Chicken Cacciatore with Rice

Thrown into the middle of the meal planning mix this week was this chicken dish. After all, we can only eat soup so often, right?

I remember Grandma fixing it and thought today seemed as good a day as any to resurrect the recipe, particularly given the fact that our own "pet" chickens have created a whirlwind of work for us and maybe this is my way of getting back at them. Sounds awful, but our girls are on my naughty list this week.

Last Thursday when I came home from work our daughter Katie was wandering around our yard looking fairly upset. I rolled down the window and she announced that "the girls were missing out of the yard." If there is one single thing that sets me in a dither, it's that. 

I absolutely adore our girls--probably too much. They jump up on me, sit in my lap, chase me around the yard, fly up on the window sill outside my office to remind me if I've been neglectful,  absolutely love it when I'm out gardening so they can get right in front of me and "help" me weed. I just love 'em.  They are my babies. So when Katie alerted me to the fact that they were MIA, I almost dialed 911. We have our routine when this happens. Walk around the block, check the neighbors' yards, and sound the alarm (aka the chicken call). They were nowhere to be found. Finally I used the lid of the galvanized garbage can in which I store their feed and banged it loudly once or twice. They've been known to tear around the corner running when I do this, so I thought it might work to round them up. Sure enough. Katie hollered to me that they had been scratching around in our next door neighbor's bushes and were hightailing it home.

The next day they did the same thing. And the next day.  So off we went to Home Depot to pick up some plastic chicken fencing and posts.  We figured out where they were escaping (a hole they had dug by our hedgerow) and spent the better part of 2 hours in the freezing cold measuring, cutting, fencing. Now they are contained, we're happy, and that's the end of that. At least for now.

So in honor of our little "Houdinis," here's Chicken Cacciatore in all its glory.

Chicken Cacciatore with Rice

2 tablespoons olive oil
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized chunks or use whole split fryer
Salt and pepper
½ cup flour
½ cup white wine or chicken broth
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
3 zucchini sliced diagonally into ¼ inch pieces
1 can (14.5 oz) diced Italian style tomatoes, undrained
¼ cup tomato paste
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning or ½ teaspoon each basil and oregano (if not using Italian style tomatoes)
3 cups hot cooked brown or wild rice

Wash chicken pieces and pat dry. Salt and pepper pieces and dredge in flour to coat. Heat oil in Dutch oven or large skillet over medium-high heat and cook chicken until browned. Do not crowd chicken in the pan. Set chicken aside. Pour in wine or chicken broth and scrape up brown bits. Add in onion, mushrooms, red pepper, and zucchini and cook for 3-5 minutes or until crisp tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste, and seasonings. Cook through until heated, stirring occasionally and serve over rice.