Gordon Ramsay Cooks Up an Easy Chicken Cacciatore Recipe

Gordon Ramsay

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Transcript

00:00Wow, f***ing hell. Why am I so surprised?

00:07Welcome to Next Level Kitchen where I'm putting the challenge to my fellow judges

00:10and myself to give you amazing recipes to help take your cooking to the next level.

00:16Now today we're cooking one of my favourites. We are heading to Italy where I'm challenging

00:20myself to elevate a chicken cacciatore to the next level. Basically the hunter's chicken.

00:26The starch behind this dish is this quick-fire polenta. I've got boiling chicken stock. You can

00:33make this with vegetable stock as well. But this is a really fine, beautiful polenta that literally

00:38cooks in minutes. And the good news about this is once you've used it, the leftovers you can

00:44refrigerate, cut into croutons and fry. And they're the most amazing crouton,

00:49especially in a salad. First off, I want to get the flavour into this cacciatore.

00:53So I'm going to start cooking the chicken first. Now I want to sort of get this dish nice and rich.

01:01First off, season the chicken lightly. Salt and pepper. I'm going to cook this skin side down

01:08so I can render that fat down. Into the pan we go. Again, always lay away from me so there's

01:15no splashing of fat. Up your arm. In. And literally get that chicken cooked. Really

01:24important to get some colour on these chicken thighs. You can use drums or chicken breast,

01:29but I love using the thigh, the brown meat. That's exactly where the flavour is.

01:33And look at that skin. The skin's got so much flavour. Now, get your stock and bring that up

01:41to the boil. Before you add the polenta, taste the stock. Really important. So

01:49it's really nice, but it needs seasoning. And if you season the stock,

01:53the polenta will take care of itself. So a nice little pinch of salt in there first.

01:58I also like adding a touch of olive oil to that stock and that gives a really nice sheen to the

02:04polenta. And polenta is such an easy, delicious thing to make and goes well with chicken cacciatore.

02:10Now, I'm not cooking the chicken yet. All I'm doing is searing them off. And once you've got

02:16the colour, as you can see, I've got that nice chicken fat in there. Take my chicken out for

02:26two minutes and now I've got all that flavour in that pan. And here's how this dish starts to elevate.

02:33Onion, literally. Not too fine, OK? This thing is a sort of, it's almost like a rustic dish.

02:41Cacciatore means the hunted. And it's a dish that dates back centuries. Onions in, in that chicken fat.

02:54Now, fill it up, whole onion. Again, this is the kind of dish with four chicken thighs,

03:01can feed a family of four. Again, not too fine on the onion, because this thing cooks. And when you're

03:07pushed against the time, sticking it in the oven for literally half an hour, nothing wrong with that at all.

03:12Now, in. Onions in. And now we're going to start adding that flavour. I'm going to build in a little touch of olive oil.

03:25I've got some fresh rosemary. Just literally pull that off the stem. Some fresh thyme.

03:37And just pull those little buds down and literally pull them from the stem.

03:45And then from there, with your knife, just go through them once. Nice and rough. In.

03:54And now we're starting to build in that flavour. It's a very rustic, charming dish and something

04:00that really dates back centuries in Italy. And there are so many variations of this dish. I love it.

04:07I absolutely love it. Now, flatten out those onions, OK? I said this originates from Italy,

04:15so we can be a little bit more generous with that olive oil. In. And think of that olive oil flavour

04:21now with that beautiful chicken fat. Mushrooms in. No slicing of them, whole. Tomatoes in. And literally

04:37let that blister down. Let all the water come out of those mushrooms and let it cook down.

04:43Now, keep the heat nice and hot and then just spread all those onions.

04:50The colour of this dish when it comes out is beautiful. I love it. Turn up the gas.

04:58Now, again, a little touch of salt and now a couple of cubes of butter. And this is where

05:06it really starts to get even more tastier because that chicken fat is doing its job.

