Smoked Sun Dried Tomato and Pesto Chicken Pasta

I kinda came up with this recipe from several online recipes when I wanted a way to use the sun dried tomatoes that Josh gave me for Thanksgivemas. It turned out pretty good! Here's the ingredients and amounts that I used to make two meals for myself:

- 1 large chicken breast
- 1 bag of smoked sun dried tomatoes. I think the smoked part is essential to this recipe
- Penne pasta
- 1 large garlic clove
- 1 cup packed fresh basil leaves, washed well and spun dry
- 1 cup packed fresh parsley leaves (preferably flat-leaf), washed well and spun dry
- 1/3 cup pine nuts
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup Kalamata or other brine-cured black olives, pitted and chopped fine

Here's the steps:

1. Boil enough water for the pasta and a little more than needed
2. Soak 1/2 cup of the tomatoes in some of the boiling water to soften them up
3. Make the pasta. When done drain and set aside
4. Cube or slice the chicken
5. Make the pesto. Here's the recipe for that:
    To a food processor with motor running add garlic and blend until minced. Add basil, parsley, and nuts and blend well. Add oil and blend until smooth. Transfer pesto to a bowl and stir in olives.

6. Heat some oil in a pan and brown up the chicken
7. Drain the tomatoes and add to the pan. Just get em hot
8. Add in the pasta. Again just get it hot
9. Remove from heat. I poured it straight into a Tupperware
10. Add in the pesto. This is why I liked the Tupperware - I just put the top on and shook it up to mix.

Spicy Peanut Noodles

Spicy Peanut Noodles 

Nom nom nom. A go-to side for asian meals around our house. Make sure you squeeze a little more lemon juice on top right before you eat!  

1/4 cup peanut butter
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon ginger, grated
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 pound spaghetti or linguine, cooked
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, minced

In a small bowl, combine peanut butter, soy sauce, ginger, lemon juice, garlic powder and red pepper flakes. Set aside.

In a large bowl, toss pasta mixture with peanut butter sauce and cilantro.

Perfect Potstickers

Perfect Potstickers

I adapted this recipe from Alton Brown. The wonton wrappers are usually in the produce section of the grocery store (for whatever reason). They're really easy once you get the hang of it. The reviews online said that they freeze well (after putting them together but before cooking them). I think next time I'll make a double batch and put half away for a rainy day! 15 potstickers was the right amount for a meal for two alongside some spicy peanut noodles. 

• 2 tbsp finely chopped scallions
• ½ cup grated carrot
• 2 tsp grated ginger
• 1 tbsp chopped cilantro
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp hoisin
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 15 to 20 small wonton wrappers
• Water, for sealing wontons
• 2 to 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, for frying
• 1/2 cup chicken stock, divided

Combine the first 10 ingredients in a medium-size mixing bowl (scallion through egg). Set aside.

To form the dumplings, remove 1 wonton wrapper from the package, covering the others with a damp cloth. Brush all edges of the wrapper lightly with water. Place 1/2 rounded teaspoon of the pork mixture in the center of the wrapper. Pinch corners together and seal edges. Set on a sheet pan and cover with a damp cloth. Repeat procedure until all of the filling is gone.

Heat a large pan over medium heat. Brush with vegetable oil once hot. Add 8 to 10 potstickers at a time to the pan and cook for 2 minutes, without touching. Once the 2 minutes are up, gently add 1/3 cup chicken stock to the pan, turn the heat down to low, cover, and cook for another 2 minutes.

Serve immediately with a dipping sauce (soy sauce, sriracha, hoisin and/or mirin).

Refried Beans

Refried Beans

An oldie but goodie! 

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 an onion, chopped
1 tablespoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne or red pepper flakes
1 can pinto beans, some of the liquid drained off
salt and pepper to taste

Place the oil in a large skillet and turn the heat to medium. When the oil is hot, add the onion and cook, stirring, until it is soft and starting to brown, about 5 or 10 minutes.

