Chicken and Penne with Vodka Sauce

LIQUOR IT UP

Let's step away from the grill a moment and into the stove now there is a million possibilities for pasta as far as cut, size, cheese filling, meat but one very important factor is the sauce. Now to understand this there is a couple of things to look out for (1) what "meat" are you serving it with beef,chicken,veal etc. and (2) what type of pasta are you using(depending on the pasta cut is how much sauce will travel with the pasta from the plate to your mouth).Today I will give you tips on making my Fiance's favorite Chicken and Penne with Vodka Sauce.

PASTA

For this dish I use either Penne or Penne Rigati. Rigati basically just means there is grooves on the pasta and going back to the traveling together these grooves help you bring more sauce with the pasta. Follow instructions on the box but add a tablespoon of oil to the water so if you have the pasta sit for a bit they will not stick to each other.

CHICKEN

In our household we save by buying in bulk pre packaging and freezing a lot of our meats. This saves the constant trips to the store and it does help on the wallet. DO NOT POUND DOWN THE CHICKEN BREAST This I believe makes them dry. Just get a sharp knife and fillet the breast thin. In this application I use egg wash , flour, egg then fry medium heat. I use this method because since the Vodka sauce is somewhat delicate you don't want a thick and heavy breadcrumb coating since it will take away from the flavor of the sauce.

Chicken Breast

3 Whole chicken breast (12 fillets)

6 Eggs

1lb All purpose Flour

Salt and Pepper to taste

**Prepare you station as follows to facilitate the cooking process...Cutting board with the sharpest knife, egg wash in a bowl which helps with the coating of the chicken, Aluminum Pan with Flour since it does have a tendency to splatter all over. By having these in order you will be able to prepare the food easier. We are not professional chefs so we can cut into the chicken to see if it is done....Fry up all the chicken and keep in mind to keep the coating crisp but not burned since the sauce like I said is delicate.

SAUCE

It may seem like a complicated sauce but once you have done it the first time it is very easy to make. NO NEED TO COOK ON HIGH.

2 Quarts of premade marinara sauce(no special flavors just plain sauce works)

2 Quarts of Heavy Cream (no Subs ad this will make the sauce very loose)

1/4 prediced Prosciutto(if sub maybe Pancetta or bacon)

1 Med Onion

2 cups of Vodka(Nothing expensive as it will not make much difference)
Oil
Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

Pepper

**Sauce pan take your onion and chop it fine and put it on high to cook with the prosciutto until the onions are translucent. Once this happens add the first cup of Vodka and let it reduce. When the mixture has reduced continue stirring and incorporate the Heavy Cream and the Sauce(the right color should be a little towards the orange color the picture above was missing a cup of red sauce). Once this starts to bubble add the second cup of vodka black pepper and red pepper flakes (even if you don't like the heat use a pinch or red pepper to cut down the thickness of the cream). As soon as all is in the pot bring down to a simmer and let it reduce 1/4 of the way(about 20 minutes). We enjoy the sauce very thick so we let it reduce more but once about 20 minutes where the alcohol has evaporated and the flavor is in your sauce you are good to go.

SERVE AND ENJOY

Thank you for taking your time to read this any comments post them. Questions, suggestions, hate mail, fan mail or anything you can write to me CookingMyBrain@hotmail.com

See you tomorrow

Leo

Burgers

BURGER MANIA

As I stated before Burgers and hot dogs do not come to mind at first but they do come to mind and like always Charcoal before Gas.

PATTY

The burger has to always be a simple flavor because your burger is only as good as your condiments and toppings. I use chopped meat with salt and pepper formed very quickly as you don't want to handle the meat as you want the flavor to stay in the meat. As a red head TV cooking celebrity said once form your patty and make and indentation so when they cook they don't shrink REALLY WORKS. Use the same Rule of thumb on the Heat on the charcoal with minimal flipping and don't ever SQUISH the patty as the juices will come out of the patty and you will be eating a Chancleta(flip-flop).I am an advocate of toasting the buns as it adds an extra layer of texture to your pallet.

TOPPINGS

Lettuce and tomatoes are simple but effective toppings and you may use to your preference. I like to have different falvors in my burgers as I keep on adding until I get the flavor profile I like.

   TATOR TOTS

From the bag since this was cooked after work and did not have the time to peel potatoes and go thru the whole proccess

                                                                          BACON!!!

We keep this in the freezer individual packed so we may cook up some bacon on queue

                                                                    GARLIC MAYO

24oz mayo jar 

2 tablespoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons minced garlic

crushed red pepper and black pepper (to taste)

Mix and return to jar apply as needed to bun

STACK AND ENJOY

Asado

ASADO = BBQ

When BBQ comes to my mind, I don't think of hot dog or hamburgers at first. Being the carnivorous person that I am, I think of the country that I came from. I was born in Argentina and the typical BBQ is really pretty simple.....Charcoal over Gas EVERY TIME, Salt over Rubs and MEAT and lots of it.

Charcoal over Gas EVERY TIME

At first, Charcoal can be a very bothersome method of cooking, but I perfer it because of the smokey flavor that it add to the meat over gas. I personally do not like to use a predipped charcoal since the smell of the lighter fluid is very strong and can stick to your meat and it is easier to control the heat. Rule of thumb, you know when you have the right temperature when you can hold your hand 6 inches from the grill area and hold it for about 5 to 6 seconds with out burning your hand. You want to be able to feel the heat but not burn your hand. Temperature is able to be controlled on how you distribute the charcoal once it is ready to cook.

Salt over Rubs 

Meat has such wonderful flavor which can overshadowed by powerful rubs. I prefer to use coarse sea salt, the trick to is just apply to the meat and let it sit for about 10 minutes outside the fridge. What the meat will do is soak up as much salt as it needs and you will never over salt your meat. Whatever salt is not drawn into the meat will fall to the charcoal when you flip it over.

MEAT and lots of it

When you add all these condiments to the beef you hide the natural flavor of the beef. At our grill there is always a hierarchy of meat which needs to be followed. BBQ is a concert of the grill master where he spends a great deal of time making sure all his instruments are making the right sound to then go for the grand finale which is the food. As you practice and get better acclimated to your grill you will know how long on average it takes the meat to cook. As with any meat the cardinal rule is you never want to under cook or overcook the meat because people will not enjoy it. Pork sausage usually takes about 30 to 45 minutes to be done depending on the thickness. Turning 1/4 of the way every 10 to 15 minutes not to burn any side. As a grill master you want to control what your guess will eat, you never want to overwhelm them with all that meat. By this time you Skirt steak will be ready for  different people the way you get skirt steak you want to make sure they take none of the fat or "skin" away as this helps in the cooking. This is a tender piece of meat and even if you burn the outside the membrane is able to pull off to display a very juicy unburned piece of meat. In our traditional BBQ the Beef ribs will go out before the skirt steak but this time we bought the Ribs untouched from the butcher so they were still in the slab and now the rules for the ribs changed a bit you still want your bone to get the heat and assist you in the cooking because about 2/3 of the way thru when you can feel the heat on the top of the beef slab and you turn over your ribs the heat that comes of the bones will help you cook it from top and bottom. Not everyone is going to enjjoy medium beef so you may have to precut them and once the cooking is almost done sear both side to cook it even longer.

Thank you for taking your time to read this any comments post them. Questions, suggestions, hate mail, fan mail or anything you can write to me CookingMyBrain@hotmail.com

See you tomorrow

Leo