Chicken Cacciatore!!

     Chicken Cacciatore is one of those dishes that when you make it the whole house smells good, don't be surprised if the smell seeps out into the neighborhood and friends start ringing your doorbell with a knife and fork in hand!  Growing up we didn't eat this a lot, but when we did I remember thinking "we should have this more often!"  This is an old school Italian dish that you don't see a lot of in restaurants but is very good.
     Okay here is what you will need:
                                                    1 large chicken cut up in pieces
                                                    1 large onion sliced
                                                    8 cloves of garlic minced
                                                    2 peppers (any color) roughly chopped
                                                    1 lb. of mushroom sliced in large pieces
                                                    1 1/2 cups white wine
                                                    2 cans San Marzano tomatoes
                                                    2 bay leafs
                                                    Bundle of fresh thyme and oregano
                                                    Sea salt
                                                    Freshly ground black pepper
                                                    Red pepper flakes
                                                    Olive oil to coat pan
                                                    1 1/2 tbsp. brown sugar

 Start with the chicken,  you can buy the chicken already cut up or whole and cut it yourself.  I prefer to cut the breasts in two pieces, one whole breast is just too big.  If you prefer dark meat like me you can make this dish with all leg/thigh portions,  the dark meat is so much more tender and juicy, but since the wife and kids like white meat I use the whole chicken.  Get out your biggest pot and get it nice and hot, add some olive oil to the bottom of the pot.  Now after seasoning your chicken with sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, add it to the pot skin side down, don't over crowd the chicken, work in batches if you have to removing browned chicken to a plate, you want it to get a nice golden brown on both sides, if you over crowd the pan it will steam and never get brown!  

At this point you are not cooking the chicken all the way through, just browning it. Remove it to a plate and set it aside.

2010 Chicago Gourmet at Millenium Park



I had a chance to meet Cat Cora at the Food & Wine Fest, she was very nice and very short!!




Obviously I had quite a few samples of the 2005 Silver Oak Cab (among others)!!

 



Famous Breaded Steaks!

                                                                                  
     We used to eat these all the time when I was a kid. La Milanese on 32nd and May in Bridgeport had the best! They were made by two old Italian ladies, fried to order, smothered in red sauce, mozzarella, and pepperoncini's and put Ricobene's and all others to shame!! Mine are just as good or better!!
     What you will need:        Thin cut sandwich steaks
                                        High quality bread crumbs 
                                        Flour and eggs for breading
                                        Good crusty french bread or sandwich rolls
                                        Pot of red sauce for dipping and topping
                                        Grated Mozzarella cheese
                                        Your favorite peppers

I cut the steaks in equal size pieces before I pound them out, a little piece becomes much bigger!

     Start with the steaks.  Buy the thin cut sandwich steaks or ask your butcher to cut them for you, they are usually sirloin, rib eye work great too.  Cut the steaks in equal size pieces.  Next place them in a plastic bag or cover them with wax paper or wrap and pound them even thinner.  I like to start in the center and work my way to the ends, try to get them even thickness.

Princapessa loves to work the breading station!

Flour, egg, bread crumb, egg, bread crumb.

Season the steaks with salt a pepper and bread them in the typical flour, egg, bread crumb manner.  Obviously it is really important to use good quality bread crumbs.  You can use Italian style seasoned or unseasoned and add your own spices, just use good, fresh bread crumbs.  For these I made my own using day old French bread, cut it up, put in food processor then toasted them, came out great.  You can add salt, pepper, grated parmigiana, onion and garlic powder, fresh parsley, what ever you want.  I added salt, pepper and grated cheese.  I watched the lady at La Milanese (the place I used to get them) make them one time and she did flour, egg, breadcrumb, egg, and breadcrumb again...she double dipped, so I did that with these as well, if you like a thinner crust skip the second dip!

Breakfast Pizza!!!

    

     This recipe comes from an adaptation from Chow Magazine http://www.chow.com/recipes/28515-harissa-pancetta-breakfast-pizza. Obviously since this is a pizza, you can put any toppings on it you like, any cheese, meat, vegetables, sauce, that you choose. Myself and a group of friends recently cooked brunch at the Ronald McDonald House in Oak Lawn, and we made this pizza with mozzarella and cheddar cheese, bacon, eggs, scallions and parsley. It was a huge hit, everyone loved it! Next time I make it I think I am gonna do an Eggs Benedict version, with Canadian bacon, hollandaise, eggs, and maybe spinach, or a Mexican version with chorizo and Mexican cheese, you can also use breakfast sausage if you like. You can use a little pizza sauce or tomato sauce if you like but it is not necessary, and I would only recommend using a small amount of sauce. You can also make individual pizzas 7-8 in. with one egg on them and let everyone choose their own toppings!
     You can use any pizza dough you have access to, store bought, frozen, pre-made from your local pizza parlor, whatever you like.  You can even make it the night before and refrigerate it, just remember to let it come to room temperature for an hour or so before starting so it is easy to work with.  I am including a basic pizza dough recipe for those of you who want to make your own from scratch.

Max & Sophia's favorite "Football Soup"

     Big Papa and Chee Chee (my paternal grandparents)  got me hooked on this soup as a kid, a simple chicken  and pastina soup. Now Max and Sophia love it too (as does everyone else in the family) and they have added their own little twist, orzo pasta (shaped like footballs) instead of pastina's, and they like to call it Football Soup!  Very simple to make, and only a few ingredients:  1 whole chicken, chicken stock, celery, carrots, onion, garlic, bay leaf, salt and pepper plus the orzo pasta and fresh parley and parmiggiano reggiano for topping

     Start by placing the whole chicken in a large pot and cover it with cold water. If your chicken has the neck and innards add them as well.  When I was younger, believe or not, we used to fight over who got to eat the chicken heart with their soup, it was a true delicacy.  Now a days you rarely see it in the chicken.  Someone told me they sell them in bulk in Chinatown at a very high price. Now add a few flavoring items, basically you are making a stock as you cook the chicken for the soup.  I add the odds and ends left over from cutting the vegetables for the soup.  The celery stems and leaves (great flavor from the leaves), the ends of the carrots (plus a few cut in large pieces), an onion quartered, whole garlic cloves, a few peppercorns, a bay leaf, some of the fresh parsley with stems and some salt.  Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer, let cook for about an hour to hour and half, until the chicken is cooked, it will start to fall apart when done.