Recipe: Sautéed Chicken and Pasta with a Leek and Onion Cream Sauce

So, I picked up leeks a little while ago with plans to make my Fettuccine and Sweet Italian Sausage in a Parmesan-Leek Sauce. When I left the house this morning, I set chicken out to thaw, having completely forgotten about the leeks (which have been languishing in the veggie drawer for over a week now), and planned to just wing it for dinner tonight. When I got home in the evening and starting getting prepped to make dinner, I found the leeks in the fridge and decided to just do a different take on that sauce from the original recipe, and the result was delicious. Leeks, onion, and garlic all have strong flavors, but blended together with heavy cream, Parmesan cheese, butter, and seasoning, they mellow out, creating a light, creamy sauce that pairs perfectly with chicken (and could work with a lot of other white meats).

iPhone 5 photo...not too shabby (I was too hungry and lazy to run upstairs and grab my camera)

Serves: 4
Prep. time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20-30 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Special equipment: Food processor

Ingredients

• 2 leeks, cleaned and cut in half (remove all of the green top part and the roots/bottom; soak in warm water for a few minutes to help remove any grit and grim)
• 1 medium white onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• Approx. 1/2 cup grated or shredded Parmesan cheese
• 2-4 tbsp. lemon juice
• 2-4 tbsp. white wine (cooking grade is fine)
• 2-4 tbsp. dried oregano
• 2-4 tbsp. lemon pepper (if you don't have this, just add some extra pepper and dry lemon peel, or skip it altogether) 
• Approx. 1/4 cup heavy cream (add more as needed)
• 2 chicken breasts, whole or cut into strips
• 1 package (approx. 16 oz.) spaghetti or linguine (you could also try a small pasta, like penne or rotini—they could work very well with the sauce)
• Olive oil
• Butter
• Salt and pepper

Directions

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil, then add the leeks and cook for 2-4 minutes, until tender. Drain the leeks and put them in the food processor. Heat a little butter and olive oil in a medium pan over medium-high heat and add the onion. Cook until tender, then put it in the food processor. Add garlic, Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, white wine, oregano, lemon pepper, salt, and pepper to the onion and leeks. Blend in the food processor until well-blended (the mixture likely won't be completely smooth, but this is fine—a little texture is good for this sauce). With the food processor running, slowly add the heavy cream. Sauce will be not too thin but not too thick. Pour it into a small pot and warm it over medium heat on the stove—add a little water or milk if you need to thin it out. In the same pan you used for the onion, add a little butter and olive oil, heat over medium-high heat, then add the chicken (season the chicken with salt, pepper, and lemon pepper). When partially cooked through, add the white wine (I just poured a splash in) and let it cook down. When the chicken is cooked through, it should be golden brown and no wine should be left in the pan. Reduce the heat when the chicken is cooked through to prevent overcooking. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, lightly salt it, then add the pasta and cook according to package instructions (about 5 minutes). Drain the pasta and return to the pot. Add the sauce (I reserved a few big spoonfuls to pour over the chicken) and stir/toss to coat. Serve the chicken atop the pasta and top with sauce, if desired. Serve with Parmesan cheese.

This dish is flavorful and creamy, but not overly rich. The strong flavors of the onion, leek, and garlic blend well together and the heavy cream and Parmesan cheese help even out the flavor. Cooking the chicken with butter and white wine helps brown it beautifully, while adding flavor and helping to keep it tender as it cooks. My parents only had one suggestions for this dish: add bacon. I agree—a little cooked, crumbled bacon sprinkled on the dish would heighten the saltiness and bring out the flavors in the sauce. But, even without that delicious pig meat, this dish is tasty.

Recipe: Food Network's "Cocoa-Rubbed Steak with Bacon-Whiskey Gravy"

This month's Food Network magazine was all about chocolate: how to cook and bake with it, how to temper it, where to buy the best, news about it, and more. All of the recipes in this issue incorporated chocolate in some sort of way, big or small, and a twist on the traditional "steak and potatoes" caught my eye. I don't cook red meat often, nor do I try to juggle too many things at once while I cook (in this case, steak, gravy, baked potatoes, and broccoli), so rather than play around with this recipe and make it my own the first time out, I decided to basically stick with it as is, tweaking just a few ingredients and whatnot, and it came out wonderfully. The rub on the steak has just a touch of heat and a subtle chocolate flavor that is savory rather than sweet. The gravy, a bacon-y, salty, creamy affair, goes well with the steak, and is even better on the baked potato and broccoli sides. So, kudos to you, Food Network, for a delicious, chocolate-themed steak-and-potato dinner!

(Bacon-Whiskey Gravy not pictured)

Yields: 2-4 servings (gravy serves about 6)
Prep. time: 10-15 minutes
Cooking time: 45 min.-1 hour
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate
Special equipment: Broiler pan

Ingredients

• 1 baking potato per person (I bought the "just pop in the microwave for 7-8 minutes" baking/russet potato to save time)
• About 2 heads of fresh broccoli, cut into florets (you can just cook half a bag of frozen broccoli to save time)
• Butter and sour cream for the baked potatoes, if desired

For the steak

• 1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tsp. paprika
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp. packed brown sugar
• Salt and pepper
• 1 steak, preferably NY strip, per person (I bought two large Delmonico steaks and split one with my mom)

*The rub is enough to cover 3, 1 lb. NY strip steaks, so if you do smaller or fewer steaks, use less of the rub

For the gravy

• 3-4 strips bacon
• 1 leek, finely chopped (clean thoroughly, because they're very dirty; do not use the dark green part at the top of the leek)
• 1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whiskey
• 3 cups chicken broth/stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 2 tbsp. dried parsley
• Salt and pepper

Directions

Mix together the ingredients for the rub and lightly rub the mixture into both sides of each steak. Set the steaks aside on a broiler pan and turn on the broiler setting in your oven in preparation for the steaks. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil in preparation for cooking the broccoli. In a large pan, cook the bacon over medium heat until crispy, then remove the bacon and place on paper towels to soak up excess grease. In the pan with the bacon grease, add the diced leek and cook until tender (about 3-5 minutes). Add the flour, stir to combine, and cook for about 1 minute. Add a little butter if desired. Remove the pan from the heat and add the whiskey. Return the pan to medium high heat and cook the mixture, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is slightly thickened (about 3 minutes). Add the bay leaves and chicken stock, bring to a boil over medium high heat, and cook until the mixture is reduced by about one quarter (about 8 minutes). Slowly whisk in the heavy cream, then allow the gravy to simmer for about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. While it's cooking, put the steaks in the oven and broil for 8-15 minutes (less time will yield medium rare steak, more time will yield medium to medium well), turning occasionally. Returning to the gravy, crumble the cooked bacon and add it to the gravy, along with the butter and parsley, then stir to combine. The gravy should be just thick enough to lightly coat the back of a spoon (add a little cornstarch-and-water to make it thicker, if desired) and will be a cream color when it's done. Reduce the heat to keep it warm. Cook the broccoli florets for approx. 5 minutes in boiling water and heat the baking potatoes in the microwave for 7-8 minutes. If you've timed this right, everything should finish up at about the same time. The steak, once removed from the oven, should be allowed to rest for a few minutes on a cutting board before being plated and cut. Serve the meal with a gravy boat full of the gravy.

This is a delicious little twist on a classic and is quite a filling meal. Fresh broccoli and fluffy baked potatoes are the perfect compliment to the steak, coated in this lightly sweet-spicy rub. The gravy, a salty, creamy, buttery mixture, goes perfectly with every part of this dish.