Another Dish With Pasta and Chicken

You may have notice an overabundance of pasta with chicken recipes here at Cooking in Bush Alaska.  You may have also noticed an overabundance of Pioneer Woman recipes.  That's because I love pasta.  And chicken.  And Pioneer Woman.

This dish is yet another pasta with chicken dish.  And it comes from Pioneer Woman.  But it's good.  Worth trying.  Really.

My version has a few key differences from Pioneer Woman's.  I'm not cooking enough to feed four punks and a hungry cowboy.  It's just me and my hungry schoolteacher (our punk isn't ready for table food yet).  Also, I don't have a dutch oven YET, so I had to bake the chicken and tomatoes in a separate dish instead of putting everything straight into the oven.






Start with a little olive oil and butter in a pan.  (I took a picture of butter, but it was a really bad picture.  I decided to spare our dear readers.  You're welcome.)





I like to use chicken thighs for this dish.  Salt and pepper them, and brown them on each side.





I usually wimp out when it comes to browning things because I get scared that they're going to burn.  I actually did a pretty good job this time.






Remove the chicken.  Use some wine to get all of the yummy bits off the bottom of the pan.





Add some diced tomatoes...





Whatever herbs you have on hand.  (I happened to have fresh basil because the basil plants on my aerogarden were going nuts...)





And whole cloves of garlic, and bring to a boil.





Pour the tomatoes and garlic mixture over the chicken.  Cover and bake for about forty-five minutes.





Serve over pasta and covered in cheese.

Cajun Chicken Pasta a la Pioneer Woman

Chicken and pasta is a staple at our house, so I'm always looking for new ways to recreate it.  The seasoning in this dish made it different than anything else I've tried.




I started by making my own cajun seasoning.  I used this recipe as my base.  Next time I might use a little less thyme.





I tossed strips of chicken in the seasoning and then threw them into a pan of hot oil to brown on both sides.   Then I removed the chicken to a plate.

Note to readers: I think you're supposed to go for the cajun blackened look here, but I'm kind of a wimp and was terrified of starting a fire.  I chose to go with the not-so-cajun golden look.






Do the same thing to some onions and bell peppers.

Note to readers: Again, I completely missed the whole blackened thing.  I think it was because my bell peppers were still partially frozen.

Additional note to readers: I was supposed to season the vegetables with the cajun seasoning prior to cooking them.  I forgot.  I sprinkled the seasoning on later.

Remove the vegetables to a plate.  Add chicken broth to the pan to get all of the good stuff off of the bottom.






The original recipe calls for heavy cream.  I used the open can of evaporated milk I had in the fridge.





Whisk together the chicken broth, evaporated milk, and more cajun seasoning.





The sauce didn't thicken up like it was supposed to, so I added a few forkfuls of corn starch.  That did the trick.

Note to readers: It may be hard to tell, but the sauce in the above picture is definitely thicker than in the previous picture.  Promise.



Stir the sauce, vegetables, and chicken together over medium heat until bubbly.  Then toss with pasta and enjoy!

Chicken Alfredo

It was a typical bush cooking dilemma.  The idea of everything bored me, and I felt like I had no options.  Inspired by our endless supply of spaghetti noodles, I googled "alfredo" and "recipe," and went to the first result.

The recipe started with melting a cube of butter in a saucepan.  I was probably looking for baby board books on e-bay doing something important, so I didn't get to take a picture of the melting butter.  My apologies.





I used evaporated milk in place of cream.





The butter and evaporated milk are simmered together.






Steve and I always pick up a few wedges of different cheese during our annual shopping trip.  This was the closest thing I had to fresh parmesan.






Stir the cheese into the milk and butter along with some crushed garlic.





The cheese melts and makes a luscious sauce.





Gently cook strips of chicken in some olive oil.





Assemble over a bed of pasta.

An easy, quick recipe that was infinitely better than dinner out of a box.

Simple Garlic Spaghetti

It was a Friday evening. I was tired. I was also hungry. I didn't want to resort to the Steve specialty (chili mac), so I went looking for a simple recipe. I found one for Garlic, Pepper, and Olive Oil Spaghetti.




Like most Italian recipes, this one began with a glug of olive oil in a frying fan. Looking good so far.





While the oil heated, I started a pot full of spaghetti (this fine brand of spaghetti brought to you by the Anchorage Bush Delivery Wal-Mart).






Also like good Italian recipes, this one called for a healthy dose of garlic. I added it to the hot oil.





The garlic started sizzling immediately. Unfortunately, at this exact moment I was unable to locate a clean spatula (DARNIT!), so I lamely shook the pan full of hot oil and frying garlic. As you can see, my shaking method resulted in clumps of garlic definitely not spread evenly through the oil.





