.cajun chicken pasta w/ roasted red pepper sauce.

I received an email the other day asking if I had a cajun chicken pasta recipe that I would be willing to share. Well, I didn't, but I am *always* looking for new dinner ideas and thought this would be a good one. I didn't want to do a basic cream sauce so I took it one step further and made a roasted red pepper cream sauce that was out of this world! A little kick and oh yah..

This recipe doesn't take that long to make. You just have to remember to make your rub and coat the chicken the night before so it has enough time to marinate. You can have this on your table in under an hour!


In a large ziploc, put 4 Tbsp paprika, 2 Tbsp salt, 2 Tbsp garlic powder, 1 Tbsp black pepper, 2 Tbsp onion powder, 1 1/2 Tbsp cayenne pepper, and 2 tsp thyme. Shake it up to mix everything together.

Put two chicken breasts in the bag and shake to coat. Seal well and hold in the fridge overnight.


Before grilling, scrape off some of the rub so it's not all caked on. Grill on high to sear each side, then lower the temp and cook through. Once cooked, pull from the grill and bring inside.


Once the chicken has rested for a few minutes, shred using two forks. I left the pieces in bite sized portions. I didn't want it *too* shredded. Set aside.


Mince one shallot.

Mince 3-4 cloves garlic.


Take a jar of roasted red peppers and drain completely. Roughly chop the peppers.


This is the pasta I used. You can use fettuccine or any kind you want.


Bring salt water to a boil and cook the whole box of pasta for 12-14 minutes. Once cooked, drain well.

While that cooks we're going to make the sauce.


Heat 2 Tbsp butter and 2 Tbsp olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.


Add the shallot, garlic, and peppers. Cook over medium heat and let them sweat for about 5 minutes. You don't want the heat too high. Sauteing (like I usually do) seals in the flavor. Sweating the garlic and shallots releases and mellows the flavor. That's what we want!


Season with a little salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper. Don't use too much pepper! You want a little heat, not too much.


After those 5 minutes, put everything into a blender. Put the lid on and start blending.


Make sure you're careful with this step! Slowly add a pint of cream through the top hole. Make sure you keep the cap on and drizzle that cream in because it will shoot up at you.


Pour the sauce back into the skillet and put over low heat to reheat a little.


Grate about 1/2 cup parmesan cheese.


Add the cooked pasta and parmesan to the sauce and toss everything together well.


Add the shredded chicken. Toss well.


Chop a little parsley and add to the pan. Toss well again.

Plate up and garnish with a little more grated parmesan and a sprig of parsley.

Thank you Celeste for the email and I hope your family enjoys this dish as much as we did. It's definitely going to be made again and again here! If you're low carbing like I'm doing, you can just leave out the pasta on your plate. The chicken and sauce are great by themselves.

Serve with salad.


Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_107dr5m2mcg

.grilled italian sausage and veggie panini.

There's nothing better than grilling during the hot months of summer. Although it's not "officially" summer, it's already hot here in Georgia. One of the benefits of living here is that we can grill pretty much year round which we love!


This sandwich takes only 30 minutes to make so if you're just back from the beach and not wanting to spend hours on a meal, this one is perfect. It's not very heavy. It's quick. And it's very delicious.


This recipe makes 4 grilled panini. Adjust for however many people you will be feeding. Enjoy!



Take one zucchini and slice lengthwise. Cut the slices in half then carefully put them on skewers. Set aside.

Cut two thick slices of red onion. Put them on a skewer too.

Cut a red bell pepper in quarters. Remove the seeds. You can put these on a skewer or just leave them free. They won't fall through the grates of the bbq grill so you do what you want, okay?

Drizzle a little olive oil on all of the veggies and rub it around.

Season with salt and pepper.











Take 1 package of sweet italian sausages and put those on the tray. We're going to grill these babies up. YUMMY!!!!
















The best bread to use for these sandwiches is ciabatta (pronounced chu-bah-duh). If you can't find ciabatta, any good, rustic bread will work. The bread will most likely not be presliced as that dries out the bread horribly. Slice the bread in half.

Drizzle a little olive oil on the insides of each of the rolls. Rub it in.
We're taking these out to the grill too!!!

Put your sausages and veggies on the grill and cook until everything is done. The sausages will be nice and plump, the red bell pepper will be nicely blackened, and the zucchini and onion will be tender.
Remove from the grill and put on a tray.

When the sausages and veggies are almost done grilling, put the ciabatta on oiled side down and grill until they start browning on the edges. You don't want them burned so make sure you don't leave them on too long.
Pull from grill and now take everything inside.

