Cajun Chicken Pasta Recipe

This recipe is my attempt to make Chili's cajun chicken pasta.  Everone in my family loves it.  And it's pretty easy which is a plus for me.  This is not an exact amount on the chicken and the pasta.  You can adjust the amount for larger or smaller family.  This is what I use to feed 4 of us.

Ingredients
4 -6 pieces of boneless chicken breast (I use the skinless, boneless frozen breasts)
16 oz. box of penne rigate pasta
cajun seasoning ( I use McCormick)
some olive oil and butter (or whatever oil you prefer to cook the chicken)

Ingredients for the sauce
1 pint of heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups of grated parmesan cheese

Thaw the chicken and cut it in bite size strips.  Add about a Tablespoon of butter and a little pour of olive oil to a large frying pan.  When that is melted and hot (careful not to let the butter get scorched), add the chicken.  Sprinkle on some of the cajun seasoning. Cook on about medium till it's done all the way through.  As the chicken is cooking, get your pasta water on to boil.  Cook the pasta according to package directions.  I use most of the box of pasta, you can use however much you need for your family size. 
As the chicken and pasta water are going, start a medium saucepan for the sauce.  I turn it on low and put the 1/2 cup of butter in to start melting.  When the butter is melted I add the heavy cream, whisking it in slowly,  then when the butter and the cream are getting hot I slowly add the parmesan cheese, whisking it until it's blended well.  I tun the heat up to about medium until it is blended and hot,stirring frequently, then remove from heat.  It will thicken some after removing from heat. 
When the pasta, sauce and chicken are all cooked and pasta strained, add the sauce to the pan of pasta,  mix it in well.  ( If you used less pasta you may need to adjust the amount of sauce)  You can always divide the sauce recipe in half if you are cooking for just 2. Then put the pasta on a plate, add some chicken to the top of the pasta and sprinkle a little cajun seasoning on top.
We usually have some garlic toast with it.

Chicken Tetrazzini Recipe

This recipe for chicken tetrazzini is one of our family favorites and comes from my mom's 40 year old Betty Crocker cookbook.  It's a great recipe for using leftover chicken or turkey.  We usually have some garlic bread along with it.  Enjoy.

Chicken Tetrazzini

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup whipping cream  (half n half also works well)
2 Tablespoons sherry ( I use water)
1 package (7 ounces) spaghetti, cooked and drained
2 cups cubed cooked chicken or turkey
1 can (3 ounces) sliced mushrooms, drained  (I leave these out and it's fine)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 350*F.   Melt butter in large saucepan over low heat.  Blend in flour and seasonings.  Cook over low heat, stirring until mixture is smooth and bubbly.  Remove from heat.  Stir in broth and cream.  Heat to boiling, stirring constantly.  Boil and stir 1 minute.  Stir in wine, spaghetti, chicken and mushrooms.  Pour into ungreased 2-quart casserole.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Bake uncovered 30 minutes or until bubbly. 
6 servings.

Pumpkin Bread

Fall is a great time to do some baking. This recipe is one of our family favorites. It is from my old Pillsbury Kitchens Family Cookbook. The flavor of quick breads improve with time, so it will taste even better the day after it's baked. It never lasts more than a day or two here though.

Pumpkin Bread

15 or 16 oz. can (2 cups) pumpkin
3 cups sugar
1 cup oil
2/3 cup water
4 eggs
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger

Heat oven to 350*F. Grease (not oil) and flour bottoms only of two 9x5 or 8x4 inch loaf pans. In large bowl, blend first five ingredients. Beat 1 minute at medium speed. Add remaining ingredients; blend at low speed until moistened. Beat 1 minute at medium speed. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake at 350*F for 60 to 75 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes; remove from pans. Cool completely.

*You may need to cover with foil if it starts getting too brown.

Best Apple Pie Recipe

One of the things I love about fall is picking apples. We visited the orchard on Saturday and got about a bushel of apples. Those apples will be applesauce, pies, crisps, fried apples and I'm hoping some apple butter. My grandson,who is 19 months, was so excited about this apple tree made of wood with holes cut out for their faces. How funny is that?

I am going to give you all the best apple pie recipe. It is from my 30 year old Pillsbury Kitchens Family Cookbook and it's the best recipe I've ever used. So here goes. Just to let you know, I usually use the streusel topping on my pies instead of a top crust but you can do it either way. And of course, it's always better if you use homemade crust but you can use an already made one. I also personally prefer butter to margarine for baking.

Ingredients
9" pie crust
6 cups peeled, sliced apples
3/4 to 1 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons flour
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Dash of salt
1 Tablespoon of butter or margarine

Heat oven to 425*F. Prepare pastry. In large bowl, combine apples, sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt; toss lightly to mix. Turn into pastry-lined pie pan. Dot with margarine or butter. Cover with top crust (cut slits for escape of steam); seal and flute edge. Bake at 425*F for 40 to 45 minutes or until juice begins to bubble through slits in crust.
(If you are using the streusel topping leave out the 1 Tablespoon of butter)

Streusel Topping
3/4 cup Flour
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup butter or margarine

In small bowl, combine all ingredients until crumbly. Sprinkle over fruit filling. Bake as directed with the recipe. Cover topping with foil last 10 minutes of baking time if the top browns too quickly.

Here is my pie.

Enjoy your pies. See ya next time.

What is That?

In the spring, I usually buy flowers to plant in my flower bed in front of the house. This spring I never did do it. So, of course, weeds have taken it over.
We have taken a weed eater to it once. Then a few weeks ago our neighbor was looking at the weeds and told my husband he wanted some when they were bigger. He said it makes good salsa. I thought it was weird but hey, who am I to judge. Then last week a friend came by and asked where I got the plants out front. She was talking about the same plants.
Strange that everybody is so interested in those weeds. I didn't get them from anywhere they are just there. Thinking back I have actually battled these "weeds" for years. I pull them out all summer trying to keep my flowers free of weeds. She said they are tomatillos, pronounced [toh-MAH-tee-YO]. Wow! I have a crop of tomatillos in my front flower bed.
Apparently, they are good for making salsas and other Mexican dishes. Now,if they grow and mature enough before it gets cold we will have lots of tomatillos. They are still pretty small, remember we did hack them down once already. I have no idea where they came from or how they got here, but here they are. Hopefully, we can enjoy them and share them with the friends and neighbors who recognized them before we got the weed whacker out again.
Here are some recipes for using tomatillos.
And some more interesting tomatillo sites.
http://www.mariquita.com/images/photogallery/vegetablesatoz/tomatillo/tomatillophotoessay.html
http://www.baileyfarmsinc.com/recipeList.asp?PRODUCT=55