Leftovers Chicken Alfredo

It's been an interesting, and long, week. The week started with me working a lot of hours, and ended with a fall injuring the cartilage on my ribs. Since I haven't had the time or energy to cook, meals have come from other sources. 

Let's face it, living in a dorm room situation means that you eat out, or order take out food a lot of the time. One of the benefits of take-away food, as our friends across the pond call it, is that you always get little extras thrown in. You know, those ketchup packets, sauces, other items meant to enhance your dining experience. Eventually these 'extras' either take over your life, or get thrown away. Now, I'm a big promoter of reducing waste. On the consumer side, you get more clutter or trash, and on the business side, it's an additional food cost, so a lot of the time, I only take just what I think I'll need. Of course, I like to reduce my food costs as well, so I will save up ketchup packets to refill my bottle, and I love getting the packets of soy sauce, or Parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes when I order pizza. Very handy stuff indeed.

Well, it so happens, we had fried chicken the other day, and one piece was left. I'm not a fan of refrigerated breading, so I simply removed the chicken from the bone to use with a salad or something. Another day, it was pizza. This inspired today's lunch -- Chicken Alfredo.

Alfredo sauce is one of those sauces, that seems like it's had to make, but really isn't, and it's a great way to use some of those little restaurant freebies, so the recipe below is for a single portion, made from leftovers, and giveaway packets. 

A little math first -

3 teaspoons = 1 Tablespoon

2 Tablespoons =  1 ounce

8 ounces = 1 cup

The average 3.5 gram packet of Parmesan cheese equals about 1/2 tablespoon, the average individual pat of butter is about 1/2 tablespoon, and the average container of half and half for your coffee is about 3/4 tablespoon.

By the way,here's what a cup of cream from the individual containers looks like:

Before we get to the good stuff, there are a couple of cooking notes that I've been asked about that are in the recipe. One of the items in the recipe is a minced clove of garlic. To mince something is to cut up into very small pieces. With garlic, the smaller the pieces, the more flavor and less burn, which is why I like to make a paste of garlic when I'm not actively needing larger pieces. To make a garlic paste, chop the garlic clove into small pieces, or use a garlic press.The true cutting technique for garlic is the same as dicing an onion, only on a much smaller scale. A garlic press is much easier and saves time. My good garlic press is still somewhere in storage, but I got this one from Walmart for a couple of dollars and it works fine.

Make a small mound of the chopped garlic on your cutting board, and using the flat side of your knife at a slight angle, press down hard and pull the flat of your knife across the garlic, crushing it into the surface of the cutting board. You can scoop it back together, and do this a few times to get the texture you want.

  

    

Another thing you may notice is that there is both butter and oil in this recipe.The reason for this, is that oil has a higher smoke point. Because the two fats have different smoke points,  you can keep the sauce heating longer to get the creamy results you want from the butter without the sauce scorching. The smoke point of oil is the temperature at which the oil begins to smoke, creating potentially toxic fumes. Butter starts smoking at 350⁰F/177⁰C, while olive oil has a smoke point of 460⁰F/238⁰C (Avocado oil is the highest at a whopping 520⁰F/271⁰C!)

Another nice add to this "leftovers" recipe is broccoli. You just toss it in with the chicken at the end. If you have some in the freezer, great, If you want to use fresh broccoli, this is easy in the microwave. Cut the broccoli into florets and add to a microwave safe container. Add a little bit of butter (like half of those little pats for a single serving) a splash of water and a pinch of salt. Cover with plastic wrap, leaving a corner open to vent, and microwave for 3 minutes. 

Chicken Pasta Alfredo

Equipment

Induction burner

Saute pan

Ingredients

1 1/2 Tbsps (3 individual pats) unsalted butter

1 Tblsp olive oil (vegetable oil, if olive is unavailable)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup cream (22 little containers) (Note: if you only have milk available, add a little extra butter to get the texture you want)

1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup (6 packets) grated Parmesan cheese

leftover cooked chicken

3 ounces pasta (spaghetti, linguine, fettuccine, etc.)

Instructions

Bring water to a boil in the pan with a little salt and cook pasta to al dente (still has a little bite), the time will vary according to the type of pasta that you are using. Drain pasta and set aside.

Over medium heat ('4' on your induction burner) melt the butter and oil in the pan.

Add the garlic, cream/milk, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 2 minutes, stirring often.

Stir in the Parmesan cheese and simmer until cheese is melted and the sauce has thickened and is smooth, stirring constantly, about 3 minutes. When the sauce coats the back of the spoon (the French cooking term is "nappe", pronounced 'nap-pay'), the sauce is done.

Add cooked chicken and pasta back into the pan with the sauce and cook for about a minute, stirring until everything is coated. Serve.