Chicken cacciatora.

How to cook the perfect chicken cacciatora | Life and style | The Guardian
Cacciatore - a meal prepared "hunter-style" with onions, herbs, usually tomatoes, often bell peppers, and sometimes wine.
Or Cacciatore - pollo alla cacciatora - hunter's chicken, is a classic Italian dish.
Or Slow Cooked Rustic Italian Stew.
The perfect chicken cacciatora
(Serves 4)
Knob of butter
2 tbsp olive oil
4 chicken legs, divided into thighs and drumsticks (skin removed if desired)
Seasoned flour, to dust
2 heads of garlic, cut horizontally
Small bunch of rosemary
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 stick of celery, diced
Half a glass of white wine
250ml decent chicken stock
100g tinned plum tomatoes in juice, roughly chopped (or 100g really ripe fresh tomatoes, skinned and chopped)

Heat the butter and oil in a large, heavy-based casserole dish over a medium-high heat.
Dust the chicken pieces in seasoned flour, then fry them in batches until golden brown on all sides.
Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.

Fry the garlic, rosemary, carrot and celery, with a little more oil if necessary, for a few minutes until slightly golden.

Pour in the wine and scrape the bottom of the pan to dislodge any crusty bits, then simmer until well reduced.

Tip in the stock and tomatoes, and replace the chicken.
Bring to a simmer, cover, turn down the heat and cook gently for 45 minutes, until the meat is falling from the bone.

Season to taste and serve with a green salad, rice or polenta.

Chicken Cacciatore.

Chicken Cacciatore Recipe on Food52
Cacciatore means "hunter" in Italian.
In cuisine, alla cacciatora refers to a meal prepared "hunter-style”.
A basic cacciatore recipe usually begins with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil heated in a large frying pan.
Chicken parts, dusted with salt and pepper, are seared in the oil for three to four minutes on each side.
The chicken is removed from the pan, and most of the fat poured off.
The remaining fat is used to fry the onions, peppers or other vegetables for several minutes.
A small can of peeled tomatoes (drained of liquid and chopped coarsely) is typically added to the pan along with rosemary and a half cup of dry red wine.
Bay leaf may be used, along with chopped carrot to give extra sweetness.
The seared chicken parts are returned to the pan which is then covered.
The dish is done after about an hour at a very low simmer.
Cacciatore is often served with a rustic bread or pasta on the side.

Makes 4 servings
Olive oil to lightly coat the bottom of a large skillet with a lid
4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
1 cup all-purpose flour seasoned with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 slices bacon, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded, cored, and sliced
1 red bell pepper, seeded, cored, and sliced
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
4 ounces white or brown button mushrooms, sliced
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground fennel seed
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon salt
One can whole plum tomatoes
200 gram tomato sauce
200 ml chicken broth
1/4 cup torn fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup torn fresh oregano leaves
Grated parmesan for serving
Cooked pasta or soft polenta for serving

Coat the skillet with olive oil, up the sides of the pan about 6mm, and heat.
Dredge the chicken thighs in the seasoned flour and brown each side until golden.
Remove the thighs and set aside.
Drain the oil from the skillet and add the chopped bacon.
Cook until almost crisp and then add the 2 peppers, onions, garlic, and mushrooms.
Sauté for a few minutes.
Stir in the dried basil, dried oregano, ground fennel, red pepper flakes, and salt.
Continue to sauté until you can smell the garlic, another few minutes.
Crush the plum tomatoes with your clean hands to break them up and add to the skillet along with the juices from the can.
Add the tomato sauce and chicken broth.
Return the chicken thighs to the skillet, skin side up, and bathe the sauce over the pieces.
Bring everything up to a simmer and continue to simmer, partially covered, for 30 to 40 minutes.
After the 30 to 40 minute simmer, stir in the fresh basil and oregano.
Serve a chicken thigh and some of the sauce with peppers over spaghetti or some soft polenta.
Shower a little Parmesan over the top and enjoy!

Chickpea Cacciatore (stew).

Chickpea Cacciatore Recipe on Food52
In cuisine, alla cacciatora refers to a meal prepared "hunter-style" with onions, herbs, usually tomatoes, often bell peppers, and sometimes wine.
Author Notes: A vegan take on the classic cacciatore, featuring meaty chickpeas, hearty mushrooms, sweet sundried tomatoes and a pop of bright orange.
Serves 6

1 cup chopped onion
1/2 pound cremini(portabello) mushrooms
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups cooked chickpeas
1 can whole tomatoes, crushed with your hands (leave a little texture)
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, packed, rehydrated in water, drained and sliced into strips
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons orange zest
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon fennel seed
1/4 teaspoon chili flakes

In a large pot, heat 1 tbsp of the olive oil over medium heat.
Add the onions, mushrooms and garlic.
Continue to cook over medium heat until the vegetables are softened (about 10 minutes).
Add a splash of water if the mixture dries out.
Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.
Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook on low for 1 hour.
Serve with polenta, brown rice or quinoa, and freshly chopped parsley.

