Recipe - Blackened Chicken with Fettuccine Alfredo

I haven't made this in a long while, but I'm starting to crave my own cooking. I obviously haven't been feeding myself enough. This is one of those easy "complicated" things to make, and requires some time management skills. It's inspired by Applebee's chicken & broccoli alfredo, although the alfredo sauce was inspired by Olive Garden. I'm not sure where the nutmeg in the sauce comes from, but I think it's because nutmeg is a traditional addition to cheese fondue and I once added nutmeg to the sauce and liked it. I found recipes online and bastardized them so the dish is my own.

If memory serves me correctly, you should have slightly more alfredo sauce than you need. I haven't discovered a remedy for this yet. You can always cook more pasta than required.

The marinade is good for steak too.

You can do all sorts of things with the blackened chicken breasts, like adding them to sandwiches and salads. I think it's tasty enough to eat with my fingers straight from the fridge as a quick protein fix, but some people might think that's barbaric.

Marinade

• 1/2 c. water (add more if you need it, but I prefer a strong marinade)
  
• the juice of one big lime
  
• 1/2 c. soy sauce (I think this is really closer to a cup)
  
• 1/2 TB Worcestershire

Spice Rub

• 1/2 TB salt
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Alfredo Sauce

• 1/4 c. (1/2 stick) butter
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder (or 1 minced clove)
  
• 1 c. heavy cream
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• pinch salt
• pinch nutmeg
• 1/4 - 1/3 c. grated parmesan cheese (depends on how thick you want the sauce, and how much you love parmesan)
  

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• a little butter to cook the chicken in
• 9 oz. pasta
  
• 2 c. broccoli florets
• 1/2 c. diced tomato

OK! So this is what you do:

Combine the marinade ingredients together in a shallow dish or Ziploc baggie to marinate the chicken in. Make sure both pieces of chicken are coated in marinade and let them sit and "get happy" in the fridge for a couple hours - overnight is nice but don't be afraid when the chicken turns brown.

When you're ready to make dinner, mix up the spice rub in a bowl. My measurements are rough guesstimates, but I always use more salt than black pepper, more garlic powder than onion powder, and more paprika than cayenne. I've also seen some recipes use a teaspoon of sugar too, but I don't think that's necessary. It's mostly a matter of personal taste. Be liberal in rubbing the spice onto the chicken.

Get some water boiling for your pasta and broccoli.

Heat up your grill or skillet (the next time I make this I'm going to use the George Foreman my parents unloaded onto me) to high heat. Melt the butter and sear the chicken to perfection on both sides. I've noticed if you use too much spice the heat has a hard time getting to the chicken, and if you use too little you don't get the "blackened", bad-for-you coating. Theoretically, this should take around 12 minutes but in practice takes closer to 20. When the chicken is done let it "rest" a few minutes before slicing.

While the chicken is cooking you can make the alfredo sauce. Melt the butter over low or medium-low heat. Add the garlic, cream, salt and pepper and bring the mixture to a simmer. Don't let this boil! When the sauce starts to get thick slowly add the cheese. I'm a little paranoid about this because cream and cheese are expensive and it can be easy to "break" the sauce if you're not careful. Make sure each addition of cheese is incorporated into the sauce before adding more. When the cheese is fully incorporated you can just let it simmer, and then add the nutmeg just before serving.

You should have added the pasta by now. Add the broccoli about three minutes before the pasta is done. Are you ready to assemble?

Toss the pasta, broccoli, tomato and chicken together. Then serve. Alternatively, you can just toss the pasta and veggies with the sauce and then serve portions of pasta with sliced chicken breast on top, which is pretty. I typically don't make anything else and don't serve bread with this.

This serves more than two, but less than 3. You probably will have enough marinade and spice to cook a third chicken breast if need be, but that's a personal preference thing. Unless you and the person you're cooking this for are ravenous wolves, you will have leftovers.

Leftovers are okay, but not ideal in terms of tastiness. If you wanted to be lazy you can use a jar of pre-made alfredo sauce and just heat it up prior to serving. But the sodium content on premade sauces scare me.