Linguine with Tex-Mex Pepper Cream Sauce

I saw this recipe in the pasta swap that A Taste of Home Cooking hosted. I was out of town during the swap, so I wasn't able to participate. There were so many amazing pasta recipes shared, but this one really piqued my interest. The sauce had a great Tex-Mex flavor, though I will increase the heat next time with the addition of a chipotle pepper or two.   I stayed pretty true to the original recipe posted by Kate's Recipe Box.  This is such an easy weeknight meal, it comes together very quickly.  Though it does dirty a lot of dishes, it's totally worth it.

Linguine with Tex-Mex Pepper Cream Sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 teaspoon salt
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound linguine pasta
1 cup sour cream
¼ cup cilantro, plus more for garnish
4 ounces can mild diced green chiles
2/3 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon black pepper

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions, bell peppers and salt to the pan; cook until tender, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds more. Prepare the pasta according to package directions.

Place the pepper mixture into the bowl of a food processor along with sour cream, cilantro, green chiles, cheese, cayenne and black pepper. Puree until smooth scraping the sides as needed.

Toss the pasta with the sauce. Plate and garnish with cilantro.

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Smoked Turkey Pasta

Once again, I had a smoked turkey to use up the week before Thanksgiving...can you ever really be sick of turkey? Of course you can. Which is why this dish can easily be frozen in a casserole dish and reheated when the turkey craving sets in again. After I made this, the remaining smoked turkey meat was banished to the freezer. When it gets cold in February for a week or so, I will defrost it to make more Smoked Turkey Chowder.

Smoked Turkey Pasta

2 tablespoons olive oil
½ onion, chopped
1 cup button mushrooms, sliced
1 large red bell pepper, seeded, diced
1 ½ cups dry white wine
2 cups half and half
3 cups smoked turkey, shredded
1 teaspoon parsley
¾ pound linguine or pasta of your choice
¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Heat olive oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add chopped onions and sauté 1 minute. Add mushrooms and bell pepper and sauté until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Add white wine and boil until liquid is reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Add 1 cup whipping cream and simmer until sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Add remaining 1 cup whipping cream, smoked turkey and parsley; simmer 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite. Drain well. Add pasta to sauce in pot and toss to coat. Add cheese and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Adapted from Bon Appetit

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Spanish Chicken with Rice

This is sort of a fake-out paella. C doesn't eat seafood of any kind, which makes cooking paella a challenge. I tried to adapt it to an easy weeknight meal. I thought it was really good, not as good as paella, but good enough for a Thursday night dinner. C on the other hand was not a fan. He thought there was "some weird spice", at least he is consistent.

Spanish Chicken with Red Bell Peppers and Rice
serves 4

1 pound boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ large onion, chopped
1 large red bell pepper, cut into ½ inch pieces
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon paprika
1 ½ cups white rice
1 cup dry white wine
1 (14-oz) can diced tomatoes including juice
1 ¼ cups chicken broth
¾ teaspoon crumbled saffron threads
1 bay leaf
1 cup frozen peas

Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. Using a deep 12-inch heavy skillet, brown chicken in hot oil on all sides. Transfer chicken with tongs to a plate. Add onion, red pepper, and salt to taste. Cook over moderate heat, stirring, until softened, about 7 minutes. Add garlic, paprika, and rice, then cook, stirring 1 minute. Add wine and boil, uncovered 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes with juice, chicken broth, saffron, and bay leaf. Nestle chicken in rice adding any juices from plate.

Cook, covered, over low heat until chicken is cooked through, rice is tender, and most of liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the peas, and salt and pepper to taste. Cover skillet and let stand 10 minutes. Discard bay leaf.

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Chicken (Turkey) Tetrazzini

On of my most favorite clips from The Soup is the "chicken tetrazzini" clip from the Maury show. It is high-larious. I wonder if I can seduce men with my chicken (turkey) tetrazzini. Makes me laugh every time I see it...