Add the cumin and cayenne. Cook, stirring, 1 minute more. Add the beans and mash with a fork or potato masher. Continue to cook and mash, stirring, until the beans are more or less broken up.

Season with salt and pepper, and add more cumin or cayenne to taste. If they're too runny, they'll firm up quickly if you let them cook for a few more minutes. Add water if they're too stiff.

Eat! We like to smear some on a toasted tortilla and top with whatever you have on hand (tomato, scallion, cheese, cilantro, avocado, sour cream...).

Blackened Chicken Pasta!

This is the new favorite of the Wilson Household (Mooresville Chapter). Be ready for some heat!
We stole this from Pioneer Woman. Here's the original website if interested:
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/09/cajun-chicken-pasta/

Here's the ingredients:

• 3 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts, Cut Into Cubes
• Cajun Spice Mix, my mix listed below
  
• 1 pound Fettuccine
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 1 whole Green Bell Pepper, Seeded And Sliced
• 1 whole Red Bell Pepper, Seeded And Sliced
• 1/2 whole Large Red Onion, Sliced
• 3 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 4 whole Roma Tomatoes, Diced
• 2 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth
• 1/2 cup White Wine
• 1 cup Heavy Cream
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper, To Taste
• Salt To Taste
• Chopped Fresh Parsley, To Taste

Here's what I used to make my Cajun spice mix:

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp cayenne red pepper

1 tsp garlic salt

1 tsp onion powder

½ tsp black pepper

½ tsp salt

1/4 tsp white pepper (this really dictates how spicy this recipe is, adjust as necessary)

Get the pasta going first. When it's done just set aside. So you just coat the chicken cubes with the spice mix. Get a large pan hot and then add half the olive oil and half the butter. Get this good and hot and add half the chicken. Let it sit and blacken on one side, then stir around to brown the rest. You want to do this pretty quick, and don't need to get the cubes fully cooked. They will finish cooking later. The blackening has a pretty potent smell that makes me want to sneeze! Remove this half of the chicken and finish the other half. Put the chicken on a large plate or platter and put in the microwave to keep warm. Use a slotted spoon or spatula so that you leave as much of the spices behind in the pan as you can. Add the rest of the oil and butter and mix with the leftover spices. Add the green and red pepper, onion and garlic. Stir and cook pretty quick, just trying to coat. Again they will finish cooking later. Just before pulling the veggies out add in the roma tomatoes. Put the veggies on the plate with the chicken. Again, try to leave spices and some bits in the pan. Add the wine to the pan and stir/scrape to mix in the spices and bits. Add in the chicken broth. The original recipe says this mix will reduce by half and thicken. It hasn't for me the two times I made it. Reduce heat and add in the cream. This will thicken some, but not a ton. Add the veggies and chicken back to the pan and cook until the sauce thickens some more - mine is always a little runny - and until the chicken and veggies are fully cooked. Finally add in the cooked pasta and mix it all together. Sprinkle parsley over it and enjoy!

Pollo al Mattone (Chicken Under a Brick)

We've been serving this to guests recently after a long period of making it for ourselves to get it right. It's frigging amazingly flavorful and delicious, in addition to being simple. There are a lot of recipes online about how to do this to an entire chicken, but this recipe calls for breasts, and I find they're a lot easier to deal with. This recipe is adapted from Steve Raichlen's How to Grill.

Gather these things:

2-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 tsp coarse salt (we prefer Kosher)
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 tsp hot pepper flakes (less if you're sensitive to that sort of thing)
1 Tbsp chopped garlic (or just press a couple cloves)
1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 lemon
1/4 cup EV olive oil

You'll also want to wrap a brick in foil for each breast.

Do this:

Trim any excess fat from chx breasts, rinse and pat dry with a paper towel and place in whatever you're marinating in (we use a smallish ceramic casserole dish). Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and pepper flakes on both sides. Rub garlic and rosemary into both sides. Squeeze lemon juice over them and pour the olive oil on and stick 'em in the fridge for 30 mins to an hour.

