September 4
Chicken, Potatoes and Pasta
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- Pasta with Chicken and Potato Tomato Sauce [View Recipe]
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Ingredients
- .5 pound pasta
- 8 ounces potatoes (scrubbed and pricked)
- .5 batch [object Object]
- 1 pound chicken (trimmed of fat)
- 1 tablespoon oil
- .25 cup wine
- salt & pepper
- cheese (freshly grated)
Instructions
We start by putting a large pot of water on the stove and heating it covered over medium-high heat. This is for the pasta.
In a medium pot, we combine the tomato sauce and potatoes. The potatoes are covered in the sauce, and we partially cover the pot. The sauce is brought to a boil and then we let it simmer for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, we prepare the chicken. With kitchen scissors, we trim the chicken of fat and unsightly areas.
In our Dutch oven, we heat the oil over medium heat. When hot, we sauté the chicken for a few minutes on each side. We are just looking for the chicken to be golden on the outside.
The chicken (still raw on the inside) is removed to a plate. The wine is added to the Dutch oven and we scrape up the browned bits from the inside of the Dutch oven with a wooden spoon. The chicken is then added back to the reduced wine mixture, along with the tomato sauce and potatoes. We season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
The chicken and potatoes are about ¾ covered with the tomato sauce. We will turn them occasionally as they simmer gently for 15 minutes.
When the chicken and potatoes are simmering together, and the water for the pasta is boiling, we add the dried pasta to the water. We season with salt, stir, and cook according to the package directions.
The pasta is drained in a colander when "al dente" and returned to the pot. Some sauce is stirred in to lightly coat the pasta.
The pasta is served with Locatelli, additional sauce, and the chicken and potatoes. The chicken is nicely cooked after the 15 minutes at a gentle simmer. The potatoes, though, are not as tender as we would like (maybe Nanny was right to cook them an hour instead of 35 minutes!). We put the potatoes in a microwave safe bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and microwave for a few minutes until cooked through.
- Peas
- Garlic Caputos Bread
We spent the morning at the fair. We had wanted to go last week, but we have been so darn busy, what with school starting and all.
The baby could have had a better time. She very much wanted to stay with her older siblings. Some french fries and a ride on the merry-go-round eventually satisfied.
The older two had themselves a blast. The consensus appears to be that the fun house was the best ("it has to be fun—they call it the fun house"). Both also seemed to enjoy the ferris wheel. Our son is getting older—last year he was quite afraid.
In the afternoon, Robin and our daughter went out shopping. They spent entirely too much. Our daughter is also apparently getting older.
We spent yesterday up in New Jersey, where Andy and Monica held a nice Labor Day cookout for the family. There was much food and family—Jeff, Nick, the cousins, Brandon and Tyler, all were there. Even Nanny and Gramps came down from Brooklyn.
Seeing Nanny and Gramps partially inspired this meal. The visit and the bread Nanny brought along for us.
Had a very nice time. Perfect weather. Good driving conditions. Gramps took a spill though. Despite his 86 years, he got up on the trampoline with Tyler. Before anyone realized he had gotten up there, he flipped off onto the ground. Amazingly, he was fine (just a little sore). Everyone will keep a closer eye on him the next time he is around trampolines.