Chicken Fricassee, Cacciatora Style

Adapted from Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

A 3- to 4-pound chicken, cut into 6 to 8 pieces
2 tablespoons lard
Flour, spread on a plate
Salt & Pepper
1/3 cup onion sliced very thin
2/3 cup dry white wine
1 sweet yellow or red bell pepper, seeds and core removed and cut into thin julienne strips (from the freezer)

1 carrot, peeled and cut into thin disks
1½ stalk celery sliced thin crosswise (from the freezer)
1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped very fine
2/3 cup tomatoes, chopped coarse, with their juice (chopped tomatoes from the freezer)

Instructions

  1. Wash the chicken in cold water and pat thoroughly dry with cloth or paper towels.
  2. Choose a sauté pan that can subsequently accommodate all the chicken pieces without crowding them. Put in the lard and turn the heat on to medium high. When the lard is hot, turn the chicken in the flour, coat the pieces on all sides, shake off excess flour, and slip them into the pan, skin side down. Brown that side well, then turn them and brown the other side. Trans- fer them to a warm plate, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  3. Turn the heat back on to medium high, put in the sliced onion, and cook the onion until it has become colored a deep gold. Add the wine. Let it simmer briskly for about 30 seconds while using a wooden spoon to scrape loose the browning residues on the bottom and sides of the pan. Return the browned chicken pieces to the pan, except for the breasts, which cook faster and will go in later. Add the bell pepper, carrot, celery, garlic, and the chopped tomatoes with their juice. Adjust heat to cook at a slow simmer, and put a lid on the pan to cover tightly. After 40 minutes add the breast and continue cooking at least 10 minutes more until the chicken thighs feel very tender when prodded with a fork, and the meat comes easily off the bone. Turn and baste the chicken pieces from time to time while they are cooking.
  4. When the chicken is done, transfer it to a warm serving platter, using a slotted spoon or spatula. If the contents of the pan are on the thin, watery side, turn the heat up to high under the uncovered pan, and reduce them to an appealing density. Pour the contents of the pan over the chicken and serve at once.