Spicy Cajun Chicken Linguini

 I've been wanting to try a new creamy pasta with some kick! I remember eating something like this in one of our local restaurants (High Street Caffe), and wanted to try a version of that...

I had about 1/2 a rotisserie chicken left and needed to use it up. You could do this with cooked chicken breast strips, too.

• 1/2 rotisserie chicken meat, shredded
• 2 teaspoons of cajun seasoning
• 1 tablespoon Olive oil
  
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• 1/2 box linguini, cooked and drained
  
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• 2 TB butter
• 1 TB olive oil
• 1/2 poblano pepper, sliced into strips
• 2 green onions, chopped (yellow onion would work well, too.)
• 1 small can of portobello mushrooms, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 TB of cajun seasoning 
• pinch of basil
• pinch of kosher salt - to taste
• fresh ground pepper
• 1 1/2 cups of light cream 
• Parmesan cheese (optional)

Add the first 3 ingredients to a ziploc bag and toss well. Set aside.

Start your pasta. If it is done before your sauce, drain and toss with some olive oil. Set aside.

In a heated deep skillet over medium high, add the butter and olive oil to the pan. When hot, add the poblano pepper and the onion. When onion starts to soften, add garlic. Stir until veggies are crisp tender. Add chicken, mushrooms seasonings. Stir to coat, and add the cream. Stir well until sauce thickens. This shouldn't take long. If sauce isn't thick enough, add some Parmesan cheese.

Add the pasta to the skillet and toss to coat.

This meal was entirely too yummy for its own good, and didn't last long.

*Note: If you are cooking fresh chicken breast, cook that in the butter and olive oil first, then set aside. Follow recipe as normal after this step.

Homemade Hostess Cakes!

I take zero credit for these genius cupcakes, except for the fact that I actually baked, and they came out fantastic!

What a throwback to a fond memory - I'd never THINK of buying the Hostess version for my own child since they're full of chemicals, preservatives, and high fructose corn syrup. But it's definitely OK to recreate these in your own kitchen, right? Even if I used close to a pound of butter, sugar, and chocolate... right? 

RIGHT!

Bridget NAILED this recipe - Go NOW to Bake at 350 for these delicious delights!

Baked Lime Tortilla Chips

These are the healthy version of your favorite restaurant chips. Even crunchier! They're so simple and delicious, that I'm going to stop buying bagged chips.

Oven at 350.

6-8 corn tortillas

Lime infused Olive oil, or regular is fine

kosher salt

Add the oil to a small ramekin or bowl. Brush corn tortillas with olive oil on both sides, and stack neatly.

Cut with a pizza cutter into triangles.

Spread on baking sheet and salt one side of the chips. Bake for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and flip all the chips over and salt the other side. Return to oven until chips are slightly browned, bubbled, and crunchy.

Total cook time: 15-20 mins.

I served this with my Mango Salsa and my Classic Mojito!

I'm a finalist!

 I entered one of my favorite recipes into a local contest and out of 80 entries, I'm a finalist. Wish me luck!

Avalon Restaurant is seeking out home recipes for their Italian style restaurant. The winner gets their dish on the menu! I entered:

Orecchiette w/ Sausage, Tomato, and Spinach

Here's the article listing the finalists!

http://www.westchesterdish.com/2010/03/15/finalists-announced-for-avalon-recipe-contest-in-west-chester/

 

Braised Chicken all'Arrabbiata - Angry Chicken

This translates to "Angry Chicken" in Italian. This recipe was recommended to me by a co-worker. He found it in Food & Wine Magazine and thought it was worth passing on. He was right!  I've been wanting to make something with polenta as an alternative to pasta, and this fit the bill! It was wonderful!

This recipe was adapted from Food & Wine.