Slow Cooker Bean and Chorizo Stew.

Adapted from: Slow Cooker Bean and Chorizo Stew | Williams-Sonoma Taste
Warm up on cold days with spicy Latin flavors. Chorizo sausage puts a kick into this slow-cooker stew, which is extra satisfying due to the double dose of protein from beans and the meat.

Spicy Red Bean and Chorizo Stew

1 tin can (400 g) red kidney beans rinsed (Aduki bean - sometimes transliterated as azuki or aduki)
2 Tbs. canola oil
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
3 celery stalks, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 cups beef or chicken broth
1 tsp. red wine vinegar
1/2 to 3/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 bay leaves
200 g cured Spanish-style chorizo, cut into slices 6 mm thick
Hot pepper sauce, such as Tabasco
Cooked white rice for serving

In a large, heavy fry pan over medium-high heat, warm the oil.
Add the onion, celery and bell pepper and sauté until softened and just beginning to brown, about 6 minutes.
Add the garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 1 minute.
Pour in 1 cup (250 ml) of the broth and stir to scrape up any browned bits on the pan bottom.
Transfer the contents of the pan to a slow cooker and stir in the drained beans, remaining 1 cups (250 ml) broth, the vinegar, pepper flakes to taste, bay leaves and chorizo.
Cover and cook on the low setting for 6 to 8 hours, stirring once or twice.
The beans should be very tender.

Discard the bay leaves.
Season with salt, pepper and Tabasco.
If desired, using the back of a spoon, mash some of the beans against the inside of the cooker to thicken the stew.

Spoon rice into shallow bowls, top with the stew, and serve.
Serves 6 to 8.

Note: For dried red kidney beans: - Place the beans in a large bowl with cold water to cover and soak for at least 4 hours or up to overnight. (For a quick soak, combine the beans and water to cover in a large pot, bring to a boil, remove from the heat, cover and soak for 1 hour.)
Drain and rinse the beans.

Cooking with the New York Times.

Cooking with the New York Times - NYT Cooking

Stuffed cabbage.

There are so many recipes for stuffed cabbage leaves, from all over the world, each is special and tasty, and it’s hard to choose between them all.
- italian stuffed cabbage | smitten kitchen:
Italian Stuffed Cabbage [Mondeghini al sugo]
Adapted from Rachel Eats (Rachel Roddy)
- Part and parcel | rachel eats).
- Времена года / Four seasons: Rachel Roddy successful blog.

This dish is a mid-winter delight, budget-minded, not terribly complicated to make, hearty and delicious — wilted cabbage leaves, a tender meatball and a simple, bright sauce. It went instantly into our rotation of favorite cold-weather dishes.

For the bread, you can use white bread (as originally called for) or whatever you have around.
If necessary, the bread can be soaked in water instead of milk.
Chicken sausage could probably replace the pork nicely.
And if you’re like me, and totally forgot to get fresh herbs, and skip them, nothing terrible happens since the sausage should already be well-seasoned.
Cabbage rolls are typically formed like an egg roll.
Any shape will work.

Makes approximately 12 cabbage rolls; a serving can range from 2 (petitely) to 3 per person.

1 large savoy cabbage
200-gram hunk of bread, crusts cut away, torn into small scraps (you’ll have about 3 loose cups of scraps)
2/3 cup (approximately 150 ml) whole milk
400 grams or approximately 4 plain pork sausages, casings removed
1 small sprig of sage, finely chopped
1 small sprig of rosemary, finely chopped
2 tablespoons grated parmesan
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 can peeled plum tomatoes
2 tablespoons (30 ml) olive oil
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced

Prepare cabbage:
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.
Discard any messy or broken outer cabbage leaves and carefully peel 12 nice, large leaves. (I think the cabbage can tell if you’re in a rush, and will tear more easily. Work carefully. That said, a torn leaf will hardly ruin the dish.)
Blanch leaves for about 30 seconds to 1 minute (you can do a few at at time), until wilted, and spread out on towels so that they dry and cool.

Make filling: Place bread scraps in bottom of large bowl and pour milk over.
Let sit for a few minutes, then mash it gently with a spoon until something close to a paste forms.
Mix with sausage meat, herbs, parmesan and a pinch or two of salt and black pepper; I find this easiest with a fork or bare hands.

Make the cabbage rolls:
Lay your first cabbage leaf on the counter.
If it doesn’t want to lay flat, pare away some of the thickest stalk (with a paring knife or vegetable peeler) to make it easier.
Form some of the filling mixture into a golf ball-sized round.
Wrap cabbage leaf around it (see Note about shape up top) and pin at the top with a toothpick.
Repeat with remaining leaves and mixture.

