Thursday, March 4, 2010

Chicken Alfredo (with very little cheese)

I have been so not in the cooking mood this week, and it's been hard to come up with ideas for suppers. I think partly because I'm afraid to get something started and then have to leave it to go to the hospital. Last night was no exception. I knew we had more chicken than beef, so I pulled out two chicken breasts... with no idea what to do with them.

Daniel and I tossed around ideas. He wanted fajitas but we don't have tortillas or much of the other stuff. I suggested stir-fry but he didn't want Chinese. We settled half-way between Mexico and China - Italy :) Problem was, we only had a smidgen of both kinds of Parmesan Cheese. I decided to give it a try anyway and just started cooking, hoping that the end result would be delicious Chicken Alfredo. And it was! After we ate I wrote down how I made it, and my sister has demanded asked for the recipe.

(This made plenty for the two of us with some leftover. I'd say when served with a vegetable or salad it could easily make 4 servings.)

Chicken Alfredo

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Oil
Slice chicken into ~1/4" slices about 1" long.
Cover bottom of large skillet with plenty of oil and heat to med-high heat. Add chicken, reduce heat to med. Season chicken with Salt and Pepper, cook and stir until chicken is done. Remove from skillet and set aside.
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2 Tbsp. butter
1 sm-med. onion, minced
2 large cloves garlic, minced or pressed
Add butter to skillet, saute onion and garlic until they start to turn translucent.
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1/4 - 1/3 cup flour
2 Tbsp. butter
Stir flour into onions/garlic, reduce heat and let it start to toast. Add butter, stir to melt and mix in.
Stir in:
1 cup milk and let it start to thicken.
Stir in:
1/2 cup heavy cream and let it thicken.
Stir in:
2 - 3 Tbsp. grated Parmesan Cheese
1" cube - sized piece of Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese, grated
(or you could use all of one kind, it was maybe 1/3-1/2 cup total)
Stir in:
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp. salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tsp. parsley flakes
Let thicken. Stir chicken into sauce and cook a few minutes to reheat the chicken.
Serve over cooked pasta.

Keep in mind that it's important to not boil the life out of cream or it will "break." And believe me, "broken" cream is gross. That's why you have to boil it slowly over low heat. If I'd had more cheese I definitely would've added in however much I felt was a good amount :) But this tasted very good. I also didn't think about using a little white wine until after we were eating it, that would've added a nice little flavor, too. Feel free to take this recipe apart and put it back together however you would like! I'm sure I won't make this exact recipe again, but now I have a good base idea for future "dump-cooking" Alfredo :)

2 comments:

Candi said... [Reply to comment]

Yum! I'm loving the "dump" recipes too!

Sally said... [Reply to comment]

I've never made Alredo before, ever. I don't know why. Anyway, I want to try this sometime, eating it over Dreamfields pasta. Do you add the 1/2 cup of heavy cream twice? I just wanted to double check since I've never made Alfredo before.