This dish was really meant to be a homey meal, hence why it kind of looks like a giant pile of slop in a bowl. Those kinds of dishes are indicative of the fall/winter, being super cozy, comforting dishes that are ugly-delicious. In this case, I wanted to do chicken cacciatorre, an Italian dish consisting of chicken that is stewed in a rich tomato sauce. I like to make my cacciatorre with kimchi, just to add another layer of umami to the braised chicken and a mild spice. And to add a bit more spice, I also used calabrian chilies for that pleasant kick. In terms of what I served my chicken kimchi cacciatorre with, I went with an herby, cheesy polenta. I used kale, basil, and parsley to make this vivid green cream, and then finished a parmesan polenta with that to give it a bright Incredible Hulk color. It was meant to play off the cheese, since basil and parmesan cheese are a wonderful combination, and when you combine those with basil, you have a pretty solid trio of Italian ingredients that bring a lot of umami to the table here. I will be honest in that this recipe is a pretty easy one, since the main star, the cacciatorre, is a one pot wonder that relies on building layers of flavor by cooking things in the pan, then adding more things to whatever was cooked in there before(i.e. starting by rendering out the chicken thighs, sweating aromatics out in that, turning that all into a sauce, then braising the thighs in said sauce to really get a lot of flavor in there). The polenta, expect to be whisking a lot, but so long as you whisk the polenta while it’s on the stove, it won’t burn on the bottom and you will have a creamy, soft polenta, perfect for soaking up all of that lovely cacciatorre sauce with!

Makes 4 servings:
For the sauce:
4 chicken thighs
a pinch of salt
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, peeled and diced
2oz kimchi, diced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 bay leaf
1 can crushed tomatoes
2 tbsp cooking sake
8oz chicken stock
1/2 tsp Calabrian chilies
2 carrots, diced
2oz blanched and shocked edamame

Pat the chicken thighs dry and sprinkle salt on both sides. In a large pot, start by searing off the chicken thighs on both sides for 3 minutes. Then remove the thighs, and start sweating out the onions and kimchi in the oil on medium heat. Then once the onions and kimchi are soft, add to that the garlic and bay leaf, then stir until the garlic smells nutty. Add to that the cooking sake, crushed tomatoes, chicken stock, and Calabrian chilies, and cook the mixture down by half. Then carefully fish out the bay leaf and puree the rest of the mixture. Place the chicken thighs back into the sauce, cooking down the thighs in the sauce, covered for 20 minutes. Then add to that the carrots, simmering the carrots in the sauce until fork-tender, before adding in the edamame.

For the herb-kale polenta:
1 cup cornmeal
2 cups chicken stock
a pinch of salt
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
10 parsley leaves
20 basil leaves
1/4 cup kale, stems removed
1/4 cup heavy cream

In a pot, whisk the cornmeal, chicken stock, honey, and salt on medium heat until the mixture begins to thicken and the cornmeal properly hydrates. Add to that the cheese and mix until everything is melted together. Blanch your parsley, basil, and kale for 10 seconds and then shock the leaves in cold water. Puree the kale and herbs with the cream until a green puree forms. Add that to the polenta and mix on low heat until combined.