28
May

Restaurant Inspiration

Back in high school, I used to work part time at a restaurant – California Pizza Kitchen. If you’ve eaten there, you are familiar with their innovative and fresh flavor combinations, several of which have inspired my own kitchen creations in the past. For a w good while I have been meaning to use some of my homemade black bean ravioli from the freezer, and I thought that the sauce from one of my favorite CPK dishes – Chicken Tequila Fettucine – would be the perfect compliment. My sauce came out really delicious – tangy and fresh tasting from the lime and cilantro, and slightly smoky from the jalapeno, tequila, and a little bit of soy sauce. I don’t, however, claim to be any expert when it comes to cream sauce, so I apologize of my improvised version offends anyone. I will say, mine did not quite thicken enough, but that might also have been because we were so eager to eat!

Sadly, I cannot describe in great detail how I made the ravioli. I’ll tell you that I do own a pasta machine and I made my own fresh pasta dough, rolled out sheets, and used my nifty little ravioli mold to make the scrumptious pasta pockets. The filling consisted of unmeasured amounts of sauteed onion and garlic, chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, cheddar cheese, cumin, cilantro, and of course black beans meshing together in the food processor. When there is extra time, it’s great pick a fun new filling combination and make a large batch of ravioli to freeze.

So on to the sauce… which as you can see, I served with shrimp. Recipe for 2:

20 thawed, peeled, uncooked shrimp
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 red pepper, sliced thinly
1 green pepper sliced thinly
1/2 red onion, sliced thinly
1/2 jalapeno pepper, minced (adjust to your liking)
1/4 cup tequila
juice of 1 lime
dash of soy sauce
1 cup chicken broth
2 oz light cream cheese, cubed
generous handful of freshly chopped cilantro

In large nonstick skillet or wok coated with cooking spray, saute shrimp and garlic until shrimp are opaque. Remove shrimp from pan and set aside. Add red and green peppers, onion, and jalapeno to pan and saute for 5-10 minutes, until veggies are soft, adding more evoo/spray as needed. Add tequila, lime juice, soy sauce, and chicken broth to pan. Bring to a boil and let simmer for a couple minutes to cook off alcohol. Add cream cheese, stirring to melt. Bring to a boil again and then simmer to allow mixture to thicken. Return shrimp to pan, add cilantro, toss together, and serve with your choice of pasta.

Pasta, Shellfish
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4 Responses to “Restaurant Inspiration”

  1. 1

    Jigginjessica — May 28, 2007 @ 8:25 pm Reply

    Did you create this recipe especially for me? LOL, this sounds like something I would LOVE! All of my favorite flavors rolled into one!

  2. 2

    JennDZ - The Leftover Queen — May 30, 2007 @ 3:13 am Reply

    Yum. I love trying to replicate restaurant flavors – I must admit, I often like mine better! 🙂

  3. 3

    JennDZ - The Leftover Queen — April 5, 2011 @ 1:22 am Reply

    Yum. I love trying to replicate restaurant flavors – I must admit, I often like mine better! 🙂

  4. 4

    Jigginjessica — April 5, 2011 @ 1:22 am Reply

    Did you create this recipe especially for me? LOL, this sounds like something I would LOVE! All of my favorite flavors rolled into one!

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