The theme for Week 46 of the challenge was rustic. For me, rustic cooking sounds cozy and comfortable, like something homemade and from scratch and made with love. Although I love that style of cooking, my mind was completely blank when it came to conceptualizing a dish embodying that rustic feeling. I was talking with A when the rustic theme came up and he sent me the link to a page on the Food Network site with all the recipes from Giada's rustic Italian cooking episode. Chicken cacciatore? Smashed parmesan potatoes? I didn't need to look any further for the challenge. I've been wanting to make cacciatore for a while. Those recipes would be perfect for this challenge.
We had everything at home to make this other than potatoes, a red pepper, and basil, which made this a good Monday meal since those were relatively easy to pick up at places that don't get ridiculously crowded on the weekends or Mondays. The hardest thing to get was the basil, which I never realized costs so much! I ended up picking up a box of Gotham Greens basil from Whole Foods, which was a bit on the expensive side, but the leaves were so gorgeous I could only describe them as luxurious. Once I saw that box, all the other boxes of basil looked so crappy. The basil tasted lovely as well.
First up, the chicken cacciatore. For this, I used:
- 3 pieces boneless skinless chicken breasts ($3)
- flour for dredging, about 1/2 cup ($0.30)
- salt and pepper ($0.05)
- 1 red pepper ($0.29)
- 1 onion ($0.50)
- 5 garlic cloves ($0.08)
- 3/4 cup of white wine ($1.50)
- 2 14.5-oz cans of diced tomatoes ($1.50)
- 3/4 cup chicken broth ($0.08)
- a few tsp of dried oregano ($0.08)
- chopped up basil for garnish ($1.50)
The total for the chicken cacciatore was about $8.88, which isn't too bad for the chicken portion of a dish for 2. We had some sauce left over too, which was nice. I used that as the basis for shakshuka for another day's lunch. (I forgot to mention that I left out the capers that were in the original recipe. I'm just not that big of a capers fan. It didn't feel like anything was missing though.)
- 3 pieces boneless skinless chicken breasts ($3)
- flour for dredging, about 1/2 cup ($0.30)
- salt and pepper ($0.05)
- 1 red pepper ($0.29)
- 1 onion ($0.50)
- 5 garlic cloves ($0.08)
- 3/4 cup of white wine ($1.50)
- 2 14.5-oz cans of diced tomatoes ($1.50)
- 3/4 cup chicken broth ($0.08)
- a few tsp of dried oregano ($0.08)
- chopped up basil for garnish ($1.50)
The total for the chicken cacciatore was about $8.88, which isn't too bad for the chicken portion of a dish for 2. We had some sauce left over too, which was nice. I used that as the basis for shakshuka for another day's lunch. (I forgot to mention that I left out the capers that were in the original recipe. I'm just not that big of a capers fan. It didn't feel like anything was missing though.)
Chicken cacciatore basically involves braising the chicken, so the steps were pretty similar in concept to other braising I've done before. To make this, I followed the original recipe fairly closely. The steps were:
1. Cut chicken up into smaller pieces. [That was my choice, not from the recipe. I just prefer smaller pieces of chicken, maybe psychologically it feels like you're eating more.]
2. Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Dredge through the flour so that the chicken is lightly coated.
3. Heat olive oil in large pan over medium high heat and cook chicken until browned (but not fully cooked). Set aside.
4. Add chopped pepper, onion, and garlic to the same pan over medium heat and cook until tender.
5. Add the white wine and cook until it has reduced halfway. Then add the canned tomatoes (with juice), chicken broth, and oregano. Add the chicken back in and try to bury the pieces under the sauce so they are all coated.
6. Bring sauce to simmer and then simmer over medium low for about half an hour, so that chicken is fully cooked.
7. Remove chicken and let sauce boil longer to thicken up a little.
8. Serve chicken with sauce on top and garnished with fresh basil. [You could probably skip the basil, but it really rounded out the dish.]
Fairly straightforward, but it just took a while, especially since I didn't even start cutting up and trimming the chicken (which I started thawing late) until after the night's Jeopardy Tournament of Champions match.
1. Cut chicken up into smaller pieces. [That was my choice, not from the recipe. I just prefer smaller pieces of chicken, maybe psychologically it feels like you're eating more.]
2. Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Dredge through the flour so that the chicken is lightly coated.
3. Heat olive oil in large pan over medium high heat and cook chicken until browned (but not fully cooked). Set aside.
4. Add chopped pepper, onion, and garlic to the same pan over medium heat and cook until tender.
5. Add the white wine and cook until it has reduced halfway. Then add the canned tomatoes (with juice), chicken broth, and oregano. Add the chicken back in and try to bury the pieces under the sauce so they are all coated.
