the concept

the concept

The idea came from some friends, Lucy Jason & George, who were back home briefly & raved about a chef in London's East End...http://fridaynightakeout.blogspot.com/
I thought it was such a good idea, the best thing to do would be to bring it to life here where I live in New Zealand.
So...I'm also a freelance chef, each week I cook a different dish, depending on what's in season, what's good now, or just how I feel. Lately I've been cooking a lot of my mother's dishes

Dish descriptions will be posted here online early in the week, recipes later over the weekend, with links to:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pabloskitchen/130053437081945 & http:/twitter.com/#!/pabloskitchen

As I play with the idea through the week, the dish maybe evolves a little, but that's half the fun. Meals will be priced at $20, incl delivery & orders can be made anytime up to roughly lunchtime Thursday, which is when I go shopping. Simply get in touch, email or txt, you can order as many as you like!
Afternoon Friday I'll deliver dinnerboxes warm/cooling/cold, locally in & around my base, which admittedly does change a bit - currently I'm north of Auckland, living by the beach in Mangawhai (just let me know where you are when you get in touch).

tel: 021 676 123
email: pabloskitchen@yahoo.com

I've recently included an email subscription option at the bottom of this page &, while I have no idea how it works, the hope is that it automatically sends to subscribers email notifications each week about the dish...so, sign up!

disclaimer:
From time to time, when the wanderlust takes over, I hit the road & disappear in search of dishes, tastes & ingredients elsewhere. Then this blog takes on a different kind of persona; a travelling recipe book of notes, pics & stories, ideas to inspire & for me to return to, once I get back home.

Monday, 17 October 2011

recipe: chicken cacciatora

"is there a dish more universal & more universally loved than chicken cacciatora?" writes patrica wells in trattoria, going on to say, "today, all i have to say is "chicken cacciatora' & everyone's in a cheery mood."

the very first fridaynightdinnerbox friaug05th was a cacciatora, an italian hunter's stew. it's an old fav; it's a classic. this variation uses chicken in place of the shoulder of mutton i used last time. but its rustic reference implies one pot cooking & saddlebag vegies, a living-off-of-the-land shopping list. i like to think this variation of the dish goes back to those times when chicken hunters roamed the wilds of italian mountainsides. to cook the dish, become the chicken hunter

this dish makes everyone cheery round here too. certain customers would demand it if too long went by without me making chicken cacciatora for them, so it became a regular daily feature.

method is pretty much the same...the recipe:

>onions/garlic/carrot/celery/leek/thyme/bay/cayenne pepper: sweat in a big pot, lid on, low heat til translucent, about 15minutes.
>while onions etc are cooking: chicken/olive oil/salt/rosemary/garlic: separately, combine all & brown off in a large pan. when done, add to the onions
>tomato puree/chopped tomatoes/red wine/chicken stock: in the chicken pan, squirt in some tomato puree & stir it about, add chopped tomatoes & deglaze the pan with the juices, some red wine.
>let it simmer away, til the chicken has cooked thru & the sauce has thickened. if it gets too thick, add some chicken stock.

with the chicken, i buy a whole bird, joint it & roughly cut into smaller pieces, adding to the stew, some with bones & all. with the frame, i make a quick stock which i add to the casserole. sometimes i cook this dish in the crock pot at home, coming home to the smell of tomatoes & wine wafting thru the house , the chicken is plump & succulent



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