I'm just gonna start this off by saying I don't have pictures. The "salsa" recipe will possibly have a picture tomorrow but the cacciatore isn't the prettiest meal out there and I want you to try it so there won't ever be a picture. It's delicious, I just can't imagine how I could get it to photograph nicely. Plus, my camera's battery is almost dead, I can't find the charger and my child does far too many cute things to waste any battery power on a less-than-pretty dinner. I'm just gonna cut to the chase here.
Chicken Cacciatore:
5 bone-in, skin on chicken thighs
2 small onions, large chopped
2 cups sweet peppers, chopped
5 garlic cloves, fine minced
1 14 oz carton of baby portabella mushrooms, quartered
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
2 14.5 oz cans stewed tomatoes
A few TBS olive oil
1 TBS Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp dried basil
Salt and pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
Flour for dredging
Pat the chicken thighs dry, sprinkle on both sides with salt and pepper and dredge in flour. Fry on each side until lightly browned (about 5 minutes/side) in a large pot with enough olive oil to coat the bottom. Don't overcrowd the bottom! Remove chicken from pot and place on a plate. Add onions, peppers and garlic to the pot and cook, stirring frequently, about 3-5 minutes, just until onion begins to become translucent. Add mushrooms and cook about 2-3 more minutes before adding tomatoes, Worcestershire, garlic powder, onion powder and basil. Return chicken to pot. Bring pot to boil, reduce heat to simmer and cook chicken covered, turning and basting occasionally, until chicken is cooked thoroughly, about 40-45 minutes. I cooked it longer, a little longer than an hour) since we gave the munchkin a bath while it was on the stove. The chicken stayed moist (from all the tomato juice) and just became super tender and delicious. Serve it over rice or pasta and it's amazing.
Grilled Corn Salsa:
6 ears of sweet corn
1 red bell pepper
3 medium avocados, diced
Juice of 2 limes (about 1/4 cup)
Garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper to taste
Grill corn and bell pepper until slightly charred. Cut corn off cob and dice the bell pepper. Combine corn, bell pepper and avocado in a large bowl. Add the lime juice and gently mix. Add spices to taste. Serve cooled with tortilla chips (or just be really impatient like me and eat it warm with a spoon straight from the bowl. It's still delicious).
