As a New Yorker, I “go to the beach” when I lived in New Jersey, I went “down the shore”.  In either location Labor Day meant the end of the summer.   Using that logic, if summer was over, Fall had begun.  In reality, Labor day occurred weeks ago but yesterday was the official first day of Fall and I for one am glad it's here. Warm days, cool nights and low humidity – what’s not to love about Fall. But for me, Fall means comfort food and that makes me VERY happy!

In a recent conversation with a client, I found myself in the middle of a soliloquy extolling the virtues of a perfectly roasted chicken. When I hear the all-too-often phrase, “Not chicken again!”, I cant help but wonder how we have gotten to this place. I have enough chicken recipes committed to memory that even as often as I serve it, my family has never said, “What, chicken again?” Chicken does not need to be your family's Groundhog Day.

My students have heard me say, “Think technique, not recipe”. By mastering techniques, you will never be at the mercy of a recipe again. Today's recipe is a family favorite that required only minor adjustments to make it Gluten Free and the technique used in this recipe is one you'll use over and over again.

Pollo alla Cacciatore (Chicken Cacciatore) is a “hunter” style braised dish. The dish probably didn't start out as a chicken dish but over time as fewer families relied on a hunter for their meat, chicken became synonymous with this dish. There are as many recipes for this dish as there are Italian grandmothers; this is the one I grew up with. Back then, my mom cooked it in a large cast iron skillet. I use a large “everyday” pan which can be brought to the table for an informal meal.

Pollo alla Cacciatore (Chicken Cacciatore)

Ingredients:

3 pounds chicken pieces (I suggest thighs, but if you prefer white meat, use free range split breasts)

½ C olive oil

¼ C FINE brown rice flour

¼ C potato starch

1 small onion, diced

¼ C carrot, chopped

¼ C Celery, thinly sliced

1 clove of garlic, minced

½ C dry wine*

1 28 oz can San Marzano crushed plum tomatoes

1 bay leaf

3 springs of fresh thyme

Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Strain the tomatoes through a fine mesh strainer. Reserve both the pulp and the liquid.

2. Pat dry the chicken pieces – damp meat won't brown!

3. Salt and pepper the chicken

4. Mix the potato starch and rice flour together

5. Dredge the chicken into the flour/starch mixture, shaking off the excess

6. Heat a small amount of oil in a large pan

7. Brown the chicken in the hot oil on all sides. Do not crowd the pan – the chicken pieces should not touch each other while browning; work in batches if necessary. It MAY be necessary to add more fat to the pan as you go along. Do not over do it, you are NOT deep frying the chicken.

8. When well browned remove the chicken pieces to a plate; they will be added back into the pan later.

9. Add the onion, celery and carrots to the pan, stirring often, cook for about 5 min. Add the garlic and cook another 1- 2 min. Do not let the garlic burn.

10. Add ½ cup of wine to the pan. Bring the mixture to a boil and reduce by half. Lower the heat to bring the sauce to a simmer.

11. Add the canned tomato pulp. Taste the sauce: salt and pepper to taste.

12. Add the parsley, bay leaf and thyme.

13. Add the chicken to the pan and add ONLY enough of the reserved tomato juice to cover the chicken. Cover the pan.

14. Keep and eye on the volume of liquid. Add more liquid, if necessary, to keep the chicken barely covered.

15. Cook 30 minutes or until the chicken is tender.

16. Remove the bay leaf before serving.

17. Serve over polenta, rice or your favorite gluten free pasta.

*A note about the wine. This recipe has been changed over time. Originally it called for white wine, but growing up we rarely had left over white wine, so red wine was used. I like it either way. Use what you like.  Just don't use wine that you wouldn't drink since the flavors will be concentrated during the reduction process.