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Juniper Gin Chicken Pasta
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  • Success Rating: 93%

Juniper Gin Chicken Pasta

by Carol P in Test Kitchen

Wanting to be able to walk into the kitchen and cook with whatever happens to be on hand is why I am participating in the Rouxbe Cooking School. I developed this dish one evening when I needed to make dinner and had no desire to make a trip to the store. Drawing on some recently completed cooking school lessons, I broke free from my usual rut of tossing something on the grill and came up with this delicious pasta dish that is easy enough to make for a mid-week dinner.

Serves
4
Active Time
50 mins
Total Time
50 mins

Step 1: Ingredients and preparation

Ingredients and preparation
  • 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced
  • 1 medium red onion, cut into strips
  • 1 medium fennel bulb, cut into strips
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 tsp. aleppo pepper, or other dried red pepper flakes
  • 1 tsp. juniper berries, ground
  • 1 Tbsp. fresh thyme, stemmed and chopped
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces
  • 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 3 Tbsp. gin
  • 1/2 tsp. orange zest, finely grated

Prepare your mise en place by slicing the onion, fennel, and chicken breast. Mince the garlic. Chop the fresh thyme and parsley. Remove the zest from an orange and grind the juniper berries. Pre-measure the rest of the ingredients to have ready.

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Step 2: Sweating the onions, fennel and garlic

Sweating the onions, fennel and garlic
  • Prepared sliced vegetables
  • Pre-measured spices
  • 2 Tbsp. olive oil
  • pinch of salt

Place a large saute pan over low heat and add 2 Tbsp. olive oil. Add the sliced onion, fennel, pepper flakes, juniper, thyme and a pinch of salt, and cook over a low to medium-low heat for 5 minutes to begin sweating the vegetables. Add the garlic and continue to sweat the vegetables for another 5-7 minutes. Remove the vegetables from the pan and set aside.

Step 3: Pan fry the chicken

Pan fry the chicken
  • Prepared sliced chicken breast
  • olive oil
  • Pre-measured gin

Return the saute pan used to sweat the vegetables to the stove over a medium-high heat. Add 1 Tbsp. olive oil to the pan once it is hot. Place the slices of chicken in the pan turning them once a nice crust has developed on the first side. Adjust the heat as needed to prevent burning the sucs that are developing on the pan surface.

Once the chicken is nicely browned on both sides, turn off the heat under the pan and add the 3 Tbsp. of gin all at once. Turn the burner back on and tip the pan up to pool the gin, it should ignite, so stand clear. Alternatively you can flambe the gin using a long-handled lighter. Once the flames die out, scrape the pan to deglaze the sucs. Remove the chicken pieces from the pan and set them aside with the vegetables.

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Step 4: Making the sauce and cooking the pasta

Making the sauce and cooking the pasta
  • Pre-measured chicken stock
  • 6 oz. dried pasta
  • 3 qt. salted water
  • pre-measured chilled unsalted butter
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • pre-measured parmesan cheese
  • pre-grated orange zest

Add 2 cups of chicken stock to the saute pan and simmer to reduce to 1 cup.

Bring 3 quarts of cold water to a boil for the pasta. Once the water boils, season with enough salt so the water tastes similar to sea water. With the water at a boil add the pasta and stir to prevent it from sticking together. Cook until al dente and then drain, reserving 1/2 cup of pasta water to thin sauce if desired.

Once the chicken stock has reduced, stir in the chilled butter one piece at a time. Adjust the seasoning of the sauce. Add the chicken and vegetables to the sauce and mix. Add the cooked pasta and stir in the parmesan cheese and orange zest. Add reserved pasta water to thin the sauce if desired.

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Step 5: Finishing the dish

Finishing the dish
  • prepared parsley

Once all the ingredients are nicely combined, place the pasta on a serving platter and top with the chopped fresh parsley. Serve immediately.

Notes

Rouxbe Homework Assignment No. 1

Step 1: How to slice ingredients, How to make stock
Step 2: Sweating
Step 3: Pan frying, Pan sauces (developing sucs, flambe, deglazing)
Step 4: Pan sauces, Selecting pasta, How to cook pasta

Comments

Complex Pasta

It´s amazing how much techniques have she use! Congratulations to her. I would keep on mind this model when I finally adventure to make my recipe. I had read it several times and for sure I´m gonna try it . I´ll tell you.

by Lila A | Nov 8, 2008 12:16pm | Permalink
congratulations

Congratulations Carol, this sounds wonderful, and I will try it this weekend.

by Linda C | about 1 month | Permalink

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