Greetings all!
Happy 4th to 7th of whatever-the-fuck midsummer weekend to everyone! I trust you had or are having a fun weekend?
Me? Ehh, regular old weekend with that random Thursday off thing. The 4th was fine. I cooked some dogs and had more than my fair share of these things…
Thanks for the suggestion Dok!
On the 4th I also discovered a thing that can possibly upend the entire world of hot dog consumption.
I was using Boar’s Head uncured frankfurters as the hot dog base. While I do indeed agree with brother TAJ that most Boar’s Head products are over priced sodium bombs, they do make a tasty frank.
I had three of them so I figured I would have the first one with just mustard, as one is supposed to do, then I would have the 2nd one with mustard and chili crisp because that sounded kind of awesome and I wanted to give it a go and finally I would have the third dog with mustard and Sriracha because Sriracha is pretty fucking killer on a hot dog.
Mustard dog was perfectly tasty so I had the 2nd one with mustard and chili crisp.
….
Before eating the third one, I returned the Sriracha to the fridge and had another dog with mustard and chili crisp.
That was fucking AMAZING!
PUT THIS SHIT ON YOUR HOT DOG NOW AND FOREVER!
I have never heard or read of anyone doing this before, although I’m POSITIVE it’s been done but holy shit, dude.
Game changer right there.
Not the greatest holiday ever but it was fine. Still noisy as fuck in Pedro with the fireworks. That shit has been like this forever and it’s another one of the little quirks about my town. They love their asses some fireworks over here.
To our recipe!
I’m pretty sure most of you know that I don’t drink hard alcohol anymore. Which is why using vodka in a recipe seems counter intuitive, but I never said I wouldn’t cook with it.
And it turns out that vodka sauce is a damn fine reason to cook with alcohol.
Yes indeed we’re back to the Italian/American well again this week. I hope that’s cool with y’all because I’ve got yet ANOTHER Italian recipe in a couple of weeks. That one will be Italian Italian though not American Italian.
One of these days I’m going to tally up and link to all of my Italian based foods and hopefully one of you motivated folks know someone who wants to open a restaurant because…Motherfucker? If you can’t open an Italian restaurant with all of the recipes I’ve given you? Then maybe your ass shouldn’t be in the goddamn restaurant industry.
All told this is a pretty simple meal to slap together and the results are fucking stellar.
Chicken Penne in Vodka Sauce!
recipe courtesy of thekitchengirl.com
8 ounces Penne Pasta Noodles
½ teaspoon Sea Salt for the pasta water
2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts about 1 pound
pinch salt and pepper to season chicken
some dried basil and dried oregano to season the chicken
1 tablespoon Olive Oil or preferred cooking oil
1 medium Onion diced
3 cloves Garlic minced
¼ cup Vodka
1 (28 ounce can) Crushed Tomatoes
½ cup Heavy Cream
¼ cup Fresh Oregano or 1 tsp dried oregano
¼ teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper
¼ cup Parmesan Cheese plus more for serving
Salt and Pepper to taste
Procure chicken.
Yes, I remember all of my rantings about not using boneless skinless chicken breasts OK? I had this in the freezer.
The fuck you gonna do? Shit’s expensive out there in the wild.
Let’s gather the basics
You got your pasta.
You can go ahead and cook your pasta in salted water, then we’re going to drain, rinse and add to the main dish later.
Be sure to save half cup or so of the pasta water.
You’re gonna use this shit to get the viscosity and creaminess of the final dish to your liking.
Here’s something you don’t see me do often.
Drain and rinse the pasta.
When I was first learning to cook I always did this step but as you learn and grow as a cook you realize that the starch in the cooked pasta allows the sauce to adhere to it better.
Another key player here. You know this one well by now.
Of course it is. The shit is fucking fabulous in this dish.
Go ahead! Grate some up.
Lovely!
As for our final two featured players, Shit I KNOW you all know this one.
Yes that’s one of them little airplane bottles which just so happens to be 2 ounces, or you know? One quarter cup.
Neat!
Yet another player you should know well by now, this shit here.
Oh fuck it. If we’re introducing all of the key components of this meal I better include this one too.
There is not one single drop of this wine that will be in the food. No sir. This shit is mine for the effort and the perfect food pairing.
Let’s make this motherfucker already.
Cube up the chicken.
Season the chicken and drop it in a heated skillet with a tablespoon or two of olive oil.
I seasoned the chicken with some salt, pepper, dried basil and dried oregano.
Similar to when we cooked the shrimp for our Shrimp Fra Diavolo, we are going to mostly cook the chicken. It will finish in the sauce just like the shrimp did.
Next take your chopped onion and add it right into the same pan with the chicken juices and such.
Cook for about 7 minutes or so until tender then add in the garlic. You have already been preached to more than once about cooking the onion and garlic for the same amount of time, as mentioned in the original recipe.
We’re fucking better than that are we not?!
Get the vodka in there now to deglaze the pan.
I’m sorry, what was the question?
Can you use “freezer vodka?”
Well shit, I don’t see why not. Just adjust your cooking length to account for the temperature of the vodka.
Good question, though!
Get the tomatoes, oregano, red chili flakes and the cream in there next.
Then stir around a bit.
Yes. That is the correct color. As you were.
This will simmer for 10-15 minutes then we add in the pasta. Use the reserved pasta liquid to adjust the thickness of the sauce. It wasn’t just sitting there for decoration.
Once your texture is how you prefer, then in goes the chicken and the grated parmigiano reggiano.
Keep adjusting until you get the texture exactly as you like it.
And well, hell. Guess we better feast now!
Yes, that bread was homemade when I did the aforementioned shrimp Fra Diavolo episode. If you freeze the unused portion it makes kick-ass garlic bread!
Fuck me that looks delicious by the way.
And for good reason. Look!
I used fresh basil and more parmigiano reggiano as a garnish and that basil really fucking popped. Plus it just looks fucking sexy right there.
Every single one of you out there need to try this. It’s the perfect balance of the tomatoes and cream and cheesiness and that kick from the fresh basil.
FUCK yes.
This is a goddamn keeper for sure and the leftovers are fantastic.
Remember watching The Sopranos and you would see Tony eating cold pasta out of the fridge and he would eat it right from the Tupperware container?
Guilty as fucking charged.
For those of you who had the foresight to take Friday off, I hope you enjoy the last day of your long summer weekend.
Stay cool and keep hydrated out there.
Let’s do this shit again next week.
See you then.
PEACE!