6. Bring sauce to simmer and then simmer over medium low for about half an hour, so that chicken is fully cooked.
7. Remove chicken and let sauce boil longer to thicken up a little.
8. Serve chicken with sauce on top and garnished with fresh basil. [You could probably skip the basil, but it really rounded out the dish.]
Fairly straightforward, but it just took a while, especially since I didn't even start cutting up and trimming the chicken (which I started thawing late) until after the night's Jeopardy Tournament of Champions match.
To accompany the cacciatore, I made Giada's smashed parmesan potatoes from the same episode. Again, I followed the original recipe fairly closely. There weren't too many ingredients for this. All I needed was:
- 1 bag of small red potatoes, about 1.5-2 lbs total ($3.54)
- 2 tbsp melted butter ($0.50)
- olive oil, as needed, ended up being about 1/2 cup ($1.60)
- freshly grated parmesan, about 1/2-2/3 cup ($1.25)
- salt and pepper ($0.05)
- garlic powder ($0.05)
The total for the potatoes was $6.99, which was a lot for a "side dish" although it did make a lot of potatoes, with some leftovers. That brought the total for dinner up to $15.87. Not a super cheap dinner, but it was quite good and satisfying for the price.
I don't know if what I made were smashed potatoes exactly, since the times I've seen them before, smashed potatoes were just potatoes literally smashed but not really stirred up or mashed any further than that initial smash. These were kind of like skin-on coarsely mashed potatoes, although that was fine by me. I've never seen the episode, so I don't know exactly how Giada's looked, but following the recipe as I read it, they were pretty mashed up. I made them pretty much the same way you would make other mashed potatoes (except I usually add some milk):
1. Scrub potatoes. [To save time, A did this while I was making the cacciatore sauce and I was thankful for the help!]
2. Add potatoes to pot with enough water to cover them. Cover the pot and bring to boil. Let it boil until potatoes are fork tender. Save 3/4 cup of water and then drain the rest. Then add potatoes back to pot. [A did this too so I didn't have to worry about it.]
3. Start coarsely mashing/smashing potatoes, adding the water if needed to moisten. [I needed all of it.] Add butter, parmesan, salt and pepper, and garlic powder. Stir it all around. Add olive oil and/or butter when needed if potatoes seem to need moisture. [They definitely did.]
4. Keep stirring and seasoning and adding olive oil/butter until you're happy with them!
- 1 bag of small red potatoes, about 1.5-2 lbs total ($3.54)
- 2 tbsp melted butter ($0.50)
- olive oil, as needed, ended up being about 1/2 cup ($1.60)
- freshly grated parmesan, about 1/2-2/3 cup ($1.25)
- salt and pepper ($0.05)
- garlic powder ($0.05)
The total for the potatoes was $6.99, which was a lot for a "side dish" although it did make a lot of potatoes, with some leftovers. That brought the total for dinner up to $15.87. Not a super cheap dinner, but it was quite good and satisfying for the price.
I don't know if what I made were smashed potatoes exactly, since the times I've seen them before, smashed potatoes were just potatoes literally smashed but not really stirred up or mashed any further than that initial smash. These were kind of like skin-on coarsely mashed potatoes, although that was fine by me. I've never seen the episode, so I don't know exactly how Giada's looked, but following the recipe as I read it, they were pretty mashed up. I made them pretty much the same way you would make other mashed potatoes (except I usually add some milk):
1. Scrub potatoes. [To save time, A did this while I was making the cacciatore sauce and I was thankful for the help!]
2. Add potatoes to pot with enough water to cover them. Cover the pot and bring to boil. Let it boil until potatoes are fork tender. Save 3/4 cup of water and then drain the rest. Then add potatoes back to pot. [A did this too so I didn't have to worry about it.]
3. Start coarsely mashing/smashing potatoes, adding the water if needed to moisten. [I needed all of it.] Add butter, parmesan, salt and pepper, and garlic powder. Stir it all around. Add olive oil and/or butter when needed if potatoes seem to need moisture. [They definitely did.]
4. Keep stirring and seasoning and adding olive oil/butter until you're happy with them!
This was a delicious meal and I was much more satisfied with how this turned out than the last challenge meal. It was fresh and healthy (other than the fact that we ate too much) with lots of flavor. I think if we were to make the cacciatore again (and I think we would), we would probably not make it with the potatoes and just eat it over brown rice or farro or something. It's not that the potatoes were bad - they most definitely were not - but it's a bit healthier (and cheaper) doing it that way, and it also means one less dish to prepare on a busy weeknight. Pretty happy with dinner!
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