Where did the summer go? It seems like just yesterday I was putting away the snow blower and taking out the lawn mower. I know I haven't posted in a while and there are a bunch of reasons for it which I am not going to go into. The month of August saw the kids finish their soccer seasons and instilled in me a strong desire to coach them next year. Soccer was a lot of fun! The gardens have produced an abundance of Tomato's and peppers. as well as carrots, cucumbers, beets and onions. All yummy and yummy. I find that without a conscious effort to eat the stuff it goes bad. That brings me to the title of this post. I have always liked this dish and this particular recipe really steps to the front of the line as far as chicken Cacciatore recipes go. This one came complements of Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen and is really, really good. I made a couple of modifications so I would not be completely plagiarizing it but the base of it is His. His cook book is packed with lots of tasty dishes and is worth the 25 bucks if you like to cook.

Chicken Cacciatore - Time 2 hours

Serves 6

6 red bell peppers (I used Sheppard's)

Extra-Virgin olive oil 

Sea Salt and Freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons garlic powder (I used 2 cloves of garlic and chopped it fine and dried it out and chopped it some more)

1 tablespoon dried oregano (used fresh and dried it out)

1 egg

2 cups of milk

1 whole chicken cut into pieces (or a bunch of pieces works too)

6 cloves of garlic

1 onion (sliced thin)

2 ripe tomato's ( I used about 10 ripe tomato's cause I have tons from the garden and I like tomato's)

1/2 lemon, sliced in paper thin circles (use the middle half)

3 anchovy fillets (I used a couple of squirts of fish sauce instead)

1 tablespoon of capers

1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes

1/2 bunch of fresh basil, hand torn (1/4 for flavor of the base, 1/4 to finish the dish, use lots its yummy)

1 cup of dry white wine ( makes the dish rock, don't use more than a cup though)

Start by preparing the peppers- Preheat the broiler. Pull out the cores of the red peppers; then halve them lengthwise and remove the ribs and seeds. Toss them with some olive oil and salt and pepper and then put them on a cookie sheet, skin side up and broil them until the skin turns black and charred, about 10-15 minutes. Put the peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap and let them steam for about 10 minutes. uncover and remove the skin and give them a coarse chop.

Season the flour with salt pepper, oregano and garlic powder, in another dish mix egg and milk together. drench chicken pieces in flour, then in egg wash and then back in the flour. Place a large pot on stove and put about 1/4 inch of oil in and heat to med. fry chicken in oil for about 8 minutes a side until golden brown and crispy. remove chicken to a plate and set aside. toss the oil out and clean the pot.

Put the pot back on the stove and add 1/4 cup of oil. Add the garlic, onion, tomatoes, lemon, anchovies, capers, red pepper flakes, half the roasted peppers and half the basil. season with salt and pepper. Simmer about 20-25 minutes stirring often, until everything breaks down. taste it to see if it needs more salt.

Add the remaining roasted peppers and basil. Tuck the chicken into the sauce and pour in the wine. Turn the heat down to low, cover and simmer for about 20-30 minutes more. Serve with Polenta or pasta.  enjoy!!!!