Chicken Cacciatore

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

I'd been making a kind-of half-assed one for a while now, in which I'd use pre-shredded chicken breasts, throw em in the slow-cooker with a diced onion and green pepper, cover all that in spaghetti sauce and cook it for 8 hours or so. I'd cover it with shredded cheddar or parmesan before tossing it on top of a pasta;

 

First date is looming and she had mentioned her favourite food was pasta, so I thought this was a pretty good first-date meal to make. It gets a little boring though, so I was wondering if anyone had any ideas to mix it up (different spices, pasta, etc.)

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

I think there are 5 keys..

 

Key #1 - take 4 split chicken breasts and drege them in seasoned flour and amd saute them til brown on both sides in oil. More flavor/texture than just using the shredded stuff.

 

Key #2 - your veggies..Id add some cut up olives, mushrooms..some garlic to your onions and peppers. Saute them in the pan after the chicken. Add about a 1/2 cup or so of red wine to the veg after its good and sauted and let it cook for a few minutes before..

 

Key #3 - Skip the jarred sauce and use canned diced tomatoes (1 big can) and some chicken broth (same amount as the wine) to the veggies Let that go for maybe 10 minutes, then add the chicken back and cover it up and let it simmer together for another 20 minutes or so. The sauce will be thin afterwards but if its going over pasta thats probably fine.

 

Key #4 - buy a small amount of fresh basil (roll the leaves up and slice them into thin little strips, you won't need a lot) as a garnish..which will not only impress your date a lot but also add a lot of flavor right at the end. You COULD use the dried basil in jars, but the flavor wont be as great and it wont impress nearly as much. Go with the parmesan cheese too..skip the other stuff.

 

Key #5 - if she likes pasta a lot..Id be very careful with the pasta..so much so Id probably splurge the extra buck or so and by the refrigerated fresh pasta that only needs to cook like 2 minutes and is almost always perfectly cooked vs the dried stuff that can be pretty bad if you dont know how to treat it. Nothing worse than going to all the trouble to make a great pasta sauce or whatever only to have it served over crappy undercooked pasta.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Whoa, whoa, whoa... garlic on a first date is NOT a good idea, but don't blame Marv there because he wouldn't be able to take these things into consideration and all.

 

Everything else is dead on, particularly the bit about using the basil as garnish.

 

And please, cooking pasta isn't that difficult to do. As long as you know how to boil water and watch the pot, it's not hard. But, I suppose it wouldn't be too bad of an idea to buy the refrigerated stuff, if only because it'd make the meal overall quicker.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Whoa, whoa, whoa... garlic on a first date is NOT a good idea, but don't blame Marv there because he wouldn't be able to take these things into consideration and all.

Everything else is dead on, particularly the bit about using the basil as garnish.

 

And please, cooking pasta isn't that difficult to do. As long as you know how to boil water and watch the pot, it's not hard. But, I suppose it wouldn't be too bad of an idea to buy the refrigerated stuff, if only because it'd make the meal overall quicker.

 

If you both eat the same thing, the garlic shouldnt be a problem because you essentially cancel each other out. Or at least thats what I heard..what do I know though right?

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

I had planned on sort of combining Marv's suggestions with my current recipe (adding the wine and basil, for example), just to ensure I wouldnt screw things up on our first date.

 

But the date's off, so I'm likely gonna try Marvin's recipe from the ground-up on Tuesday night.

[Guest Vitamin X]

But the date's off, so I'm likely gonna try Marvin's recipe from the ground-up on Tuesday night.

Aw that sucks, dude. What happened?

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

But the date's off, so I'm likely gonna try Marvin's recipe from the ground-up on Tuesday night.

Aw that sucks, dude. What happened?

 

Just friends. It's all good though.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

I might cook it for my girl eventually but I'll have to leave the wine out unless I want another migraine induced all night cuddle session..hmm..

 

Let me know how it works out for you anyway..