Cajun Chicken Pasta

I love this pasta. It has such good flavor and is delicious with bread sticks. I love dipping my bread sticks into the sauce. YUM....it is just good. This will easily serve 4, so feel free to half the recipe if you are only feeding 2.

Ingredients
1 pound Penne Noodles
1 Red Pepper, sliced
2 Chicken Breasts
1/2 cube Butter
Flour
16 ounces Heavy Whipping Cream
Shredded Parmesan Cheese
1-2 teaspoon Salt
Pepper
3 teaspoons Cajun Seasoning
Milk

Directions
Slice your red peppers and set aside. Put your chicken breast in a sandwich bag with a little oil. Also, pour in some of your favorite seasonings. I personally like to add some cajun seasonings, basil, parsley, and peppercorn...but feel free to season it with whatever you like.

Boil a pot of water with a little amount of oil. The oil keeps the noodles from sticking. Boil your pasta by following the directions on the back of the package. While your noodles are boiling, grill your chicken (or cook on stove). When the noodles are done, drain the water. When your chicken is done, slice it into thin strips.

Get out a large sauce pan. Start making your rue. To make a rue you melt your butter and add the flour to thicken it. I normally use about 4 tablespoons of flour per 1/2 cube of butter. Your rue is important because this is your thickening agent for your sauce. If you do not do this step then your sauce will not thicken up. Add in your whipping cream and make sure to continually keep stirring. The sauce will burn if you don't stir continually. Keep stirring until the sauce thickens. Add in a generous handfull of shredded Parmesan cheese. (At this point if your sauce is a little too thick, then just add milk until you get to your desired thickness) Add a little bit of pepper and then add your salt. The key to good sauce is a LOT of salt. Try a little bit of the sauce and add more salt if needed. Once you like the flavor, add in the Canjun Seasoning.

Add your peppers, chicken, and noodles into the sauce pan. Stir everything around over the heat until everything mixes fully and your peppers become fully heated.

Serve immediately.

General Tso Chicken

This is by far my favorite Chinese dish. It is so delicious and so flavorful. It also smells so good! It is a bit spicy, so if you don't like spicy, just cut down some of the Cayenne Pepper. This dish just tastes so good, you will fall in love! This will serve about 6 or so people, so make sure to cut the recipe in half if you are not serving that many people!

Ingredients
2.5 pounds boneless skinless Chicken Breasts, cut into chunks
1 cup Green Onions, sliced
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

Oil, for frying

For the Cornstarch Slurry:
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
1 Egg, beaten
3/4 cup Cornstarch

For the Sauce:
1/2 cup Cornstarch
1/4 cup Water
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh Garlic, minced
3/4 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Soy Sauce
1/4 cup White Vinegar
1/4 cup cooking Sherry Wine
14 1/2 ounces Chicken Broth (a can)

Directions
Place sauce ingredients in a large bowl. Mix them together with a wisk.

In a skillet heat up about an inch or so of oil to 350 degrees. Also, turn on the oven to 250 degrees.

Mix cornstarch slurry in a large bowl- the mixture will be strange but trust me it works. It will be very thick almost paste like. Add the chicken pieces in the bowl. Mix everything together to coat well. Using a fork remove one chicken piece at a time and set it in the hot oil. Continue, and work quickly while getting about 10 or so pieces of chicken in the hot oil. You do not want to do too many, because you want all of the pieces to cook evenly. Cook them for a few minutes until they turn golden brown.

Remove the chicken pieces from the oil and place them in a oven safe dish. Place them into the oven to stay warm while you continue cooking more chicken. Replace this until all of the chicken is fried.

In a separate wok or large skillet heat up a small amount of oil. Add green onions and cayenne pepper, and stir fry about 30 seconds. Stir sauce mixture, and then add to pan with onions and cayenne pepper, cook until thick, stirring constantly. If it gets too thick, add a little water. The thickness of the sauce should be similar to what you get when ordering this at a restaurant.

Dump the chicken into the sauce in the wok, and stir until the sauce fully coats the chicken. The quicker this is done the crispier the chicken stays.

Serve over rice.

Beef & Bean Chimichanga

You can't even imagine how delicious this is. It is such a quick meal, is so filling, and tastes amazing. How much better can it get? You can top it with whatever you want, but you can see what my favorite is!

Ingredients
1 pound Ground Beef
3/4 cup Onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups Corn
2 cups Taco Sauce (just use your favorite, I recommend the taco bell restaurant sauce that is sold in grocery stores)
2 teaspoons Chili Powder
1 teaspoon Garlic Salt
1 teaspoon Ground Cumin
1 (16 ounce) can Refried Beans
Flour Tortillas (12 inch)
Cheese, grated

Directions
Start heating up about 2 inches of oil in a pan.

