Chicken Florentine and Cheddar Biscuits

Tonight was the first venture into unknown cooking territory. I originally found these recipes on Pinterest (my newest obsession. are you pinning?). The main dish: chicken florentine bowtie pasta, and the side: cheddar biscuits Red Lobster style.

Chicken Florentine Bowtie Pasta from pickypalate.com

(photo credit: http://picky-palate.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Chicken-Florentine-Bowtie-Pasta-text-539x700.jpg)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 cup finely chopped white onion

1 clove minced garlic (I cheated here and used garlic powder)

4 cups baby spinach leaves

2 cups cooked shredded chicken

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 freshly ground black pepper

2 cups Philadelphia cooking cream (I couldn't find this at the store so I just used store brand heavy whipping cream)

1 pound bowtie pasta

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Cooking directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and spray a 9x13in baking pan with non-stick baking spray.

2. Cook pasta according to package directions.

3. Cook oil in a dutch oven/large pot over medium heat. Add in onion and cook 5 minutes until tender. Stir in garlic for 1 minute. Add in spinach leaves and cook 2 minutes until wilted. Stir in chicken, salt and pepper. Slowly add in cream, stirring to combine.

4. Add pasta to mixture. (I also added a handful of cheese at this point).

5. Pour mixture into sprayed baking dish and top with mozzarella cheese. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until cheese is slightly golden.

Makes 8 servings.

As you can see, I made a few adjustment. It was very tasty. The sauce wasn't very thick and the spinach helped me not feel too guilty eating only a pasta dish for supper.

This one is definitely going into the recipe box for future reference.

Red Lobster Cheddar Biscuits from RasaMalaysia

(photo credit: http://rasamalaysia.com/uploaded_images/biscuits/biscuit.jpg)

Ingredients

2 cups Bisquick mix

2/3 cup milk

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 melted butter

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon dried parsley

Cooking directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

2. Mix Bisquick, milk, parsley and cheddar cheese into thick batter

3. Spoon the batter onto cookie sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes until golden

4. Melt butter and mix with garlic and drizzle over warm biscuits

Makes 12 servings (serving size = 1 biscuit)

These were delicious! Not exactly like the ones from Red Lobster, but they were quick, easy and cheap which is definitely the better thing in my opinion.

So overall tonight's adventure turned out scrumptious.

Newlywed: 1. Kitchen: 0.

Introduction

After being married for only a year and a half I have found myself in a horrible place. I've gotten lazy in the kitchen!

The hubs works hard out in the sun and heat every day, and I'm sure to have a hot meal waitin' on him whenever he walks through the door. The problem is, those meals are becoming more and more predictable. It goes something like this:

hamburger mac and cheese casserole one night

chicken alfredo, usually on Thursday

spaghetti and least one night a week

and grilled chicken with green beans pretty much every other night

Not a bad assortment, I guess, but week after week after week... yeah, it's become a little too predictable and consequently my taste buds are bored. Hence, my new blog here.

I am making a promise to myself to cook - at least - one never before tried recipe a week. I will post them here as a way to keep myself accountable. I'm going to try a variety of cookbooks and some times it will be an entire meal while other times it may just be a dessert.

So stay tuned for what are bound to be some interestingly delectable fiascos from this newlywed's kitchen!