Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011 - Chicken Alfredo

So Mr. Lucas, my son, has been feeling a little under the weather the past few days so I have been trying to make things I know he likes and will eat. Tonight we are having creamy chicken and mushroom Alfredo with fresh asparagus. I have a feeling I am going to get hungry just telling everyone about it ... yummy!
First I start with pasta, normally boxed linguine is what I will use, however I had a coupon! Love Coupons try to use them whenever I can... anyways I will be using Butioni (sp) which is fresh made pasta that you can find in the refrigerator section of the grocery store .... Maybe one day I will learn to make pasta, that would be amazing. You are going to cook the pasta like you normally would in a pot of boiling salted water for about 10-12 minutes then drain. (fresh made pasta will puff up a little and flot to the top of the pot, so it might not take as long as 12 minutes)

Next you are going to start your chicken, because chicken has to be cooked completely, you are going to want to brown it in a pan with a little extra virgin olive oil and fresh diced garlic ... stir and cook until the inside is white .. No Pink! Then cube it up and set it aside.

To start your cream sauce: you need about 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablesspoons of flour... you are going to completely melt the butter and then stir the flour in until it is completely incorporated with each other ... this is called a rue ... make sure you do not burn it, if you do you have to start all over.

After your rue is made keep your heat on medium,  poor in 2 1/2 cups of cold milk stir until slightly thickened but not boiling, then add your cream cheese ... normally I use 1 1/2 bricks tonight I am trying something a little different.. because again I had a coupon ... so I got a tub of Italian Herb Cream Cheese for Cooking for .59 cents (normally $2.99) melt that into milk until it is fully meld together, then add about 1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese ... play your cheese by ear, if you like more use more it is your dinner. Once all your cheese is melted and your sauce is thickened add your sliced mushrooms and cooked chicken (scrape your chicken right from the pan so you will get the garlic flavor also) let sit in the sauce on low heat for about 25-30 minutes, stiring frequently (you do not want your sauce to curdle)

In a separately trim your asparagus and drop into a pot of boiling salted water ... I like mine bright green and crispy so I cook for about 3 minutes, drain, then melt butter and sprinkle with a tiny bit of sea salt ... serve alongside your pasta

Yummy this is an amazing dinner..... I will post a picture of the finished product if I can figure it out hahaha

I reference coupons a lot ... I am a coupon clipper, have to be ... also pretty much every grocery store out there has bonus cards that they offer for free ... if you do not have one get one you can save so much money .. Even if you are not a coupon clipper always use a bonus card.... BiLo is probably the best because they have a Fuel Perks card... you save money on your groceries and every time you spend $50.00 you get .5 or .10 cents off a gallon of gas ... lets be real gas is radically high and when do you not spend that much on groceries.

So I hope that you try my Alfredo recipe ... pretty easy and very much a crowd pleaser ... Good Luck!