Hunter’s style chicken is one of my favorite dishes in both French and Italian cuisine. However, it’s origins are a bit murky. Based on what little I could find and some speculation I was able to come up with what I thought was the spirit of the dish and a few fun variations.
History
Hunter’s style dishes can be found Poland (Bigos), Germany (jaeger), France (chasseur), and Italy (cacciatore) and probably many other countries. In France and Italy it is chicken, tomatoes, wine, onions, herbs, and mushrooms (with bell pepper added in the cacciatore). The theories of its origins are completely contradictory. Some say it is a dish prepared for wealthy country gentry during the Renaissance since they were the only ones wealthy enough to enjoy hunting for sport. Others suggest it was a meal of consolation for hunters who failed to kill anything, substituting a purchased chicken. Still others suggest it was dish made by subsistence hunters who cooked whatever game bird they killed along with wild herbs and vegetables they found. Because I find it the most Romantic, I prefer the third option. My favorite version is this recipe for Chicken Chasseur.
Essence
For me, Hunter’s poultry needs a few things: poultry, onion, one or more vegetables, mushrooms, and a thick broth, preferably made with wine, and cooked slowly. My favorite chasseur is this one.
Chicken Chasseur
- 8 bone-in chicken thighs, skin removed
- 1 lb cremini mushrooms, quartered
- 1 large sweet or yellow onion, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 ½ cups white wine
- 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
- ¼ cup flour
- ¼ cup minced fresh parsley
1. Saute the mushrooms, onions, and garlic over medium heat until the pan is mostly dry and the vegetables are soft. Add the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. Add the wine, increase the heat to high and simmer for 5 minutes. Add this mixture, the thyme, bay leaves, chicken broth, diced tomatoes, chicken thighs to a slow-cooker and cook over low-heat for 4 hours. Remove the chicken. Remove a little of the broth and whisk the flour into it. Quickly stir the flour mixture back into the slow-cooker, increase heat to high, and cook another 15 minutes to thicken, season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve the chicken, topping it with the mushroom gravy and some minced parsley. This dish goes well with boiled potatoes or egg noodles.
Variations
So other than the aforementioned Italian, German, and Polish varieties, I couldn’t really find any variations, so I had to loosen the rules a little. If this dish is truly based on throwing whatever you could procure while on the hunt, I decided it had some similarities to a community meal, like the one mentioned in my post on clam chowder. But I wanted a community dish built around foraging and that’s when I discovered Irish-American Mulligan stew.
As mentioned in The Sunday Oregonian on January 21, 1900, “Another traveler present described the operation of making a "mulligan." Five or six hobos join in this. One builds a fire and rustles a can. Another has to procure meat; another potatoes; one fellow pledges himself to obtain bread, and still another has to furnish onions, salt and pepper. If a chicken can be stolen, so much the better. The whole outfit is placed in the can and boiled until it is done.”
Instead of hunting, they are stealing a chicken, but otherwise I think this really feels akin to the original, albeit more complicated. Looking at the ingredient list you can imagine a whole group of people coming together with whatever they had to make something filling and delicious. The dish has a surprising following, being mentioned in songs by Jefferson Airplane, Tom Waits, and Rogers and Hart as well as TV shows like Mad Men, Criminal Minds, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Irish-American Mulligan Stew
- 1 quart chicken stock
- 4 chicken thighs, skins removed
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ tsp. garlic powder
- ½ tsp. dried oregano
- 1 sprig of fresh dill
- 1 torn basil leaf
- 3 carrots, chopped
- 1 lb potatoes, diced
- 2 celery ribs, chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 cup lima beans
- 1 cup green beans
- 1 cup corn
- cornstarch
1. Cook the chicken thighs, chicken broth, bay leaves, garlic, oregano, dill, and basil in a crockpot on the low setting for 3 hours. Add the carrots, potatoes, celery, and onion and cook another hour until the vegetables are tender. Add the lima beans, green beans, and corn and cook until heated through. Remove the chicken thighs then quickly whisk in some cornstarch into the crockpot until it reaches the desired thickness. Serve the chicken topped with the crockpot mixture or shred the chicken back into the crockpot and serve as a stew.
Experiments
I remember a few years ago when my friend Michael brought home some morel mushrooms that he found while out hiking. Needless to say, I was a little leery about trying wild mushrooms so I made him eat some first. A few hours later when it appeared he hadn’t died or gone insane I had him cook up a few more for me to try. They were amazing. Since it is morel season in the spring and hunting is popular here in Ohio I decided to make an Ohio hunter’s poultry using ingredients that could be found wild in the woods (though I got mine at the store).
Ohio Hunter’s Duck
- 4 duck breasts
- 1 lb morel mushrooms, (or substitute another mushroom like chanterelle or shitake if you like)
- 2 cups pearl onions
- 1 lb asparagus
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 ½ cups white wine
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 cups chicken broth
- ¼ cup flour
- ¼ cup minced fresh parsley
1. Saute the duck-breasts skin side down over medium-high heat for 3 minutes until the skin is golden brown and then set aside. Saute the mushrooms, onions, asparagus, and garlic over medium heat until the pan is mostly dry and the vegetables are soft. Add the wine, increase the heat to high and simmer for 5 minutes. Add this mixture, the thyme, bay leaves, chicken broth, and duck breasts to a slow-cooker and cook over low-heat for 4 hours. Remove the duck. Remove a little of the broth and whisk the flour into it. Quickly stir the flour mixture back into the slow-cooker, increase heat to high, and cook another 15 minutes to thicken, season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve the duck, topping it with the mushroom gravy and some minced parsley. This dish goes well with roasted or boiled potatoes.
For my final experiment I thought I wanted to do something with quail, since it is another popular game bird. When I learned about Japanese quail, I thought a dish using ingredients wild to Japan could be interesting. If you enjoy quail, by all means proceed with the original recipe, but I found them to be overpriced, difficult to eat, and not very filling. I would recommend just substituting chicken or duck breast instead.
Kakin Hantā
- 8 bone-in chicken thighs, skin removed or 8 quail
- 1 lb shitake mushrooms, quartered
- 10 scallions, white and green parts sliced and kept separate
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 ¼ cups sake and ¼ cup of mirin
- 2 pieces of kombu
- 2 cups chicken broth
- ¼ cup flour
- bean sprouts and the green parts of the scallion for garnish
1. Saute the mushrooms, scallions, and garlic over medium heat until the pan is mostly dry and the vegetables are soft. Add the wines, increase the heat to high and simmer for 5 minutes. Add this mixture, the kombu, chicken broth, and chicken thighs or quail to a slow-cooker and cook over low-heat for 4 hours. Remove the poultry. Remove a little of the broth and whisk the flour into it. Quickly stir the flour mixture back into the slow-cooker, increase heat to high, and cook another 15 minutes to thicken, season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve the chicken, topping it with the mushroom gravy and some bean sprouts and scallion greens. This dish goes well over japanese noodles.
Have you ever had cacciatore or chasseur? If not, what is one of your favorite stews, mushroom or slow-cooker dishes? Let me know in the comments.
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