Chicken Parm

Seventh and final dinner on the pioneer.  It has been a week of excellency!  And obviously by week, it's stretched into nearly 3 months.  I know, I'm AWFUL!!  But it has been a whirlwind of a few months.  And to be honest, I've had this cooked for about 2 weeks, and just haven't gotten around to upload the pictures. Big Surprise...I Know.

So....

Chicken Parm...

There is a very funny story about this meal.  After TheHubby's parents got divorced, the only real meal that his dad knew how to cook was Chicken Parm.  I've heard tell that it wasn't too bad.

However

I've also heard tell that he made it JUST about EVERY day. It was his specialty

So I KNEW that TheHubby would be tickled when I pulled this recipe out.  And he was.  He verified that he really like Chicken Parm...just not every day.

I have actually never had any version of it, and was looking forward to trying it!

First: The Crew

Dice up the onion

And the Garlic

For the chicken:  Ree says to pound the chicken until it is super thin.  I just ended up fillet-ing it, so I had two thin breasts instead.

Season with salt and pepper

Add the olive oil and butter into a large pan.

Let the butter melt completely and the oil get hot

Dredge the chicken through some flour

And place into the oil

Fry until cooked through.

Remove to a plate for later use

Heat the oil back up and add the onion and garlic, sauteing for about 2 minutes

Do you see all of those brown crispies on the bottom of the pan?  Don't even THINK about scraping those out!! They are filled with flavor!

While the pan is hot pour in the wine, and scrape all of those crispies off of the bottom.  

Simmer until reduced by half

This also cooks off the alcohol

Pour in the tomatoes and sauce, if necessary.

Season with sugar, salt, and pepper to taste

Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes

Towards the end, add some fresh parsley to taste

Lay the chicken on top of the sauce

Sprinkle some basil on top (optional)

And completely cover with parmesan cheese

allow it to simmer until cheese is fully melted and the chicken is heated through

Plate with some noodles

And There You Have It!

IT WAS DELICIOUS!!!

TheHubby ranted and raved about it for the three days of left overs. He even gave his dad a hard time, telling him that mine was better.  

Well, There it is: My week/month/3months on the pioneer.  It was a good experience, There were much more recipes to choose from, and many more that we would eat again and again.  

Even though it is over, I still scavenge her cook books and website for new and delicious recipes

For a printable version, click here

For the original version, click here

Cajun Chicken Pasta

I'm down to the last two recipes on my week (which I know has been more like a month) on the pioneer.
I have been especially pleased with all of the recipes, they are tasty and crowd pleasers.
I am still debating on what the last recipe will be. I might give the hubby the cookbooks and have him pick one (or two if he's being nice to me) (j/k he's ALWAYS nice to me) (Even when I have the pregnancy krazy)(He spells it krazy with a K. because It's Krazy Kate)
But I digress

I love anything cajun!  Like for real.  Gumbo, jambalaya, crawdads, you name it I am on it! I could live in Louisiana,  except for the mosquitos....and the oppresive heat...and the yearly flooding... Ok, So I couldn't REALLY live in Louisiana.  I just like to THINK I could.

So when I get a hankering for some creole nothing hits the spot quite like cajun chicken pasta.  No matter where I get the recipe, it is delish

The Crew

Cook the fettucine until tender

Chop up the onion, green pepper, red pepper, and garlic

(I used a food processor, because TheHubby doesn't like big chunks of veggies....what a load of crap!!)

Dice the tomatoes

Slice the chicken

Sprinkle it with the cajun spice

(I didn't have cajun spice, so I used a mix of cayenne pepper, paprika, and black pepper) (Also, It could have definately used more, because it wasn't spicy AT ALL)

Fry the chicken in a skillet with a little bit of oil,  once cooked, remove and drain on a paper towel

Add the veggies and cook until tender, remove from pan.

Add chicken broth to deglaze the pan, (which is to say get all the crusted-on crispies on the bottom of the pan)

Add the cream, bring to a boil and reduce

Add the veggies and the chicken, and let it simmer for a bit to let the flavors percolate

Add the cooked fettucine and...

There you have it!!

As always, it was delicious, not very spicy, but TheHubby prefers it that way. :-\ 

I just added a dash or two....or four of cayenne on my serving and it was perfect!

It was definately a "Make Again Dish"

The things I would change:

Definately get some cajun spice! 

Not chop up the veggies quite so fine

And do chop the tomatoes a little bit smaller

But none of that ruined the dish, so all in all it was good!!

For a printer friendle recipe, clicke here
Original recipe can be found here