In a bowl, mix together 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 1/2 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp basil, 1/2 tsp dill weed, and 1 clove garlic. Season with salt and pepper. If you'd like, add 1 Tbsp stone ground mustard. I don't like mustard so I didn't add that to my mix.

Spread some of the herbed mayo on the top portion of the ciabatta roll.

Slice your sausages lengthwise.











Put some of the sausage slices on the bottom bun.

















Put on two slices of zucchini, 1 piece of red bell pepper and some red onion.
Top with a slice of provolone cheese.
Put the top bun on, slice in half and enjoy with a yummy pasta salad, potato salad, or chips!

Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_62h44d83dq

.vidalia meatloaf with roasted red pepper ketchup and onion rings.

I like meatloaf but only during Vidalia season. The sweetness of the onion gives this meatloaf a nice mild flavor. I use some unconventional ingredients too which makes it moist and delicious. I know some people might think meatloaf is yawn, snore, BORING. But with a few changes here and there, you can take something from snorefest to WOWfest.



In this entry, you'll find the recipe for the meatloaf and the roasted red pepper ketchup. I will make a separate entry tomorrow for the onion rings. :)


Begin by cutting up one small vidalia onion. Notice i didn't cut my pieces very small. I like to get a bite of it in my meatloaf.

We're going to caramelize the onions before putting them in the mixing bowl. Heat a skillet over medium heat. We want to sweat the onions, not sautee so don't get the heat too high. Put a little olive oil in the pan. Add the onion. Mix around.

Sprinkle a little sugar on top, and add some salt. This will pull the water out of the onion and help start the caramel-
ization process. Cook until they start browning. If they look like they're burning a little, add a Tablespoon of water. Set aside.

Finely chop half of a green bell pepper. I like this to be in smaller pieces to 1) not scare off small children. ACK! A PEPPER!, and 2) I want the pepper to be dispersed throughout the loaf.

Put 1 1/2 lbs ground beef and 1 1/2 pounds ground pork in a bowl.


You can use ground sirloin, or ground veal, or whatever kind of meat you want. Go crazy with it!

Add the chopped bell pepper.

Add the caramelized onion.

Add 3/4 cup cottage cheese. I know what you're thinking. TRUST ME. It's all good!

Add 2 eggs.

Add 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese. I know... I added a little bit more than that. I can't help it. I love cheese!

Add 1/2 cup plain bread crumbs

1 tsp Worchestershire sauce.


We're almost there!

Salt and pepper, and 2 minced garlic cloves.


I'd say "oh yah, baby".. but whenever I hear that phrase, I think of Emeril Legasse and it creeps me out. So I shall resist the urge.

Remove all rings and watches from your hands/wrists. Using your fingers and hands, smoosh all of the ingredients together. If the thought of touching raw meat repulses you, enlist the help of your slaves... I mean.. children. :) Make sure they wash up well first. Ick. You should see my daughter's hands sometimes. *shudder*




Put the meat into a loaf pan or baking dish and shape. Put in a 350* oven and bake for 50 minutes or until done.


While it's baking, make the ketchup.


In a saucepan, heat some olive oil over medium high heat. Put in 1/2 cup finely diced onion, 2 cloves of minced garlic, 1 bay leaf, and 1/2 tsp fennel seed. Saute for about 1 minute being careful not to burn the garlic.

Add 1 cup ketchup and 2 Tbsp brown sugar. Stir well.

Add 1/2 jar roasted red peppers.

Add 1 chipotle pepper, finely minced.

If you don't want this spicy, add only 1/2 of a pepper. Ours had a lot of bite to it so I didn't give any to my daughter. Cook down for about 1/2 hour.

Pull the meatloaf from the oven. There's always some strange floaty stuff around the edge of my meatloaf. If you have it, take a spoon and scoop it away.

After you've pulled the meatloaf from the oven, remove the bay leaf from the ketchup and dump everything into a blender. Pulse until all the chunky stuff is almost gone. I leave some of it because I like having some texture.

Also, after you pull the meatloaf from the oven, jack the temp up to 425* and bake however many slices of THIS awesome bread you need. (1 per person)

To plate: put the piece of garlic bread down on a plate. Cut a nice thick piece of meatloaf and put on top of the bread. Spoon some mashed potatoes on top of that. Drizzle the roasted red pepper ketchup around the plate and on top of the potatoes. Top with Tabasco beer battered onion rings.


Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_48c52tgpct