Angel hair pasta with a mango chicken sausage sauce

I love making pastas. The main reason is the sauce. It can be different every time. At the beginning when I first started making my sauces they were not very good. I didn't understand. However since the beginning of this year I can honestly say that I am getting there. One technique that I found to work out is using the left over oil from different marinated vegetables, such as marinated artichoke hearts, or roasted red peppers. The left over oil is really good for flavoring and adding oil to the sauce. Obviously it is important to let it simmer. This specific sauce I used regular tomato paste with a can of stewed tomatoes, oil from artichoke hearts and roasted red peppers, roasted red peppers, garlic and basil. Oh, also the chicken mango sausage, which adds a nice touch to the flavoring as well. On top I like to chop up some fresh basil and grate some pecorino cheese. This sauce was a little more on the thick side, which is what I was going for, and then the last 20 minutes I like to blend the sauce to give the consistency of that thicker sauce. I also like doing this because it helps to blend up the peppers and sausage in this case. Typically though this kind of sauce I would use more for macaroni style noodles or spirals. With the longer thinner noodles I think it is better to use lighter not so heavy sauces.

Oven Roasted Herb Crusted Chicken with Potatoes and Carrots

The meal that I had prepared tonight was something that I have actually been saving for a really long time. I pulled a picture from a magazine five years ago and have been saving it for a special occasion. Finally I used it and this was the first time I have ever cooked a whole chicken like this before. The chicken turned out perfect to my surprise. I was a little worried that it was going to be a bit dry however was the complete opposite. The spice rub that I used consisted of Black pepper corn that I grind ed up. I found that this gives the right consistency for a rub like this rather then regular pepper that is already ground up. I also did the same with the Sea Salt and Fennel seeds. The mixture also included Marjoram and Thyme. I rubbed the entire Chicken with this mixture both on top and on the bottom. Then I also rubbed underneath the skin of the chicken and tossed the rest of the mixture inside of the chicken. I also added about 6 garlic cloves to the inside and a couple sprigs of rosemary. After the entire chicken was covered I melted a half a stick of butter and pretty much spread that all over the chicken and underneath the skin. I think that this was one of the contributing factors to the skin being so crunchy and tasty. On the side I cut up some carrots and potatoes and seasoned them with more kosher salt and Italian herb seasoning. After about an hour and 15 minutes the chicken came out perfect and was so good it could stand up to most any 3 to 4 star restaurant.

Swiss cheese and tomato scramble with country potatoes, sauteed trumpet mushrooms and avocado

So here is today's breakfast. It was another success in the brave world of experimentation. The eggs were a little more simpler this time consisting swiss cheese and tomatoes. I have never used swiss cheese before with eggs, and must say it is a very good combination. The lite swiss cheese flavors and tastes blend very well with the eggs. The potatoes were mainly seasoned with a pre-made cajun seasoning spice that I was given. The mushrooms are trumpet mushrooms that were sauteed with garlic, and italian seasoning. However I used a little to much garlic with the mushrooms and there taste was tainted a bit and covered up by the hot garlic. To finish it off the avocado was a nice addition to have on the side.

Left over fajita scramble with trumpet mushrooms

Breakfast, what a vast topic. Some people like to eat breakfast and some don't. I think it just depends on what you are eating. I love breakfast, although am not always able to make time to get to it. This plate is one of those reasons you make time to have breakfast. Yesterday I had left overs from a Mexican restaurant I went to in Santa Cruz. I had chicken fajitas there, and they were pretty good. However it was definitely one of those things that is much better as leftovers the next day. I heated up the mixture in a pan added some Cheddar, Jack, Queso Quesadilla and Asadero cheese. Then sliced up a giant trumpet mushroom and sauteed it in with the mixture. Finally simply scrambled two eggs, added more of the cheese mixture and threw everything together. The result was sooo good. Really it was, and you know by eating with me when it comes to my breakfasts that if I say something is good it's good. Because when I make things that don't turn out well, I get upset. I highly recommend this to this people that want to add something more to there breakfast eggs rather then ketchup, try throwing in leftovers from the previous day, you might get surprised.

Salad

So I have no better name for this other then salad, maybe simple vegetable salad or whatever is in the fridge salad. Anyway, the contents were Romaine lettuce, with sliced vine ripe tomatoes, cucumber, pine nuts, avocado, cremini mushrooms and pecorino cheese. I then tossed the salad with a simple white wine vinegar, lemon juice and lime infused olive oil dressing with some melted honey as well, finishing it off with salt and pepper. The salad actually turned out really well, the dressing was not to heavy and there was some really great tastes that covered every bite. Sometimes it is hard because the dressing might be to strong, or sour, but this one was very nice and light with a hint of sweet.
Finally, I know some of you are laughing because you can see the phone book underneath the plate, I was looking for the proper lighting to take the shot, and it just so happened to be there.

Lobia Polo va Morgh

The title of this dish is written in Farsi, but the translation for it is basically Yellow Rice with Black Eyed Peas and Chicken. The chicken was allowed to marinate in a particular mixture that I got from my dad, after a while of experimenting with different combination's of spices. The rice was mixed with Turmeric to allow the yellow color. This was my first time making the rice, and instead of doing it in a rice cooker I also made it in a pot which changed things a bit. Normally at home it is done in a pot as well, however because of time constraints I make it in a rice cooker. So the chicken turned out really well, but I wasn't to worried about it because I have done it before many times. The black eyed peas also proved to be a little more difficult as well because I could not find canned peas, so I had to get dry ones and boil them, which was also a first for my self.

Dill and potato rice with sauteed spinach, squash and mushrooms, salted tomatoes and ground turkey patties

So tonight's meal was a simple idea. There was nothing to special to it, basically there was some vegetables in the fridge and everything kind of went from there. The ground turkey was prepared in a similar way as the when I make Kebab. In the food processor accompanied by the proper spices. There wasn't really anything wrong with the dish simply that it was more of something to just eat.

baked chicken, with spinach mixed rice

This was a last minute meal that was put together. The chicken is breaded with some random boxed mixture, I didn't like it very much so I ended up also coating the chicken in a bourbon BBQ sauce that I picked up from a specialty producer. I used chicken thigh's for this meal which was a little out of my box because I typically cook with chicken breasts. However the thigh meat always has a juicer taste to it. In the end the meal was really good, and once again there was no left overs.