Buffalo Chicken Garbage Bread Recipe

If you are friends with me on Facebook, you've probably seen my plethora of food pictures, and you've probably noticed that several of them feature my Buffalo chicken garbage bread.  I decided to share the recipe with any of you who might be interested.  Enjoy!

You will need a small package of thin, boneless chicken breast, a bottle of Frank's original hot sauce, a stick of margarine or butter, two balls of pizza dough, a cup of tomato sauce, cooking spray, flour or olive oil(optional), and a medium-sized bag of mozzarella cheese.

1.  Melt the stick of butter (or only 2/3 of the stick if you want your Buffalo sauce to have more of a "kick" to it) in a small saucepan.  As the butter melts, preheat a large frying pan on another burner after spraying it with cooking spray.

2.  Take two 13 by 9 baking sheets (preferably with some type of lip going around the edges) and, if they're the type that needs greasing, grease them with the wrapper from the butter stick.  If you'd prefer, grease with a small amount of olive oil (but only if the baking sheet requires it).

3.  Add the hot sauce to the melted butter.  Stir well.  Reduce to approximately 25% heat and cover it.

4.  Add the chicken breast to the frying pan, add 1/8 inch of water, and cover.  Reduce to no more than 50% heat.

5.  Check the chicken after a few minutes; when it's ready to be turned, turn it.

6.  Stir the Buffalo sauce and adjust the heat so it remains at the cusp of its boiling point when covered.

7.  When the chicken appears to be completely white, move it from the frying pan to a cutting board or plate.  Dice it into pieces no larger than a cubic inch per piece in size.

8.  Add the chicken to the Buffalo sauce.  Stir well and let it cook, still on 25% heat.

9.  Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees, or whichever temperature the label on your pizza dough says.

10.  Place a couple drops of olive oil or a small amount of flour on each ball of pizza dough.  Knead and toss the dough until each dough unit is thin and at least a foot in diameter.  Use a drinking glass to roll the dough out if needed.

11.  Take a knife and slice each dough unit lengthwise down the middle.  This should result in four dough units, each of which will be twice as long as it is wide.  Each dough unit will now be referred to as a loaf of garbage bread.

12.  Add pizza sauce to each loaf of garbage bread.

13.  Add a small amount of Buffalo chicken to each loaf, using a slotted spoon so an appropriate amount of sauce accompanies the chicken.

14.  Top each loaf with a moderately copious amount of mozzarella cheese, but be careful to leave approximately the first two inches in from each side of the dough uncovered (you'll see why later).

15.  Add another layer of chicken to each loaf, and drizzle some Buffalo sauce on top as well.

16.  Add a final layer of cheese.

17.  Pull the outer edges of each loaf up and pinch them together, to seal each loaf at the top.

18.  Make certain that there are at least a few inches between the loaves and the edge of the baking sheets so that you don't spill wet chicken in your oven and set your house on fire.

19.  Bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until done.

20.  Remove from oven and let sit until it can safely be touched.  Slice and serve!

21.  Make certain that your stove and oven are completely turned off.

My Homemade Linguine Alfredo with Spicy Sausage

Happy New Year, everyone!  Most of the posts in this blog have been automotive in nature, so I'm going to make a New Year's resolution to focus more on the "chow" and "so much more" end of things in 2013.  As can be guessed by the title of this post, I am about to explain how I make my homemade linguine Alfredo with spicy sausage.

Ingredients:

6 links spicy Italian sausage
Half of a package (about 7 oz) of linguine (I use whole wheat pasta but any kind would work.)
2 cups of light cream
1 cup of finely grated Parmesan cheese
Half of a stick of butter or margarine
Pepper, garlic salt, and whichever other spices you like

1.  If the sausage is frozen, place it in a casserole dish filled with half of an inch of water, and nuke it for four minutes to thaw and kill any bacteria.  Reduce this time to one minute, with an eighth inch of water if the sausage is not frozen.

2.  Bring a large pot of water to a boil on maximum heat.

3.  Melt the butter or margarine in a medium saucepan on maximum heat.

4.  Reduce heat to medium and add the light cream to the margarine.  Add pepper, garlic salt, etc., and stir for a couple minutes.  Increase heat to about 60%.

5.  Place about a quarter inch of water in a frying pan and add the sausage.  Cover and cook on about 40%, or leave uncovered and cook on about 75%.

6.  Cover the light cream/butter/spice mixture.  Let it come to a soft boil.

7.  By now, the water should be boiling.  Add the pasta to the water.  Stir as soon as the pasta is soft enough to be completely submerged in the water.  After a minute or so of stirring, cover and reduce to approximately 75% heat, or leave uncovered at 90% heat.  Leaving it any hotter will cause it to overflow; I know this from experience.  If it looks like it will overflow, reduce the heat and/or stir it.

8.  Add the Parmesan to the Alfredo sauce.  Be sure to stir constantly as you do this so the cheese doesn't gum up the bottom of the pan as opposed to blending in.  Add another dollop of pepper.  Stir for a few minutes or until the cheese looks to be blended with the cream mixture.  Cover and let it sit at 50% heat.

9.  Turn the sausage links.  Let them cook a bit longer.

10.  Slice the sausage into bite-sized, well, bites.  Uncover the pan, turn the heat to 80%, and let the remainder of water boil off so the sausage can "crisp" a bit.

11.  Stir the Alfredo sauce for another minute.  If it's frothing at the top and you can see only the slightest hint of Parmesan on the spoon, congratulations, you've nailed it!

12.  Kill the heat on the sausage and Alfredo burners.

13.  Drain the pasta, and return it to the pot.  Reduce the heat on this burner to a low simmer.

14.  QUICKLY add the Alfredo sauce, stirring it well so the pasta is completely coated.  Add the sausage in a similar manner and mix thoroughly.

15.  Cook a frozen vegetable so you can counteract the fatty goodness that is linguine Alfredo with spicy sausage.  Or don't.  You DID use LIGHT cream after all.

This should easily feed a group of four or five, or provide one person with a few days' worth of leftovers.  Freeze whatever you don't re-heat within a few days.

Enjoy!