Make the sauce:
To prepare your tomatoes, either break them up with your hands (for bigger chunks), run them through a food mill or roughly chop them right in their can with scissors (what I did here).
In a heavy saute pan with a lid or a medium Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium heat.
Add the garlic and saute for about 30 seconds (just until golden, not a moment longer) then add the tomatoes, bringing the sauce to a gently boil.
Season with salt if needed.
Add cabbage packages, arranging them carefully in the pan so they all fit, cover the pot and gently simmer them for 25 minutes.
Remove the toothpicks and carefully turn the rolls over, cooking them for another 25.
Remove the lid and simmer for another 10 minutes to cook off some of the wetness.
They’re all cooked now, but if you can rest them for another 15 minutes before eating them, the flavors settle and they become even better.

More:
- Braised Stuffed Cabbage With Savoy Cabbage Soup • bananakitchen:

- Potato and Apple Stuffed Cabbage Rolls with Walnut Butter and Gruyère : eat in my kitchen

- Stuffed Cabbage Leaves | Tasty Eats:

- Kohlrouladen: cabbage leaves stuffed with beef (recipe) - A Sausage Has Two

- Stuffed Cabbage: Russian-Style alex’s mom’s stuffed cabbage | smitten kitchen

- cabbage and sausage casserole | smitten kitchen

Hearty Vegetable Stock (Vegan).

- Hearty Vegetable Stock (Vegan) | Serious Eats
30 gram dried mixed mushrooms such as oyster, porcini, or morel
1 medium yellow onion, split in half
1 large carrot, roughly chopped
3 stalks celery, roughly chopped
2 to 3 leeks, greens only (reserve whites for another use)
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1 (4-inch) piece kombu (Kombu is dried giant sea kelp. It can be found in most Asian markets.)
3 bay leaves
6 sprigs thyme
6 sprigs parsley
1 tabespoon whole black peppercorns
1 teaspoon fennel seed
1 teaspoon coriander seed

Combine all ingredients in a large stockpot and cover with water by 1 1/2 inches.
Bring to a boil, reduce to a bare simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are completely tender and stock is aromatic and flavorful, about 40 minutes.
Remove mushrooms with tongs and set aside for another use.
Strain stock through a fine-mesh strainer.
Discard solids.
Allow stock to cool uncovered at room temperature for 1 hour.
Cover and transfer to refrigerator until completely chilled.
Refrigerated stock will keep for about 1 week.

- Vegetable Stock From 'Afro-Vegan' | Serious Eats
1/2 small head of green cabbage (about 450 gram), thinly sliced
1 large carrot, coarsely grated
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
2 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
1 head garlic, broken apart into cloves and unpeeled cloves smashed with the flat side of a knife
3 sprigs thyme
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
9 cups water

Combine all the ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
Decrease the heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for about 1 hour.
Strain through a fine mesh sieve, pressing down on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible. (Compost the solids.)
Use immediately or let cool and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or the freezer for up to 6 months.

Vegan Cream of Mushroom Soup With Crispy Shiitake Chips.

Slightly adapted from:
- The Food Lab: Vegan Cream of Mushroom Soup With Crispy Shiitake Chips | Serious Eats
Ingredients:
15 gram dried porcini or morel mushrooms (optional)
1 Litre Hearty Vegan Stock or store-bought vegetable broth
7 tablespoons olive oil, divided, plus more for serving
1 large leek, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced (about 3/4 cup)
1 small onions, thinly sliced (about 3/4 cup)
3 medium cloves garlic, thinly sliced (about 1 tablespoon)
400 gram white button mushrooms, thinly sliced
300 gram shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced, divided
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon miso paste
1 cup dry sherry or white wine
6 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
2 slices vegan white sandwich bread, crusts removed, bread torn into pieces
2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions, for garnish

Here's how it's done!
Start by sweating out your aromatics.
In this case, I'm using a blend of onions, leeks, and garlic, though shallots would work fine as well.
The goal is to soften them as much as possible without browning them, which can give them a distracting sweetness.
Next, add the mushrooms.
In this case I'm using 400 gram of sliced button mushrooms along with 200-300 gram of shiitake, though any combination of fresh mushrooms will work.
In the meantime, I set aside a 20 gram of dried porcini mushrooms to soak in a Hearty Vegan Stock.
The mushrooms cook down until their liquid has evaporated and they begin to sizzle.
Next up: a dash of flour, to help thicken up the broth and get the emulsion going.
In goes the sherry/marsala/white wine.
As it reduces, it adds a layer of complexity, as well as some acidity to brighten up the finished bowl.
Once wine is reduced, I add a couple of my secret vegan weapons: soy sauce and miso paste.
Both are extremely high in glutamates, which lend a savory backbone to the dish.
Now I add the soaked porcini along with the vegetable stock, a few sprigs of thyme, and a couple of bay leaves, letting the whole thing simmer for about half an hour to let flavors develop and the liquid slightly reduce.