Herbed Turkey Tetrazzini

1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup fresh mushrooms
1 red pepper, sliced (I used green because it is what I had)
1/4 cup each flour & butter
1 cup milk
1 cup chicken broth
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp dried whole tarragon
1/8 tsp pepper
1 dash of ground nutmeg
2-1/2 cups cooked spaghetti
1-1/2 cups turkey, cooked/chopped
1/2 cup shredded mozzerella cheese divided
chopped parsley
lemon slice halves
red pepper strips

Saute onion, red pepper and mushrooms in butter in a large, heavy
saucepan until just tender. Add flour, stirring well. Cook
one minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add milk and
chicken broth; cook over medium heat, stirring constantly,
until mixture is thick and bubbly. Stir in parsley,
tarragon, pepper and nutmeg. Stir in spaghetti, turkey,
and half of the cheese, mixing well.

Pour into a greased 1-1/2 quart casserole bake at 350 for
20 minutes. Sprinkle remaining cheese over the top and
bake an additional 5 minutes. Garnish with parsley, lemon
slices, and pepper strips.

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Chicken Lo Mein

I got this fantastic recipe from this blog. It was so good, even C dubbed it "super yummy". Miss F also sampled some of the noodles and mushrooms mixed with her acorn squash, she was also a big fan, but she is very easy to please. I had to sub in sugar snap peas for snow peas, but they worked just fine. Any vegetables that you would normally have in stiry fry will work in this recipe.

I found it entertaining that my grocer had at least 10 different kinds of lo mein noodles (go Asian section at HEB), but no snow peas, not fresh nor frozen. It was even better that my noodle choice had no directions on them, 8 minutes in boiling water may have been a tad too long.



Chicken Lo Mein

Ingredients:
6 oz. lo mein noodles
1 tbsp. oyster sauce
2 tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup chicken broth
Pinch red pepper flakes
1/2 tbsp. canola oil
1 medium chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, seeded and sliced thin
1 cup snow peas
4 oz. sliced mushrooms
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. sesame oil

Directions:
Bring a pot of water to boil. Cook the lo mein noodles according to the package directions. Drain and set aside. In the meantime, make the sauce by combining the oyster sauce, soy sauce, chicken broth and red pepper flakes in a small bowl. Whisk well and set aside.

Heat the canola oil in a large nonstick skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add the chicken to the pan and cook until browned and cooked through. Add in the vegetables, each a few minutes apart, starting with the onion and bell pepper and ending with the mushrooms. Cook just until tender-crisp. Add in the garlic and saute just until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Add the sauce to the pan, and then the cooked lo mein noodles. Toss the mixture well to coat everything. Drizzle with the sesame oil and toss once more. Serve immediately.

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Island Pork Tenderloin Salad

I got this recipe from epicurious.com. The ingredients looked fantastic and it didn't disappoint. Even C enjoyed it, which amazes me, he normally doesn't like salads as entrees, but he really liked this one. Yay, success. This is going into permanent rotation at our house.

The whole thing came together in 30 minutes, with enough time to feed F's yogurt, banana, acorn and butternut squash dinner in between the hands on parts. That is even more of a success in this house. I made the dressing in our mini-chop, it is so much easier than whisking and always emulsifies the vinaigrette. I also added some romaine lettuce to the mix, because I had some on hand.


Island Pork Tenderloin Salad

For pork
1 teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 pork tenderloin
1 tablespoons olive oil

For glaze
½ cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
1 tablespoon Tabasco

For vinaigrette
1 ½ tablespoons fresh lime juice
½ tablespoon fresh orange juice
½ tablespoon Dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ cup olive oil

For salad
1 navel orange
2 ounces baby spinach, trimmed (5 cups leaves)
1 cup thinly sliced Napa cabbage (from 1 medium head)
½ red bell pepper, cut lengthwise into thin strips
1 firm-ripe California avocados

Preparation

Prepare pork:
Preheat oven to 350°F.

Stir together salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, and cinnamon, then coat pork with spice rub.

