Pasta el Polo/Chicken and Broccoli in Cream Sauce

Back in the 90's.....wow.  That was a long time ago......

Oh, sorry.  I'm here.  Back in the 90's, I used to work at this Italian place called Santo Pietro's.  It was known for it's garlic knots and celebrities.  It was located in the Beverly Glen Centre and was essentially the hangout for celebrities who lived in the area.

It's where I realized that Prego and Ragu were NOT the standard in Italian food....One of my favorite dishes here was called Pasta el Polo.  Basically it's chicken and broccoli in a cream sauce.  Fun fact-Wayne Gretzky used to order this dish (but without the broccoli and with all white meat chicken) with a Diet Coke all the time!

So yes, you're right.  The word for chicken in Italian is pollo, but Santo Pietro's spelled it polo and it was pronounced like Marco Polo.  I don't know.  I never asked.  It just was.  So it's how I will spell it here.

But who cares how it's spelled, because more importantly it looks like this...

Okay.  So this is the super short cut version.  The real version uses fresh chicken and fresh broccoli.  I'm using frozen chicken and frozen broccoli.  In my opinion, I think the fresh broccoli is a lot better.  But at Santo Pietro's, we used to pre-blanch the broccoli for faster cooking and that's an extra step I'm not interested in doing...so frozen it is.  Plus, it's what I had on hand. Shrug.

Here's the crew and their mugshots:
pasta of your choice (Santo Pietro's version used fusilli or rotelli- corkscrew shaped pasta)
 1- 2 pieces of chicken (fresh or frozen, breast or thigh-up to you)
1- 2 bags of frozen broccoli (12 oz. size)
garlic (as much or as little as you want)
1 cup of cream (more if you like it super saucy...mmmmm)
1/4 cup of butter
1 cup of parmesean or romano cheese (or BOTH! Oh la la!)
salt and pepper

I used cavatappi pasta, which is the hollow corkscrew pasta.  I know pasta is pasta is pasta.  But I really think the shapes matter depending on what sauce you're using.  For example, I really think the linguine pasta works wonders with my Thai Red Curry Sauce.  Or spaghetti is the perfect pair from my Meat Sauce/Pasta Gravy.  I can't imagine using any other pasta with those sauces. There's something about the shapes of different pastas that hold onto different sauces and flavors.  Corkscrew shape pastas work best with this sauce. Maybe I'm crazy....You decide.  About the pasta.  Not about me being crazy. 

Start by cooking your pasta in a large pot of salted water.  

I used the entire 1 pound box.

When the pasta was done cooking, I turned off the heat and added the bags of frozen broccoli directly into the pasta and water. Use 1-2 bags, depending on how much broccoli you want in there.  I think 2 bags is perfect.  If you're paying attention, you noticed this is a bag of broccoli AND cauliflower.  I didn't have just broccoli and I happen to like cauliflower so there you have it.  That's how I roll.  

I like to use my kitchen scissors and give the veggies a quick chop up to make them bite sized 

(Okay, okay...its really so the Indian won't pick out the broccoli but shhhhhhh.  Let's keep that on the DL).

Stir your frozen veggies around in the hot pasta and water and immediately pour into a colander.

Set aside.  We'll come back to this soon.

I used to make the sauce in a separate pan and toss the pasta into the sauce.  But now I just use the same pot that I used to cook the pasta....because that's how I roll.  You don't even need to rinse it. 

Over medium heat, I add 1/4 cup of real butter. That's half a stick if you're counting...

Add your chopped chicken breast or thighs.  I used 2 large thighs, but like Wayne Gretsky, I prefer mine with white meat... but dark meat is what I had so....you know. That's how I roll.

Add as much or as little pepper as you want.

I add a little bit of salt here, too.  I like to season the chicken as its cooking.  But we'll be adding parmesan cheese later so don't over salt now.  Saute chicken for about 2-3 minutes, depending on how large your pieces are.  Make sure they are cooked through. (You could leave out the chicken if you wanted to keep this vegetarian....but then you'd have to call it...well, not Pasta el Polo.)

Now it's magic time.  Add a heaping tablespoon of crushed garlic. 

(Feel free to use more or less depending on what you like.)

Mmmm. Mmmm. Mmmm.

Careful not to burn or crisp your garlic.  

Add 1 cup of heavy cream to your garlic and chicken.

You're welcome to add more if you like it saucier.  Back in the day, Santo Pietro's single serving used a cup and more for just one order and we're using a cup for 4-5 servings.  But that was the decadent 90's and the goal now is too not have a heart attack, right?

To the mix, add 1 cup of parmesan cheese or parmesan/romano mix.  Santo Pietro's used a really high quality parmesan cheese.  I just had this Kraft brand on hand.  They both work well.

At this point, I turn off the heat and stir everything together.  If you over "cook" parmesan cheese, it clumps into this weird chunky mess that you can't get off your spoon and it sticks/burns to the bottom of your pot.  You want it to just look like this:

If you need to, remove your sauce from the stove completely to prevent your cheese "curdling" or burning.