My problems were complicated when I went to add the spiciness. The recipe called for a whole red chili. I had no fresh red chilies, so I had to use chili powder. I was trying to figure out how much chili powder equals one fresh chili. For once, switcheroo.com failed me, and I was forced to guess. Meanwhile, my garlic was continuing to char in the oil.





Hmmmm... Is this what the recipe meant when it said "gently cook?" I doubt it.





I added it to the spaghetti and tossed it around.





This is the final product, topped with parmesan and parsley.

Final verdict: good simple meal. Perfect in a hurry.

Really Really Really Really Good Creamy Garlic Chicken Penne

This recipe is a winner. Seriously, I love it. Steve and I both agreed that this is restaurant quality. I got the original recipe from The Nest.



The recipe called for a combination of evaporated and fresh milk. I didn't have fresh milk, so I used all evaporated milk. I put it on medium heat and added flour, bouillon, and garlic.




The sauce came to a boil and thickened. (I tried to take a picture of the bubbles to prove the sauce came to a boil, but my timing was off. Sorry).





I sauteed the chicken in olive oil, making sure not to overcook it.





When the chicken was still pink, I sprinkled it with cayenne and black pepper. Then I added cayenne for good measure (Steve likes things spicy).





To guarantee tender chicken, I covered the chicken and took it off the heat.






While the chicken steamed I started some penne in a pot of salted water. You can use any kind of pasta. I happen to like the texture of penne.





When the pasta was finished, I tossed it all together and served it with homemade baguettes. Mmmmmmm...

Spaghetti Carbonara

Food boredom has already set in out on the Alaska Frontier, so I had turn to my trusty friend.  Amateur Gourmet.  His spaghetti carbonara seemed reasonable and (more importantly) was compatible with the contents of my pantry, so I decided to give it a shot.

(Warning: for some reason today I completely forgot how to focus my camera.  The pictures looked fine in the viewfinder, but they ended up blurry.  Maybe I should have put my contacts in before shooting...  My sincerest apologies, and please don't sue me for eyestrain.  I probably can't afford it.)





Alaskan cooking is always in adventure in substitutions, and this recipe was no different.  In fact, the only ingredients in this recipe I didn't substitute were spaghetti noodles and olive oil...





I was supposed to add pancetta to the olive oil.  I don't usually keep pancetta around the house, so I had to settle for a handful of bacon bits (at least they were the real bacon bacon bits).






I looked at the bacon/olive oil mixture in the frying pan and decided I needed to add more oil.  Due to the fact that the olive oil had the above pictured pour top (also due to the fact that I am a moron), I ended up putting way too much in the pan.  I briefly considered trying to pour it back in the bottle, but I decided that if I'd used real pancetta the whole thing would be full of fat anyway.  (If Steve dies of a heart attack this week, it's my fault.  I sincerely apologize to his family and friends.)





Fresh garlic turned into garlic powder.  I'm usually a throw-however-much-looks-good-into-the-pan kind of chef.  But, I recently had a very bad experience with some garlic mashed potatoes, so I busted out the old measuring spoon for this addition.




I fried this all up, and it smelled great!





I was supposed to add white wine, but I was fresh out (if only the recipe had called for red wine*), so I used chicken broth and lemon juice.  Stop laughing.  The sages at switcheroo.com said it was okay.





I added the "white wine" to the wannabe pancetta mixture, and it boiled down to a nice sauce.





Meanwhile, I did have parmesan cheese in the refrigerator, although I'm not sure it's what Amateur Gourmet had in mind when he said "fresh grated parmesan."





I mixed the high quality parmesan with a couple of eggs.  The resulting substance looked, but did not, I repeat: DID NOT, taste like corn muffin batter.








I stirred the noodles in the egg mixture like crazy.  I was terrified that I wouldn't stir fast enough, causing disgusting egg chunks to develop.  Luckily, the disgusting chunks were evaded.  Pppphhhhhheeeeeewww!





After mixing in the faux pancetta, I had the finished product.  Ta-da!!!  I know, I know, it's a little anti-climatic.  Please excuse the poor presentation.  I lacked the fresh parsley to use as garnish, and I didn't think dried chives or oregano would have the same effect.  Don't judge this recipe based on the poor picture above.  Look at Amateur Gourmet's picture in order to be inspired to prepare this recipe.

Despite its homely appearance, the Spaghetti Carbonara was delicious.  I was thrilled to be able to serve it to my well-deserving husband who said, "This was a lot better than the chili mac I was going to have for lunch."

Sigh.  Oh well.  At least he didn't put ketchup on it.


*That was a joke.  The Alston household is one hundred percent free of both red and white wines.  Thank you.