Cajun Chicken Smashed Sammies

My Hubsie worked from home today due to the nasty weather out, which is even more fun for me because then I get to make a fun lunch! I usually am just making interesting and fun dinners, but for lunch it's always just leftovers or a can of soup or something. So today I decided to make some chicken sandwiches and potato oven-fries. They were really delicious!!

Cajun Chicken Smashed Sammies

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 slices thick-cut sourdough bread
Cajun seasoning (I use Wild Tree Cajun Blend)
2 slices cheese, whatever you prefer
Mayo

Season the chicken with the cajun spice rub and let sit in refrigerator for at least 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat a skillet with olive oil over med-high heat. Add chicken top-side down and let brown on that side. Flip chicken over and let brown for a couple minutes. Transfer skillet to oven and let cook for 15-20 minutes until the chicken is fully cooked and juices run clear. Transfer chicken to cutting board and let rest.

Heat another pan over med heat. Cut your thick bread slices and spread butter on one side of each slice. Spread mayo on the other side of 2 pieces. Cut up the chicken into large cubes and place on the bottom piece of bread, butter side out. Add your cheese, I used pepper jack on one sammie and cheddar on the other, and top with bread spread with mayo.

Place sandwich in skillet and place another heavy pan on top to smash it down. Once browned and crispy, flip sandwich over and smash again with the other skillet. Remove sandwich once brown on second side and serve hot!

So...there is this place Melt near us and normally its a 2 hour wait just to be seated and then another hour and a half or so before you even get your food...I think I can totally rival them with my sammiches! I mean, no, they are not Melt, but just as good and made fresh and I think less greasy. And I could have added another slice of cheese and they would have been even better and gooey.

Also, please excuse my photos, the ONE place in my apartment I get the best light and take all my pictures currently has our Christmas tree, so my photos won't be very good for a little bit. But please enjoy the recipes and ideas!

Eat, Drink and Be Merry!

-BellaRosa

Harvest Pork Stew

Fall is official here and I have been craving the flavors and feelings of autumn! To welcome in October I pulled together a yummy, hot and hearty bowl of a harvest pork stew filled with sweet potato, carrots and apples!

Harvest Pork Stew
(inspired by this recipe.)

1 pound boneless pork tenderloin, cut into cubes
2 cloves garlic, grated or minced
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cups chicken broth/stock
salt and pepper
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1 large Jonagold apple (that's just what I picked up), peeled and cubed
2 medium or small potatoes, peeled and cubed
10-12 baby carrots, cut in half lengthwise

In a large pot, heat a good drizzle of olive oil over medium-high heat and add the cubed pork. Brown the pork on all sides and add the onion, carrot and garlic and cook until pork is no longer pink and onion is soft and translucent. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.

Add in the sweet potato, potato and apple. Bring back to a simmer and cook, uncovered until potatoes and apple are cooked and fork tender, about 15-20 minutes. Add a slurry of flour and water to the broth and let thicken. Serve with a big chunk of hearty bread for sopping up the juices.

Total Autumn Harvest Goodness

This stew was pretty fantastic. I felt it could have used something more...maybe some apple cider to pick of the brown bits from the bottom of the pot after browning, just a splash. I just wanted a little more "oomf" to the overall flavor of the broth, but the veggies and the pork were great! The apple was a surprise, cause it soaked up all the juices and then at the end you got the apple flavor. A nice added sweetness and soft texture. I think the sweet potato was key. It added great color and flavor. I would have liked to use a butternut squash but I thought I would try the sweet potato first, we'll do squash next time.

Another must have....bread! And of course I gotta give props to Blackbird Baking Co. The have the most amazing, hearty, earthy, perfect for dunking bread...the Country Brown Levain. Its like a wheat sourdough...its amazing. They have a Country Blonde Levain as well, which has a nice sourdough flavor but I think I like the brown better. Seems heartier and more earthy. And the last hour of their work day is Happy Hour where everything is half off!! You can't go wrong! Delicious, fresh bread and pastry for 1/2 off! It's a dream.


Eat, Drink and Be Merry....ITS FALL!!!!

-BellaRosa

Lemon Cream Rotini with Veggies: an adaptation of an Ina Garten recipe

We were having company over and I wanted to make a dinner that was nice and refreshing cause it had been a hot one here lately. I already had one pork tenderloin in the freezer, so I went out and got another one to make sure it fed everyone and then I started looking up side dishes. I looked through my mess of recipes on my computer and found a lemon herb pasta salad...I read it over and wasn't too impressed but I liked the idea of lemon because it's so refreshing and light.

Then I remembered back in the day Ina Garten made some sort of lemony, creamy pasta entree. So I went searching on Food Network's website and I found the perfect side dish, Lemon Fusilli with Arugula. I sort of adapted it to what I thought would taste good so here's what I did:

Lemon Cream Rotini with Veggies
(adapted from the original here.)

1 T olive oil
2 cloves garlic, mince or grated
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup half and half (I used fat free)2 lemons, zested and juiced
Salt and pepper
1 bunch broccoli
3/4 pound cauliflower florets, or about 1/2 a head of cauliflower
1 cup fresh corn kernels, or kernels cut from one ear of corn
1 pound dried Rotini pasta
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

Heat the olive oil in a medium sauce pan and add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the cream, zest and juice from 2 lemons and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes until it starts to thicken.

Meanwhile, cut the broccoli in florets and discard the stems. Cook the florets in boiling, salted water for 2 minutes, remove with wire strainer and set aside. Bring water back to a boil and add the cauliflower florets and cook for 3-4 minutes until tender and drain and set aside.

Bring large pot of water to a boil and cook your pasta according to directions. Drain the pasta in colander and place back in pot and immediately add the cream sauce mixture. Cook on medium until the pasta as absorbed most of the sauce. Pour the hot pasta into a large bowl and add the tomatoes, corn and the cooked broccoli and cauliflower. Toss and serve hot.

Picture courtesy of Food Network

Now I made this as a side dish because it was pretty rich. I replaced some of the cream in the original recipe with half and half cause I felt 2 cups of cream was a bit much. Also my grocery store didn't have Arugula so I just didn't use it and I added corn because it's in season and it looked great at the store.

This was surprisingly delicious. I had never really had a real citrus-y flavored pasta before and this was so good and like I said, refreshing. It was great for a summer day and I think went very well with the spicy, cajun seasoned pork tenderloin I grilled up.

I used a Cajun seasoning from Wild Tree Herbs which on of my girlfriends is selling. This seasoning is great! I used it on chicken once before but I was really excited to slather it on these pork tenderloins and then throw them on the grill. It was amazing! So good and with the lemon pasta...they just balanced each other out perfectly. The spicy kick from the Cajun and then the cooling Lemon Cream sauce. Perfect Match!

Sorry I don't have pictures, I was entertaining and didn't want to be a dork and take pictures.

Eat, Drink and Be Merry...
and entertain with a refreshing summer meal!

-BellaRosa