CuteChick Recipe #6- Jerk Shrimp White Cheddar Alfredo over Farfalle

Sooo... I spent all day yesterday trying to find a new alfredo recipe since I've been craving it so much lately (i'm the most craving having non pregnant girl you'll ever know!) but nothing jumped out at me at all. I decided to take matters into my own hands do some experimenting. I swear some of my best dishes come out of me just throwing stuff together! I was originally gonna make a shrimp scampi version of an alfredo sauce but I didn't have any lemons on hand. I then remembered I had just bought some jerk seasoning the other day and that's where the idea was born. This recipe is actually super easy & sooo good! Once recommendation I will make that I didn't actually do is to add about a teaspoon of flour to the butter before adding the cream. This will thicken the sauce up :-)
Here's the finished product

Ingredients
2 cups of heavy cream
1 cup of milk ( I used whole)
2 cups of grated parmesan (NOT the stuff in the can! lol)
1 cup of grated extra sharp white cheddar cheese
7 oz bag of medium shrimp ( any size will do, this would definitely taste good w/ chicken or scallops also)
1 15oz can of diced tomatoes (drained)
3 tblspns chopped green onion
about 2 tbspns of jerk seasoning (I used Ochos Rios brand, McCormicks would work great as well)
2 tblspns of minced garlic ( i use the squeezable kind)
5 tblspns unsalted butter
2 tspns of onion powder
salt & pepper to taste
1 tbspn of olive oil
1 16oz box of farfalle (bowtie pasta....penne, linguine or fettucine would work great also)

First things first, season the shrimp w/ the jerk seasoning in a bowl & set aside. Here's the one I used.

After this, go head & begin boiling your water for the pasta (cook according to package instructions)  and heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over med/high heat. Add the shrimp to the oil & cook for about 5 minutes. You do not want to thoroughly cook the shrimp at this point, this is just going to add a little color to them. Once you've cooked them for the 5 minutes put them in a bowl & set aside. Add your butter to the pan & melt. Once melted, add your garlic and saute for about 3-5 minutes. Season the garlic w/ the onion powder. Whisk in the heavy cream followed my the milk & bring to a light boil. You want to whisk the milk & cream about every minute or two. DO NOT LEAVE UNATTENDED! because it will boil over! Once it's reduced some (after about 10 minutes) stir in the cheese (reserve 1 cup of the parmesan) until melted. Here are the cheeses

 After the cheese has melted, season w/ salt & pepper and then stir in your tomatoes & shrimp. Reduce heat to medium and cover. After about 10-15 minutes your sauce is done! Thoroughly mix the sauce in w/ the pasta as well as the reserved cup of parmesan cheese. Top w/ the green onion & dinner is served! Now how easy was that? I hope you guys enjoy this one as much as I did!

CuteChick Recipe #5- Chipotle Lime marinated chicken enchiladas !!

Oh My Goodness!! I can't believe it's been almost a month since my last recipe post! I am slipping! I've actually been a little busy bee w/ catering a few events so yay me!! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, I know I did! As much as I love Thanksgiving food, I'm definitely over it by day 3,lol. This recipe was inspired by that! Now this is a dish that's fairly easy & quick to make but try to plan ahead so that you give the chicken enough time to marinate. I only marinated mine for 4 hours but you can certainly marinate it over night for an even more intense flavor. Now most of my recipes definitely allow room for additions & omissions. Since my daughter ate this as well, I didn't add a lot of spice but I recommend adding a fresh chopped jalapeno or a tablespoon of red pepper flakes to the vegetable sautee' or you can add more chipotles or cayenne pepper to your marinade. Below is the finished product, but as usual I will provide step by step photos. Enjoy!!

Ingredients
about 3/4 - 1lb of boneless skinless chicken breast (boneless thighs will work equally as well)
1 15 oz can of black beans
1 15.25 oz can of yellow corn (can be omitted)
about 3 cups of shredded cheese (I used extra sharp because it's what I had on hand, any mexican blend would work fine)
1 medium onion
1 orange bell pepper (any color is fine)
2 tblspns of minced garlic
about a 1/4 cup of sliced green onion
jar of verde (green) enchilada sauce
can of red enchilada sauce
about 24 corn tortillas (more or less depending on how many people you're serving)
Marinade

1/3 cup of lime juice (about 2 medium sized limes)
2 chipotle peppers in adobo (they come in a can)
2 tbspn of worcestershire sauce
2 tbspn of olive oil
about 2 tspns of the following seasonings (garlic & onion powder, cumin, thyme, bay leaves, salt & pepper, paprika, chili powder)

First things first! let's marinade this chicken! mix all of the marinade in a small bowl or measuring cup.

Once your chicken is cleaned, pat dry & place in a gallon sized ziploc bag. Pour the marinade in the bag & shake it up some so all of the pieces are evenly coated. Place it in the fridge & let it hang out for a little while.

 This would also be a good time to chop your onion & peppers, i'd suggest a small/medium dice

 Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. Once your chicken has marinated the preferred amount of time, take it out about 30 minutes before you actually cook it so it can rest it bit. Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil (any oil would be fine) in a large skillet over medium high heat. Once your oil has gotten hot, place your chicken in the pan & sear well on both sides, once it's seared well, reduce your heat to medium & place a lid on top. Cook the chicken until it's completely cooked. I normally just cut into the largest piece to make sure the meat is all white. Remove your chicken from the pan & place into a bowl. Increase your heat back to medium high & sautee' your onions for about 5 minutes & then add your minced garlic, beans & corn & cook together for another 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

During this time, your chicken has cooled down some. Take 2 forks & shred the chicken to your desired consistency & add it back to the pan w/ the vegetables & thoroughly mix together. It should look something like this

Time to make the actual enchiladas! In a bowl mix together the green & red enchilada sauce. Here are the ones I used, just the store brand, nothing fancy.

On a separate plate, take 2 corn tortillas & overlap them,(i'd recommend zapping them in the microwave for a few seconds to make them more pliable) as you would when making a burrito. Place a 2 spoonfuls of the chicken veggie mixture in the center of the overlap, sprinkle a little cheese & green onion & roll up.

 In lasagna style baking dish, spoon about half of the enchilada sauce in the bottom & then place the enchiladas in the pan until full. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the enchiladas & top w/ the rest of the cheese & green onion.

 Bake for about 20-30 minutes or until cheese has melted & browned some. Well folks, that's it!!! It seems like a lot but it's honestly pretty easy to make. Enjoy!!