Giada's Chicken Tetrazzini

I am a big fan of the Food Network and one of the chefs I like to watch is Giada de Laurentis. I checked out one of her cookbooks, Giada's Family Dinners, from the local library and tried her chicken tetrazzini recipe. It was amazing and was the perfect rich and creamy consistency. Growing up I only had this dish at school for lunch but this is definitely a step up from the school cafeteria.

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
1 tablespoon of olive oil
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
2 1/4 tsp salt, plus more for pasta
1 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 pound white mushrooms, sliced
1 large onion, finely chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup all purpose flour
4 cups whole milk
1 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
12 oz dried linguine
3/4 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup dried Italian style bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Use 1 tablespoon of butter to grease 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking dish. In large frying pan, melt 1 tablespoon of butter and oil over medium high heat. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper (1/2 tsp of each) and cook in pan until pale golden and just cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to plate to cool, shred meat into bite size pieces, and place in large bowl.

Add mushrooms to same pan, saute until golden and liquid from mushrooms evaporates. Add 1 tablespoon of butter. After it melts, add onion, garlic and thyme. Saute till onion is translucent, about 8 minutes. Add wine and simmer until it evaporates, about 2 minutes. Transfer mushroom mixture to the bowl with chicken.


Melt remaining 3 tablespoons of butter in same pan. Add the flour and whisk for 2 minutes. Whisk in the milk, broth, cream, nutmeg, remaining salt (1 3/4 tsp) and remaining pepper (3/4 tsp). Increase heat to high. Cover the sauce and bring to boil, then simmer uncovered, whisking often, until the sauce thickens slightly, about 1 minute.

Bring large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the linguine and cook until tender but still firm, about 9 minutes. Drain and add pasta, sauce, peas, and parsley to chicken mixture. Toss until the sauce coats the pasta and the mixture is well blended.

Transfer the pasta mixture to prepared baking dish. In small bowl, stir the cheese and bread crumbs to blend. Sprinkle cheese mixture over the casserole. Bake uncovered until golden brown on top and bubbly, about 25 minutes.

Mexican Chicken Soup

The weather has gotten colder and there is nothing better than a bowl of hot soup to warm you up. I had left over chicken and decided to throw it together with some Mexican spices and some canned goods in the pantry; it came out great. I liked eating it with toast but my finacee and his brother ate it with tortillas.

2 cooked skinless chicken breasts, meat shredded
1 can diced tomatoes, in juice, about 14 oz.
1 can charro beans, about 16 oz.
2 tablespoons of green onion, chopped
3 tablespoons of cliantro, chopped
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp mexican oregano
1/2 tsp garlic salt
dash of salt and pepper

I literally put all the ingredients above into a pot and let it come to a boil and then let it simmer for 20 minutes or so. The soup broth is created from the tomato juices and canned beans. This recipe makes 4 - 5 servings.

Enoteca for Wonderful Italian Food

This Friday I went to lunch with a friend at Enoteca, a small Italian eatery on South Congress in Austin. It is the casual lunch version of the fancier Vespaio restaurant that is next door. I ordered the spaghetti carbanara and it was amazing. It was rich and creamy and delectable. It was definitely not a low carb option but I had to try it since I have recently discovered pancetta so anything I see with this on the menu has caught my eye lately. Pancetta is an Italian meat basically like bacon except it is not smoked.

My friend Cobbie got the gnocchi with a red sauce which she said was very good. Gnocchi is a pasta that looks more like a dumpling which is made out of potatoes. Enoteca had a good selection of pasta dishes as well as panini sandwiches and medley of antipasto (or appetizers). I didn't try anything else for lunch that day but I will definitely be going back to sample the rest!