Your Dad loves Chicken Cacciatore, but haven't been able to find one he likes.  WELL...he loved this recipe from Big Joe Henry, a DJ from a local radio station.  It's very very easy, but does require a long cooking time.  Don't rush it, the wait is worth it.  One of the three things I changed was the amount of Oregano; I believe the recipe used fresh.  I ended up using only about a teaspoon of the dried Oregano.  Also, was trying to use up all the chicken thighs (skinless and boneless) I had in the freezer, so no drum sticks used in mine.  Lastly, hate capers...so of course I didn't use them.

Big Joe's Big Chicken Cacciatore

Ingredients:

. 8 Chicken Drum Sticks
. 8 Chicken Thighs
. 1/4 Cup of Olive Oil (Used Extra Virgin)
. 1/2 Cup of Flour For Dredging
. 1 1/2 Stalks of Coarsely Chopped Celery
. 1 Green or Red Bell Pepper, Coarsely Chopped
. 3/4 Cup of Carrots Diced
. 10-12 Button Mushrooms (White), Cut Into 1/4 Pieces
. Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper
. 3 Cloves of Finely Chopped Garlic
. 2 1/2 Tablespoons of Drained Capers
. 2 1/2 Teaspoons of Oregano
. 1 Tablespoon of Tomato Paste
. 1 1/2 Cup of Dry Red Wine (Chianti, Merlot, Cabernet) (Used Chianti)
. 1 Can of Diced Tomatoes (28 0z.), Include Juice
. 1/4 Cup of Chopped Flat Italian Parsely

How To Put It Together:

Salt and pepper the chicken and then dredge in flour.  In a large Dutch oven pan, add 1/2 the oil (2 tablespoons), heat over medium-high heat.  Brown the chicken in batches, about 5-7 minutes per side.  Once golden brown, remove chicken and set aside.

Discard excess oil (had none using the skinless), but don't scrape the pan.  Add remaining oil and once oil is hot, add celery, onions, carrots, mushrooms and bell pepper.  Reduce heat to medium--medium-low and stir vegetables scraping the bottom of the pan to get all the pieces up.  Cook vegetables for a total of 10-12 minutes.

Add garlic and oregano and cook for another 2-3 minutes.  Add the red wine and increase heat to high.  Stir constantly adding tomato paste.  Mix sauce well, add tomatoes, lower the heat to low and simmer stirring occasionally.  Add capers and simmer, partially covered, for 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Add chicken back to pan, cover and place in oven; cook for about 35 minutes.  Remove chicken from pan to plate, cover with foil to keep warm.  Skim off excess fat from the surface (again, not a problem with the skinless).  Bring pan over high heat on stove to a quick boil to reduce sauce.  Add parsley.  Stir and then ladle sauce over chicken and serve. (I skipped this final step since we wanted a little more liquid).  Serves 6.