STEEMIT FOOD CHALLENGE #2 : Penne With A Twist Topped with a Pan BBQued Honeyed Chicken

I was checking out the "Explore" page here in Steemit and saw the food category and clicked on it and saw that there is also such a thing called "STEEMIT FOOD CHALLENGE" hosted by @givemeyoursteem and @healthyfood.

This week's theme is Italian and though I've been to Italy and loved the food there specially their salads, I couldn't think of what to make. However, I remember making a penne of my own version one time hub's dad dropped by our place to eat. And so I decided to make it my entry for the STEEMIT FOOD CHALLENGE .

Thank you @berniesanders, @smooth, @givemeyoursteem , @healthyfood, @fyrstikken & Stakepool.com, @instructor2121 and @knozaki2015 for sponsoring and making this happen. Minnows like me appreciate your effort much of giving us a chance to show what we have in the house and get noticed.

As for fellow minnows, dolphins and whales who- may be interested in how on earth I made my Penne With A Twist Topped with a Pan BBQued Honeyed Chicken. If you spare me your time reading the recipe below then you'll know why it's called so.

Here are the ingredients.

150 gram Penne
12 pcs snack tomatoes
125 gram coconut milk
some fenkel
1 medium carrot
1 medium jalapeno
10 mushrooms
coriander
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoon garlic and chives goat cheese
2 tablespoon sun dried tomatoes
salt to taste
black pepper to taste
2 table spoons traditional olive oil

How to Prepare.

Peel and dice your carrot, slice your jalapeno into thick strips, cut the sun dried tomatoes in very small pieces ( that of which would fit in the holes of the penne and chop the coriander stalks with a bit of leaves but leave the rest of the leaves for your garnish.

Cook the penne till "aldente". I used a whole wheat penne than the usual white penne because as per 100g whole wheat penne you get less carbs and higher content of calcium, iron, magnesium, vit. B6 and folic acid .

The whole wheat penne pack says cook for 10 minutes but I only cooked it for 9 minutes if you keep reading you'll know why. Rinse like crazy to get rid of all the starchiness.

Start marinating your Pan BBQued Honeyed ChickenToppings. Here's what you'll need for the Pan BBQued Honeyed Chicken Topping:

a bowl
chicken thighs
2 cloves of garlic - crushed
1 teaspoon honey (or more if you have a sweet tooth)
a pinch or two of salt
plenty of black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil - I'm using a ceramic pan so you might want to adjust this if you aren't because you don't need much oil to fry something on a ceramic pan.

Cut the chicken into strips with cooking shears. Throw them in the bowl. Add in the rest of the ingredients. Mix and marinate for 15 minutes.

Spice the penne up. Throw the sund ried tomatoes in a separate pan with its oil and on medium heat, let the sun dried tomatoes' oil seep into the penne. This is why I only cooked it for a minute less. Stir constantly for 6 minutes.

Add in the carrot, jalapenos and coriander and keep stirring for another 5 minutes. It won't over cook your penne. It'll just cook it a bit and absorb every flavor the added veggies have. The medium heat is the key to letting the penne cook the way you want it to.

Start preparing the sauce for the penne.

In one deep pan, pour in 125 g coconut milk - yes you've read it right - coconut milk indeed. I'm Asian and it's hard for my system to digest cheese specially on penne or pasta. I either get constipated, bloated or windy because like most Asians, I have lactose intolerance - not like that of Leonard in The Big Bang theory though. Coconut milk helps digest and make it easy to lay eggs in the toilet the next day for me so I often used it. It's also creamier than adding milk or cheese.

Add in halved snacked tomatoes, 2 tablespoons of garlic and chives goat cheese. Add in a pinch of salt and plenty of black pepper to taste.

Let it simmer and start preparing your pan BBQued honeyed - chicken.

Pour in two tablespoons of traditional olive oil in the pan and when it's hot enough throw your chicken in. Let it fry on medium fire.

While you're letting the pan BBQued honeyed - chicken cook, cut each mushroom into halves. If the sauce for the penne has turned a bit yellow it only means it's cooked. Mash the snack tomatoes and stir. Throw in your halved mushrooms and let it cook in low heat.

Fish the mushroom out once the sauce is cooked and set aside on a separate bowl. Add in the penne and stir till it thickens and the sauce is absorbed in the holes of the penne.

By this time, your chicken must almost be half cooking so turn it over. Start preparing the fenkel. Cut them into very fine strips, hub got me a Nicer Dicer that does the trick for me.

Go back to your chicken but this time turn the heat to max high and keep stirring till you see the chicken starts turning brown. Turn the heat off the moment the oil starts getting sticky. It's the honey on the chicken that causes that. It's also what turns the chicken brown.

Prepare a plate or two and fill just half of the penne that you intend to serve and top them with mushrooms and fenkel. The minty flavor of the fenkel gives a surprising effect when you eat it.

Add the rest of the penne, fenkel and mushrooms. Top with your pan BBQued honeyed - chicken and garnish with coriander.

I took all the pics by myself while cooking .
For more recipes, gardening and smartphone photography tips follow me @englishtchrivy

Serve and enjoy!
Happy Steeming and good luck to every entry!