05:11The tomatoes are blistering, the mushrooms are sautéing and those onions are almost just sort of

05:17adding so much sweetness. A little touch of chilli flake. It's going to be a little bit of heat.

05:23And obviously with the kids, don't worry about the flakes. But it's just a really nice way of

05:30adding a little bit of heat to this dish. Now, cook that down. As you can see, it's all starting

05:35to melt into one beautiful pot. Now, this is where the sauce starts to take on a little league of

05:42its own. A touch of tomato puree. I always like to get that into the centre of the pan and

05:50about a tablespoon and then literally roast it off. The difference in flavour when you roast tomato

05:56puree is night and day. Take the back of the spatula and roast that tomato puree. That gets

06:02rid of the acidity and gives it a really nice roasted tomato flavour. And once you've roasted

06:08at the bottom of the pan, then start incorporating it across the rest of the onions, the mushrooms

06:15and the tomatoes. And look, it's all starting to cook down really nicely. And then literally

06:24everything's starting to combine into one. Honestly, as a really good chef's tip, roasting that tomato

06:30puree off, the difference is night and day in terms of flavour. Now look at those colours.

06:36Beautiful. Now we're going to build in more layers of flavour. Olives, just dot them around.

06:44Again, keep them whole. The nice thing about this dish, there's nothing complicated.

06:49There's all amazing flavours that come together, especially when it goes in the oven.

06:54From there, my capers. My capers give it that little bit of acidity,

06:59okay, and it really does give that nice sort of sour taste to it. A little touch of red wine, just a touch.

07:11Let that evaporate. Really important.

07:16You can see it coming together. This dish takes about 20 minutes from start to finish,

07:22but honestly, you can do this with whole chicken thighs, the drum and the thigh, and literally let

07:28it cook for an hour and a half. There's nothing that's going to overcook in here. It needs to be

07:31overcooked to taste absolutely delicious. Now, stock. Get that up to a boil before we put the

07:38chicken in the oven. Now that we've reduced the red wine, look what's happened to those tomatoes.

07:45They're all blistered. And that's going to be a nice little fresh tomato puree in there.

07:51That's why it's important to put them in early, so you get all the nice sweetness coming out of

07:55those tomatoes. And look, you can identify the mushrooms, the tomatoes are disappearing,

08:01and you've got this really nice sort of fragrant, almost stew-like of vegetables. Beautiful.

08:09Now, your can of tomatoes. And just fold in your can, another season, and then give that

08:20a really nice mix so it all starts to blend in together. Now, you can add a bit of stock here

08:29if it's getting a little bit too thick, or water. I prefer stock for obvious reasons.

08:33The flavour is so much better. But it's so easy to do.

08:39Check your seasoning. Touch more salt. A little touch of pepper. And now, a little bit of acidity.

08:49Some delicious balsamic vinegar. You'll see why. It darkens this stew, but it gives a really nice

08:57flavour. Especially to those olives. I'm thinking of the ingredients in there. Now,

09:07we get our chicken. And our chicken goes, literally, back in. And we sort of submerge it

09:15in to those resting juices. And literally dunk it down so that skin is literally

09:23on top and nice and crispy. Resting juices into that sauce. Really important. And then from there,

09:32this whole thing goes in the oven. Literally. A low oven, 15 minutes max. In we go.

09:44Now, the polenta. The stock is boiled. I've seasoned it. As it comes to the boil,

09:49gently sprinkle in your polenta. And whisk at the same time.

09:53If you throw it in too quickly, it'll go lumpy. And this is a really nice way

10:01of serving a delicious polenta. Especially cooked in chicken stock. And now that it's boiling,

10:08it starts to thicken up nicely. It's almost like the consistency of custard.

10:13I like it quite thick. And then, look. Beautiful. Once you've got the thickness,

10:21take it off the stove and start correcting that seasoning. Touch more salt.

10:33And now we're going to start loading up. And this is where this polenta goes into orbit.

