Vodka Sauce Over Chicken

 Vodka Sauce Over Chicken

                                                    

I notice everyone seems to enjoy it when I share recipes from some of my favorite restaurants.

Today I think everyone will enjoy the one I want to share with you  

Today it will be Vodka Chicken.

I got this recipe from the son of the owner of the Raindance Restaurant in Amsterdam NY several years ago.

It is one of their best sellers and a dinner I have enjoyed many times at this restaurant. One day I ran into the son of the owner and after chatting for a while I asked him if he could tell me how to make Vodka Chicken?

Yes I know it was nervy to ask him for the recipe but as my agent use to say to me what is the most someone can say? The answer is no.

So anyway I asked and he was happy to share the recipe with me.

He said  to me you know how to make penne pasta if you are in the mood for pasta right? I said yes I do. He then said I know you can cook a chicken and again I agreed with him.

 He said what you don’t know is how to make is our sauce. I said yes that’s right. He said if you think you can remember the ingredients I will tell you how to make it.

To be honest I don’t know if he thought I could  remember what he told me was in the dish but I take getting a recipe made by one of my favorite restaurants seriously so of course I remembered everything he told me.

Here is the recipe he gave me and it is the right one.

   

VODKA SAUCE 1/2 c. olive oil 1 shallot, minced fine 1 garlic clove, minced fine Dash of crushed red pepper flakes 1/3 c. vodka 8 oz. can tomato sauce 1 pt. heavy cream Heat oil in saucepan. Add first 3 ingredients. Sauté until golden and soft. Add vodka. Simmer until alcohol dissipates, about 3 minutes. Add tomato sauce, stir. Simmer over low flame, about 10 minutes. Set aside. Before serving, microwave cream until warm. Do not boil. Add warm cream slowly to hot tomato sauce. Stir constantly. Serve over hot, drained penne or rigatoni. Parmesan is optional.

Now come on you must admit this is as simple as can be to make and the bonus is that it is not expensive to make. If you think about it a restaurant makes very few things that are time consuming or overly expensive to make. They have a budget to meet and the cost of any dinner better not be more than thirty percent of the overall cost or they would  be putting themselves out of business and they don’t want to do that.

You all know me well enough by now that I change up things in any given recipe to save money. The only thing I change up in this one is I use sweet onion instead of a shallot.  The rest of the ingredients are reasonable except for the vodka.

I cannot tell you that Vodka is always inexpensive to buy but if you are making this dinner it would be a good to have it on hand.  Myself I keep do keep Vodka on hand and  in the freezer for when company comes over.

Here is a little side note about why I keep Vodka in the freezer. I learned this trick almost ten years ago when I visited my nieces home in North Carolina and some of her friends took me to her favorite bar and the bar let me in on this little secret that they had. They kept some of the inexpensive vodka in the freezer for the mixed drinks that need to be sold ice cold and no one could tell the different between the inexpensive vodka and the more expensive vodka.

 I do have a tip for buying vodka on a budget though that should help. I buy Smirnoff’s Vodka which is fairly inexpensive. I did some research and found that this Vodka rates very high and is right up there with all the well known names such as Grey Goose
 ( I found this information in New Yorker Magazine) and the best part  is its under nine dollars a bottle.

Now let me get back to the sauce. I love this sauce but I don’t always want it with pasta. The way I usually  eat it is spooned over chicken. Served with a side of green beans.
You do it your way maybe a salad or with pasta if  you choose.

I know you are scratching your head right now how can say it’s reasonable? The reason is it makes six servings.

You eat one dinner and put away five!

That makes it less than a dollar a dinner.

I think everyone will agree this is not only reasonable but it is  really eating well on a budget!