Month: September 2012

Well, still kinda riffing off the days spent w/family before/after my dad’s funeral. This is a twice-removed kind of post. At one of the family gatherings featuring comfort foods brought by my mom’s by friends, a small taste of something the preparer called “chicken spaghetti” (small spoonful was all I tasted) prompted me to make a kind of chicken tetrazinni the other night, using just what I had on hand. Turned out better than I expected it to.

3 chicken breasts
about 8 oz spaghetti broken into 4″ pieces* (see below)
one medium onion, minced
2 celery ribs, minced
1/2 medium bell pepper, minced
one can of cream of celery soup
4 oz heavy cream
2 C shredded cheese. I used a colby/cheddar mix.

Cube and cook the chicken breasts on medium heat, in olive oil, in a large fry pan. Add the bell pepper, celery and onion and turn down to simmer. Meanwhile, slightly over-cook the spaghetti in salted water. By that I mean to cook it well beyond the al dente stage that’s best for spaghetti you intend to eat as normal to a stage much fuller of water, softer but not falling apart. I’m not sure how many minutes’ time at the boil that would be for your altitude, whatever, so just keep an eye on it.

When the spaghetti’s ready and the bell pepper, onions and celery have joined the chicken in the Borg of Flavor Assimilation, drain the spaghetti and combine all the ingredients in a baking dish. Bake covered (foil or the baking dish’s cover, if it has one) at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Uncover and bake another 10 minutes or so until whatever cheese is just naturally on the top has nicely/barely browned–personal taste.

Remove from the oven and let it sit uncovered for a few minutes, then chow down.

It got a “Keeper” award from my Wonder Woman, so it’s OK. If I’d had some red bell peppers, I’d have added it to the minced veggies. Maybe next time.

No, this isn’t the “Chicken Spaghetti” recipe we had last weekend. That used cream of mushroom and cream of chicken soups, and Velveeta. *meh* Not exactly my thing, though it tasted pretty good at the time.

*about the spaghetti: I had a 32-oz box of spaghetti I wanted to store in a tall, decorative jar, but the spaghetti was 12″ long and I only had 8″ of storage, so… I made this recipe out of the 4″ I broke off the 12″ long spaghetti. Actually, it was those 4″ pieces that compelled me to make the dish in the first place, as I didn’t have a good place to store them, so… 😉

One of the good things about my dad’s funeral gathering was getting to spend some time with my in-laws. Yeh, mostly the brother-in-laws (my one sister-in-law is a sweet gal, but she’s BIGTIME “Holly Homemaker” and I primarily see her bustling around playing “Martha” a la Luke 10:38-42). The guy who’s married to my middle sister is simply THE best cook of “Southwestern” (A/K/A “Mexican” though I try to avoid the term what with the Mesican gummint encouraging alien invaders of the US) food. Below is a simplification of one of the tasty chip-dippin’ sauces he makes, as approximately near to his as I can recall from acting as sou chef for him Monday evening, chopping, mincing, etc..

One medium white onion, minced
Six jalapeno peppers, minced
Six serano peppers, minced
salt (couple of pinches)
A small “hand” of cilantro, coarsely chopped

Place in a sauce pan and almost cover with water. Bring to boil, then back it off to a simmer for 15-20 minutes, maybe a bit more.

Let it cool or eat it hot.

I don’t use cilantro in the version I make. I don’t care for the soapy taste. *shrugs* YMMV, of course.

Do wash your hands after handling the minced peppers and before touching any *cough* sensitive areas. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. 🙂

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BTW, if the above is a wee tad too spicy for you, you can ease that a bit by adding some tomatoes. Either chop some fresh tomatoes and add that (or simmer ’em a bit and add ’em if you prefer) or add some chopped, canned tomatoes. The natural sugars in the tomatoes will slightly ameliorate the spiciness. *shrugs* I’d have to add more peppers for mine. *heh*