Slow Cooked Red Wine Sauce Chicken and Mushrooms (Cacciatore)

I stumbled upon this dish when I was at this bar in Pune and after a round of drinks I was starting to get hungry. So we ordered this dish which had a fancy name of Chicken Cacciatore and usually I am not a big fan of having fancy food when I am indulging in other "earthly delights" or "necessities" of life as I wish to enjoy and love good food on a separate occasion and enjoy a good bar when I am at one. One thing at a time, not a big fan of mixing the two :p 

But this dish completely blew me away as I took the first bite. It was just sooo completely different from the usual chicken dishes that I eat, soo palatable, appeasing to each and every taste bud. I knew I had to make this dish and let the others know of the existence of  such a dish hand made by the Gods themselves.

So this recipe has had quite a few changes after an initial few trials and I am posting the best one for my lovely readers. The dish has a distinguishing but not overpowering taste of red wine to it. Ofcourse, if overpowering wine is what you want then please feel free to go crazy with the amount of wine you add :p 

The most important and crucial element to this however are the fresh ingredients. The freshness and availability of fresh basil leaves, parsley, thyme and celery can make a massive difference in how the dish tastes. The first time I tried the dish I had used all dried ingredients (which are available at any superstore), it was good but it didn't have that blow me away factor. The next time I used fresh leaves and my oh my.. it was a completely different tasting dish altogether. So please keep that in mind when you are cooking this dish. 

This is a slow cooked dish so patience is quite essential, if time is short then I wouldn't advise this dish because if the red wine remains undercooked then you will have a very strong raw flavor of wine and alcohol which might taste bitter as the alcohol in the wine would not have been completely cooked off. Also the chicken would be tough so you wouldn't enjoy it as much. 

Go on now and try out this heavenly Italian dish cooked with love and passion. Buon Appetito

Ingredients:

• 1 kg of chicken
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp freshly minced garlic cloves
• 2 medium sized onions (cubed)
• 1 yellow bell pepper or yellow capsicum (cubed)
• 1 red bell pepper or red capsicum (cubed)
• 1 medium sized carrot (peeled and sliced)
• 12 button mushrooms (washed and quartered)
• 2 sprigs of fresh thyme (use dried if fresh not available)
• 1 sprig of fresh basil leaves (chopped)
• 1 stalk of fresh celery (chopped)
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/3 cup of fresh parsley
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes (chilly flakes)
• 3 medium sized red tomatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
• 1 and 1/2 cup Red Wine

Steps:

• Heat Oil in a heavy bottom pan. Add the onions and saute for 5 mins till they turn translucent and start separating.

• Add the garlic, red and yellow peppers, carrots, mushrooms, celery and keep stir frying for 10 mins till the vegetables are beginning to soften.
• Add the chicken and continue to mix well. Add the salt, black pepper powder, oregano and chilly flakes and mix well.

• Add the chopped tomatoes, cover and cook till the tomatoes are mushy and release oil.
• Pour in the wine and the tomato ketchup. Allow it to simmer on a low flame. Cover and let it cook.

• After 10 minutes, drop in the freshly chopped parsley, fresh thyme and fresh basil leaves.
• Cover and continue to cook over stove top on a low flame for another 20 - 30 mins (keep stirring every 5 mins or you might burn the bottom of the dish) or till the chicken turns soft and starts to fall off the bone. By this time the gravy should have become thick and got a rich dark red color to it.
• Garnish with freshly chopped parsley and serve hot with mashed potatoes or sauteed vegetables.