10:38Beautiful aged parmesan. I like a little bite with my polenta. So a little bit of fresh pepper.

10:47And then a nice tablespoon of butter. And now you whisk this thing. But look what happens.

10:56It just starts to take on this sort of richness. And it becomes regal and delicious. The butter

11:06gives it that really nice creamy taste. Again, correct the seasoning.

11:16Wow. Now, just to finish that, some parsley. Again, loosely chopped.

11:27And that goes in right to the very end. Give that a really nice mix. Beautiful.

11:37So you almost want it, like, just dropping through that whisk.

11:41Because it's so fine, it cooks out so quickly. And now, the beautiful Italian kiss. Just drizzle

11:49your extra virgin olive oil over and sort of give it its final coat of jewels, where it becomes

11:56shiny, rich. And that extra virgin olive oil gives that really nice grassy, delicious flavor.

12:04Look at that. That is beautiful. Now, one more garnish. And that's my broccolini.

12:13That's so good. I've just cut my broccoli in half, the stems. I'm going to drizzle them

12:21with some extra virgin olive oil. I'm going to season them with some salt and pepper.

12:27And then a light dusting of chili flakes. Roll that round.

12:34There's something quite nice about a crunch with broccolini. It goes so well. And also,

12:41oiling the broccolini now, not putting oil on the grill, stops everything from going crazy. So

12:45I just get the stems side down, the bits that I've literally cut. And I sort of place them on top

12:53and just press them in. A little tip, once you've gotten them on, just get a little weight,

13:01a little bit of pressure on there. I like to use a lid and not

13:07push them down. So once you've got the smoke, you call the fire brigade. Love that.

13:13Beautiful. Doesn't this remind you of Snoop Dogg's kitchen?

13:23Now, look, they're glazed. They're marked. And the flavor of this broccoli, listen, it is

13:33sort of renowned as one of the most boring veg. This way for me, drizzle with olive oil,

13:39cooked from raw, the bites and the chili flakes are incredible. From there, look at that. The

13:48flavor is incredible, but it's the bite. This way for me is such a delicious way. Then from there,

13:56again, a little touch of extra virgin olive oil. And then for a little touch of acidity,

14:03an aged balsamic vinegar. It is so good. I can eat broccoli like this all day long.

14:11Just let them sit. Now, think about it. The rapid fire polenta, grilled broccoli,

14:20and now the cacciatore. Oh man, look at that. Bubbling and juicy. That is so beautiful.

14:32So beautiful. This is a perfect family meal for me because we start off with four chicken thighs

14:40and it's evolved into this amazing, beautiful, big dinner. Polenta sits beautifully. And that's

14:47why I put a little touch of olive oil at the end there, because it stops from getting a skin.

14:52And look, generous with the polenta, but really generous. I've worked hard today,

14:59so I'm going to get two spoons of that polenta. And then this broccoli just sits

15:07each side of that amazing polenta. And when you look at the actual yield of this dish

15:14and how cheap it is to make, honestly, it's a huge staple in our house. Look at that.

15:22Beautiful. The freshness in that broccoli is incredible.

15:27I take my marinade, it goes over and over.

15:34Now for the exciting bit. I get my spoon and I literally spoon the juice

15:44of that cacciatore underneath.

15:47Look. And then literally sit that on top. The smell is beautiful. Select your beautiful thigh

16:00and sit that on top. And then I have to do it. I spent a year initially working

16:08and olive oil, honestly, just a touch over the top.

16:12Drizzled and drizzled. And then that little touch of salt at the end. But it's not just salt,

16:21it's aged parmesan that just puts this dish into the Premier League of Italian cuisine.

16:30Chicken cacciatore. Mmm. Bella, bella, bella.

16:38Thank you so much for watching. Now, please let me know in the comments below

16:41what you think of the dish and don't forget to subscribe for more exciting videos. Thank you.

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