Chicken Cacciatore

I do love my no-fuss recipes, especially on work nights. As the story goes, hunters would make cacciatore ("hunter-style") chicken with the ingredients they carried along on their hunts. The story may be far-fetched, but this really is an easy dish to cook. Serve it over plenty of polenta to soak of the braising liquid.

Chicken Cacciatore
Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs. chicken drumsticks and thighs, washed and thoroughly dried
• Salt and pepper
• 2 Tb olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4 inch pieces
• Large handful of shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tsp. juniper berries, crushed
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup canned tomatoes with juice, chopped
• 
  

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil over med-high heat in a deep skillet.
2. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Add to skillet, skin side down. Do not crowd; if necessary brown chicken in two batches. Cook chicken until well browned, about 5 min. per side. Remove to plate.
3. Discard all but 1 Tb of fat in skillet. Reduce heat to medium and add onion, garlic, carrots, mushrooms, and juniper berries. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables soften, about 8 minutes.
4. Add wine to skillet and let come to a boil, increasing heat if necessary. Boil for a minute.
5. Add tomatoes to pan, and stir to mix liquids. Add chicken to pan reduce heat to low; bring to a simmer and partially cover skillet. Simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 25 minutes, turning chicken mid way through cooking.