Approval: Day 2: Chicken Pasta

DAY 2: BREAKFAST
My family and I aren't very big on breakfast foods really, so we mostly just had some pineapple buns that my mom had already bought.

DAY 2: LUNCH
I was making tater tots (from a frozen bag) and fried rice (pan, oil, eggs, rice, tomatoes) when my mom and brother returned to the house - I never noticed that they left - with burritos.

DAY 2: DINNER


Thyme Mint Chicken Pasta
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/thyme-mint-chicken-pasta/

After Day 1's dinner, I knew I had to step it up, or my road toward culinary achievement might be forever blocked, and my brother would never stop proclaiming that I was trying to poison him with my cooking.

Why I chose this: My brother likes pasta, and I found two packages of Foster Farm-skinless-boneless chicken thigh in the freezer, so it seemed like an awesome opportunity to try to cook chicken without really dealing with cooking chicken.

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) package thin whole-wheat spaghetti (The pantry conveniently had at least a dozen packages of spaghetti noodles, four of which were whole wheat.)
• 
  
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 
  
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 
  
• 1 1/4 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into strips
• 
  
• 1 pinch salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 
  
• 1/2 cup dry white wine lemon juice (Substitutes:  http://homecooking.about.com/library/archive/blalcohol6.htm Other sites also said, apple juice, apple cider, milk, and lemon juice, which I used.)
• 
  
• 1/2 cup chicken stock [$3.99] (I looked all over the store for this, and the only thing that I knew about it was that it came in a carton. I don't remember whether it was under the 'canned foods' or the 'vegetables' section. Or maybe it was 'canned vegetables.' It was where a bunch of cooking mixes were. And apparently there is a difference between 'chicken broth' and 'chicken stock.' I don't know - wait. I'm on the internet:  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes-and-cooking/chicken-stock-vs-chicken-broth/index.html stock is from bone and richer, broth is from meat and...less rich?)
• 
  
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream [$2.59] (All I could find was 'heavy whipping cream.' I'm just assuming it's the same, because the sauce turned out fine.)
• 
  
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint (I found fresh mint and you had to buy it in bunches that were way more than I'd ever use)
• 
  
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme [$6.09] (I bought a little jar that looked like the things that cupcake sprinkles come in, except 1/4 of the size.)
• 
  
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 
  
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest (apparently 'lemon zest' is the same as 'lemon peel,' so I just chopped up a bit of peel from the lemons I bought.)
• 
  
• 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar balsamic vinegar (Guide to vinegars:  http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/how-vinegar-works1.htm)
• 
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti in the boiling water, stirring occasionally, until cooked through but firm to the bite, about 12 minutes; drain. Toss spaghetti with 1 tablespoon olive oil to keep from sticking together.
2. Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season chicken generously with salt and pepper. Cook the chicken in hot oil until lightly browned and just cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate.
3. Pour white wine into the skillet; bring to a boil while scraping the browned bits off of the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Add chicken stock; continue cooking until the volume of liquid reduces by about half. Stir cream, mint, thyme, honey, lemon zest, sherry vinegar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt into the liquid; cook until the volume of the liquid reduces again by about half. Stir cooked pasta into the sauce to coat. Return chicken to the skillet and cook until hot, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to serve.

Note: Ready in 45 minutes? This took me a good hour and a half, not counting shopping, defrosting, and planning. Also, I defrosted (Mom: raw meat should be defrosted in the sink, not on the counter where you put things you eat.) the chicken for an hour an a half beforehand, and it should have been defrosted longer - my dad actually ended up taking over its cooking. Also, I didn't really stick to the amount of chicken stock and whipping cream. When I used the correct amount, there didn't seem to be enough, so I just poured in a bunch in approximately equal ratios after it'd been simmering a while.

Other problems: If I followed the recipe correctly, there was way too much pasta and way too little sauce. I made two batches of sauce for half the pasta and that was all my family was able to finish. It is good if you want to cook a batch of spaghetti once and then microwave for the rest of the week, though.

Reception:
My brother complained about the whole wheat part, but he ended up eating a lot of the pasta. My mom and dad liked it. I liked it, but the sauce was very strongly scented, and it was hard to eat a lot of it (enhancing the problem of the excessive amount of spaghetti noodles).