It’s been a while now that I wanted to sign up in the Adopt a Blogger program. I had seen some of my friends blogging about their adopting a new blogger but at the time I had found my way around the blogging world. It wasn’t easy at the beginning but I managed by myself, step by step, to find out a little bit about everything that’s going on, in the blogosphere. Of course, it just prolonged the procedure of finding out how to get some people visiting my blog and I must say that now I am more than content. I have made many friends and we exchange visits and comments on a regular basis.
Kirsten of Dine & Dish is the founder of the Adopt a Blogger program. Bloggers that have been blogging for a year or more are paired with a “newbie” blogger to answer any questions they might have and to help them to enjoy the experience of blogging. When I saw the announcement of a new event, I immediately wanted to sign up and share what I have learned with new bloggers.
I was lucky to be paired with Suzie, of The Recipe Mission. Suzie, has a mission in her life, for her hubby and little son and I am sure what she is doing for her family will interest a lot of you. I am sure I will learn a lot from her. Please visit her to see what this is all about and welcome her to our food community.
From Suzie’s recipes I chose to cook a pasta dish with chicken, as it’s a dish I know that my family will enjoy.
I had to make a few changes though to the recipe but otherwise I believe the result was the same.
To start with I prefer to buy chicken breasts with the skin and bones and fillet it myself. My regular readers have seen me doing this every time I use chicken breasts. I boil the skin and bones and use the chicken stock in other dishes. From the stock I made, I used 1 cup for the dish and the remaining I froze it and will use it another day, most probably in a rice pilaf.
I chose fettucine as the pasta to use, just because I had some at home. I used olive oil instead of corn oil, because I always cook with olive oil, and I used fresh mushrooms, as I had some leftovers in the fridge waiting to be used. I also added 1 aubergine I had in the refrigerator and 1/2 cup of wine to cook the chicken and courgettes. The only thing I bought for the recipe were the zucchini. Finally instead of using pasta water, I preferred a light cream.
Suzie, estimated that the cost of this dish is $4.34 but probably mine cost a little bit more as fresh button mushrooms cost 4,50 Euros a kilo (so the mushrooms cost me about 1,50 Euros) and I used a light cream as well but I don’t think that the whole meal cost more than 10$, which is not bad to feed a family of four or maybe five, as the men in my family eat more than a plate.
Fettucine with Chicken
Ingredients:
500 grams of fettucine pasta, cooked in salted water and or oil
1 skinless chicken breast, diced into bite-sized pieces
5 tsps olive oil (I used half for the chicken and half for the vegetables)
1 tsp (or 1 clove) minced garlic
1 medium diced onion
300 grams of button mushrooms stems and pieces, cut into slices
2 small zucchinis quartered lengthwise and diced into bite-sized pieces
1 aubergine, diced into bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup of white dry wine
1/2 cup of chicken stock
1 light cream
salt and pepper to taste
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes (I used mild boukovo)
1 spoonful of parsley
Directions
Prepare pasta according to package instructions.
In a large skillet heat half the olive oil and saute the garlic and onion. Cook until onion turns clear (about 3 minutes), stirring frequently.
Add chicken and cook until no longer pink (about 7 minutes).
(Instead of stirring in mushrooms, zucchini, spaghetti sauce and red pepper flakes, I had to do this separately in a non stick frying pan, as my daughter doesn’t eat the vegetables, so I had to add them in separately, but you don’t have to follow my procedure. So I added half the olive oil and sauteed the courgettes, added the aubergines and when they were soft I also added the mushrooms and stirred for five minutes).
Add wine and chicken stock, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring periodically. Add cooked pasta and season with red pepper flakes, salt and freshly ground pepper and mix in the light cream, reserving 1/3 of the package.
Once I have removed a serving for my daughter to eat, I mix in the mushrooms, aubergines and zucchini and added the remaining cream and stirred over low heat for a few seconds.
i am submitting this recipe to Presto Pasta Nights, this time hosted by the creator of the event, Ruth, of Once upon a Feast.
Ruth
Friday 26th of September 2008
Lovely post, lovely dish. The Adopt a Blogger program sounds great too.
Thanks for sharing everything with Presto Pasta Nights.
Lore
Thursday 25th of September 2008
Thumbs up for the dish and your new adoptee! I'm off to visit Suzie's site
Ivy
Wednesday 24th of September 2008
Corinne, yes that's myzithra which I forgot to mention. Thanks for noticing.
Corinne
Wednesday 24th of September 2008
This looks absolutely delicious Ivy. Do I detect Mizithra cheese shredded on top? *drools*
Peter
Wednesday 24th of September 2008
Ivy, a fine looking pasta dish...again your use of mushrooms here complements the chicken. Estragon would go well here too!