Pollo Euscaro (Basque Chicken)

2 Chicken quarters

1 tb Butter

1 tb Bacon drippings

1/2 ts Salt

1/4 ts Ground black pepper

6 oz Saute`d button mushrooms

1 sm Eggplant peeled and cut into

-fingers 1 md Tomato, chopped into 8 pcs.

1/2 Sweet green pepper, sliced

4 sm Onions, peeled

1 Garlic clove crushed but

-NOT peeled 1/2 ts Dry basil

1/2 ts Dry thyme

1/3 c Dry white wine

Brown the chicken well in the butter and bacon drippings. Season with salt and pepper, and place in a deep casserole which has a cover. In the fat in which the chicken was browned, stir together the mushrooms, eggplant, tomato, green pepper, onions, garlic, basil and thyme for 2 to 3 minutes until the vegetables just begin to soften. Add to the chicken in the casserole. Pour the wine into the skillet, scrape loose any brown bits from the bottom and pour with the wine over the chicken. Cover the casserole and bake in a moderate oven (350 F.) for about 45 minutes or until the chicken is tender. Don`t even consider using a crockpot; this is enormously superior. NOTE: The small amount of wine is all the liquid needed. Plenty of water is released from the vegetables, so there is no danger of the food going dry and burning.