Heat oil in an ovenproof 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until just beginning to smoke, then brown pork, turning, about 4 minutes total. Leave pork in skillet.

Make glaze and roast pork:
Stir together brown sugar, garlic, and Tabasco and pat onto top of each tenderloin. Roast in middle of oven until thermometer inserted diagonally in center of each tenderloin registers 140°F, about 20 minutes. Let pork stand in skillet at room temperature 10 minutes. (Temperature will rise to about 155°F while standing.)

Make vinaigrette while pork roasts:
Whisk together juices, mustard, salt, and pepper, then add oil in a stream, whisking until emulsified.

Prepare salad ingredients while pork stands:
Cut peel, including white pith, from oranges with a sharp knife, then cut oranges crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Toss spinach, cabbage, and bell pepper in a large bowl with about 1/4 cup vinaigrette. Halve, pit, and peel avocados, then cut diagonally into 1/4-inch-thick slices.

Assemble salad:
Cut pork at a 45-degree angle into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Line a large platter with dressed salad and arrange sliced pork, oranges, and avocados in rows on top. Drizzle some vinaigrette over avocados and oranges. Pour any juices from skillet over pork.

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Beef and Chicken Fajitas

One of the greatest things about moving to Texas was discovering I liked more Tex-Mex than I thought. As a kid, the only thing I would eat at a "Mexican" restaurant, and up north the Mexican is not really Mexican, um, cough-Chi-Chis-cough, was cheese nachos. I think the only reason I ordered them was because I liked the dramatic presentation. They were on a big platter that was on top of a warming candle, very fun when you are 8 years old. Now that I have expanded my Tex-Mex eating, I have fallen in love with guacamole. I will eat vats of it and put it on nearly anything.

Fajitas are easy. They are best when made on the grill. There are so many condiments you can serve with them, it really is whatever you want. Some places serve garlic butter, onions, bell peppers, lettuce, cheese, salsa, tomato, green sauce, sour cream, guacamole, I could go on and on. I did simple cheese and guacamole last night since I was trying to get this on the table quick.

You can make your own, sometimes I do, but when I am doing things quick, I use Fabuloso Quick Fajita Marinade. I have always wondered if it is the same company as the Fabuloso floor cleaners...I am guessing yes.

Beef and Chicken Fajitas

3/4 lb beef fajita meat
1 breast of chicken
1 tablespoon fajita marinade, I prefer Fabuloso Quick Fajita Marinade
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 green bell pepper
1 tablespoon oil
8 tortillas

any condiments you like

Slice the chicken, beef and bell peppers into thin slices. Toss the chicken and beef with the marinade. Set aside.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over high heat. Add the chicken, beef and bell peppers. Saute until meat is cooked through and the peppers soften just a little, about 5 to 7 minutes.

Wrap the tortillas in a damp paper towel. Warm in the microwave for 45 seconds.

Serve with whatever fixins you enjoy on your fajitas.

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Bacon Wrapped Filet with Corn and Red Pepper Salsa

C's mom and stepdad were kind enough to watch F this past Friday night and when I went to pick her up, there was a cooler set beside all her stuff. Inside were two filet mingnons wrapped in bacon. Yum~ perfect for grilling for Father's Day. The corn and red pepper salsa is served warm and is really easy to make.








Warm Corn and Red Pepper Salsa

1/2 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1/2 red pepper, diced
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon lime juice
1 teaspoon parsley
1/2 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons onion, minced
couple shakes of hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

Combine all ingredients except oil. Saute in a small pan with the oil for 3 to 5 minutes, just to warm through. Serve over bacon wrapped filets, or whatever meat of your choosing.

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Grilled Zucchini and Red Peppers

We went to a friends house for dinner last weekend and they served amazing zucchini. It had been sliced lengthways and grilled. I tried to replicate it, just tossing it with olive oil, salt and pepper, then grilling. I also did the same with some red peppers left over from the peanut chicken pasta. I served it with a grilled ribeye and grilled corn.

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