Swing and a miss...

For some reason, I'd been in a mood to try my hand at Chicken Cacciatore for a while. I'm not sure why. It just seemed to strike me as something we would enjoy - chicken in a tomato-y stew served over rice or other starch. I'm not sure how it went wrong - well, not so much wrong, but just not right. I wasn't in the mood for meat last week, so that was my problem. And R just found it bland, although, I'm not sure why. Needless to say, it was not a culinary triumph. I researched several recipes, but didn't love any of them, so I stole from many and created my own. Maybe that was a flawed method, but whatever, here's what I did:

Here are some of the characters in this sad play:
Then I salted and peppered the chicken thighs and browned them up:Then removed them to a platter and added two diced onions and 3 peeled and chopped carrots to the pan: While these softened, I had a red bell pepper roasting in the oven (400 degrees, rotating from time to time, until a bit charred and v. soft, usually about 15-20 minutes). I then put it under the glass bowl to steam so the skin could be removed.
Meanwhile, back at Pan Central, I added 8 oz of cremini mushrooms to the mix. Then several cloves of minced garlic and a big dollop of tomato paste.
Then our friend white wine came to the party.And finally, one large can of diced tomatoes and about a cup of crushed tomatoes. I also added back in the chicken thighs to finish cooking.Cook for another 20-30 minutes, then serve over some fluffy white rice. The end. As I said, it was ok. I actually liked the stew portion - the chicken wasn't doing it for me. And R said it was a bit blah. But whatever, maybe it was just a phase of the moon.