I love eating out. I love being taken care of in a restaurant. It's fun and relaxing.
Someone filling my drink, preparing whatever menu items I choose, and then cleaning it all up afterwards.
It's wonderful.
But eating out all the time is expensive and not very healthy.
Well, the way I eat out isn't healthy that's for sure.
Here's what you need:
4 small, boneless chicken breasts
Cajun blackening seasoning
butter
olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup of chicken broth
1 1/2 cup of heavy cream of half-and-half
1 1/2 cup of good quality grated cheese (like Asiago, Parmesan, and/or Fontina)
3 oz. of herbed goat cheese
salt & pepper
fettuccine
nutmeg
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Rinse each chicken breast with water and pat them dry.
3. Lay the chicken on a flat surface on top of a piece of plastic wrap. Top it with another layer of plastic wrap. Using a rolling pin or a meat tenderizer pound the chicken out to 1/4 of an inch thick.
4. Cover both sides of the chicken breasts with the Cajun seasoning. I used A LOT.
5. In a large skillet, add a tbsp. of butter and olive oil. Heat the skillet to high until the butter starts to brown. Then add the chicken. I only cooked two breasts at a time to keep the temp. up.
6. Cook each side for 2-3 minutes until it is very brown.
7. Put the browned chicken into a rimmed baking sheet and bake until it's cooked all the way through. No pink. Took mine about 10 minutes. Turn the skillet to off and keep it for the sauce. Do not clean it.
For the sauce:
1. Boil a large pot of water and cook the fettuccine until al-dente. Drain and rinse with warm water afterwards.
2. If the skillet looks dry, add a little olive oil. My skillet was not dry so I just reheated it to a medium heat. Add the white wine or chicken broth and deglaze the pan. Use a whisk to scrape all of the brown, cooked on pieces off the pan. They are full of great flavor.
3. Add the garlic to the pan and saute.
4. Reduce the heat and add the heavy cream of half-and-half. Stir constantly for one minute.
5. Add the salt, pepper, and little bit more butter.Continue to stir for 4-5 minutes. The sauce will reduce slightly. I think my sauce reduced a little too much.
6. Remove the skillet from the heat and add the grated cheeses. Stir until they are melted and combined into the sauce.
At this point, my sauce was too thick so I added a touch more chicken broth, cream, and butter.
7. Put the skillet back on the heat and add the drained fettuccine. I added small portions of the pasta into the pan. It was easier to combine this way.
8. By now the chicken is ready. Slice it thinly and against the grain. Add 3/4 of the chicken into the skillet. Toss to combine.
9. I topped my pasta dish with the rest of the chicken. The recipe calls for you to add nutmeg at the end but I forgot. I just wanted to eat the food!!
It was fabulous!
I had to make myself stop eating this.
The only negative thing I can say, is that the only thing Cajun about this dish is the seasoning you put on the chicken.
This dish could definitely be kicked up a notch.
More seasoning and spices next time.
Enjoy!
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