Chicken Cacciatore – it’s always on the menu but I never order it.

Maybe that’s because I’ve been waiting for the right recipe to come along so I could try doing it myself. As it happens, my esteemed mother-in-law not only has a recipe for this famous Italian treat, but the special recipe that makes my wife go ga-ga.

Despite worries of retroactively ruining her childhood by messing up her favorite childhood dish, everything turned out fine. My wife even said it tasted almost exactly like her mom’s, which I took as high praise. “But,” she added, “the sauce was a little too thick.” Oops.

As you can see from the ingredient list, it’s really an improvisational process. Want more garlic? Throw in more garlic. Want less mushrooms? Leave them on the side. It’s like Burger King always says: have it your way. Except, unlike Burger King, your way is edible.