Tuscan Garlic Chicken

Finally back to my blog! I knew that this month would be a pretty busy one. I had a gut feeling that it would keep me from cooking and baking for awhile. Unfortunately, it did.

This month was just a very, very busy month for me. It usually is. Towards the beginning of this month, I left for a trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. I use go as a kid, so I was very excited. It was such a fun trip! It was so beautiful! I didn't realize how much I missed being around to so much land! Being in Orlando, I'm so use to all the tall buildings and compacted buildings and homes stacked on top of each other. It was such a great thing to go do. Something I don't get to be around all the time. I enjoyed each and every minute of the trip with my family. I really didn't want to come home, but, the time came and it was time to leave dream land..

As soon as the trip was over and we were back home, we were heading right back to school. I had 2 days to get ready for school. Obviously, I was not ready to go back to school. After rushing to get all my things for school, I'm told we have a hurricane coming our way. Great. I went to school for one day before they had to cancel school.

Fay, the hurricane, ended up weakening to a tropical storm. However, the storm decided to party over Florida for about a week. It rained and rained and rained non stop. I feel so bad for the people in the other county's around me. I live in Orange County, and in the county's next to Orange, Brevard and Seminole, they got flooded so bad! This storm broke records. They got somewhere to about 4 feet of water in the streets. It's horrible! Homes flooded, cars can't move, people traveling by little boats... It's really sad. I hope those people are able to get things situated.

I'm just glad that it's gone and that the sun has actually been starting to come out. For about 2 weeks, we didn't see blue sky's or sun at all. Totally uncommon for Florida. I mean, we are the Sunshine State! I was so glad to just get out of the house. Went to the movies, saw Tropic Thunder (hilarious!), and me and my boyfriend went to Olive Garden last weekend. Something I hadn't gone to in some time.

I knew what I wanted. I always love to get the same thing. What happens when I get there? They took my dish off the menu! I was so bummed! They had this awesome dish, Tuscan Garlic Chicken. Honestly, in my opinion, best meal ever. I love it. It really depressed me to see that they took off such a delicious meal from the menu.

When I got home, I decided to go on their site to see if it was true. Sadly, it was. After I let that sink in, I decided to see if they had the recipe for the dish on their site. Ta-da! They did! I was so happy to see that. Since I had to time today, I decided to make this for everyone to have and make up for the fact that I didn't get to enjoy it last weekend. Turned out just as I remembered it. I a very happy girl today.

Recipe

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 1/2 cups flour, plus 1 tbsp.
1 tbsp. salt
2 tsp. black pepper
2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 lb fettuccine pasta, cooked according to package directions
5 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. garlic, chopped
1 red pepper, julienne cut
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 lb whole leaf spinach, stemmed
2 cups heavy cream
1 cups Parmesan cheese, grated


1. In a shallow dish, mix 1 1/2 cups flour, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. Dredge chicken in the mixture, shaking off any excess.

2. Heat 3 tbsp oil in a large skillet. Cook chicken breasts 2 at a time over medium-high heat until golden brown and crisp (2-3 min). Add more oil for each batch as necessary.

3. Place cooked chicken breasts on a baking sheet and transfer to preheated oven. Cook for 10-15 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165 F.

4. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a sauce pan. Add garlic and red pepper and cook for approximately 1 minute. Stir in 1 Tbsp flour, wine, spinach and cream and bring to a boil. Sauce is done when spinach becomes wilted. Complete by stirring in parmesan cheese.

5. Coat cooked, drained pasta with sauce, then top with chicken and remaining sauce. Garnish with extra Parmesan cheese.

Chicken Tetrazzini

This recipe was adapted from Giada De Laurentiis, one of my absolute favorite cooks on Food Network. I remember watching one of her episodes with her making Chicken Tetrazzini. I'd never heard of anything like it, so I was intrigued. After watching and seeing the entree, I defiantly kept the recipe in my memories from when I'm craving some serious pasta. Today happened to be one of those days.

I hadn't had pasta in awhile. The heavy duty pasta is what I mean. The heavy kind of pasta, thats so bad, but so good. And I was really wanted something like that today. At first, I was just going to make some Fettuccine Alfredo. But, then I decided since I was going to heavy, why not try Chicken Tetrazzini?

I certainly made a huge mess while making this. Though, I'm a messing baker/cook to begin with. And while this bakes in the oven, the smell is so devine. The parmesan is just heavenly. That was probably my favorite part out of this; The top. Where all the parm was. But the whole thing was delicious. A great comfort food. Can't wait to have it again!

Added to Presto Pesto Night Roundup.

Recipe

9 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 pound white mushrooms, sliced
1 large onion, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups whole milk, room temperature
1 cup heavy whipping cream, room temperature
1 cup chicken broth
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
12 ounces linguine
3/4 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
1 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 cup dried Italian-style breadcrumbs


1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

2. Spread 1 tbsp of butter over a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish. Melt 1 tbsp each of butter and oil in a deep large nonstick frying pan over medium-high. Sprinkle the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Add the chicken to the hot pan and cook until pale golden and just cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a plate to cool slightly. Coarsely shred the chicken into bite-size pieces and into a large bowl.

3. Meanwhile, add 1 tbsp each of butter and oil to the same pan. Add the mushrooms and saute over medium-high until the liquid from the mushrooms evaporates and the mushrooms become pale golden, about 12 minutes. Add the onion, garlic, and thyme, and saute until the onion is translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the wine and simmer until it evaporates, about 2 minutes. Transfer the mushroom mixture to the bowl with the chicken.

4. Melt 3 more tbsp butter in the same pan over medium-low. Add the flour and whisk for 2 minutes. Whisk in the milk, cream, broth, nutmeg, remaining 1 3/4 tsp salt, and remaining 3/4 tsp pepper. Increase the heat to high. Cover and bring to a boil. Simmer, uncovered, until the sauce thickens slightly, whisking often, about 10 minutes.

5. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the linguine and cook until it is tender but still firm to the bite. Drain. Add the linguine, sauce, peas, and parsley to the chicken mixture. Toss until the sauce coats the pasta and the mixture is well blended.

6. Transfer the pasta mixture to the prepared baking dish. Stir the cheese and breadcrumbs in a small bowl to blend. Sprinkle the cheese mixture over the pasta. Dot with the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter. Bake, uncovered, until golden brown on top and the sauce bubbles, about 25 minutes.

Tagliatelle with Smashed Peas, Sausage, and Ricotta Cheese

To be honest, I'm not a big fan of peas. However, I came across this recipe the other day, and I thought it would be a good dish to my boyfriend Chris, who actually likes a vegetable! Chris, my picky eater boyfriend is so picky that it literally will sometimes drive me insane. Theres a lot that I can't cook with because of the fact that he can't stand some of the things I cook with. And me being me, I use a lot of different spices and love to add a lot of vegetables to my food; Which he hates.

For example, I can't cook with onions. He will ultimately taste it right away if I cook with it. It's ridiculous! I can't cook with carrots or garlic and nor can I cook with broccoli, spinach or green beans. Most of them being vegetables and also being stuff I love to cook with, which, makes it hard for me to cook something for him that he'll actually enjoy and like.

The recipe sounded pretty easy and something that he'd actually eat since there were peas in it. I didn't really instead to really eat it because I'm not to big of a fan for peas, but I decided to at least try it. And to my surprise, I now have a new liking for peas. I think I came to dislike peas from my mother whom would always buy the canned peas with all the juice, which I loathed! The dish was actually kind of light, not to heavy, and really satisfing. Best part, there was garlic in this dish and Chris didn't even notice! Hehe.

Recipe

1 pd. tagliatelle pasta
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pd. hot italian sausage, casings removed
1 pd. frozen peas, thawed
1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
1 bunch of basil leaves, chopped (about 3/4 cup)
1/4 cup grated pecorino romano cheese
1 tsp. salt


1. Bring a large pot to a boil on medium-high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite. Drain and reserve one cup of the pasta cooking water. Set aside.

2. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and garlic over medium-high heat and add the sausage. Use a wooden spoon the break up the sausage into bite size pieces. When sausage starts to brown, after about 5 minutes, set aside.

3. Add the peas to the pan and using the back of the wooden spoon, smash the peas. Turn off the heat. Add the ricotta cheese along with the cooked pasta and toss to coat, adding the reserved cooking water in 1/4 cup additions, if needed, to moisten the pasta.

4. Return sausage to the pan. Add the basil, pecorino romano cheese, and salt. Toss gently to coat and serve immediately.

Fettuccine Alfredo

Fettuccine Alfredo is such an easy dish to make, that's what I love about it so much. My boyfriend doesn't really enjoy pasta as much as I; He'd rather eat a much of sweets and gummy bears. He's a big fan with sweets like I. That why I was surprised to hear him as me to make Fettuccine Alfredo for him today.

Didn't take long at all to make. It's pretty easy, simple and fast to make. Came out really good and creamy, and my boyfriend was really satisfied with it. I think he ate a bit to much though... He was so full that he couldn't get out of bed! His excuse was, "It was just so good..."

Recipe

18 ounces fettuccine pasta
2 1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
12 tbsp. butter (1 1/2 cups)
2 cups parmesan cheese
2 tsps. grated lemon zest
Pinch of grated nutmeg
Ground white pepper
Salt


1. Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling water until tender, but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally. About 4 minutes. Drain.

2. Stir 2 cups of heavy cream and lemon juice in a heavy large skillet to blend. Add the butter and cook over medium heat just until the butter melts, stirring occasionally. About 3 minutes. Remove from heat.

3. Add the pasta to the cream mixture and toss. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of heavy cream, and parmesan to the cream sauce in the skillet. Add the lemon zest, nutmeg, salt, and white pepper. Toss the pasta mixture over low heat until the sauce thickens. About 1 minute. Serve.

Cinnamon-Bacon Carbonara

I think I've found a new favorite pasta! Well, nothing really comes close to lasagna, but this is extremely close to being better than lasagna! I was the other day when I found this recipe. I was just flipping through the channels, and flipped to the cooking channel. Giada was on and I love watching here shows. And after I saw what she was making, I decided that I should watch to see if it may be something I may like.

As I watched her make this recipe, my mouth was watering! It looked so good! In here recipe, she used half pancetta and have of it bacon. I decided to just use ham and bacon instead of pancetta and bacon; It sounded a little bit better, but the two are pretty much the same.

I knew that when I would have this I would like it; But instead of just liking it, I fell in love with it! It was nice and creamy and the cinnamon added a sweet, spicey taste and aroma. This dish was really easy and had wonderful taste. This dish isn't really something to make on a weekly bases. Its not good for the calorie consess. Its something to have every once in a while. This is one of my new favorite comfort foods.




Recipe

8 slices bacon, chopped
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups whipping cream
1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan
6 large egg yolks
18 ounces fresh fettuccine
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Saute the bacon in a heavy large frying pan over medium heat until almost crisp, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle the cinnamon over the bacon and saute until the bacon is crisp and golden, about 2 minutes longer. Cool.

2. Whisk in the cream, cheese, and yolks to blend.

3. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the fettuccine and cook until it is just tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes. Drain.

4. Add the fettuccine to the cream mixture and toss over medium-low heat until the sauce coats the pasta thickly, about 5 minutes (do not boil). Season the pasta with salt and pepper to your liking. Transfer the pasta to a large wide serving bowl and serve.