Chicken with Caponata Ragout

Another chicken recipe!  Bet you never guessed that was coming.  This was something very different and I loved it.  M only liked it but it still gets a place on this blog.  The original recipe called for this dish to be cooked in the oven for about 20 minutes but it has been so hot in my neck of the woods lately that there was no way I was turning the oven on in the house.  So, I adapted the recipe to have everything cook on the stovetop.  It worked out lovely.

It was kind of a sweet and sour caponata because there is vinegar and brown sugar in this recipe.  I loved the combination and it made the eggplant have an amazing flavor.  Eggplant isn't always my favorite but I enjoyed it very much in this dish.  It certainly was a flavor profile that M and I don't have very often and it was just the ticket.

Chicken with Caponata Ragout
Adapted from Every Day With Rachael Ray August 2010

6-8 chicken tenders
salt and pepper
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 small eggplant, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 ribs celery, chopped
8-10 button mushrooms, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1/4 cup chicken stock
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp brown sugar
cooked rice

Preheat a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add 1 tbsp olive oil.  Season the chicken with salt and pepper.  Add the chicken to the pan and cook on each side for about 5 minutes.  Remove chicken from pan to a plate and set aside.

Add 1 tbsp more of olive oil to the skillet.  Add the eggplant and cook over medium heat until softened, stirring often.  Remove eggplant from the pan to bowl and set aside.  Add the last tablespoon olive oil to the skillet and add the onion, garlic, celery, and mushrooms to the skillet.  Cook the veggies for about 3 minutes stirring often.  Add the cooked eggplant, tomato, tomato sauce, and chicken stock to the skillet.  Stir to combine.  Add the chicken back to the pan.  Let everything simmer together for about 10 minutes.

Take the chicken out of the pan and place on a plate or platter.  Add the basil, vinegar, and brown sugar.  Stir to dissolve the sugar and to combine all the flavors.  Season with salt and pepper.  Serve the chicken and caponata with cooked rice.