Comfort Food

I’ve been a huge Nigella Lawson fan for the past ten years or so, she’s the muse who got me back into cooking .. my original muse is my grandmother from my dad’s side, she still cooks a bit but back in her day she was the queen of food in my world.

Nigella

Last night I was on the train on my way home and I haven’t eaten the whole day, once I had breakfast I got slammed with work and went non stop from 9am to 5;30pm… there was the quick option- pick up some pizza or something, my favorite Mexican taco place was closed for renovation so I was sort of stuck eating junk or simply cooking with what I had. I remembered watching an old episode of Nigella Express this weekend and a single dish flashes In my mind.. POLLO ALLA CACCIATORA!

I all ready had half the ingredients, a quick stop at the store completed my items, the dinner was amazing, the flavor in the sauce is incredible, I’m not a huge fan of tomato sauces and such but this just melted into a whole other experience. For the first time I’m having a hard time describing the complex and delicious flavor that I got from this, it reminded me of one of my childhood dishes, Breton Beans as I’d translate it, sort of a Greek take on beans and tomato, all simmered with some bacon… yum..



Below is her recipe form the Food Network Site.. Bon appétit!

FN



Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon garlic oil

• 1/2 cup pancetta cubes

• 6 scallions, finely sliced

• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves

• 1 pound chicken thigh fillets, each cut into 4 pieces

• 1/2 teaspoon celery salt

• 1/2 cup white wine

• 1 (14-ounce) can chopped tomatoes

• 2 bay leaves

• 1/2 teaspoon sugar

• 1 (14-ounce) can cannellini beans, optional

Directions

Put the garlic oil into a pan with the pancetta, sliced scallions and chopped rosemary and fry for a couple of minutes.

Add the bite-sized chicken pieces, stirring well, and sprinkle in the celery salt.

Pour in the wine and let it come to a bubble before adding the tomatoes, bay leaves and sugar. Put the lid on and let the pan simmer for 20 minutes.

Drain and add a tin of cannellini beans and when they have warmed through too, you are ready to eat.

• Cook Time: 25 min

• Level: Easy

• Yield: 4 servings ( I’d say rather two big servings :P)



The only substitutions that I made were as such – couldn’t find celery salt so I used celery powder and added extra salt, and I didn’t have cut up chicken thigh, I had the whole thighs with skin on, which I removed and slashed the meat but kept it on the bone, it required about 10 more minutes to cook through but I think it added to the sauce.