Chicken with Mushrooms from the Silver Spoon Cookbook

This is the Chicken with Mushrooms from the Silver Spoon Cookbook. A recently translated book considered to be Italy's version of the Joy of Cooking.
I thought the recipe sounded interesting and I had all the ingredients on hand, so I gave it a shot. So far it's the only one I've tried from the book. When I think of old school Italian cooking, I think handfuls of this and that and a wine glass measurement of this and so on. This recipe seemed very spartan (aside from the oil and butter!) and sort of meager. For a whole chicken cut in to quarters, it calls for 2 pearl onions, chopped, 3 Tbs water, 2 Tbs canned tomatoes, drained and 5 Tbs white wine. That’s about it, except for the mushrooms. I felt outright silly chopping up only two pearl onions, but I was sort of determined to follow the recipe.

It turned out alright, but not good enough to warrant making again. The meat was really succulent, but the flavors weren't very interesting and there was certainly no "wow" factor. My boyfriend Mike was of the same opinion.

It was only my first foray in to the book, and I'll try some other things, but I have a feeling that I'll end up using it more for ideas and some techniques, and then add my own improvisations as I go. I would have at least some garlic and herbs to this recipe!