Chicken Marsala

The weather here has been up and down and up and back down again, and you know what that means...COLD, as in I have one.  I've been sick about two weeks now, but it is getting better.  I, however, refuse to go to the doctor for something as minor as a cold. Adam has been working his tush off and is seldom home to cook in the evenings anymore (insert big sad face).  Much of the time I find myself (shamefully so) making frozen foods (chinese, pizza, etc), but every once in a while I actually remember to thaw something out and have the energy to make a real supper when I get home from a long day at school/work.

A few weeks ago I made Adam's amazing version of Chicken Marsala.  He was not home and I was therefore on my own making it for the first time.  When he got home he told me good job and that is tasted a little different that his, but it was really good.  Turns out the only reason that it tasted different was because I bought cooking marsala and not actual drinking marsala.  I looked for the real thing, but couldn't find it at Kroger and quickly ran out of patience.  The cooking marsala was much easier to find! I even cooked it in his "special skillet" that he loves and always makes it in.  I much prefer my nonstick or stainless steal varieties, but didn't want to jinx myself ;)

Adam used to make this quite a big at home and I always love it. Now I can make it all on my own, yum! The only difference other than the marsala is that we usually serve it with linguine.  I didn't have any on hand, so I used my usual whole wheat pasta. Give this beauty of a recipe a try!

Ingredients:


4 thin sliced chicken breasts
8 oz fresh mushrooms
8-10 ounces marsala (for cooking or drinking)
4 cloves of fresh garlic (sliced)
Pasta of choice
Oil

Chicken Marsala

Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a skillet.  Cook chicken on medium-high heat in oil with garlic cloves, salt, and pepper.













When chicken is half way cooked, flip over; Add mushrooms (sliced) and marsala.  Make sure that you add a decent amount of marsala to the pan. I used half a regular bottle of cooking marsala.









Continue to cook until mushrooms and chicken are done.  Continue still to cook, stirring regularly, until the marsala is reduced to the consistency that you like.  I prefer thicker sauces, so I tend to reduce mine quite a bit.  Serve with your favorite pasta and enjoy!  Super easy, but so tasty!

Olive Cheese Bread and Sorrisos

For those of you who know me, you know that I HATE doing dishes. Washing dishes is my least favorite household chore to do, by far and boy did I have a LOT of them to do when I first got home from work/school tonight. There is proof for you, plus a few more on top of those.

YUCK! No fun!

However, for some reason after washing all of these I felt compelled to dirty a whole other sink full of them in the process of making a late supper tonight...and dessert. Everything I have been doing since getting home about 6:00 or so has in one way or another related to cooking. Whether it be washing dishes, looking at cook books, grocery shopping, reading cooking blogs, dirtying more dishes, or actually booking. I was a woman on a mission....a cooking mission while the Chef, Adam, was at work....Yes, he is actually a chef. I don't just call him that for fun. Believe it or not, for being a chef, he is fairly pick when it comes to food and HATES olives. However, I got him to try a bite...mostly because I pleaded and begged. I am sure that bribing him with pie (next post) and left over spaghetti also had something to do with it, lol.

My last two blog talked about The Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook that I just bought. Well this will be no different, but I promise the other post to come tonight will be. :) Tonight I tried out Ree's Olive Cheese Bread from the cookbook. Yum! However, I did make a few substitutions. The recipe calls for both black and green olives and I detest green olives, so I used mushrooms instead because I do like them. I also changed the cheese to Kolby Jack and Mozzarella, mostly because I couldn't find the kind of cheese that she used on hand at Kroger. Other than that I stayed true to the recipe. I must say, I have NEVER bought real mayo because I just don't like it that much. However, I did follow that piece of the recipe as it said in the cookbook to NOT substitute, lol. This was a SIMPLE recipe to through together and I must say that it is DIVINE and so full of flavor. Way to go Ree, again! :)

Buy it! She is amazing!

Although I felt like cooking up a storm, I also went easy on recipes tonight. Spaghetti is so good and so easy that it seemed like the obvious and perfect choice to go with Ree's bread tonight. My spaghetti is always the same, but amazing. I only use whole wheat pasta because it is healthier and I prefer the taste as well. I also always have a huge glass of skim milk with pasta, or two. As for sauce, I will never make my own. This isn't because I doubt my sauce making ability, but because I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Uncle's pasta sauce. It is so amazing. He actually sells it in stores, and here is where the family plug comes in. I am not kidding when I say since I first tried his sauce years ago, I have never used any other sauce. It is great for lasagna, meatloaf, spaghetti, chicken Parmesan and so much more. It's based out of Firth, Nebraska and is called Sorrisos. They have many different flavors, but I opted for Tomato Basil tonight. Try it, you will love it! You can check the sauce out at the website or on the Sorrisos Facebook page. It is amazing and a perfect match to the Olive Bread.