4 chicken breasts, pounded flat

salt and pepper

3 TB Olive oil

1 large red onion, chopped

6 garlic cloved, minced

1 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flake

1 bay leaf

1 green pepper, diced

1 small poblano, diced

1 TB tomato paste

1 cup white wine

28 oz can whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes, chopped and juices reserved

2 TB red wine vinegar

2 tsp Herbes de Provence

Preheat oven to 400.

Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. In a large cast iron enamel braiser, heat the oil over med high. Add chicken, and brown on both side, but don't cook all the way through. Transfer to a platter.

In the remaining oil, saute onion, garlic, red pepper flake and bay leaf. Add more oil if needed. When onion softens, add the peppers. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. Add the wine and deglaze all the brown bits from the pan. Add tomatoes with their juice, vinegar and Herbes de Provence. Bring to  simmer.

Add the chicken and nestle into the sauce. Place in oven and braise for 35 minutes.

Serve over soft polenta.

What a great change from the norm! I added some cream and butter to my polenta to make this extra yummy!

Pork Tamales

Another "hats off" to the Mexican culture. This is one of the most economical meals, yet pretty labor-intensive. It's fun, and worth the effort if you have a Sunday to spare! I made the pork a day in advance, so I had plenty of time to assemble and steam the tamales.

Tamales are like mini cornbreads that are stuffed with meat and/or cheese, then wrapped in corn husks and steamed.

Shredded Mexican Crock Pot Pork

(1) 2 lb pork butt
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 poblano peppers, roasted and peeled
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 TB of adobo sauce
2 1/2 cups of water
1 cup chicken broth
Squeeze of 1/2 a lime


Heat a cast iron pot on med-high, and coat the bottom with olive oil. Sear the pork butt on all sides, and place into the crockpot.

Place the rest of the ingredients into the crock pot and set on LOW for at least 7 hours. Shred with fork when cooled.

Tamales
adapted from Joy of Cooking

• 1 - 4oz package of corn husks
• 3 cups of Masa flour
• 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 to 1 cup of shortening
• 2 1/4 cups of chicken broth, warmed
• 1 1/2 cups of shredded chihuahua cheese or queso fresco

In a large saucepan, add the husks and water to cover. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Weigh the husks down with a heavy plate to keep them submerged. Let sit for 1-2 hrs until pliable.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the masa flour and the baking powder. In another large bowl, beat the shortening until fluffy. About 2 mins.

Gradually add the masa mixture and beat on high speed. Slowly beat in the chicken broth, use about 2 cups. You may need more. Continue beating until dough looks like mashed potatoes, about 2 mins. The dough is ready when a 1/2 tsp of dough dropped into a glass of cold water floats.

Season with 1 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste. Cover the mixture until the husks are ready.

Drain the husks, let dry. Set aside 16 of the biggest husks.

Place a steamer insert in the bottom of a deep stockpot. Fill the bottom with water to fill about 1 inch. Water should not touch the steamer. Line the bottom and sides of the steamer with more of the husks.

Start assembling the tamales by laying the husk rough side up on a work surface, with the pointed end closest to you. Spread about 1/4 cup of the masa into a 4-inch square, leaving a 1 1/2 inch border at the pointed end and a 1 inch border on all other sides.

Add some pork over top of the masa. Sprinkle with cheese. 

Fold the left and right sides, the fold the pointed end up, and tie with a strip of husk.

Stand the tamales upright in the steamer, and repeat with the rest of the husks. Leave room in the steamer for expansion, and cover the tamales with husks. Cover the pot, bring to a boil, and steam over med heat until the husks peel away from the filling. 1 to 1 1/4 hours time. Add more water to pot if necessary.

 

 

Remove from heat, let stand covered for 5 mins. Serve!

 Freeze for up to 1 month.

Lasagna with Besciamella and Sausage

 

This lasagna sure was time-consuming, but worth every minute! It's a mish-mash of a few different Lidia recipes from Lidia's Family Table. I did not make my own pasta for this, simply because it would have added even more time to the process. But, I did pick up some wonderful fresh pasta sheets from Carlino's Italian Market. They worked wonderfully with this dish.  

