Chicken (Copper) Cacciatore
When we butchered our aggressive rooster, Copper, I had the perfect recipe in mind for him. Our oldest daughter wanted to make chicken pot pies out of him, but until she’s old enough to cook, I get to choose! Chicken Cacciatore is an Italian dish, with it’s name meaning “hunter’s style.” In this recipe, the chicken is marinated, browned, and slow cooked with a quart of home-canned tomatoes.
When we processed him, we were surprised at how dark the meat was. The legs and thighs seemed more like duck meat or rabbit meat in color. He was 1 year old. When we butchered the other roos at 3-4 months old, we don’t recall the meat being darker like this. Either way, he made a delicious dinner! From our previous butchering experience, we learned that you need to let chickens rest a few days in the refrigerator (or on ice) after butchering them in order to let them pass through rigor mortis and improve the texture of the meat. Doing this definitely helped!
Ingredients:
- 1 mean rooster (or any whole chicken)
- Salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste
- 4 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 onion, sliced
- 2 cans (6.5 oz) mushroom pieces and stems, undrained
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed.
- 1 quart of home canned stewed tomatoes
Directions:
- Cut chicken into 8 pieces, trimmed of excess skin and fat
- Season the chicken pieces all over with salt, pepper, and garlic. In a large nonreactive bowl, stir together 2 tablespoons olive oil, lemon juice, and thyme. Add the chicken pieces and turn them to coat in the marinade. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour or overnight.
- Heat a large frying pan on medium-high heat with the remaining olive oil. Working in batches if necessary, cook the chicken until browned, turning it once to get all sides. Remove the chicken from the pan and place in your crockpot.
- Add the onion and sauté until softened, 3-5 minutes. Put the onions in the crockpot.
- Add all remaining ingredients (mushrooms, Italian seasoning, crushed garlic, and tomatoes) to the crockpot.
- Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
- Serve over noodles or polenta.
