Garlic Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo with Broccoli

After almost a month away due to computer issues, where all our photos are stored and where I am able to edit them, we come back with a Meal that is diverse in flavor as well as overall appearance on the plate, where we have a nice vivid Cream color from the Alfredo Sauce, and contrasted nicely with the bright Green of the broccoli. An overall delicious meal that hits hard on your taste buds, where you get a delicate flavor of Garlic and season salt blended nicely with the rich creamy alfredo sauce and add the crunciness of the broccoli, its a meal any adult or child alike can truly enjoy. But bring the napkins cause it can get messy! 

Ingrediants: 

 - Four Boneless, Skinless frozen, then thawed, Chicken Breasts.

 - Four Cloves fresh Garlic

 - 1/2 tsp. Seasoned Salt

 - 2/3 of a box of Fettuccine 

 - 1 1/2 Jars Alfredo Sauce

 - 2 Fresh Crowns of Broccoli 

 - Tablespoon Olive Oil

 - Tsp Italian Seasoning

1. Add pasta to boiling water and turn on big skillet to medium high heat, add the Olive Oil.

2. Prepare Chicken: Dice thawed chicken breasts to bite size pieces and wait until pan with olive oil is hot and add chicken, press the garlic, and add seasoned salt and Italian Seasoning; mix together.

3. Let chicken cook for two minutes and Add Brocolli. We prefer our broccoli a little crunchy at finish and if you prefer it more well cooked, steam broccoli before adding in this step. If you feel more comfortable cooking chicken fully, that will work as well, but that is not the way we prepare it. Cook until chicken is cooked to your liking.

4. Add Alfredo Sauce to skillet combining the chicken, broccoli and sauce. Let cook approximately four minutes, then add the strained Fettuccine and stir, removing from heat

Lately we have been on a wine and craft beer kick, going for stuff with extreme flavors that can add a compliment to a certain food group we are enjoying. You can see in the pictures we have Chosen a Seasonal Beer from Founders Brewery in Grand Rapids, MI, called "Cerise". This beer is made with Michigan Cherries and is a balance between sweet and tart and was a good compliment to the pasta, although I would have probably preferred it with a nice steak, but none the less, a phenomenal and highly recommended beer. So thanks goes to Mark for reinvigorating me with craft beer, because i've had it before, yet never really appreciated the delicate balance that goes into a truly great beer. Founders and New  Holland are just two of many Breweries who's products I've tried recently and  look forward in expanding my horizons and trying to find many more and different craft beers in the future. 

So there is our Garlic Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo with Broccoli. An overall easy meal that can be made and enjoyed in about 30 minutes, and for us, even created two dishes of leftovers for lunch the next day. Any questions feel free to ask, and it feels good to be back. New post to come soon! Enjoy!

Buffalo Rubbed Chicken Breast With Grilled Corn and Side Salad

This meal is one that was born out of my love of heat. Trisha, early in our marriage, wasn't a huge fan of anything hot, however as her palate has grown she's definitely become a fan of a few things flavored with some heat, particularly buffalo chicken wings. Most of the time she enjoys the deep-fried variety that you just throw in some hot oil, cook for about eight or nine minutes and then delve into and enjoy. We recently bought some Franks Red Hot Marinade (I LOVE Franks on almost anything) that is made specifically for fresh chicken wings to enjoy on the grill or baked. That is a meal that you will see on the blog sometime in the near future.


It is Labor Day today so therefore we felt we should show one of the meals I took pictures of that has a Beer with it, because there is nothing more that speaks to us on a Holiday than drinking a beer with our meal. Weather it's over the weekend while camping, staying at the cottage or just Grilling out in the backyard a beer should always be enjoyed on the holiday. (Responsibly of course)

So the Meal we chose is one that Trisha surprised me with because of her aforementioned luke-warm relationship with Heat. She wanted to have some chicken breasts on the grill, and to my surprise she wanted to try out one of the spices she bought with me in mind, which you can find here, The Pampered Chef "Buffalo Rub". So we got the Buffalo Chicken as our protein. What two things to enjoy with the high heat from the Buffalo Rub? Well, we wanted to balance it with some sweetness so we decided on some beautiful organic Michigan sweet Corn, and we wanted to finish it off with a nice light Romaine salad topped with a drizzle of Ranch.


As some of you may know, couples don't always agree. That's not surprising. When you are young, first in love, having little spats here and there about where she wants to go out to eat, or where you want to get ice cream and things like that, you never understand the direction some future disagreements will go. One disagreement I never thought I'd have with Trisha is how best to cook and eat proteins. I KNOW! How lame is that? I know people's taste's vary but once you eat a moist chicken breast I can't imagine eating one more dry than moist. My preference with beef is similar. Once you've eaten a steak cooked Medium, I couldn't imagine eating a steak cooked anymore than that beautiful 160 degrees it takes to achieve Medium. I actually thought about getting a tattoo of the #160 once, but cooler heads prevailed in that one. I'm just kidding a little here, but the point is when going out to grill the Chicken or the Steaks, because Trisha likes her food a little more cooked than I, the cooking time will obviously be different and therefore timing is very important. .It really can be an art form of sorts. When you get sauces, baking, grilling and stove top garnishes involved, timing can be everything to make sure all the food gets done about the same time so your not eating any of it cold. I will tell you this, if I can learn to time things in cooking, anyone can. It all just comes down to communication with your spouse or significant other and understanding and accepting each other's preferences and adjusting your cooking time accordingly.


