Lame Excuse for Friday and All That Jazz

I am slacking dreadfully on the Friday Jazz post and once again had not thought of it until today. Since I did not have anyone lined up for this week and have been thinking about the recipes I made this week I thought, why not stay in New Orleans just one more week.

I had several boneless, skinless chicken thighs in the fridge that had to be cooked immediately. I did not mind cooking a few of them for some quick and easy  chicken salad or a chicken and rice meal, but I needed to do something to a few of them other than a traditional poach, because I am trying to maintain my keto way of eating without having the same thing over and over.

New Orleans is a remarkable food city, with everything from traditional French cuisine to street hotdogs. For tonight's dinner I found 3 or 4 recipes, took bits and pieces from each one and came up with this fusion of the three. Improvisation like edible jazz maybe?

Cajun Chicken in Cream Sauce? (Feel free to rename it)

2 boneless  skinless chicken thighs cut into 1 inch pieces
1 tablespoon cajun seasoning (I use Badia's. It's cheap and it tastes fine)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 orange sweet pepper, cut into thin strips
1 red sweet pepper, cut into thin strips
1 green bell pepper, cut into thin strips
3 ribs celery thinly sliced (half moon slices)
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms ( I had these sliced and forgot to put them in)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 more tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
pinch of cinnamon
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon paprika, smoked or regular
salt to taste (I used about 1/2 teaspoon)
1 1/2 cup cream (I use heavy cream)
1/4 to 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 servings of pasta (your choice) cooked and drained

I know this looks like a lot of ingredients but if you really look at the recipe a lot of it is just herbs and spices.

Sprinkle the cajun seasoning over the chicken pieces, heat the oil in a large saute pan and cook the chicken about halfway through. Remove from the pan add the other 2 tablespoons olive oil, throw in all the veggies except the garlic and cook until they are almost done. Add the garlic and stir it around for about a minute. Add the chicken back into the pan and add the remaining seasonings then add the cream. Cook until it is reduced by about half, add the parmesan cheese and stir until it is melted. Stir again and serve over cooked pasta.

I had mine over zucchini spirals so the picture is of TheHub's meal. I had about a quarter of a box of penne pasta so that is what I used. If you make this use whatever is left at your house, because it will work perfectly well over just about everything except tiny pastas.

This is delicious! Son2 and GF2 came to the house and they fixed the leftovers and love it too. This made enough for 3 ample servings, or 4 slightly smaller servings. They had both eaten a late lunch and were not terribly hungry but they ate all they wanted and I still had enough left over for lunch along with a substantial green salad. Win! Delicious win!

                               And for your Jazz moment enjoy a little Pete Fountain medley