Jalapeno cheddar chicken sausage in spicy cilantro alfredo with penne

On my most recent weekly shopping excursion to Kroger, I bought some jalapeño cheddar chicken sausage thinking I could make some sort of pasta dish with it.  Tonight I did just that, and I have to admit, it turned out amazingly good - jalapeño cheddar chicken sausage in a spicy cilantro Alfredo.

I based the sauce on this recipe with more than a few twists: jalapeño cheddar chicken sausage http://allrecipes.com/recipe/quick-and-easy-alfredo-sauce/

Remember, save any liquid that remains in the pan after cooking the sausage, you'll need it for the sauce!

Ingredients I used:

Pan dripping/cilantro/garlic/chili pepper mixture

¼ cup butter

3 ounces cream cheese

1 teaspoon garlic powder

½ cup half & half

1 ounce heavy cream

3 ounces 2% milk

3 ounces grated Parmesan cheese

3 ounces Mexican cheese mixture (http://www.sargento.com/products/5/sargento-fancy-shredded-4-cheese-mexican-cheese/)

1/8 teaspoon fresh coarsely ground black pepper

½ pound penne pasta

1 can (4 ounce) green chilies

2 cloves garlic

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro + 2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro for garnish

4 links jalapeño cheddar chicken sausage (about a pound)

What I did:

           - In a large pan over medium low heat, brown the sausage on all sides. 

           -  Add ½ cup of water to the pan and cover, lower the heat to low and let simmer for 5 minutes. 

3         -  Remove the sausage to a plate and cover to keep warm. 

        RESERVE ANY LIQUID STILL IN THE PAN!!!

           -  Scrape fond from the bottom of the pan and put all of the pan drippings into a food processor 

           -  Add to the food processor bowl: green chilies, ¼ cup cilantro, cayenne, garlic cloves

          - Start the penne, cook per package directions. 

          While the water comes to a boil…

          - Run the processor  until the ingredients are  blended smooth.

          - Pour the mixture back into the pan with the heat on medium-low.

          - Add the butter to the pan and whisk until melted

         -  Add the cream cheese, whisk until melted and blended

         -  Add the garlic powder, whisk until blended.

         -  Add the black pepper and whisk…

         -  Slowly Add all of the dairy while whisking  and blending it together

         -  Add the cheeses, whisk to melt and blend.  Keep whisking and stirring.  Do not let it get too hot, as it could break.  As you stir, it will thicken up, too.

         - Slice the sausage, about ½ inch thick.

         - When the penne is al dente, drain it off and place it into the pan with he sauce, add the sausage and stir it all together.

         - Serve, garnished with cilantro and with a sourdough bread side.

          I have one photo of the dish, not a very good one.  It tasted way better than the photo lets on!  The family devoured it.  It was very rich, thick, creamy and spicy- delicious!

Jalapeño cheddar chicken sausage in a spicy cilantro Alfredo with penne

 

        Enjoy,

        Lorence

I Made Butter! Sweet Cream Butter!

Today, I came across a very nice website called Indian Food Rocks, and on one of the pages there was a very nice entry on making Homemade Sweet Cream Butter. I read it and couldn't believe it could possibly be that simple to make fresh homemade butter. I decided to stop on the way home, pick up some heavy whipping cream and make some to have with dinner (Classic Stuffed Green Pappers).

IFR has a great description and some fabulous photos of the process. After getting the peppers into the water to parboil, I started the butter process. I didn't have a jar to put it in, so I used a 2 cup Rubbermaid container that I knew would seal tightly, then started shaking. And shaking. And shaking, shaking, shaking, shaking, shaking, shaking, shaking, shaking...I shook it alot, for about 15 minutes. At one point towards the end of the shaking, it seemed like there was just a solid mass in the container and nothing was moving around, so I shook it REALLY hard for a minute and all of a sudden the solid seperated out from the liquid and I had butter. Real butter. couldn't belive it - it really was that simple!

Here's the start: and the end product:
Ready for the table:


And here's how you can do it:

Pour about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream into a container that will seal tightly and not come loose even with vigorous shaking.
Close the lid (make sure it is sealed well!) and shake the bejesus out of it for a good 10 minutes. When I was shaking it, I was getting 300+ shakes per minute. After about 10 minutes, you will notice that the cream isn't moving very well inside the container. Don't worry, you're almost there, just shake harder. HARDER DAMN IT, HARDER! When it looks like there's a solid mass in the bottom of the container and just a bunch of milk sloshing around it, it's probably done. Wait... Shake it some more! Ok, now it's done. Pour off the liquid (buttermilk! You can save it to bake with, or make curry with or just drink). Put the butter into a container for use.
I refrigerated mine until the peppers were ready and we spread it on some store bought crusty bread. Mmmmmm....

since there are no presevratives at all in this, it won't keep long, but if you find it as yummy as we did, it won't be around long enough to worry about.

Enjoy,
Lorence