Umbrian-Style Chicken alla Cacciatora

We made Umbrian-Style Chicken alla Cacciatora from a recipe in The New York Times and liked it. I always thought that Chicken Cacciatora had Tomatoes in it. This dish doesn't. It does get acidic base from the Vinegar, Lemon, Olives and Capers. It is good. We had a very rich lunch at TroisMec and they have the best bread, very crunchy. I asked if they would sell me a loaf and they did. We heated it up and served it with the Chicken. It was great for sopping up the sauce.

Umbrian-Style Chicken alla Cacciatora

New York Times

Chicken alla cacciatora, or hunter’s style, is found all over Italy — but for a long time, tomatoes were not. Most American know the southern Italian version, with tomatoes, but this one is from Umbria, in the country's center, and it’s made savory with lemon, vinegar, olives and rosemary instead of tomatoes. It’s lovely served with steamed greens dressed with a fruity olive oil, over homemade mashed potatoes or polenta.

Ingredients

1       tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon olive oil

1       small chicken (about 2 1/2 pounds), cut into serving pieces, or use bone-in, skin-on thighs and drumsticks

1       onion, sliced

2 to 3        cloves garlic, very finely minced

1       tablespoon capers

¼      cup good-quality brine-cured olives, black or green, with pits

1       sprig rosemary

1       handful sage leaves

Salt and black pepper

1       cup dry white wine

Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon

1       tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Preparation

1.            Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large non-stick pan. Add chicken pieces and sear over medium heat until golden on all sides, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a plate and wipe the pan clean before proceeding.

2.            Turn heat to low, add remaining 1 teaspoon oil, and return the chicken to the pan. Add onions and stir frequently until caramelized, about 18 minutes. Add minced garlic, capers, olives, rosemary sprig and sage leaves. Season with just a sprinkle of salt and black pepper.

3.            After a couple of minutes, when everything smells fragrant, add wine. Cover and simmer very slowly until the chicken is tender and cooked through (165 degrees). Start checking the temperature of the chicken after 15 minutes to avoid overcooking. Add some water if the sauce gets too dry while simmering.

4.            When ready to serve, reheat if necessary, then add lemon juice and zest and balsamic vinegar. Taste and add more lemon if desired. Remove the rosemary sprig and serve.

Sometimes the Magic Doesn't Work

Our Annual Holiday Cake 

The Potatoes with Truffles were great!

Loved the Cake!

Sometimes the Magic works, sometimes it doesn't. We made this recipe for Cabbage and Sausage from The New York Times and didn't like it. I had bought the wrong sausage, Spicy Italian rather than Mild Italian Sausage. Once we realized the mistake we decided to use the spicy sausage anyways. Perhaps that was the error, perhaps it just wasn't a great recipe. Oh well, mark it down as a failure not to be repeated.

On a brighter side, we made fantastic Truffled Mashed Potatoes. We used the recipe for Garlic Mashed Potato recipe in TheBalthazar Cookbook by McNally, Nasr, Hanson. This is a fantastic recipe - it is super-rich! You can find the recipe on our blog of: November 12, 2012. Click the date to get the recipe. We used Truffle Butter in making the Mashed Potatoes and topped the potatoes with fresh Truffle Slices. Because of the truffles we left the garlic out. The dish is exceedingly rich and good! The best mashed potatoes recipe ever!

We served our Holiday Cake. Every year we bake the cake and let it sit for a couple of weeks in the refrigerator. I know Fruit Cake gets a well deserved bad rap, but I can guarantee you this one is great. Everyone loves it, it freezes well, it can be toasted or eaten at room temp. It is a winner! Try it. It is called Mary Ann's Fruit Cake from a recipe by Craig Claiborne of The New York Times. You can find the recipe on our blog of January 1, 2011. Click the date to get the recipe.

Sausage and Cabbage

New York Times

This recipe is an adaptation of one created by Tamasin Day-Lewis, the Stevie Nicks of British cookery. A casserole recipe that she credits to the British food writer Jane Grigson has just four ingredients — sausage, cabbage, butter and pepper — but after two and a half hours in the oven, it emerges mysterious and succulent.

Ingredients

Salt

3       tablespoons unsalted butter

2       pounds fresh sweet Italian pork sausages or bulk sausage

1       large green or Savoy cabbage, about 4 pounds, cored and thickly shredded

Freshly ground black pepper

Crusty bread and mustard, for serving

Preparation

1.            Heat oven to 300 degrees. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and butter a 9-by-13-by-2-inch baking dish. If using sausages, remove casings and discard them.

2.            Place cabbage in boiling water, cover, and let water come back to the boil. Uncover and boil for 3 minutes. Drain cabbage in a colander and run cold water over it to stop cooking.

3.            Put about 1/3 of the cabbage in buttered dish and cover with 1/2 the meat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and dot with butter. Repeat, ending with a final layer of cabbage, and dot top with butter.

4.            Cover dish tightly with a layer of parchment paper, then top with a lid or a layer of aluminum foil. Cook for about 2 1/2 hours, until cabbage is soft and sweet, and top is lightly browned. After 2 hours, uncover the dish: if there is a lot of liquid in the bottom, leave uncovered for the rest of the cooking time. If not, re-cover and finish cooking.

New Year's Eve

We didn't plan to have a New Year's Eve Dinner, but we got drafted! John came down from San Francisco and Shumon had just returned from Bangladesh. Tom and Scott joined. Darryl and Robert almost attended.

We started with Truffle Cheese and Crackers. We then had a fabulous dinner. 1st course was Scallops with Chive Oil and sliced White Truffles. You can get the recipe for the Chive Oil on our blog of: June 4, 2011. Click the date to get the recipe.  

The Porchetta is a great party dish. It is super easy to make, it cooks for a long time, fills the house with wonderful aromas, looks great, is easy to cut and serve and has super crunchy Crackling. You can get the recipe on our blog of: Feb. 24, 2014. Click the date to get the recipe. The Truffles, Scallops and Porchetta were all from McCall's Meat and Fish.

With the Porchetta we served Potatoes Nik. It is basically a giant Potato Pancake or Latke. Everyone loved it! You can find the recipe on our blog of: October 21, 2016. Click the date to get the recipe.

Tom and Scott brought dessert: a Fruit Cake and Petits Fours both were excellent.

John brought 3 bottles of Bordeaux all of 1986 vintage. They were superb! We added Champagne, White Wine, Dessert Wines and Scotch. In spite of all of the drinking we managed to stay up past Midnight! We went out on the deck, on the cool night and watched the illegal fireworks all over the city.

We kissed the awful year of 2016 goodbye and hoped for a better 2017. Unfortunately I think 2017 could even be worse under Trump. With a little luck, maybe my fears will be unfounded!