Chipotle Chicken pasta with pepper cream sauce

adobo chicken

 

 

For five years I worked in downtown Seattle. One of the very best things about working downtown is the restaurants! I found many favorites and fell in love with so many yummy recipes. One of my favorites was Dessert Fire, which used to be in Pacific Place. They had this yummy spicy chicken pasta dish that I loved. It was just the right amount of spicy and creamy.  I asked the chef for his recipe for the pasta dish and he gave it to me!  Of course, he gave me the recipes in gallons so I’ve had to do some conversions. And, the first time I made it I blew our heads off with the peppers; but I’ve learned to adjust the amounts to suit our tastes. I had a jar of roasted red peppers on hand and a can of peppers in adobo sauce so I fixed it for dinner tonight. It’s just as good as I remembered.

3T oil

peppersauce

1/2 red onion chopped

3T flour

1 can evaporated milk

1 C milk – or as needed to thin sauce

1 head Brocoli chopped

Penne pasta

1 T peppers in adobo sauce (or to taste. I say add a little then taste to see if you want more. Beware, it sneaks up on you and lingers)

Roasted red peppers – I used half a jar chopped

4 boneless chicken breasts-cooked

Chicken stock paste

1 tsp Black pepper

Cilantro

Steam or microwave broccoli till cooked but still crisp. Cook penne pasta in salted water. Add oil to skillet and cook the chicken. Remove chicken from pan and cook the onions. Add the flour and cook for a few mins to get the raw flour taste out of it. Add the evaporated milk (I used fat free) and thin it with regular milk if it’s too thick (You want it to be able to coat pasta). Add chicken stock,  black pepper, the roasted red peppers and the chipotle peppers with adobo sauce, stir. 

Add chicken, sauce and brocoli to a large bowl and toss together. Top with chopped cilantro. Dig in!! 

 

 

 

 

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New look………….

Some of you (anyone, anyone, Bueller?) may have wondered where we went. What happened to us? Well, we moved our blog over to wordpress and have been working on the conversion. I’m told this will make my life easier but have yet to believe it. We shall see. BUT at least we can post again. Yippeee!!! I’ve been wanting to share and now I can..

How to clean a glass top oven surface

IMG_9882

I don’t know how I didn’t think of this, but, oven cleaner works beautifully on my glass top oven surface. I’ve had my oven several years and always hated how it never looked clean. I know you’re supposed to wipe up spills immediately, but that’s just the kind of cook I am so mine always looked stained. Yesterday I sprayed the top and immediately the less used burners looked better. The largest (most used) ring took a couple sprays and a final swipe with a razor blade and it’s perfect now too. I’m so pleased. It looks brand new. I wish I had taken a before shot so you could see how bad it was.  Now it’s all clean. Of course, I don’t know how your top will react with oven cleaner, but mine was just fine. The cleaner I had on hand was oven/grill cleaner..

The Best Pickled Beets…..EVER!

Suzanne’s neighbor, Bernie the Saint, makes the most delicious pickled beets on the planet. I was so excited to grow beets in my garden this year so I could pickle my own using Bernie’s recipe, but alas, there weren’t enough beets ready to be harvested at the same time, so I had to buy most of them.  My friend, Karlene, and I have been canning fools lately.  We made strawberry jam, raspberry jam, and just last week, pickled beets. Its so much more fun to can with a friend! When we were making the strawberry jam, I said, “Hey, I smell smoke.  The neighbors must be burning brush.” But then we noticed a wooden spoon had worked its way onto the burner and was smouldering.  We got a good laugh out of that.  But anyways, back to the beets…here is the recipe for the most delicious pickled beets you will ever eat:

1 1/2 C. sugar
1 T. whole allspice
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 sticks cinnamon
3 1/2 C. vinegar
1 1/2 C. water
3 quarts peeled, cooked small beets

To cook the beets, wash and drain beets.  To prevent the beets from “bleeding” too much, leave the tap root on and leave 2 inches when trimming the stems.  Put the beets in a large pot and cover with boiling water. Cook for about 20-25 mins.   

Immediately put the cooked beets into a sink full of cold water.  This will help the skins to slip off. Using gloves, rub each beet until all the skins are off.

In the meantime, combine the brine ingredients and simmer for 15 minutes. Put the lids and rings in a pot of water and keep hot. Bring a canner with water to almost a boil.

Cut the beets into slices, large chunks, or even leave them whole if they are small enough and pack them into hot jars leaving 1/2 inch head space.

Strain the brine to remove the cinnamon sticks and whole allspice.  Bring the brine to a boil.  Pour the brine over the beets leaving 1/2 inch head space.  Put a lid and ring on each jar and hand tighten.  Place the jars in the canner and process in boiling water bath for 30 minutes.

After processing, remove the jars from the water and let cool.  After the jars have cooled, make sure all the lids have sealed.

Yield: about 6 pints.

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