Amanda Love's Chicken Cacciatore

Photo credit: Donielle Baker Naturally Knocked Up Blog

The End of Rubber Chicken!

by Cathy Raymond, Save a Farm blog

That’s what happens when an award winning hotel chef, small pasture-based family farmers, and a traditional foods chef get together!

The recent Weston A. Price Foundation Annual Conference raised the bar for hotel conference food.

Executive Chef, Jack Delby

The award winning Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel & Convention Center Executive Chef Jack Delby, Executive Sous Chef James Sampson and Sous Chef Anthony Biasetti and their top notch culinary team provided the Weston A. Price Foundation conference goers with finger-licking culinary excellence. Ten pasture-based farmers donated 250 pasture-based, humanely raised whole chickens, and proved that a good farmer is a chef’s best friend. Chef Amanda Love (aka The Barefoot Cook) provided the recipe, and the rest is culinary history.  These chickens were transformed into mouth-watering gotta-go-back-for-more Chicken Cacciatore.

Amanda has graciously shared her recipe so you can try this at home.

Amanda Love

Don’t forget your secret ingredient! Remember to source your chicken from a pasture-based farm near you. You won’t get the full effects of this recipe if you use factory farmed chicken or even organic chicken.

The pastured poultry is definitely worth the extra price and effort to find them. Just beware! Once you’ve tasted this chicken, you can never go back to white, rubbery, tasteless-add-the-msg chicken.

To find a pastured poultry farmer near you, contact your local Weston A. Price Foundation Chapter Leader, or contact the food donors listed below.

Chicken Cacciatore

(Serves 6)

* 1 pastured chicken cut into parts (Grassway Organics, Copper Creek Farms, Family Farms’ Cooperative, Larry Chupp Farm (IL) and Hope Spring Farm, Pleasant Pastures, Nature’s Sunlight Farm, Miller’s Natural Foods, Sunlit Pasture Farm, Sunnyside Organic (PA))
* 1 medium onion – diced
* 3 garlic cloves – minced (Noonday Farms)
* ½ cup Shitake, Crimini or Button mushrooms – sliced
* 1 large red bell pepper, diced
* 1 28 oz. can organic diced Tomatoes
* 3/4 cup dry red or white wine
* 3/4 cup organic chicken broth (Paradise Pastures and Clearview Farm (PA) and Trautman Family Farm)
* 3 tablespoons fresh rosemary – minced
* 1 tablespoon fresh thyme – minced
* 1 teaspoon fresh sage
* ½ teaspoon dry oregano (Starwest Botanicals)
* 2 bay leaves (Starwest Botanicals)
* sea salt (Selina Naturally) and ground white pepper to taste (Starwest Botanicals)
* 2 tablespoons extra virgin organic olive oil
* Parmesan cheese (Organic Valley)
* parsley

Chicken Cacciatore with Side Dishes Photo Credit: NaturallyKnockedUp.com

Wash and pat dry chicken.  Rub 1 tablespoon minced rosemary, salt and pepper all over the chicken.  Heat olive oil in a large deep skillet at medium high heat and sauté chicken parts for 7 minutes on each side or until browned.  Remove chicken and set aside.  Sauté onion, garlic, mushrooms, bell pepper and remaining herbs for about 5 minutes. Add the wine and simmer until reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juice and broth. Return the chicken pieces to the pan and turn them to coat in the sauce. Bring the sauce to a simmer. Continue simmering over medium-low heat until the chicken is just cooked through, about 30 minutes. Garnish with Parmesan cheese and parsley.

Cathy Raymond

Cathy Raymond gathers food donations for over 5,000 meals at the annual Weston A. Price Foundation Annual Conference attendees. She’s a lover of fine food, raised right. Her work for the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, Weston A. Price Foundation and Farm-to-Consumer Foundation help expand appreciation and distribution of these fine nutrient dense foods from family farms in your neighborhood. If you’d like her to make a fuss over your fine food, raised right, contact her at outreach at westonaprice.org.

Note from Kimberly:

Cathy is an awesome twitterer! Click here to follow CathyattheFund on Twitter.