Redefining comfort food.
When you hear “comfort food,” what do you picture? Piles of Parmesan-flecked pasta swimming in creamy white sauce? Golden fried chicken and buttery mashed potatoes flooded in gravy? A bowl of oooey-gooey spinach artichoke dip?
That’s what I think of. And as I picturing these traditional comfort foods side-by-side, I immediately notice that they have two things in common. First, they're delicious. And second, they're all incredibly rich and heavy.
Before I go any further, I should say that I believe that the value of any food is much more complex than just its nutritional content. I am not shaming anyone who enjoys eating any of these dishes. I eat them too! But it is worth noting that many of these traditional comfort foods are not meals that most of us feel we can eat every night of the week. For some reason, we define comfort food as rich and delicious and fattening . . . and therefore confine it to something we can only eat occasionally and then in moderation.
And I absolutely, positively disagree. There are foods that are incredibly comforting and delicious, that warm us from the inside out and nourish our souls—without involving a ton of heavy cheese or the deep fat fryer. This is one of those meals.
Chicken Cacciatore: "Hunter’s Chicken"
Dark chicken meat slow-cooked in simmering tomato broth accented by garlic, mushrooms, and basil and served over rice or pasta. Simple to prepare, this stew is delicious and satisfying, while still being incredibly nourishing.
Chicken cacciatore doesn’t rely on a glut of richness to make it satisfying. Instead it uses the chicken’s natural juices, the mushroom’s umami, and the tomato’s sweetness and acidity to build savory, delicious flavors. The collagen in the chicken bones also provides additional nourishment, making this dish as nutritious as it is delicious. This means that you can enjoy of a bowl of it any (or every day) of the week, and be confident that you are nourishing your body as well as your soul.
Also, unlike most of the dishes that we picture as comfort food, chicken cacciatore is not restricted to sit-down meal situations. It is easy to batch-cook on a weekend, and very portable. It doesn’t demand that you be ensconced on a comfy couch or seated at a dinner table in order to enjoy it. Pack it in a thermos and you can enjoy a warm comforting bite on a cold day-- wherever you are.
I'm sure there will be people who read this post and protest: "mac and cheese is the QUINTESSENTIAL comfort food. Chicken cacciatore comes nowhere close!"
To those people, I would say: "yes. Mac and cheese is absolutely comfort food, and chicken cacciatore is very different."
But I would also encourage them to widen their definition of comfort food. Comfort food is not just mac and cheese or mashed potatoes and gravy. It's not just fried chicken. Depending on where you grow up, your classic comfort food might be borscht, lentil dahl, or congee. And those dishes are definitely very different from the classic American comfort foods.
Comfort food doesn't have to be incredibly rich, nor does it need to be restricted to foods labled as "less healthy" or "special occasion." Comfort food can be nourishing for our bodies, as well as easy to prepare and enjoy, no matter where we are.
Enjoy!
Chicken Cacciatore
(Serves 6-8)
2 pounds bone-in chicken thighs or legs, skin removed
Diamond Crystal kosher salt and pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 small carrots chopped
1 cup fresh mushrooms (baby bellas or white button), sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup red wine
1 28-oz can whole peeled tomatoes, juice reserved, roughly chopped
2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
2 teaspoons dried basil
1 bay leaf
Method
Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat oil over medium heat in a large aluminum skillet or a Dutch oven (not a cast-iron). Add chicken in a single layer and cook 3-4 minutes, or until lightly browned on one side. Turn the chicken over and cook 2-3 more minutes, or until lightly browned on the other side. Remove chicken from the pan to a plate. At this point the chicken should not be cooked through, just browned.*
Put the pan back over medium heat and add onion, celery, carrots, mushrooms, garlic, and a three-finger pinch of salt. Cook until softened, stirring every minute or so, for about 4 minutes.
Deglaze by adding red wine to the pan and stirring to loosen all the bits off the bottom. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then lower the heat and simmer until wine has reduced by half. Add the tomatoes, broth, basil, bay leaf, and two three-finger pinches of salt, and stir to incorporate.
Add the chicken back into the stew and increase the heat to medium high. When the stew starts to boil, lower the heat to medium, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
To finish, remove the lid and check that the chicken is done (a meat thermometer inserted into the meatiest part of the thigh should ready 165 degrees F; alternately, remove a thigh to a cutting board and slice into the center to make sure the juices are running clear).
Taste the stew for seasoning and add salt if needed. Stir to check that the consistency is right. If it feels too thin, increase the heat to medium-high to boil off a bit of the liquid, until the stew is the right thickness. If it feels too thick, add a bit of water or broth to thin it.
Serve over buttered noodles or rice.
*If you’re working in a Dutch oven and the bottom is not wide enough to brown all the chicken at once, you can definitely work in batches!
Originally posted November 24, 2019.
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