Chicken Bellagio- Cheesecake Factory Version

Set out flour, egg wash and seasoned breadcrumbs for your chicken dredging. It's important that after you dredge your chicken stick it in the fridge for 15 min. This will help the mixture stick while cooking. 

Drop the pasta into a pot of boiling water with salt. Cook "Al Dente" Read your pasta package for boiling times. 

Add heavy cream to saute pan and bring the cream to a simmer. Incorporate the basil pesto. Add salt and pepper. As it thickens add the parmesan cheese, stir. Keep warm. 

The sauce should be thick, yet pourable. 

Like most of the world I'm a HUGE Cheesecake Factory fan! I've already posted the recipe for their chicken madeira recipe. http://thehomecookingkitchen.blogspot.com/2012/12/cheesecake-factory-madeira-chicken.html So Good! Another Cheesecake Factory dish I crave is their Chicken Bellagio. A crispy coated chicken breast over a basil pasta and parmesan cream sauce topped with prosciutto and arugla salad. Come on, this sounds so amazing I had to try making it for myself.

The directions seem a bit complicated because their are many components to the dish, but it's pretty simple after you read it through a couple of times. This is also a great thing to prepare with someone else. I made it with my boyfriend and I just gave him a part of the recipe and he could do his own thing with it. Perfect!

I decided to make this because luckily I had all the ingredients in my fridge. NOTE: I didn't have prosciutto so you wont see it in the pictures, but I would have loved to add it. Also, instead of making my own basil pesto I used the jar version I had in my fridge. Just as good!

For the Breading:
1 large egg, beaten
1/4 cup clour
3/4 cup bread crumbs
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. parsley
1 tsp. oregano

For Frying:
6 oz. angel hair pasta
2 Tbsp. garlic pesto sauce

For the parmesan cream sauce:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
3 tbsp. garlic pesto sauce
1/3 cup Parmesean cheese
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

For the Salad:
1 cup washed arugula
oil
red wine vinegar

Coat the breasts in flour, and then dip the beaten egg, and then into the seasoned bread crumbs. Coat completely flipping the breasts over a few times to completely coat. Refrigerate the breasts on a plate for 15 min, uncovered, to get the seasoned bread crumbs to really stick.

Boil the pasta in salted water until done, about 10 min. Reduce heat to low until needed.

To prep the parmesan cream sauce, add heavy cream to a saute pan and bring the cream to a simmer, and incorporate the basil pesto. Add salt and pepper to taste, and as it begins to thicken, add the parmesan cheese and still vigorously to incorporate it. Continue to stir until it thickens more. Reduce heat to low to keep warm.

Preheat over to 200 degrees F.

heat a non stick or well seasoned cast iron skillet over medium low to medium heat. Add olive oil and fry the breasts on the first side until golden brown, about 3 min. I pounded out my chicken.

To Assemble:
Drain the pasta and place in a large bowl. Stir in garlic basil pesto. Place the pasta on a plate. Pour some of the cream sauce over the pasta. Add the chicken breast. Top breast with more cream sauce. Top with Aruguala that has been tossed with olive oil and red wine vinegar.

Patriotic Pancakes

For those of you that have read my other blog postings regarding the 4th of July you know that I really get into the red, white and blue theme! I'm lucky enough to share a birthday with this great country! Yippi!

This 4th of July, I wanted to make a special breakfast for my family. Seeing that pancakes are a re-occuring theme every morning with my 2-year-old niece I decided to spoof up the plain white colors. I had also just got back from a tour of Driscoll's Farms and had a plethora of left over strawberries and blueberries. Can you say perfect!

Here is how I made this simple and fun Holiday treat! Also, you can use any colors and combinations of fruit to make these special pancakes. For example, for St, Patricks Day, use green food coloring, Kiwis and honey-doo melon!

Ingredients:

Boxed Pancake Mix (or you can make your own) I'm still on the lookout for the best pancake recipe!
Blue or Red Food Coloring
Strawberries
Blueberries
Star candles (you can find these in most grocery store cooking aisle)

Directions:

1. Mix one batch of pancake mix with blue or red food coloring
2. NOTE: for the "white" portion of the stacking, leave the mix color free. The pancake is white enough :)
3. Make all white pancakes first so you can make the colored batch last and not worry about color mixing together.
4. Stack your different colored pancakes accordingly
4. Sprinkle on cut strawberries and whole blueberries
5. Polk in your candles

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

I seriously think I'm going to be making these every other holiday. Such fun colors and fruit combinations out there. If only a bright pink fruit existed I would be in food creativity heaven.

Teriyaki Chicken with Sriracha Cream Sauce

As I was scrolling Pinterest at like 2am the other night :)  I came across a food bloggers recipe (posted below) for a Teriyaki Salmon with Sriracha Cream Sauce. I didn't feel like going out to the grocery store, working all day gives me an excuse not to deal with all those lines. Reading all the ingredients I was in luck and had everything already in my fridge and pantry! Ok It's on!

I'm a HUGE HUGE HUGE fan of Fair food. Seeing that it's summer time I think about the grilled corn, savory smoked hot dogs and my ultimate favorite, teriyaki rice bowls. Perfect! This is what I will make with this recipe! 

I can't stress enough how incredible this recipe is, I even ended up making an entire jar of the Sriracha Cream Sauce, it was that good! If you  have ever had a crab rangoon before, this is exactly what the sauce tastes like, well minus the crab taste, hehe. 

The Teriyaki sauce was the best I have ever tasted, I mean better then the Orange County Fair, or the teriyaki sauce at my local Yamas Teriyaki Bowl . Wow! Wow! I'm so happy I found this. 

FYI...I will never post unless I have tasted and approved a full cook thru. Therefore I only have a picture of the my finished product. I just wanted to share this with you all ASAP. I will probably be making this recipe weekly, no joke it's that good. So I should have some added pictures of the steps up shortly. Enjoy! And let me know what you think xoxox

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 salmon filets
• Cooked rice, for serving
• Sesame seeds, for garnish
• Sliced green onions, for garnish

For the Sriracha cream sauce:

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2-3 tablespoons Sriracha
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk

DIRECTIONS:

To make the Sriracha cream sauce, whisk together the mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons Sriracha and condensed milk in a small bowl. Taste for spiciness and add more Sriracha as needed; set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and 1/4 cup water; set aside.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, add the soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, garlic powder, honey and 1 cup water; bring to a simmer.

Stir in the cornstarch mixture until thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 2 minutes. Let cool to room temperature.

In a gallon size Ziploc bag or large bowl, combine the teriyaki marinade and salmon filets; marinate for at least 30 minutes to overnight, turning the bag occasionally.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly coat an 8x8 baking dish with nonstick spray.

Place the salmon filets along with the marinade onto the prepared baking dish and bake until the fish flakes easily with a fork, about 20 minutes. 

Serve the salmon immediately with rice and a drizzle of the Sriracha cream sauce, garnished with sesame seeds and green onions.

Salmon recipe: http://damndelicious.net/post/24047518520/teriyaki-salmon-with-sriracha-cream-sauce