CuteChick Recipe #9 - Chicken Alfredo Lasagna

  Hello everyones!! Today I thought I'd post the recipe for the chicken alfredo lasagna I made last night. Now I will tell you now, this recipe is a bit involved in regards to the prep work & making the sauce. It's what I call a "Sunday dinner dish" since you normally wouldn't have this much time to make it during the week & it's a little pricey as the cheeses are not cheap! But it's a meal that'll last you at least 2 days & oh so good! You may certainly substitute with jarred alfredo sauce to cut some time out. I also cut time out by using the bakeable lasagna noodles as opposed to the traditional boil first kind.

Ingredients
1 16oz box of lasagna noodles
1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 cup milk (I used whole)
2 cups shredded parmesan
3/4 stick of butter
3/4 grated parmesan (the kind in the can) set aside 1/4 cup
2 cups of any pre-shredded italian/pizza cheese blend (set aside 1/4 cup)
30oz tub of ricotta cheese
2 boneless chicken breast halves (cubed in 1 inch chunks)
1 strip of bacon  (beef or pork only, if you don't eat either used about 2 tablespoons of olive oil)
1 egg
1 medium shallot (minced)
1/3 cup italian breadcrumbs
1 red pepper (small dice)
1 15oz can of diced tomatoes (drained)
1 14oz frozen broccoli (thawed)
1 strip of bacon
2 tablespoons flour
6 tablespoons of minced garlic
4 tablespoons olive oil (vegetable oil is fine also)
Italian seasoning, salt & pepper, garlic powder, onion powder (no exact measurements, you can go off of preferred taste)

Whew! I know that was a lot of ingredients. Let first season the chicken, I did so w/ salt, pepper, garlic & onion powder and italian seasoning....set aside

Time for the sauce. In a medium saucepan over medium high heat, cook the strip of bacon until very crispy, once the bacon is done remove & set aside to drain on a papertowel. Add the butter to the pan & melt. Sautee the shallots for about 5 minutes & then add 3tablespoons of the minced garlic & sautee for another 5 minutes. 

Mix in the flour and cook for about 3 minutes. Whisk in your milk & cream until it comes to a boil. Stir constantly so you don't develop a skin on top. 

Reduce your heat to medium once it has come to a boil. Season well w/ salt & pepper. Mix in your shredded parmesan cheese, reduce heat to low & cover. Now it's time to prep your ricotta. In a medium bowl mix, the ricotta, egg & 1/2 cup of the grated parmesan thoroughly & set aside.

In a large skillet, heat about 4 tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat and sautee the red pepper until soft. Add the remaining minced garlic & cook for another 3 minutes. Add your chicken & cook until done and slightly browned as shown below.

Once the chicken is done, add the drained tomatoes & broccoli and heat through. Season w/ salt & pepper. Drain the liquid from the pan & combine the alfredo & chicken mixture in the skillet like below & remove from heat.

Now it's time to make the actual lasagna! In a deep lasagna pan, ladle about a cup of the sauce mixture to cover the bottom of the pan. Then layer the noodles, ricotta mixture, shredded cheese blend & sauce. Thats the order I did mine in. In a separate bowl, combine the bread crumbs, 1/4 cup grated parmesan, 1/4 cup italian cheese blend & bacon crumbles from earlier. Evenly spread this on the top of lasagna as your topping.

 Bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes. Allow lasagna to sit for at least 20 minutes after baking to set well & enjoy!!

CuteChick Recipe #8- Jambalaya!!!!

Happy Thursday everyone!! I thought I'd hit you guys w/ a recipe for my jambalya :-)  It's actually not too difficult to make & sooo good! TRUST ME! You're not going to use the box kind again! I normally use shrimp & smoked sausage, but you may certainly substitute w/ chicken, crawfish, scallops or any other flavored sausage. The secret of this recipe is to use stock/broth  instead of plain water. Seafood or chicken flavor works really well. I made a quick seafood stock this time. All I did was boil the discarded shrimp shells w/ some garlic & onion powder, celery salt & bay leaf in a small saucepan for about 20 minutes & then let it simmer for about an hour. You can definitely do this way ahead of time & just freeze it until you're ready to use it. 

Here's the finished product. I served fried tilapia & broccoli alongside it for a complete meal. 

Ingredients

3/4 lb. of shrimp (cleaned, peeled & deviened)

1/2 lb. of sliced smoked sausage ( I used beef)

1 cup chopped celery (I didn't have any this go around, but try not to skip this if you don't have to)

1 diced medium yellow onion

1 diced green pepper (I used a red one as well since I didn't have celery but you don't have to)

1 15oz can diced tomato

3 tablespoons worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 cups rice (I recommend parboiled)

2 tablespoons of minced garlic

3 cups seafood stock (chicken flavored works well also or just plain water)

3-4 tablespoons of creole seasoning 

1 stick of unsalted butter

Creole Seasoning

2 1/2 tablespoons paprika

2 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons garlic powder

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon dried thyme 

What you want to do first is clean the shrimp & season w/ about 1 tablespoon of the creole seasoning & set aside.

Here's what your seasoning mixture should look like...if you want to make a spicier dish, add about 1 tablespoon of crushed red pepper flakes. 

 In a large deep skillet, melt your butter over medium high heat and sautee the onions, peppers & celery for about 15 minutes. Add the can of tomatoes along w/ the garlic and 2 tablespoons of the creole seasoning and the worcestershire sauce. Cook for an additional 5 minutes. It should look something like this.

Add your sausage sausage & cook for another 3-5 minutes. Add the rice and mix thoroughly as shown below.

Add your liquid and bring to a boil for about 5 minutes. Once it begins to boil, reduce heat to a very low simmer and cover. Let it cook for a good 15-20 minutes or until the rice has absorbed most of the liquid. Add your shrimp as shown below, mix thoroughly & place lid back on the pan.

 Let cook for another 15-20 minutes or until the rice as set & liquid is just about all absorbed. Your dish is done! You may certainly serve it as suggested above, or alone w/ cornbread is really good too! Enjoy!!!

CuteChick Recipe #7- Pineapple upside down cake!!!

Happy Friday everyone!!!! I made a pineapple upside down cake yesterday & I've definitely gotten some great feedback about it so I decided to post the recipe. It's Curtis Aiken's recipe & I actually got it off of the Food Network website ( http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/curtis-aikens/pineapple-upside-down-cake-recipe/index.html ) Pineapple upside down cake is my favorite cake & this recipe is soooo yummy!! I did make a few changes & omissions....I didn't have rum on hand so I left that out (I'll make sure I don't the next time! lol) & I did not separate the eggs....just because I was lazy & my hand mixer broke so I didn't have anything to whip the egg whites,lol...it still came out great though!!

CuteChicksCook - Restaurant Visits : Seasons 52

Happy New Year everyone!! I trust that everyone had a safe, fun & yummy holiday!! I know I did :-) During the holidays I had the opportunity to finally dine at Seasons 52 (Perimeter Mall location) . I've known about this upscale chain restaurant since I've lived in Orlando several years ago & I have just never gotten the chance to dine there. They base their menu options on what's good & typical for that particular season, so it changes 4 tiimes a year. Since it was my first time there I got an app, entree & dessert..and everything was sooo good!!! I was definitely a little piggie! lol. I didn't feel too bad though because every menu option is under 475 calories!!! How cool is that? Here are some pic below of what I had ....enjoy!!!

 the beefsteak & arugala salad w/ red onion, bleu cheese, bacon & basalmic drizzle

grilled t-bone lamb chops cooked medium w/ asparagus & mashed potatoes

mango cheesecake shooter ....*drool*