Our days are rarely perfect. We clash with coworkers, fight traffic, experience loss, the list goes on. And when things turn sour, we often turn toward the things that make us the happiest. Family, friends, and food often rank high on the scale. For many of us, comfort food is where our minds go. But what is comfort food? Simply put, it’s food that makes us feel better. It’s Mom’s chicken soup. It’s mac and cheese, a steaming bowl of grits or oatmeal, and grilled cheese sandwiches. Comfort food is made up of dishes that hold memories for us. Comfort food makes us happy.
With the loss of our sweet family pet recently, comfort food has been on the menu a lot at the Little household. Sometimes a hearty stick-to-your ribs meal is just what the heart wants. Yeah, yeah, calories… blah, blah, blah, but still. Calories don’t count when your heart hurts, right???
For me, one of my favorite comfort foods is the classic chicken spaghetti. You know which one… Velveeta Cheese and Ro*tel tomatoes. Yep. That one. I just love the stuff.
INGREDIENTS:
2 pounds chicken breast tenderloins
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 cup butter, divided
3 cups heavy cream
10-12 oz. spaghetti, cooked
INSTRUCTIONS:
Combine garlic, salt, onion powder, chili powder, paprika and white pepper in a separate bowl then mix well. Reserve 2 teaspoons of spice mixture and set aside. Season chicken with remaining spice mixture.
Heat 3 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat until sizzling. You can’t get the butter too hot or it will burn so keep your heat set at medium. Add half of the chicken pieces and cook until nicely browned. Add 1 more tablespoon butter then flip the chicken and brown on the other side. Once chicken is nicely browned on both sides, remove from pan. Repeat this process with the remaining chicken and butter. Set chicken aside then cover with aluminum foil to keep warm.
Add cream and reserved spice mixture to skillet then heat over medium heat until simmering (small bubbles), slowly stirring. Once simmering, continue to cook over medium heat for approximately 10-15 minutes or until thick and creamy. Once thickened, add additional salt and/or garlic powder to taste if desired
Serve chicken and sauce over cooked spaghetti. Sometimes I take my chicken for a swim through the sauce once it’s ready to make sure the chicken is nice and hot.
