Copy Cat Recipe: Tomato’s Bacon Spezie

I haven’t blogged about anything in a while, so I decided to steal a recipe from a friend of mine. Please visit her blog Hipster Housewife Goes Hard! I am just copy and pasting the whole thing, cause that’s how I roll! I will post my own entry when I try this recipe, which might be tonight. Here it is so enjoy!

Copy Cat Recipe: Tomato’s Bacon Spezie
by: Tori Crumrine

When I am in the small town of Twin Falls, Idaho I have to go to Tomato’s Bar and Grill and get their Bacon Spezie. It is a spicy, cajun inspired alfredo with bacon, chicken and mushrooms. I serious will ruin my entire diet for this dish, it’s sooo amazing.

I was craving this dish at home in Alabama and decided to google it, it is original, like no one, not even the internet has this recipe except for a small restaurant in small Twin Falls, Idaho. At least they got that going for them. But I NEEDed it! So I tried a recipe and failed and tried again and vola! It is perfect.
Here is my gift to you internet world! And everyone who has been wanting this recipe for the home.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts
5 slices of bacon
1 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cups italian blend shredded cheese
1/2 chicken broth or more for thinning
2 TBSP butter
8 white mushrooms, washed and sliced
3 to 4 green onions
1 TBSP minced garlic
cajun spice mix ( 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp paprika, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/2 tsp dried oregano, 1/2 dried thyme) This is approximately how much I used.

Directions:

Start by slicing chicken in thin slices and cutting bacon into 1 inch pieces. Fry together, on medium-high heat for 4 to 5 minutes. Season with cajun seasoning. Add garlic, mushrooms and butter. Once the mushrooms, chicken and bacon are golden, (in bacon case crisp) turn down the heat to a simmer and add cream, chicken broth and green onion. When simmering add cheese and let melt. Adjust any seasoning to taste and enjoy. Serve over penne.
Tomato’s does melt a smoked gouda over the top under the heat of an oven. Although really tasty, I chose to leave this step out because I don’t have any gouda and I don’t need the calories

I hope you enjoy this dish, it’s is seriously delicious.

Remeber to check out Tori’s blog Hipster Housewife Goes Hard for this and other recipes!

BBQ Half Chicken

Have I told you lately that I love my grill? Cause I do! I bought a half chicken from the grocery store that was seasoned with Bad Byron’s Butt Rub. And by seasoned, I mean lightly sprinkled to make it look good. I should have just used my own rub! The chicken was still good, and believe me, there was none left. I did use the last of my BBQ sauce on the chicken. I guess I’ll have to make some more SOON. The chicken was still moist, even the breast, but next time I make a half chicken I will use my mop sauce. I love the flavor that it adds to the meats. I LOVE MY GRILL!!!!

Cajun Chicken Pasta

A rich and creamy sauce packed with a ton of flavor.

Cajun Chicken Pasta

This pasta sauce has an amazing flavor. It is easy to make and I will be making this pretty often in the future. I may have to see how it turns out with some half and half because it is loaded with calories and fat. BUT SOOO GOOODDD!!!!!!

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts (thinly sliced)
1 heaped tablespoon cajun spice
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 green onion (chopped)
1 clove garlic (minced)
1 tablespoon sun-dried tomato (chopped)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon red pepper
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
14oz heavy whipping cream
8oz fettuccini noodles (cooked al dente)

Note

I used a simple, homemeade Cajun seasoning for this dish.

Directions

Step 1	Season chicken with cajun seasoning and salt to your taste. Heat pan to medium-high heat and brown chicken. Remove chicken from pan. Start to boil water and cook noodles according to package.
Step 2	Add green onion, garlic, and sun-dried tomatoes to pan and cook for about one minute. Add white wine to pan to deglaze. Cook until wine is reduced by half.
Step 3	Add heavy cream and remaining spices to pan. Return chicken to pan. Heat until thick and creamy to your consistancy. Put cooked noodles into the sauce pan and stir.
Step 4	Serve the dish! Garnish with thinly sliced green onions and cajun seasoning.

Easy Chicken Parmesan Casserole

I first saw this recipe on "Food Wishes." I made it and it was really simple and tasted good. This time when I made it I added some more spices and put a little bit more effort into it. This is what I did:

Easy Chicken Parmesan Casserole

1 lb chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp crushed red pepper
2 cups spaghetti sauce
8 oz mozzarella
4 oz parmesan
1 bag crouton, 5 oz
spices, to your liking

•Preheat oven to 35o degrees.
•Spread olive oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes in a 9 x 13 inch glass baking dish.
•Season cut up chicken breasts with spices that you like. I used salt, pepper, garlic powder, and italian seasoning. Brown pieces in hot skillet.
•Add chicken to bottom of glass baking dish. Pour spaghetti sauce over chicken. Add half of the cheese over the sauce. Add the croutons evenly over the cheese and sauce. Top with remaining cheese.
•Bake in preheated oven for about 35 minutes, or until cheese starts to brown. Let rest for 5 to 10 minutes, or as long as you can wait.

You can enjoy this just as it is. I served mine with some thin spaghetti noodles tossed with a little bit of sauce. I also made some garlic bread. This is a pretty simple dish that is very flavorful as well. It is a nice spin on the classic Chicken Parmesan and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Sunday, September 9, 2012