I also went for an extra layer this time, and added Besciamella sauce. It definitely added a wonderful creaminess to the meal and it wasn't very hard or time-consuming to make.

What you'll need:

• Pasta sheets, cooked
• 1 cup Italian sausage, cooked
• Simple Tomato Sauce (recipe to follow)
• Besciamella sauce (recipe to follow)
• 3-4 TB of butter (for the baking dish)
• 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 6-8 oz of shredded mozzerella cheese
• 8 oz fresh ricotta
• 1 egg

Oven at 375F.

Prepare the sauces first, set aside to cool. 

Remove the sausage from the link casing, and cook until brown and crumbly. Mix the ricotta with the egg, and set aside. 

Prepare the pasta sheets, and cool in ice water. Spread them onto a cookie sheet that is lined with a kitchen towel so the water absorbs.

Grease an 8x8 or 9x9 square baking sheet with the butter, on all sides. Set up your "station" and get ready to assemble.

*Note, you can also use a 9x13 pan and increase the ingredients just a bit. The pasta is cut to fit this size, anyway. But I always find that a 9x13 pan makes way too much for a small household.

 

Layer the bottom of the pan with a little bit of sauce. Drizzle with the Besciamella.

 

Layer with pasta sheets, and spread on the ricotta/egg mixture.

Next, a layer of sausage.

Layer with more tomato sauce, bechemel, and the 2 cheeses...

 

 Repeat the layers until the pan is full, folding over the pasta is needed: 

Ready to bake...

And done. Let sit uncovered for 20 minutes to settle before cutting into squares and serving.

Simple Tomato Sauce 
Good with: Pastas, Gnocchi, Baked Pastas

by Lidia Bastianich

• (2) 35oz cans of San Marzano Tomatoes
• 1 large onion, chopped in small pieces
• 1 medium carrot, chopped in small pieces
• 1 rib celery,  chopped in small pieces
• 6 TB olive oil
• 1 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 2 cups water
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp dried peperoncino (red pepper flakes)
• 1/2 tsp honey

Sieve the tomatoes through a mesh colander, pushing the flesh through, scraping against the sides to extract all pulp and juice.

Put the chopped onion, carrot, celery pieces into a food processor to finely mince.

Pour oil into a sauce pot, stir the vegetables over med-high heat. Add salt. Cook 3 mins or so to let them soften, but not brown.

Pour the tomatoes and juices into the pan and stir with the veggies. Rinse the bowl and the tomato cans with the water, and pour this into the pan. Stir in bay leaves, honey, and peperoncino. Turn up heat and cover. Bring sauce to boil, stirring, and check frequently.

Adjust the heat to maintain an active simmer. Cover and cook for 45 mins, stirring occasionally.

Remove the cover, raise heat to gradually reduce. Cook for another hour, stirring often to ensure no sticking. Turn heat down as sauce thickens. Add more salt if needed.

When sauce has reduced by about a quarter, and is concentrated but still pourable, remove from the heat. Let cool. Remove bay leaves.


Besciamella --- Bechamel, or Cream Sauce
by Lidia Bastianich

•  2 cups milk
• Pinch of kosher salt
• Pinch of white pepper
• Pinch of grated nutmeg
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 1/2 TB butter
• 2 TB all-purpose flour
• 2 TB freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Pour milk into saucepan; add the seasonings and bay leaf. Bring almost to a boil and keep hot.

Melt butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. When butter foams, put in flour and whisk to form a roux. Keep whisking 3-4 minutes until the roux darkens a bit.

Pour in hot milk in a stream, stirring to mix the roux into it. Stir constantly until sauce boils. Adjust heat to keep a steady bubble as the sauce thickens (about 3 minutes).

Pour the sauce through a fine sieve, and add the grated cheese.

Can be used within 3-4 days. Do not freeze.