In goes the bread to soak (optional).
It doesn't take long.
And be wary: not all bread from the supermarket is vegan-friendly.
Many shelf-stable sandwich breads contain milk solids or whey.
Check your labels!

While the soup is simmering, time to make your garnish of crispy shiitake chips (optional).
You cook thinly-sliced mushrooms over very low heat in oil until they get nice and crisp around the edges and absorb some of that fat.
I hate to make the comparison, but they're almost bacon-like in the way they crunch and release little bits of fat into your mouth as you eat them. (This makes me think of a new project: smoked shiitake chips.)
As soon as they get nice and brown, I drain them on paper towels and season immediately with salt.

When your soup has simmered away, it's time to blend. (optional). (I do not puree the soup!)
Just like making a mayonnaise, you want to emulsify your soup slowly so that your oil gets fully incorporated.
Put the soup in the blender, bring it up to high speed gradually, then pour in a few more tablespoons of oil in a thin, steady stream.
You should see the soup thicken up nicely as you do it.

Season it with salt and pepper.

For the ultimate in luxury, press it through a chinois or fine mesh strainer to get it velvety smooth (optional).
Here's a fun game: garnish the soup with those crispy mushrooms, some sliced scallions, and a drizzle of olive oil and serve it up to any non-vegan you know, and see if they make any comments other than how intensely mushroomy it is, how perfectly creamy it tastes, or just plain how darn delicious it tastes.
I will wear this soup as a hat and post it in a public forum if they do!

Spaghetti Pie.

Adapted from: Spaghetti Pie

Any dried pasta or spaghetti 75 to 100 grams portions per person.
3 servings - 225 grams!

I urge you to use freshly ground black pepper that you grind before making this.
This torte (or cake) was based on Cacio e pepe, an Italian pasta that gets its distinctive flavor from pecorino cheese and lots of black pepper.
If you can’t get pecorino, Parmesan and Asiago are different, but probably the closest substitutes.
Also different, but delicious, is Vella dry jack cheese, made in California.

I used cheeses that were available to me, and suggest if you can’t get Comte use Gruyere, Emmenthal or Jarlsberg as a substitute for it. (A mild cheddar may work as well.)
For the softer cheese, I used a Tomme de montagne, a “catch-all” term in France for a mountain cheese that’s often semi-soft.
Fontina isn’t available in France very easily, but I know it is elsewhere.
Feel free to use Gouda, Vacherin Fribourgeois, or Morbier in its place.
You can make this gluten-free by substituting a gluten-free spaghetti, perhaps cooking it even less than al dente, since it tends to be a lot softer than standard pasta. (Other pasta shapes would work as well, too.)

If you don’t have a springform pan (A springform pan is a type of cake pan that has removable sides), you could bake this in a similar sized casserole and serve it sliced directly from the baking dish without unmolding it.

225 grams dried spaghetti
210 ml whole milk
2 small eggs, room temperature
1/2 teaspoons sea or kosher salt
1 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
pinch red pepper powder
35g finely grated pecorino/Parmesan cheese
100g grated Comté/Gruyere or a Swiss-style cheese
100g grated Fontina/Tesco Dutch Gouda, or a similar semisoft cheese

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Cook the spaghetti just until it’s very al dente.
Do not cook until completely tender. (The recommended cooking time on my bag was 10 minutes. I cooked mine for 8 minutes.)

2. Preheat the oven to 425ºF (220ºC).
Butter a 15-18cm springform pan.
Wrap the bottom very securely in one large sheet of aluminum foil.
Set the pan on a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil. (Extra insurance in case your pan leaks a bit.)

3. When the pasta is done, drain it well and let cool slightly.

4. In the pot, whisk together the milk, eggs, salt, black and red peppers.
Set 20g of each of the Gruyere and Gouda cheeses aside. (Total: 40g.)
Stir the rest of the grated cheese, as well as the Parmesan, into the milk and egg mixture.

5. Stir the slightly cooled spaghetti into the milk and cheese until it is completely combined.

6. Transfer the mixture to the prepared springform pan.
Smooth the top so it’s relatively even and sprinkle the 80g reserved grated cheese over the top.

7. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the cake feels just set in the center and is slightly bubbling around the edges.
Turn on the broiler and brown the top of the torte on the upper-third rack of the oven until well-browned.
Remove from oven and run a knife around the inside of the cake pan to loosen the pie from the sides.
Let rest about 10 minutes then released and remove the sides of the pan.
Serve while still warm, in slices.
It can also be served at room temperature if you’re looking for a picnic dish.

Storage: The torte can be made up to three days in advance and refrigerated, then rewarmed in the oven, covered with foil.
It can be frozen for up to two months.