Friday, January 22, 2010

Cheesecake Factory's Louisiana Chicken Pasta

YUM! Made this last night (From RecipeZaar), and it is a GREAT imitation of my favorite dish at Cheesecake Factory (this is one of those meals that I can't help but re-order each time I go because I know it's just so good and don't want to risk having a so-so meal when I can eat this awesome flavorful meal!).


Sauce Ingredients:
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 small yellow pepper (chopped)
  • 1 small red bell pepper (chopped)
  • 3/4 small onion (chopped)
  • 3 whole garlic cloves (minced)
  • 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 1/4 pints whipping cream
  • 1 cup chicken broth (used 1 c. water + 1 chicken boullion cube)
  • 4 tablespoons fresh basil (thinly sliced)
  • 1 cup grated parmesan cheese (I used 1/4 c. since it's expensive here)
  • 1 (12 ounce) package bow tie pasta (I used penne)
  • 1 cup mushroom (sliced) (optional)

Directions

  1. Start your water boiling as you start making the sauce... and cook pasta like normal.
  2. At the same time, let your breaded chicken breasts (thin-cut if possible to be most authentic) cook in the oven until crispy.
  3. On stovetop, for sauce: melt butter in large skillet over medium heat.
  4. Add yellow and red bell peppers, mushrooms if desired, and onion to same skillet,until crisp-tender, about 4 minute.
  5. Add garlic and crushed red pepper to skillet and saute 3 minutes.
  6. Add whipping cream and chicken stock.
  7. Simmer until sauce re-heats and thickens slightly, about 5 minutes.
  8. Add basil and 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese to sauce, stirring to incorporate.
  9. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low, simmer; sauce will reduce and thicken.
  10. Serve pasta generously covered with sauce and peppers, place thin-cut breaded chicken on top and eat! DELICIOUS!

*** Note: If you want to make your own chicken breasts to use for this recipe, there are instructions in the recipe linked, or you can see my recipe here and bread with parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs with whatever spices you desire.

Friday, January 15, 2010

New Orleans-Style Beignets

These beignets (pronounced "ben-yays") are incredible! The entire batch (a big batch) was done in less than 90 minutes, and they were absolutely delicious! For me, this is now my donut substitute... donuts are so hard to perfect, and these were quite easy to "get right" the very first time I made them (yesterday morning).

The reviews say they're like Cafe du Monde's beignets-- that's quite a reputation. So if you get a hankerin (I know that may not be as motivating for those of you who live close to a good donut/pastry shop), I highly recommend this recipe:

Costa's French Market Doughnuts (Beignets)

Oh, and by the way, I didn't have evaporated milk and so looked on the web for a quick substitute and used 1/2 cream and 1/2 buttermilk as a substitute and they were delicious!

They're particularly good with coffee within 10-15 minutes of being cooked. Enjoy!