What's for Dinner

Since we have been married, I have really gotten into cooking. I am addicted to a food blog website (www.foodgawker.com), and I have been cooking lots of recipes from here as well as the pioneer woman recipes (www.thepioneerwoman.com) and my food network magazine. Tonight, I am making one of Nick's favorites. The pioneer woman's cajun chicken pasta. And, if you know my sweet, sexy, bread lovin, husband you would know he needs bread at every meal. So, I am making rosemary bread, kind of like macaroni grill, only made in my kitchen. With love. And my kitchenAid. See how pretty.
First, the bread.

After the first 2 hour rise

After splitting the dough in 1/4

4 loaves

On the pizza stone

See the rosemary?

Baked and ready to eat!

Rosemary Bread

1 packet or 1/4 oz of active dry yeast

2 teaspoons sugar

1/4 cup warm water

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 tablespoons dried rosemary

1 teaspoon fine salt

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 cup warm water

 1. Stir yeast, sugar, and 1/4 cup of warm water in bowl of stand mixer. Let sit until foamy. (About 5 minutes)
2. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil, the flour, the rosemary, the fine salt, and 3/4 cup warm water. Mix with dough hook on level 2 until dough forms. 
3. Knead with dough hook for 8 minutes on level 6 of kitchen aid mixer.
4. Brush large bowl with olive oil. Turn dough out into bowl . If dough is too sticky, add a little flour and hand knead a few times until elastic and not so sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let stand 2 hours to rise.
5. Brush 2 baking sheets or pizza stone with olive oil. On floured surface, divide dough in 4 balls. After shaping dough into 4 balls, place on baking sheets and let rise 2 more hours so that the dough doubles in size. 
6. Bake in 400 degree oven for 10 minutes. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt.  Bake 10 additional minutes. 

The Cajun Chicken Pasta

All the veggies

The chicken

Chicken covered in delicious Mr. P cajun seasoning

Chicken after the first turn

The veggies getting nice

Waiting on the sauce to get ready

Simmering

You know you want some

Cajun Chicken Pasta found at www.thepioneerwoman.com

3 Chicken Breasts,  cubed

Cajun seasoning about 3 tablespoons. I don't measure it.

1 pound noodles. I use linguini

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons butter

1 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced

1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced

1 large red onion, Sliced

3 cloves minced garlic

4 roma tomatoes, diced

2 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 cup heavy cream

 Ground black pepper, to taste

Salt to taste

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain. 

2. Sprinkle 1 1/2 teaspoons Cajun spice over chicken and toss to coat all sides.  

3.Heat 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over high heat. Add the chicken in a single layer and leave it alone. Let it get nice and brown on one side before flipping. Flip to the other side and cook until that side is nice and brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a clean plate.

4.Add remaining olive oil and butter. Add peppers, onions, and garlic. Sprinkle on rest of Cajun spice. Salt if needed. Cook over very high heat for 1 minute, stirring gently and trying to get the vegetables as dark/black as possible. Add tomatoes and cook 30 seconds. Remove all vegetables from the pan.

5. Over high heat, pour in the chicken broth. Cook on high for 3 to 5 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze. Reduce heat to medium-low and pour in cream, stirring/whisking constantly. Cook sauce over medium-low heat for a few minutes, until cream starts to thicken the mixture. Taste and add freshly ground black pepper, cayenne pepper, and/or salt to taste. Sauce should be spicy!

6. Add chicken and vegetables to sauce, include all the juices that have drained onto the plate. Stir and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until mixture is bubbly and hot. Add drained pasta and cook until mixed and looks delicious. 

 Of course, it was delicious and Nick ate lots of the bread. Then we took Poo on a quick walk. Here is a pic of Poo playing outside earlier today. Ignore the grass on his face. His daddy had just cut the grass.

The Poo dog helping me cook by eating anything I drop. Even if it isn't food.