Spicy Grilled Chicken and Pasta

This is my cooking blog. I am not a trained chef (except by my mother) but I love to cook and these are my cooking endeavors. I look forward all day to putting together the evening meal. There is nothing more relaxing than being in my kitchen with a nice glass of wine and figuring out what to make for dinner.  (My ex was rather picky - although he would frequently come home not hungry at all, due to a habit of eating a large late business lunch with his partner every day, ahem - and was not a fan of eating a new version of last night's dinner.)   In a good week, I'll get a big delivery from Fresh Direct and pack the cupboards and fridge full of good things. In a bad week, I'll get a little creative here and there with leftovers!

The challenge right now is that my oven is broken so I have to prepare everything on the stove top with the help of a toaster over and a George Foreman grill.  After the repainting of apartment is done, I'll be ready to buy a new oven but until then....c'est ca!

Here is my whole grilled chicken which is so easy to prepare that it really isn't even a recipe:  just split it down the back and take out the backbone.  Season it with a lot of herbs and spices for a really tasty skin:  I love smoky Spanish Paprika, a lot of pepper and salt, oregano and rosemary, garlic powder (not fresh garlic because the grill burns it), even some Crazy Mixed Up Salt....it takes about 45 minutes to cook and look how fantastic it looks! 

Then right before you are going to serve it, you can add my spicy chili jam - which is any kind of jam such as peach or strawberry mixed with a clove of crushed garlic and a big squirt of chili paste (such as chinese Sriracha hot chili pepper sauce) - spread that all over the skin of the chicken and let it heat up, but don't put the lid of the grill down or it will just burn.

While the chicken was grilling, I made my sauce for the pasta.  I got distracted by the boyfriend who got out of the shower and came upstairs to socialize and I chopped up a whole Spanish onion.  I was afraid it would be too much for the sauce but it ending up giving it a wonderful sweet flavor, yay!

Here is the recipe for the sauce:

Spanish onion, thinly sliced and then chopped.

Mushrooms, sliced

Sauteed together until soft

Then add 2 cloves of sliced garlic and cook a little

4 canned tomatoes, chopped and cooked with the above mixture

Add the tomato juice from the can, simmer

Oregano

Hot Hungarian Paprika

Salt

Add 1/2 cup red wine and simmer....if it gets dry, add a little more wine

Add sliced spicy Olives toward the end.

And don't forget to put the water on to boil for the pasta! (What do you say about the argument between adding a little oil to the water or not?  I think it helps to prevent the noodles from sticking together.) When the pasta is cooked, drain it, and I say toss it right into the sauce to coat it all over.....or you can serve the sauce on top.  Grate some Parmesan, if you like.

Here's my salad - made with romaine lettuce (because my daughter likes the crunch), organic cherry tomatoes & fresh chopped garlic, and tossed with my own salad dressing (yes, it is mixed in a Bonne Maman jam jar) , after which I grate Parmesan cheese over it.  After I serve in the salad bowls, I crunch up some pita crackers over top, but at the last minute so they don't get soggy.

 

I can't reveal the secret recipe for the salad dressing....it is top secret.