{"id":803,"date":"2012-11-14T02:03:17","date_gmt":"2012-11-14T02:03:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/?p=803"},"modified":"2012-11-15T17:59:19","modified_gmt":"2012-11-15T17:59:19","slug":"chicken-cacciatore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myfifteenminutemealsproject.co.uk\/?p=803","title":{"rendered":"Chicken Cacciatore …"},"content":{"rendered":"

… Spaghetti & Smokey Tomato Sauce\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

So it\u2019s a busy night tonight.\u00a0 I left work slightly early so I could call home and then drive up to Gloucester.\u00a0 Tonight I was cooking for some of my family before we went out to see a mime act (The Boy With Tape On His Face<\/a>).\u00a0 As I said in my last post I saw The Boy whilst at the Edinburgh festival over the summer.\u00a0 I think I saw around 25 shows in all, most of them good, some really bad and some really, really good.\u00a0 The Boy was one that stood out.\u00a0 It was funny and endearing and very, very clever.\u00a0 I saw this show with my sister Selina and her boyfriend Matt in Edinburgh.\u00a0 They are also coming to see the show again tonight.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I have to admit that I do not know how to pronounce cacciatore, which makes telling people what we are having for dinner a little difficult.\u00a0 I am again cooking in someone else\u2019s kitchen.\u00a0 This is a kitchen I am used to cooking in and each year over Christmas I usually spend the best part of four or five days cooking in it (as well as at other times).\u00a0 Nevertheless I still have the same difficulties I have had in all the other kitchens I have cooked in.\u00a0 I\u2019m just not that familiar with how the cooker works, how hot the hobs get and how quickly they heat up.\u00a0 Using other people\u2019s equipment is also tricky.\u00a0 On the whole I have fairly good kitchen equipment and where it isn\u2019t of good quality I\u2019m used to using it and know how to get round it\u2019s deficiencies.\u00a0\u00a0 One thing I am learning is that having big pots and pans is very important for quick cooking.\u00a0 They are easier to use.\u00a0 It\u2019s easier to transfer from the pan to another vessel and the food just cooks quicker.\u00a0 I shall be buying my family a decent garlic crusher after the experience I have just had using theirs.<\/span><\/p>\n

I do struggle a bit with this one and I get a little frustrated.\u00a0 In principle this should be an easy one to cook well within the time.\u00a0 It\u2019s the type of food and ingredients that I cook with most often.\u00a0 At one point the salt pot was tossed aside in frustration (due to lack of salt within it), which is not something I am prone to doing very often at all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Frustration notwithstanding.\u00a0 This is a great meal.\u00a0 You use skinless, boned, chicken thighs.\u00a0 Unless I have been very inattentive, I think this must be a relatively new product to the supermarket, as I have only noticed it recently.\u00a0 I do not cook with chicken that much, or at least not with chicken pieces.\u00a0 I only like to use free range chicken and I find this expensive.\u00a0 Free range chicken breast especially so. When I do cook with chicken pieces, if a recipe calls for the use of chicken breast, I often substitute the use of chicken breast for thighs.\u00a0 It only takes a few minutes to bone them out and they are much cheaper.\u00a0 Besides thigh meat often tastes better.\u00a0 I am happy that it is now quite easy to get pre-boned chicken thighs.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This meal tastes really great.\u00a0 Again this has been one of the best.\u00a0 Once the project is over and I am allowed to re-cook some of these meals I can see this one being done over and over again.\u00a0 There was loads of food too.\u00a0 I was aware I would be cooking for more than the four people that (nearly) all these meals cater for and so I deliberately chose this meal.\u00a0 Some meals have 4 specific portions (such as four burgers), but it\u2019s easy to share out a pasta dish among more people.\u00a0 I did buy some bread to go with it and help the meal stretch out a bit.\u00a0 Also this recipe calls for 4 chicken thighs.\u00a0 I thought I had four.\u00a0 In fact I had five.\u00a0 So I just used five and this helped a bit too I guess.\u00a0 I estimate that it took about fifteen seconds to cut each thigh, and certainly not less than twelve seconds \u2026 can I have those seconds back? In the end I cooked for five people and there were leftovers which provided a light supper for two more people.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After dinner it was off to see The Boy.\u00a0 It had been just long enough since I saw this show that I didn\u2019t remember all of it.\u00a0 The venue was really lovely and more intimate than the venue in Edinburgh.\u00a0 There is loads of audience participation in the show and I got called to the stage!! I couldn\u2019t recommend seeing The Boy <\/a>more highly.\u00a0 I really can\u2019t tell you what happens in the show \u2013 it would just spoil it.\u00a0 But if you get a chance to see this show, do. <\/span><\/p>\n

Who with:<\/strong> Mum, Anna, Gordy, Gavin (and Selina and Matt\u00a0ate the left overs later).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How Long:<\/strong> Fifteen minutes and twelve seconds\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\t