not to burn. Remove and set aside to cool.

Cut shallots into thin slices.  Sauté in vegetable oil, and then place pan in oven, removing from oven when crisp.  

Make dressing, combining orange and lime juice, soy and fish sauce, maple syrup, chili flakes, and tender mashed core of lemon grass.  Mix and salt and pepper to taste.  

Grill shrimp on a hot grill until pink, or fry in hot frying pan in butter. 

Dress fruit mixture and plate.  Sprinkle cashews and shallots on top.  Arrange shrimp on top of salad and serve.  

Note: everything can be prepared ahead,  and then the shrimps grilled and salad tossed at the last minute. 

Revitalizing Ginger and Chicken Soup

This has been a long and cold winter in Toronto, and a bit of a shock, because for the past few years, winter has been relatively mild.  There also seems to have been more colds and flues than usual this winter and so far, I have avoided them all. I have been relying on variations of this ginger chicken broth as a solution to the winter, adding different ingredients, depending on what is available.  Sometimes just greens, and maybe some chicken or not, other times frozen shrimp, mushrooms and greens. After a bowl of soup with this ginger broth as a base, I feel better almost instantly.

Because the broth takes time to make, and I never know when a I am going to need a pick-me-up, I like to keep single portioned containers of frozen broth in the freezer for emergencies. 

This past weekend I had guests in the country and dressed this basic soup up with chinese greens, poached eggs, and enoki mushrooms.  I served it with some of my red river bread for lunch.  

Revitalizing Ginger Broth with Greens, Chicken and Eggs

Ginger Chicken Broth

1 hand of fresh ginger,
2 sticks of lemon grass
1 large onion
1 head of garlic
1 stalk of celery, cut into a few large pieces
1 tablespoon of pepper corns
4 organic chicken backs, 
salt to taste

Additions to Broth

fresh green chinese vegetables, such as yu choy or bok choy and snow peas
chunks of pre cooked chicken
fresh eggs
fresh cilantro
hot peppers depending on your heat tolerance
cherry tomatoes
enoki mushrooms 
Sobo noodles

Wash the ginger and cut into about 1/8 inch slices.  There should be at least a half cup of ginger slices.  Slice the onion and smash the garlic cloves.  Cut lemon grass sticks lengthwise and smash.  Place all of these aromatics into a large pot, add the pepper corns and the chicken backs.  Cover with at least 4 quarts of water.  Bring to boil and then reduce heat to allow broth to simmer for a half hour.  Remove chicken bones, and take any chicken off of the bones, and set aside. Place bones back in broth and continue simmering for another couple of hours.  The liquid should have reduced by about half. Salt to taste.

Strain broth and discard bones, ginger, etc. 

Prepare sobo noodles. Rinse in cold water. 

Cut chinese greens into bite size pieces. coarsely chop cilantro, and finely chop hot peppers.  

Heat 1 cup of broth per person and poach eggs in the broth.

Place some noodles in the bottom of a large soup bowl.   Arrange some of the chicken pieces, a hand full of chinese greens and the mushrooms on top of the noodles.  Carefully place the poached egg on top.  Ladle the very hot broth used for poaching the eggs over the ingredients in the bowl.  Place cilantro, a few cherry tomatoes and chopped peppers to taste on top.  Let stand for a minute or two until the greens become a vibrant green and serve.