Here's how to cook the Meal:


1. Turn the Grill on High heat.

2. Prepare and Cook the Corn: As I mentioned earlier, timing can be an art form and one I think I've come to have mastered after we've eaten many burnt cobs of corn.


We wrap the Corn in some Tin Foil when we cook it on the grill. First we put butter on top of the corn, add a little salt and pepper, and wrap it up. We do this so the butter melts into the corn and spreads the flavor of the salt and pepper throughout the cob while it cooks so you can just unwrap and enjoy without having to add the butter, salt or pepper afterword.


Cook the Corn for about 10 Minutes BEFORE you put the Chicken on, rotating it a 1/4 turn about every 5 minutes throughout the cooking.

3.Take fresh or thawed Chicken breast and rub down both sides with whatever spice you like, in our case the Buffalo Rub. 
     Tip: If you cannot get the Rub to stick to the chicken, run it Olive Oil to get it damp for the Rub to stick to.


4. After you've cooked the Corn for 10 minutes, Put your chicken on the grill and cook until done. We use a digital thermometer to get our temperature just right. A perfect chicken breast is done at 170 degrees.
    Tip: As I stated, Trisha likes her Chicken more dry. So to allow her's to cook a little longer I take my chicken off the grill first with all the Corn. After I run that inside, I unwrap a couple Corn's to let them cool a bit before eating, then go back to the grill and get Trisha's Chicken that has now cooked an additional 2-3 minutes and is done the way she likes. You could also throw the chicken on about seven minutes after you put the corn on. Either way, the more well done chicken needs about three more minutes of additional cook time.



To finish the Chicken off, I added a drizzle of ranch over the top to cool the heat a little bit, then drizzled some Franks over the ranch to add some more heat! I know, I love my heat though. 


So Trisha's wanting to surprise me with some heat turned into a perfectly grilled chicken breast, with a little char on the outside to add crunch to the moist piece of chicken and the heat of the buffalo rub really was cooled by the ranch. Likewise, the corn was just the way we like it, soft from cooking in the melting butter, perfectly sweet to balance the spice, and had just a little char on the outside to give a little POP when you bite the cob. A perfect char on a cob of corn looks a lot like the golden brown when roasting a marshmallow over the campfire (something else I highly recommend on the Holiday). Lastly, the salad added a light balance to the meal, leaving the taste of some fresh carrots as well as the ranch craving another bite. And who could forget the BEER! My beer of choice during the summer months is Bud Light Lime. Its strange for me to say that since I don't prefer regular Bud Light, however, the lime from the beer, in this meal, added a nice bitter taste to go along with the sweet from the corn and the heat from the Buffalo to form a meal that hits on all the taste buds. If you don't drink alcohol, try a Limeade or lemonade. 


Trisha enjoyed her more dry, less spicy Chicken as much as I enjoyed the masterpiece of moist, spicy goodness you see before you. Again, I kid. As a husband and father Grill Technician, you have to be able to adapt and learn your timing, as well as communicate to get well executed and delicious meals. Enjoy!

Shrimp Scampi over Angel Hair Pasta w/ White Wine Sauce

The idea for this meal came from a Pampered Chef cookbook. I've gone to numerous parties but this is the first time I've looked in the cookbook and been inspired to try something and to make it my own. The Original Recipe is called "Chipotle Shrimp Scampi". I tried it once with Chipotle and even though Jeremy loved it, the chipotle was just too overwhelming for my palate and therefore made it hard for me to taste the other flavors in the Wine Sauce, pasta and shrimp. 


This time around the wine I used was Riesling instead of Moscato. No real reason, just something different and I also added in some Asian seasoning and a touch of Cajun seasoning instead of the, for me, overwhelming chipotle. 


As follows is the Recipe for the way I cooked it this time and it was really, really flavorful and the spices were right on point. Jeremy added some more cajun seasoning and cilantro to his, to add to the flavor after he tried what I had originally prepared (his palate can take more heat than mine:)


-12oz uncooked angel hair pasta
-1 TBSP Olive Oil
-1 1/2 lb large uncooked Shrimp (21-25 per lb), peeled and deveined
-6 Garlic cloves, pressed
-1 Tbsp Asian seasoning
-1/2 Tsp Cajun seasoning
-1 Cup dry white wine such as Chardonnay
-6 Tbsp butter
-3/4 cup chicken broth
-1/2 Tsp salt


1. Bring salted water to a boil in covered pot. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta.


2. Meanwhile, add oil to Skillet; heat over medium-high heat 1-3 minutes or until simmering. Combine shrimp, pressed garlic, and rub in bowl; toss to coat. Arrange shrimp in a single layer over bottom of skillet; cook 2-3 minutes or until browned on one side and edges are pink. Remove skillet from heat and turn shrimp over with Tongs; let stand 1-2 minutes or until centers of shrimp are opaque. Remove shrimp from Skillet, set aside and keep warm.


3. Prepare sauce and serve. Add wine to same skillet. Cook over medium-high heat, 3-4 minutes or until wine is reduced by half, stirring to loosen browned bits from bottom of Skillet. Add butter, juice, broth, and salt; cook 2-3 minutes or until heated through.. Drizzle pasta with sauce. Top with shrimp; garnish as you see fit


It is really simple and takes only about 20 minutes. The sauce is very thin but you really don't need much because there is so much flavor in it. If you enjoy wine with your dinner, by all means enjoy the same wine you cooked the sauce with and it tie's the meal together in a beautiful bow. Enjoy!