YUM! I love Sorrisos!

Okay, okay. I will stop babbling on and on and get to the recipe, lol. Here you go!

Olive Cheese Bread (by Pioneer Woman)

Ingredients:

1 pound (I used a little less) Monteray Jack Cheese, shredded
1/2 cup mayonnaise (the real kind)
1 stick butter, softened
2 green onions, finely chopped
14.5 oz can Black Olives, finely chopped (drain first)
6 oz can Green Olives (I used mushrooms), finely chopped (drain)
1 loaf French bread.

Directions:

*Preheat oven to 350.

*Cut bread in half and then in pieces

*Mix all other ingredients together and spread an even layer (I used a lot) on each piece of French bread.

*Bake 10ish minutes at 350.

***Enjoy! YUM YUM YUM!***

It's pretty and tastes fabulous!

Southwestern Pasta Salad

My friend and fellow recipe blogger Tessa added this recipe to her blog over the summer and I have been wanting to try it. So, with the labor day festivities and a big BBQ with friends tomorrow I decided that now was the time. I am sure that it will be a success! I tried a bite after I was done making it (so the tomatoes were not in it yet) and it is AMAZING! It has so much flavor. Nice work Tessa! I did add one extra ingredient (onions) because I just really like them. Here is a link to Tessa's original post on her Cookin' Chemist Blog.

This is one of the most flavorful salads I have ever had and I will definitely be making it again soon! I, like Tessa, always use whole-wheat pasta. Not only is it healthier but I think it has SO much more flavor than normal pasta. Plus it does not seem to get mushy like other pasta does. At first it does seem like there is a LOT of veggies and such when compared to the amount of pasta, but it makes the PERFECT ratio and blend.

Southwestern Pasta Salad

1/2 pkg. (box) whole wheat rotini pasta (About 8 oz)

1/4 c. canola oil

1/3 c. lime juice

1-1/2 Tbsp. chili powder, or to taste

2 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 (15 oz) can whole kernel corn, rinsed

1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can green chiles

1/2 c. diced green bell pepper

1/2 c. diced red bell pepper

1 small bunch cilantro, chopped (about 1/2 cup or to taste)
1/4-1/3 cup chopped vadalia onions (I added this due to preference)

1 c. chopped roma tomatoes

Preparation:

-Cook pasta according to package directions.
-In a large bowl, combine canola oil, lime juice, chili powder, cumin, salt and garlic.
-Stir in pasta and set aside to cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally (I sometimes just run my pasta under cold water to chill it faster).

-Stir in corn, beans, green pepper, red pepper, chillies, and the cilantro.
-Cover and chill overnight or until ready to serve. Add chopped tomatoes just before serving.

Cajun Chicken Pasta

I found this recipe online and thought that is looked delicious! So, I decided to give it a try and see if I liked it. As it turns out, I absolutely love it, and it is now one of my favorite recipes. I cut the batch in half because I did not want to eat if for a week. Beware, I told a friend about it and she made a full batch and said there was enough pasta for 10 people. After chopping up the veggies, it only takes about 20 minutes to cook. I modified the recipe by leaving out the mushrooms (didn't feel like buying them) and doubling the cajun seasoning.


Cajun Chicken Pasta
12 ounces uncooked linguine
2 pounds chicken breast strips
1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning
1 1/4 teaspoons salt, divided
1/4 cup butter
1 small red bell pepper, thinly sliced*
1 small green bell pepper, thinly sliced*
1 (8-oz.) package fresh mushrooms
2 green onions (white and light green parts only), sliced*
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Garnish: chopped green onions

Prepare pasta according to package to the package

Sprinkle the Cajun seasoning and salt over the chopped chicken and cook in 1/4 cup of butter on medium-high for 5 or 6 minutes (until chicken is cooked). Then remove the chicken from the pan

Add the sliced bell peppers, mushrooms, and green onions to skillet, and sauté 9 to 10 minutes (or until vegetables are tender and liquid evaporates)

Return chicken to skillet; stir in half-and-half, next 3 ingredients, and remaining 1/4 tsp. salt. Cook, stirring often, over medium-low heat 3 to 4 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Add the pasta, stir until heated through and ENJOY!!!