December 19, 2006
Chicken Fettucine - My Way
I was given a pasta education recently by my blog readers on how to make Chicken with Pasta:
1) The Military Pasta way - am still not sure what that is?
2) The Pomodoro way - pasta with olive oil and fresh tomatoes
3) The Marinara way - pasta with olive oil, tomatoes plus some other herbs like basil
4) The Asian way - Teriyaki Chicken with Linguine
5) The No way - Spaghetti with Chicken does not exist.
Below is the simcooks’ way : Chicken Fettucine. I have a few cooking tips to make the chicken and pasta very tasty.
Cooking Tip # 1:
Leave the chicken skin on. The chicken skin will not only crisp up during the pan-sear process, it will also keep the chicken juices in, so that the end result is crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.
Cooking Tip # 2:
Season the chicken thighs with salt, pepper and cajun seasoning liberally. If you don’t have cajun seasoning, then salt and pepper will do. (Cajun seasoning comprises of a variety of spices like cayenne pepper, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, thyme, sweet basil and bay leaf. Variations may be found, depending on brand.)
Cooking Tip # 3:
Heat up 2 tbsp of olive oil in a saucepan. Medium-high heat. The tip here is in using a saucepan instead of a frying pan. Reason being a saucepan has a higher “side” and you can use a paper towel to cover the saucepan during the pan-fry process to prevent oil splatter.
Cooking Tip # 4:
Put the chicken skin side down, and then leave it alone for about 10 minutes. Yep, leave it alone. Nope! No excuses, no itchy fingers, no but-I-want-to-turn-it-over-to-take-a-look buts. Go make a salad for a side dish and start to cook the pasta. This is because, we want the chicken to sear. And nope! Searing does not “seal in the juices”. This myth has been busted in Alton Brown’s Good Eats. (do a search for “searing” in Wikipedia.) Searing is to allow the skin to caramelise so that the chicken will be very tasty.
After 10 minutes, use a pair of tongs to turn the chicken over. This other side will cook for a shorter amount of time. Let it cook for about 8 minutes, again, without moving the chicken around.
Cooking Tip # 5:
After this long wait (because you are starting to get hungry), check if the chicken is cooked thoroughly by using a pair of kitchen scissors to make a small but deep incision on one side of the largest chicken thigh. If no blood oozes out, that means the chicken is cooked thoroughly.
Cooking Tip # 6:
The pasta should be cooked by now. Set aside the cooked chicken. Transfer the pasta to the same saucepan. Use a spatula to scrape off the brown bits left at the bottom of the saucepan. If necessary, use a pair of tongs to mix the brown bits well with the pasta. This is because the brown bits are very tasty.
To serve:
Cut the chicken thighs into bite sized pieces. Plate the pasta and top it off with the chicken. If you wish, sprinkle some finely chopped parsley (for color). We don’t want to add cheese to this dish because we don’t want the strong flavor of parmesan cheese to mute the flavor of the crispy, salty chicken.
Enjoy!
Bite This!
More recipes:
Chicken Recipe (4) - Three Ingredient Soy Sauce Chicken
Chicken Recipe (3) - Braised Oyster Sauce Chicken
Chicken Recipe (2) - Curry Chicken
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December 19th, 2006 at 2:03 pm
That’s one of the hard part for me. I have to turn it over constantly when I cook.
December 19th, 2006 at 10:01 pm
Haha!!! I am those itchy finger type. Always wanting to turn them over. But I have learnt.
Those chicken wings looks goooooood… I might just prepare Chicken Fettucine without Fettucine Simcook’s way tonite! :-)
December 20th, 2006 at 8:25 am
What I do is I set the timer and then proceed to do something else: cook the pasta, make a cup of tea etc.
The searing (with high heat) works well if you just season with salt, pepper and/or other additional dry seasoning. If you are using light/dark soy sauce, then you can move the chicken around as soy sauce (esp dark soy sauce) tends to burn if the heat is too high.
Keropok Man, hope to see your meal picture in your blog!
December 20th, 2006 at 9:23 am
got home too lazy. just tapow-ed from kopitiam nearby. hehe..
December 20th, 2006 at 9:43 am
The chicken looks like grilled fish, even! Nice…
Name your chicken, even kopitiam roast chicken is branded…I remember having one called “ke3 ai4 ji1″ (errr….Cute Chicken?)
December 20th, 2006 at 11:42 am
Oooh, I like your way!
Military pasta is chicken/onion/pasta. I had a recipe on my blog. Basically you fry onion, add cubed chicken and fry too. Add salt/pepper. A bit of water. Cover and simmer for 10 - 15 minutes. Meanwhile cook pasta separately. Then mix it all together. And you’re done. So simple, can do in war conditions — hense “military”.
December 21st, 2006 at 1:06 am
those nicely browned chicken reminds me of my belacan wings i made y’day..hehe, perhaps I’ll use the leftover meats for my leftover spaghettis..yums..
December 21st, 2006 at 2:28 pm
Tigerfish - my goosebumps are out!! Cute chicken?!?!
Thanks Vasilisa for clarifying. That sure can feed an army! Teeheehee…
Hi Melting Wok, Thanks for visiting! Belachan wings sounds delish!
December 24th, 2006 at 12:23 am
i get itchy fingers, but now i use the george foreman grill which works pretty well too and stops me from wanting to flip it..
December 25th, 2006 at 11:53 pm
Good idea Joanh! The chicken will cook faster too using the George Foreman Grill.
December 27th, 2006 at 10:08 pm
i must try this! :) i have chicken thighs awaiting me in the freezer. haha i don’t have linguine though. i think i have made chicken spaghetti! the forbidden number 5. :D thanks for your helpful hints. i’ve placed you on my blogroll for quick clicking. :D
December 27th, 2006 at 10:17 pm
Errr, the Ke Ai Ji, not so nice anymore. (It’s this chicken place in a Kopitiam in Clementi (& other places) ) Prices has gone up so many times, other chicken places are nicer.
This “My Way” is definitely better. :-)