Quick, two pan Chicken Alfredo

I've been working long hours lately and have no desire to cook when I get home, let alone do the dishes afterwards. My solution for nights like these? A quick pasta. If I count all the prep dishes and my bowl and spoon to eat with, I get under 10 dishes to wash. (I'm talking  cutting boards, prep knife,  cooking spoon, pasta pot, sauce pan, serving bowl, and spoon to eat it all with). Which I think is pretty impressive considering its a well rounded meal with a vegetable.

  We've got a chicken breast (later cut into cubes), asparagus (later chopped), shallot (later minced), garlic (later crushed in a garlic press), whipping cream, Parmesan cheese, and my favorite noodles (at least for the month).

 First things first, I turn on my pans. First is the pot for the noodles, filled with water and a pinch of salt. Then it's my sauce skillet. Once the skillet is warm, add a little oil or bacon fat (I keep a cup of bacon fat on the stove just for this purpose). Add in your cubed chicken and season with salt and pepper. Cook over med-high heat until golden brown. 

When your water is boiling, add the noodles and cook as directed on package, or until al dente.

 Back to the skillet -reduce heat to medium and add your minced shallots and crushed garlic toss for a minute, making sure the garlic doesn't burn. Add in the asparagus and toss for another minute. Now add 3/4 cup cream (or something close to that amount, I eyeball it depending on how much sauce I want), let it bubble for a bit.

Once your noodles are done drain them. I'm spoiled and my pasta pot lid has a built in strainer so I don't have get out the stand alone strainer or try draining it with a normal lid (which I always loose noodles with).

Add the pasta to your sauce and toss it together. Throw in a handful or so of cheese and mix it all together, so the cheese melts and incorporates.

Plate up, sit down, and eat (the dishes can wait till later).

Farmers market Asparagus, Morels, and Eldarberry jam

I don't know about you but, I love farmers markets. There is something special about a  few hand fulls of people setting up tents, selling their items and the throngs of people that go to visit them. All the different noises and smells, I love it all, from the corner musician playing hip beats, to the baby crying in its stroller because it would rather be held. Farmers Markets are alive in every way. I still love them after working a food booth at various farmers markets for over 5 years. The people of the community that put these markets together and the sellers that set up their tents, are dedicated and beautiful people, each one with their own story.

One rainy spring day, I went to one of the bigger local farmers markets with a friend. We chatted with the two food vendors that I knew, talked with new vendors  as we bought things (like my three new blueberry plants!), and ran for cover as the really dark gray clouds passed over the market releasing buckets of rain. Though it wasn't ideal weather, it was a beautiful rainy day, and the market was still full of people.

We got back to my house thoroughly damp (even the dog, who was inside my jacket most of the time) and set out our goodies. My blueberry plants stayed outside until I could plant them, but the other things we got were for making lunch. 

Spring time means Asparagus and I love indulging on this vegetable when it is in season, it's crisp, fresh, and delicious no matter how you cook it. All the produce stalls had their arrangements of Asparagus up front and highlighted, you couldn't miss it. There was also a stall that had fresh mushrooms and hard to find jams. I couldn't resist getting some morels and trying a small container of wild elderberry jam. By the time I got in the car I was thinking of how I could combines these for lunch.

I broke down the Asparagus into smaller spears (and got rid of the tough woody bottom parts), chopped the morels and minced some garlic.

Butter is your friend, especially when your sauteing garlic, it smelled heavenly.

Once the garlic was soft (takes under a minute) I added the mushrooms and let them cook nicely, bathing in the butter garlic mixture.

I added  a good tablespoon or so of jam, let it turn into a sauce with all the butter, garlic, and mushrooms. Then added my asparagus. Tossing it so it was thoroughly coated and put a lid on it to let it cook.

I like my vegetables on the al dente side, so they still have a little crunch to them. This dish was sweet, tangy, and earthy. There were no leftovers and I was actually wishing there was more... next time I'll have to double my batch. This random recipe was a hit and made it into my recipe book for later use.