Remember you pasta veggie mix?  Grab it now and add to your sauce.

Stir and make sure all your pasta and broccoli get tossed around in your yummy sauce.  

Taste it.  If you want to add more salt, do it now.

That's it.  Shortcut Pasta el Polo.  

Serves 4-5 people.  

I like to eat this while wearing an over sized plaid shirt, biker shorts and a scrunchie in my hair.

Cheater's Casamiento

Everyday, I thank my lucky stars that I have a plethora of amazing ethnic foods available to me at any given moment.   I mean, how lucky am I that I can have Chinese Korean food for lunch and Salvadorean food for dinner?  One of my all time Salvadorean dishes is casamiento.  (Some of my all time favorite Salvadoreans are Maria Mancia and La Yaki)  It's this really soothing, creamy, comforting dish of beans and rice.  Casamiento in spanish means wedding or marriage.  So think of it as a marriage of rice and beans.   Such a simple concept of just beans cooked with rice and you end up with a bowl of ridiculous deliciousness.

I'm not talented enough nor patient enough to make my beans from scratch.  So I used canned refried black beans to shave off a few hours of cooking time.  So I'm calling this recipe Cheater's Casamiento.  Get it?  This is NOT the traditional way to make casamiento.  I put some thought into how I thought it might be made and this is my best guess.  Hopefully, Papa Mancia won't slap me upside the head.

Imagine a big, comforting, warm bowl of this:

Don't let the picture fool you.  It's divine.

You need:

1 small onion

1 1/2 cups of long grain white rice

3 cups beef stock

2 cups of water

butter

pepper

garlic salt

cream

I start by finely mincing my onion like this:

To a 3 quart saucepan on medium heat, I add 2 tablespoons of butter.  The real stuff.  Or you can use oil.

To your melted butter, add your diced onion.

Season with pepper.

Season with garlic salt.

Saute the onions until they are soft but not browned.

Then I add a cup and half of long grain white rice.  This kind:

Saute your rice in your onion butter mixture for a minute or so.

Then add 3 cups of beef broth (or water if you're doing a vegetarian version).

I added 1 cup of water and let simmer on low for about 30 minutes.  Don't forget to stir once in awhile. 

Then when the rice is cooked and it looks kind of like this:

I add one can of refried black beans:

Dump the entire can into your rice.

Mix the refried black beans into your rice.

Add another cup of water.

Mix the water in and simmer on low for another 20 minutes or so.  The goal is to get your rice to kind of "open" and just start to break down.  That's the way I like it.  There are other versions of casamiento that keep the beans whole or the rice whole, but this way works for me.  

When the rice has started to "open",  I add a splash of cream to make this dish even creamier. 

Aaaaand there it is, folks.  Cheater's casamiento.

Top with queso fresco if you have it.  Goes really well with plantanos (fried plantains) and Salvadorean crema.  

Also goes well with my Salvorean (Salvi-Korean)  fusion pork and kimchee pupusas.  I'll post that recipe someday.

Thai Red Curry Linguine

I love curry.  I grew up eating Japanese curry, but hadn't really had Thai curry until I was in college.  The first time I had Thai curry, it literally blew my mind.  The spicy, savory and creamy sweet was almost too much to handle.  Mind. Blown.

Growing up, I only ate one kind of curry.  But Thai curries are beautiful and numerous.  Red, green, yellow, prik king, massaman and so many more.  Mind. Blown.

I never realized how easy it was to make Thai curry until two of my close friends, Denise and Rocio showed me how to cook it.  They invited me over and we had a curry party.  Only in LA would you find a Mexican and Honduran teaching a Korean kid how to make Thai curry...Mind. Blown.

Here's my version of Thai Red Curry Linguini.

The characters:
1 medium onion
1-2 bell peppers (any color you want)
2 chicken thighs or breasts (skinless and boneless)
fish sauce
brown sugar
lemon
ginger
1 can of sliced bamboo (8oz)
1 can of coconut milk or cream
Thai Red Curry Paste
salt and pepper
red chili paste (optional)


First start with two chicken thighs or breasts.  When Denise and Rocio taught me how to make this, they used dark meat.  I usually use white breast meat because the Indian doesn't like dark meat, but most Asian dishes that call for chicken utilizes dark meat.  So no matter what you decide to use, make sure you marinate your chicken first.  I work with a lot of frozen chicken that is both skinless and boneless.  I prefer to not have to handle raw chicken too much, but that's just me.  If you're okay with it go for it.

I use kitchen scissors to cut away some of the fat and then cut into bite sized pieces.

Add about 1/4 cup of fish sauce over your chicken.  

A word about fish sauce.  If you've never used it before, you should be prepared for the shock of your life.  It smells rotten and pungent all at the same time.  NOT for the faint of heart.  Literally.  I'm really not trying to scare you, but this stuff is no joke.  It's essentially fermented fish sauce.  Super concentrated flavor. 

