Good supper

I've been making this old variation of braised chicken with stewed tomatoes for a long time.  In my salad days I'd call it "chicken cacciatore" and probably got the basic recipe from my 1967 Betty Crocker cookbook. We'd put it on spaghetti and eat the falling apart chicken with our hands. It was oily, messy and good.

As you know I'm terrible at sticking to recipe directions or making the exact same thing twice. So once I learned the basic technique from B.C. I started adding more "exotic" ingredients like green pepper and olives (the canned black ones) and we thought that was pretty good too, back in the 1970's-- served on white rice.

So last night (and now cooking in a different century) I made it with shallots, capers and Greek dried olives from our Olive Pit pit-stop last year.  Served on brown rice.  See how home cooking evolves over 45 years or so?

I seasoned the raw chicken pieces with Tom Douglas' rub.  "Rubs" had not been invented yet in the 1970's. At least you couldn't buy them at the grocery store. Tom Douglas is our local cooking celebrity who opened the famous Dahlia Lounge in 1989 and now (of course) sells his products on-line and in every Seattle supermarket.

Well, it's plain lazy not to make your own spicy meat rubs for a fraction of his price, but some of the combos have unusual flavors that make them worth the money when they're on sale for $3.99. I guess that's how he became a multi-millionaire chef and I'm still just a home cook!

For example, his chicken rub mixture has a touch of cinnamon and star anise which is perfect for this Mediterranean style dish.

After the seasoned chicken is browned in olive oil, set it aside on a plate and wipe most of the grease from the pan with paper towel.  Add a chopped green pepper, some chopped onion (or shallots) and fresh garlic.  Saute until tender, then add 2 cans of Italian-seasoned, diced tomatoes. 

Lay the chicken pieces on top of the tomato mixture.  Add some pitted Greek olives and a couple tablespoons of capers.  Cover the pan and simmer slowly for about an hour until very tender. Don't let it boil.  If you can resist turning and poking at the chicken, the browned skin will stay on and the end result is attractive enough to even serve company with rice or pasta.  With plenty of napkins.