Light your grill and get it real hot. You're going to be cooking directly over the heat; I usually pile the coals up in an even layer on one side of the grill, leaving at least a third with no coals so I have a cooler place to move them to if I need to. Brush and oil the grate thoroughly right before you put the chicken on.

When you're ready to cook, toss wood chips on if you're using them (they will up the flavor, but we've made them without wood chips and they were still amazing). Arrange the breasts at a 45 degree angle to the grill grates and put a foil wrapped brick on each one (I usually have the bricks on the grill for a few minutes prior to get them warmed up). Cover and cook for two minutes. Rotate each breast 90 degrees and replace the brick and cook for two minutes more. Flip and repeat. Each breast cooks for 4-6 mins per side. You should have beautiful golden breasts with a good crosshatch grill mark pattern. I always check them with a digital thermometer and if they need to go longer I put them on the cool side and cover the grill and just let them bake a little rather than stay directly over the searing coals. At 145 degrees F get them off the grill and loosely tent with foil to let them rest for a few minutes. This is a great opportunity to toast some bread or grill a veggie side to complete the whole meal on the grill. We like to do grilled zucchini and red onion tossed in a lemon/basil vinaigrette.

Enjoy! You can do this without the bricks, and it's still good, but something about the brick pressing down on them really adds a lot of flavor, and you've probably got a few bricks laying around anyway. That's it. This is the best grilled chicken breasts we've done.

Cheers

Caesar Salad

Adapted from The Joy of Cooking

Mash together in a small bowl until a paste is formed:
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 teaspoon salt

Whisk in:
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt and black pepper to taste

Add in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Place in a salad bowl:
2 heads romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces

Toss with the dressing and:
Croutons
1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Cowboy Candy (candied jalapenos)

From: http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/canning/candied-jalapenos-cowboy-candy/?print=1

Prep Time 15 Minutes Cook Time 30 Minutes

Servings 36

Difficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

• 3 pounds Firm, Fresh Jalapeno Peppers, Washed
• 2 cups Cider Vinegar
• 6 cups White Granulated Sugar
• ½ teaspoons Turmeric
• ½ teaspoons Celery Seed
• 3 teaspoons Granulated Garlic
• 1 teaspoon Ground Cayenne Pepper

Preparation Instructions

Wearing gloves, remove the stems from all of the jalapeno peppers. The easiest way to do this is to slice a small disc off of the stem-end along with the stem. Discard the stems.

Slice the peppers into uniform 1/8-1/4 inch rounds. Set aside.

In a large pot, bring cider vinegar, white sugar, turmeric, celery seed, granulated garlic and cayenne pepper to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the pepper slices and simmer for exactly 4 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the peppers, loading into clean, sterile canning jars to within 1/4 inch of the upper rim of the jar. Turn heat up under the pot with the syrup and bring to a full rolling boil. Boil hard for 6 minutes.

Use a ladle to pour the boiling syrup into the jars over the jalapeno slices. Insert a cooking chopstick to the bottom of the jar two or three times to release any trapped pockets of air. Adjust the level of the syrup if necessary. Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean, damp paper towel and fix on new, two-piece lids to finger-tip tightness.

If you do not want to can these to the point of shelf stable, you can simply put the jars in your refrigerator and store them there. I prefer to keep the fridge space free so I can them. If you wish to can them, follow the instructions below.

Note: If you have leftover syrup, and it is likely that you will, you may can it in half-pint or pint jars, too. It’s wonderful brushed on meat on the grill or added to potato salad or, or, or … in short, don’t toss it out!

To can, place jars in a canner and cover with water by 2-inches. Bring the water to a full rolling boil. When it reaches a full rolling boil, set the timer for 10 minutes for half-pints or 15 minutes for pints. When timer goes off, use canning tongs to transfer the jars to a cooling rack. Leave them to cool, undisturbed, for 24 hours. When fully cooled, wipe them with a clean, damp washcloth, then label.

Allow to mellow for at least two weeks, but preferably a month before eating. Or don’t. I won’t tell!