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.

Homestyle Chicken and Biscuit Casserole

There comes a time every once in awhile when you just need to have some really good comfort food. And I defiantly got my comfort food fix with this. Not only is this comforting, but its a great meal during this time of year. When it's cooling down and the leaves are changing they're colors. It's just suits this time of year.

I had been craving Chicken Pot Pie for sometime now, but, my mother did not want chicken pot pie. Instead, she wanted biscuits. A chicken and biscuit casserole and a chicken pot pie are just about the same thing. Just, the chicken and biscuit has no pie crust. However, the biscuits makes an awesome substitute for the pie crust!

I was very satisfied with this meal. It was so homey and makes you feel so good. It's why its a comfort food, no? I was also very pleased with the fact that my little brother, whom is incredibly picky about what he eats, actually ate it. He was skeptical at first as he watched me make it, but I threw a plate in front of him and told to at the very least try it. To his own surprise, he really liked it! Which made me extremely happy.

Both my parents were very happy with this meal as well. My mothers the one that wanted it in the first place, so she was pleased. My father enjoyed it very much as well. Though, he was disappointed knowing that he ate so much. Now he knows he's going to need to work out for a while tomorrow!

Recipe

2 cups chicken, cooked and cubed
1 can (10 3/4 oz.) cream of chicken soup
1 bag (16 oz.) frozen vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots)
1 can refrigerated biscuits
1/4 cup milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried thyme


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a medium saucepan, combine chicken, soup, vegetables and milk. Heat until bubbly and hot. Pour hot mixture into an ungreased 2-quart baking dish. Sprinkle the bread crumbs on top, then sprinkle shredded cheese on top. Arrange biscuits over chicken mixture. Spray a little bit of butter on top of biscuits.

3. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve.

Chicken Ravioli Bake

Sitting around doing nothing today. Today was early day from school, so it just meant that there was an extra hour for me to waste with doing nothing. Usually my mom would be home, however, she has been having to work everyday since her co-worker went on vacation. So, she's been stuck having to fill in. She doesn't mind to much though. She's getting payed a lot for doing it.

Since I didn't have much to do, I decided to occupy myself by making dinner. I called my mom up to see what she thought would be good to make. She came up with ravioli. Bake Ravioli. It was pretty simple since we had the store bought ready ravioli. You won't see me taking dough out to form my own ravioli's. Why do that when you can just buy them ready? Seriously, come on! I see some people that actually still make they're own. I find it a waste of time.

I was extremely surprised to see that my brother even ate any of it. He gobbled it down so quickly that I didn't even have time to go to my room and back before he was already done! He's usually not to big on trying many things, and I thought, as he watched me make my own sauce, that he wouldn't want to eat it. But, apparently, I was wrong.

Recipe

2 (9 ounce) packages refrigerated chicken ravioli
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 tsp. dried basil
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
1/8 tsp. pepper
4 (14.5 ounce) cans cubed tomatoes
6 tbsp. tomato paste
1/2 (2 ounce) shredded mozzarella cheese


1. Cook pasta as directed on box. Drain well. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Heat a dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add wine, basil, salt, red pepper, pepper, cubed tomatoes and tomato paste. Stir well to combine. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring often.

3. Remove from heat and add pasta to tomato mixture, tossing well to combine. Spoon pasta mixture into a 8-inch baking dish and think sprinkle evenly with cheese.

4. Bake at 400 degrees for about 3 minutes or until cheese melts and begins to brown. Serve.

Parmesan Chicken

I've been meaning to make this for so time now, and since I hadn't had chicken or pasta in sometime, I thought, well why not make this now! I got the Chicken Parmesan Recipe from Simply Recipes, and it was quite tasty. It reminded me some what of Olive Garden. But, I didn't just want to have chicken, I wanted pasta too. I cooked linguine and smothered it in tomato and basil sauce and topped it with Grated Parmesan.

Oh my was it delicious!! And to make it better, I cooked up some Bread Sticks. I mean, Bread Sticks and tomato sauce; whats better than that?? I didn't expect this to be as good as it came out. I was very surprised at how delicious it was. I plan on having this for lunch tomorrow :]

Recipe

1 clove garlic, minced
1 stick unsalted butter (1/2 cup or 1/4 pound), melted
1 cup dried bread crumbs
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
A large pinch of Italian seasoning (herb mix)
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 lbs of skinless, boneless, chicken meat, cut into pieces no larger than 2x2 inches

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.

2. In a bowl, combine the minced garlic with the melted butter. In another bowl mix together the bread crumbs, Parmesan, parsley, salt, garlic salt, Italian seasoning, and pepper. Dip chicken pieces into garlic butter, then into crumb mixture to coat.

3. Place coated chicken pieces on to a 9x13 baking dish. Try to leave a little room between each piece. Drizzle with remaining garlic butter and bake uncovered 15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear. Note that the chicken will get much more browned on the bottom side than on the top.