In another pan, brown the ground beef in a skillet over medium-high heat. Drain the excess grease, and add the onion, and corn. Cook for about 5 more minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Stir in the taco sauce, and season with chili powder, garlic salt and cumin, stirring until blended. Cook until heated through, then remove from heat, and set aside.

Heat a tortilla in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds so that it will be pliable for folding. Open the can of beans, and spread a layer of beans onto the center of the tortilla. Spoon the beef mixture down the center, and then top with as much shredded cheese as you like. Roll up the tortilla, and place them seam-side down into your hot oil once it reaches 350 degrees. Once it turns golden brown, flip it to the other side. When all sides become golden brown, take it out of the oil and top with your favorite toppings. Suggestions are sour cream, guacamole, lettuce, tomatoes, onion, cheese, etc.

Angel Food Cake

Who doesn't love angel food cake? I think it is one of the best desserts out there when you top it with whipping cream and fresh strawberries. This recipe is so easy, and tastes so delicious. I am craving some right now! :)

Ingredients
1 cup Cake Flour
1 1/2 cups White Sugar
12 Egg Whites
1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 teaspoons Cream of Tartar
1/2 teaspoon Salt

Special Equipment
Angel Food Cake pan (see here)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Be sure that your 10 inch tube pan is clean and dry. Any amount of oil or residue could deflate the egg whites.

Sift together the flour, and 3/4 cup of the sugar, set aside. In a large bowl, whip the egg whites along with the vanilla, cream of tartar and salt, to medium stiff peaks. (It will take a few minutes of electric beating to get to that point. Everything will be white and look like whipping cream, and when you touch it with the back of a spoon and hurry and take it out, it should leave peaks without falling back down) Gradually add the remaining sugar while continuing to whip to stiff peaks. When the egg white mixture has reached its maximum volume, fold in the sifted ingredients gradually, one third at a time. Do not overmix.

Put the batter into the non-greased pan.

Bake for about 40 minutes in the preheated oven, until the cake springs back when touched. Turn the tube pan upside down on top of a cooling rack, to prevent decompression while cooling. When cool, run a knife around the edge of the pan and invert onto a plate.

Beef Empanadas

My husband lived in Argentina for 2 years and loved the food there. His favorite thing to eat from there are Beef Empanadas. They are actually really good, we have made them quite a few times! They have a nice crunchy, yet flaky crust. You can really fill them with anything, however, this is his absolute favorite:

Ingredients
For the dough:
2 1/4 cups AP Flour
3/4 teaspoons Salt
1/4 cup Shortening
1/2 cup + 1/8 cups Water

For the filling:
1 pound Ground Beef
3 eggs, hard boiled, chopped
2 Potatoes (medium size), cubed
2/3 cup onion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon Pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons Salt
1 1/4 teaspoons Cumin
1/2 cup Corn

Oil (for frying)

Special Equipment

Dough Press (see here) Also sold at Bed, Bath & Beyond

Directions
In your food processor, put in your flour and salt. Mix together. Then put in your shortening in clumps into the flour mixture. Pulse the food processor until everything fully mixes. It will be coarse crumbs. Through the shoot, pour in your water (a little bit at a time) while it is mixing in your food processor. Once the dough forms into a ball, take it out and knead it by hand for just a minute. Roll it into a ball and flatten it slightly. Cover with saran wrap and put in the fridge for an hour.

While the dough is chilling, start boiling 2 pots of water. Peel your potatoes. Then cube them. You want them in small (and I mean small) cubes. I cut mine to about 1/4 inch cubes. Put them into one of the pots of boiling water. You only need to cook them for maybe 5-10 minutes. Until the are a little soft, but do not fall apart.

While the potatoes are cooking, boil your eggs until cooked. Peel of the shell and dice up your eggs to small pieces.

Dice up your onions. Place them in a large skillet over medium heat. With the onions inside the pan, brown up your ground beef and season with the salt, pepper, and cumin. Once browned, mix in your corn, eggs, and potatoes.

Place your empanadas in the fridge to cool to room temperature.

Take about 1 1/2 inch balls of dough and roll them flat into a circle. You want to roll it almost paper thin. Just about the thinest you can get it without it falling apart. Do this for the remaining dough.

Place your dough flat on the open dough press (I used the second smallest size in the dough press set). Place some filling inside the center of the dough and press it shut the the press. Press very hard and rip off the excess dough. Do this with your remaining dough.

Heat some oil in a pan about 2 inches deep to 365 degress. Fry your empanadas until brown.

You can either eat them plain or dip them in something. I like ranch!