Quickest Pasta Ever

Yes, the quickest pasta ever. How? With, prepped ahead, compound butter. I love this pasta a little too much ;) Here's a secret... I am not much of a meat eater. I eat a bite here & there, but, for the most part, I am a "sides eater". I could overdose on veg & literally have! Having crohns, fiber is my enemy so pasta... Well, pasta is an angel.

<3 Lishie

Angel Hair Pasta w/ Compound Butter Sauce

• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 c Parmesan, grated
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp sea salt
• Parsley, chopped, for topping
• Angel Hair pasta (or any other thin pasta)

Ahead of time... Mix together well the butter, parmesan, garlic & salt. Firmly wrap it in plastic then refrigerate. Allow to harden. 

When ready to use... Cook pasta... Drain... Add compound butter to hot pasta & toss until the butter melts, creating the sauce. Top with parsley & more parmesan.

Chicken Kiev

I LOVE America's Test Kitchen (ATK). Their recipes are always spot on & Christopher Kimball is extremely nice. I've spoken to him at Book Expo a couple of times. He has a bow-tie stamper that he uses next to his signature. Love that! And Jack Bishop, editorial director at ATK is nice too! I have so many of their cookbooks. 


Chicken Kiev is Ukranian. It's one of those classic dishes & this recipe is the perfect one to use a cookbook for because it seems intricate until you get it broken down by the ATK guys! I adapted it a little- I used panko instead of making my own bread crumbs & I excluded the fresh tarragon but the rest I stayed true to ATK.


There's nothing like chicken kiev when you cut into the chicken breast & that hot, steaming herbed butter comes oozing out! YUM.


Enjoy! 

Chicken Kiev
adapted from America's Test Kitchen


Herb Butter

• 8 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tbsp minced shallot
• 1 tbsp minced fresh parsley leaves
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 3/8 tsp table salt
• 1/8 tsp black pepper

Chicken

• bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup AP flour
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard

For the Herb Butter: Mix ingredients with rubber spatula until combined. Form into a 3 inch square on plastic wrap; wrap tightly & refrigerate until firm, 1 hour.

For the Chicken:

Pound the chicken between two sheets of wax paper until 1/4 inch thick. Unwrap butter and cut into 4 rectangular pieces. Place chicken breast cut side up on work surface. season both sides with salt and pepper. Place 1 piece of butter in center of bottom half of breast. Roll bottom edge of chicken over butter, then fold in sides & continue rolling to form neat, tight package pressing on seam to seal. Repeat with remaining butter and chicken. Regrigerate uncovered to allow edges to seal, 1 hour. (You can refrigerate it overnight too, so it can be prepped in advance.)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. 
Place flour, eggs, & bread crumbs in separate pie plates or shallow dishes. (Your mis en place). Season flour with S&P, season bread crumbs with S&P. Add mustard to eggs & whisk to combine. Dredge 1 chicken breast in flour, shaking off excess, then coat with egg mixture allowing excess to drip off. Coat all sides of chicken breast with bread crumbs, pressing gently so that crumbs adhere. Place on wire rack set over rimmed baking sheet. Repeat flouring and breading on remaining chicken breasts.

Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked through (I say this because mine had to cook longer.) Let rest 5 minutes on wire rack before serving.

The Bow-tie Stamp

<3 Lishie (Elisha)

Strawberry Compound Butter & Strawberry Pancakes

Oh fresh strawberries are in abundance & delicious!!! Why not use them all of the time? This is a recent breakfast:


Strawberry Compound Butter & Strawberry Pancakes


Just take the recipe for my basic pancakes & add 1/4 cup fresh, sliced Strawberries & you have: Strawberry pancakes! YUM! We had them with a side of Morningstar Farms (veggie) Sausage patties & dolloped with a freshly made strawberry compound butter.


Strawberry Compound Butter

• 1/2 stick butter, room temperature
• 2 TBSp finely chopped fresh Strawberries

Mix all 3 ingredients together in a small bowl. Re-refrigerate to set. Serve! 

Confetti Waffles & Cinnamon Honey Herbed Butter

So I am going to admit this again... yes, I am. Last night, I, Lishie, watched the original Gene Wilder (who I adore) Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory for the FIRST time. I agree, odd, but I just had not seen it. My sister Perrie is over so we had giggle time & movie time. She watched this with me then went on to watch some weird cult horror film with my hubby.

This morning, my sister wanted waffles & inspired by the movie, I decided to make confetti waffles:

Confetti Waffles

• 1 & 3/4 cup AP Flour
• 2 TBSp Sugar
• 1 TBSp Baking Powder
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 2 Eggs
• 1 & 3/4 cup Milk (I use Skim)
• 1/2 cup Canola Oil
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• 2 TBSp RAINBOW SPRINKLES

In a medium bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, & salt. Make a well in center of flour mixture- in other words, push all of the flour mix to the sides of the bowl creating a “hole” in the middle. Set aside.

In another medium bowl beat eggs slightly; stir in milk, oil, & vanilla. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be slightly lumpy) then fold in the Sprinkles.

Pour 1 to 2 ice cream scoops of batter onto of a preheated, lightly cooking aprayed waffle baker. Close lid quickly; do not open until done!!!

Follow your waffle maker instructions- mine beeps when the waffle is finished cooking. Carefully lift the waffle (from its edge) from the hot iron with a heat resistant, silicone spatula.

To make the waffles extra special, I made an herbed butter to spread on (shaped as hearts- just mold the mixed butter into a cookie cutter then refrigerate until set.) I LOVE herbed butters... FOr breakfast spreads, for steaks, dinner, etc. They can really transform a meal into something magical.  

Cinnamon Honey Herbed Butter 

• 1/2 Stick Butter
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• 1 TBSp Honey

Mix all 3 ingredients together in a small bowl. Re-refrigerate to set. Serve! 

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