Chicken Tetrazzini

 

Turkey Tetrazzini has always been one of those meals that I reserve for the week after Thanksgiving when I'm trying to use up extra turkey.  The only other time that I make it is when I need to deliver a meal to a family in need.  It's easy to prepare in advance, I can make a lot at one time and I can freeze the leftovers.  The only problem was that is, that it's not a very healthy meal to give to someone.  Loaded with heavy cream and cheeses, my tetrazzini was delicious but certainly not healthy. 
I found a recipe for a reduced fat and calorie version of chicken tetrazzini in my Cook's Illustrated magazine that peaked my interest.  I decided to give this recipe a try and see how it compared to my unhealthy version of turkey tettrazini. 
Chicken Tetrazzini
12 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 3/4” pieces
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 slice hearty white bread
7 Tablespoons Parmesan cheese
2 1/4 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoons pepper
5 ounces spaghetti, broken in half
2 Tablespoons flour
1 Tablespoon butter
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, chopped fine
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup low sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons dry sherry
3 ounces Neufchatel cream cheese (I used leftover chive and onion cream cheese.)

Combine chicken and soy in ziploc bag.  Refrigerate 30-60 minutes.
Pulse bread, 2 Tablespoons Parmesan, 1/4 t. salt and 1/4 t. pepper in food processor.

Heat oven to 400.  Cook pasta in salted water for 1 minute less than al dente directions.  Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water then drain pasta.

Toast flour in a 12” skillet for about 5 minutes until lightly browned.

Whisk into reserved pasta water.
 

Melt butter in empty skillet and add mushrooms, onion, 1/2 t. salt and 1/2 t pepper.  Cook until browned.
Stir in peas.

Add to pasta

Add broth and sherry to skillet.   

Stir in flour mixture, cream cheese and remaining 5 T. Parmesan.  Bring to a boil, whisking until smooth.

Add chicken and simmer 1 minute.
Add to pasta mixture and toss until combined.

 
Scrape into an 8” baking dish.

Top with bread crumb mixture. (If I were going to take this to another family, I would stop right there, wrap the dish in plastic wrap and deliver it along with baking instructions.)  You could also freeze the casserole at this point.  I wrap the dish in plastic wrap and then foil and I write the baking instructions on the top before I put it in the freezer. 

Bake 12-14 minutes. 

The chicken was really moist and tender compared to my version which used meat that was already cooked.  Everyone really liked this chicken tetrazzini. The kids each left a little pile of peas and mushrooms on their plate but they ate LOTS of chicken and pasta. 

I may have to make a couple of Chicken Tetrazzini's to keep in my freezer.  This was really delicious and good enough to have even before Thanksgiving. 
Ciao!

Homemade Pasta

I celebrated a birthday a couple of weeks ago and for my birthday dinner I made homemade pasta.  (Anyone who has tasted homemade pasta knows what a treat it is.)  After a phone call to my brother to get some tips, I dove into the pasta making process. 

There are only 2 ingredients in my pasta dough: eggs and flour.





I used 5 room temperature eggs.   Here's my tip of the day: Bring your cold eggs up to room temperature by placing them in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes. 














Put 2 cups of flour onto a pastry board.  Make a well in the center of the dough. 






Crack the eggs into the well.

Scramble the eggs with a fork.















Gradually incorporate the flour into the eggs. 

Knead the dough for at least 10 minutes.

Cover with a damp paper towel and let rest 20 minutes. (Don't skip this resting period - it's important.)







Cut off small portions of the dough to work with. 

My pasta machine has a numbered dial on the side to adjust the width.  I start with a #2 and I run the dough through the machine twice.  I continue to feed the dough through the machine while adjusting the dial to gradually get thinner and thinner dough.  I dust the dough quite often with flour to keep it from sticking to the machine and I end up with long strips of pasta dough. 

Lay the strips of dough on the counter to dry slightly.  (I let mine dry about an hour.)

 

Attach the cutting blades to the top of the pasta machine.  Feed the dough through either the thin or thicker setting depending on the type of pasta you prefer. 

I ended up with a pile of spaghetti...

and a pile of linguini.

Once all the pasta is cut, it's time to cook.  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add pasta.  Fresh pasta cooks in 3-4 minutes.  

I ended up with a lot more linguini than spaghetti because it was easier to cut.

I topped my fresh pasta with some simple marinara that I had in the freezer and a served it with some homemade meatballs. 

The "icing on the cake" as they say, was the fresh Parmesan cheese from France.  (A gift for my birthday.)








The pasta dinner took about 3 hours to prepare but it was really good.  Fortunately, I'm getting more efficient with every pasta making experience - maybe I will shave a few more minutes off of my prep time by summer.  Even though it took a long time to prepare, it was a delicious birthday dinner - well worth the effort.

Ciao!

Vote for your favorite cookie

It's time to vote.

Don't worry, in this election, there are no bad choices, no unscrupulous politicians and no political scandals.  You're voting for your favorite cookie!  I want to know kind of cookies is your favorite.  Do you prefer thin and crispy cookies with a buttery crunch?  Do you like soft, chewy cookies like snickerdoodles?  Do you like your cookies loaded with nuts and fruit like oatmeal raisin?  Do you choose cookies based on the amount of chocolate that they contain?

I want to hear from you.  Send me a comment and tell me the name of your favorite cookie. Just to get your cookie juices flowing, I'll give you a list of cookie ideas.  

Chocolate Chip

Oatmeal Raisin

Peanut Butter

Sugar

Lemon 

Gingersnaps

Macaroons 

Shortbread

Chocolate

Fruit Filled (Thumbprints)

                  
I hope that helped.

I baked cookies for a local bakery for a while and by far the most popular cookie that we sold was oatmeal raisin.  I couldn't believe that more people would chose a cookie with raisins over a cookie with chocolate!  (I guess you know my favorite cookie now.) 

Don't get me wrong, I also love a good oatmeal raisin cookie.  I've blogged a couple of oatmeal cookies already. 

chewy oatmeal cookies. 
















oatmeal surprise cookies with chocolate covered raisins 








Today, I'm going to share my recipe for thin and crispy oatmeal cookies with you. They are perfect for those of you cookie lovers who prefer a crunchy, buttery snack. 

 

Thin and Crispy Oatmeal Cookies
1 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
14 Tablespoons butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Beat butter and sugars on medium speed in standing mixer for 2 minutes.  Add egg and vanilla.  Add flour mixture and mix just until incorporated.  Stir in oats. 

Scoop dough onto baking sheets and flatten with fingers.

Bake 16 minutes at 350. 

Cool on wire racks.

Now it's your turn to vote.  And as a special note to my family: voting does not increase the odds that your favorite cookie will appear in our kitchen this weekend. 

Thank you in advance for participating in my favorite cookie poll.  I'll publish the results of the voting in a future blog.

Ciao!