Now, before you freak out, I would bet that you've eaten dishes with fish sauce and didn't even know it.  Every Asian country has their own version of fish sauce.  It's what makes dishes really pop with flavor.  Vietnamese dipping sauces all have fish sauce in it.   Koreans use fish sauce to flavor soups and side dishes.  Believe me.  You've had it.  You just didn't know it.  You've heard the Japanese word for fifth flavor, umami.  It's a real thing.  Well fish sauce is like that fifth flavor profile.  Intensely savory.  But intensely stinky too.  

According to Wikipedia: 

Southeast Asian fish sauce is often made from anchovies, salt and water, and is usually used in moderation because it is intensely flavoured. 

One bottle will last you a really, really long time.  I use this brand.  I got it at the Korean Market.  I think the stinkier the better.  Blech.  Just remember that when you use it, it might make you gag a little.  That's ok.  That means you have the good stuff.  Have I scared you enough into thinking maybe you don't want to use it?  Well, don't be scared because I guarantee you that if you skip using fish sauce, your curry will be flat and lack the flavor you were hoping for.  Trust me.

To the fish sauce and chicken, add one heaping tablespoon of brown sugar.

Roll your lemon and using the palm of your hand press it down on the counter until its soft and then cut it in half.  Rolling the lemon makes it easier to squeeze out the juice.  I add the juice of an entire lemon.

Mix it all together and set aside.  Far, far away.  Just kidding.

Next, it's time to chop up your onion and bell peppers.  You can use any color bell peppers.  I like to use a combo of different colors because I like the way it looks.  I used yellow, orange and green for this batch.  I've also used just all one color too.  Whatever you have works just fine.

I used one medium sized onion and about 2 bell peppers. I chose to cut them into strips, but you can dice them into squares too.  I like strips for this recipe because I'm using it over linguine.  If I am using this curry over rice, then I usually cut into squares.  Just be sure to you cut everything the same size to ensure even cooking times. 

How do you cut your bell pepper?  I like to slice the sides and bottom off first.

Then you're left with this and you can just throw it away. 

Slice into even pieces.

Now add all your onion and bell peppers into a heavy duty pot on medium low with about 1 tablespoon of oil.  Olive oil is usually what I have one hand but you can use vegetable oil too. Salt and pepper your veggies now.

Drain the liquid from one can of sliced bamboo shoots.

Add bamboo in with your onions and peppers.

Take a piece of fresh ginger about half the size of your thumb.  

Use your knife to peel off the skin.

Thinly slice your ginger.  

Stack your ginger slices and cut into thin sticks.

Then turn ginger pieces and dice the other way.  Work your knife over the ginger until you have finely minced ginger.  You want your ginger to be super fine.  Biting into a big piece of ginger is often intense and a little spicy.

Add your finely minced ginger into your pot and saute.

The smell at this point is divine.

But wait....it gets better.

Add one can of coconut milk to your pot.

Sometimes, when you open your can, it looks like this:

Don't be alarmed.  It's just the coconut fats have solidified a bit.  Just scrape it all off and add into your pot.  If you want to go a bit lighter, you can use light coconut milk.  Your curry won't be as creamy, but it still pretty good.  

Our next step is to add the curry paste.  I use this kind:

You can buy red curry paste at almost any supermarket.  Thai Kitchen and Mae Ploy are pretty main stream and can be found at Ralph's or Von's.  I like to go to a Thai market and buy my curry paste from there.  But you don't have to.  I'm really lucky because Thai Town is not that far of a drive for me and I think it's worth it.  The more main stream brands seem a little muted down in flavor to me.  Use whatever you can get.

I add a heaping spoonful of red curry paste into my pot.

Use a spoon to mix your curry paste and dissolve it into the coconut milk.

Make sure to break up all your curry paste so you are not left with any unmixed chunks of curry.

Remember your stinky chicken marinade?  Time to throw that in now, too!

Add all of it.  Fish sauce and lemon juice and everything.

This next step is optional.  I add a bit of chili sauce because I like spicy.  You don't have to.

Let the entire mixture simmer on medium-low for about 20-30 minutes.

In the meantime, cook your linguine or rice.  I like to use linguine over any other kind of pasta.  There's something about the broad, flat noodles that works well with this curry.  I cook one entire 1 pound box of linguine. 

And when using rice, I use Jasmine rice.  It is divine.  I love Jasmine.  I can't help myself and I like to smell it as I'm eating it.  The Indian says I look like I have OCD when I eat Jasmin rice....hmpfff.

If you don't have Jasmine rice that's okay, but be sure to use a long grain rice for this curry.  Short grain gets mushy.  

Spoon curry over rice or mix linguine directly into your curry.  Garnish with chopped cilantro.

MMMM. mmmmm.  mmmmm.

This recipe feeds about 6-8 people.  Or just me.