Chicken Pasta w/Sun-dried Tomatoes

I came across this recipe in my February 2008 Cuisine at Home. The recipe called for pappardelle pasta, but my store did not have it, I used a nice wide fettuccine instead and it worked perfectly. I changed the recipe a little, they call for using 2 thick slices of bacon and I used pancetta instead. This was a nice pasta that reminded us of eating stroganoff.

Chicken Pasta w/Sun-Dried Tomatoes

8 oz. dry pappardelle or fettuccine
3 oz. slice of pancetta, cubed
1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, drained and minced
3 cups cooked chicken, cut into bite size pieces (12 oz)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta. Cook pasta according to directions, drain and set aside.
Saute pancetta in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat and cook for 3 minutes. Add tomatoes, chicken, garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until garlic starts to brown, 1 minute.
Deglaze with wine, scraping bottom of skillet. Stir in broth, cream and pasta and bring to a simmer. Cook until sauce thickens slightly, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Top with dried parsley and freshly grated cheese is so desired.

Cloned Meat and Dairy Coming to a Store Near You

This is wrong and scary folks.......

The Food and Drug Administration is expected to declare as early as next week that meat and milk from cloned animals and their offspring are safe to consume, the Wall Street Journal reported without naming its source.
The FDA had asked producers of cloned livestock not to sell food products from such animals pending its ruling on their safety. It is not clear whether the FDA will lift this voluntary hold, the report said.
While many consumer groups still oppose it, the FDA declaration that cloned animal products are safe would be a milestone for a small cadre of biotech companies that want to make a business out of producing copies of prize dairy cows and other farm animals.

El Torito-Woodland Hills, CA

While I was in California with Ryan on Saturday, he was in the mood for Mexican, so we headed for El Torito. El Torito is a California based casual Mexican food place and the decor is pretty typical for a Mexican restaurant.

Our server arrived at the table with chips and salsa and took our drink orders. The chips were good and the salsa was excellent. The salsa was thick and had just the right amount of heat. Our drinks arrived and my iced tea was fruit flavored, which seems to be the going way to serve it in California. Personally, I like my iced tea to taste like regular tea, that fruity stuff doesn't cut it with me. Plus, if you serve flavored tea, you should say you serve flavored tea.

For lunch, Ryan ordered the Picadillo Burrito ($8.99). It was beef, refried beans, jack cheese, lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes, tortilla strips and salsa wrapped in a large flour tortilla and covered in a guajillo chile sauce, crema fresca, onions and cilantro. It was served with refried beans and rice. He loved it and ate every bit.

I ordered the Rolled Grilled Tacos ($9.99). This was a very interesting dish and consisted of a lot of food. You get 2 tacos filled with chicken, 2 with steak and cheese and 2 with marinated veggies. they were served with a wonderful slightly sweet and spicy red pepper dip. The tacos were rolled and grilled and served with some nicely flavored, soupy beans and rice. I loved the chicken and the vegetable tacos, but thought the steak ones were so-so. It was a lot of food and I could only eat half of it.

Overall, I liked the food and the service was okay. They are located at 6040 Canoga Ave. Woodland Hills, CA.

Italian Chili

This recipe comes from my latest copy of Cuisine at Home, the February 2008 one to be exact. I thought it sounded interesting, but I started doubting it as I prepared it. It seemed like it was going to be a big ol' pot of spaghetti sauce that I would be adding beans to in the end and for some reason that seemed a little gross to me. When it was all said and done, the chili was pretty much a pasta sauce with beans, but it was actually good. I made a few changes to the recipe, however. Their recipe called for 1/2 pound stick of pepperoni cubed, where I used 3 ounces of proscuitto. They called for 2 28-ounce cans of whole tomatoes and I used crushed and pureed. I used 1 cup of diced onion as opposed to their 2 cups and I used 2 cans of cannellini beans, where they used 1 and 1 of red kidney. I also added a bay leaf to my recipe and added my seasonings when I added the tomatoes. They added their seasonings when they added the beans and I felt it needed the seasonings to cook with the tomatoes.

Italian Chili

1 lb. bulk Italian sausage
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 cup onion, diced
3 oz. prosciutto, diced
2 cloves garlic. minced
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
1/2 cup dry red wine
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 can (28 oz) tomato puree
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes in puree
1 cup chicken broth
2 cans (14 oz) cannellini beans
1 Tbsp. dried Italian seasoning
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
salt to taste

Saute sausage in oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. When brown add onion, prosciutto and garlic; cook 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and saute 1 minute.
Deglaze with wine and vinegar; reduce until nearly evaporated. Add tomatoes, broth, seasonings, red pepper flakes and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer and cook 20 minutes.
Stir in beans, add salt to taste and simmer until heated through, 5 minutes.

Mustard Pan Sauce

I made this sauce to go with my Pan-Roasted Pork Tenderloin. This recipe was inspired by a recipe from the Joy of Cooking. I did not have some of the ingredients that they called for, so I came up with this one instead.



Mustard Pan Sauce


2/3 cup apple cider
4 tsp. stone ground mustard
1 Tbsp. Grand Marnier
1 tsp. hebes de provence
salt and pepper to taste


Add apple cider to pan that you roasted the pork tenderloin in and cook over medium heat until boiling, stirring to remove brown bits from bottom of pan. Add the additional ingredients and lower the heat, continue to cook for 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve over pork.

Pan-Roasted Pork Tenderloin

I really wanted to grill out last night, but the weather was a little too cold and windy for me. I had a pork tenderloin thawed, so I grabbed my Joy of Cooking and prepared this recipe. It's actually very simple and the flavor was very good. I did add garlic powder to my recipe, so it can be omitted.

Pan- Roasted Pork Tenderloin

1 pork tenderloin (8-12 oz)

Salt and pepper

Garlic powder

1 Tbsp. butter

1 Tbsp. olive oil

Season the pork with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Heat butter and olive oil in a large skillet over high heat; brown the pork on all sides. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, turning a couple of times, until a thermometer inserted in the thickest part reads 155 degrees. Remove to a plate and cover loosely with aluminum foil, and let stand 5 to 10 minutes before slicing. Save pan juices for Mustard Pan Sauce .

Happy New Year

Just wishing everyone the best in the coming New Year! Hope that you all keep your resolutions. I don't make them anymore because I always end up breaking them. It seems to be another reason to be negative and I don't need that.