Smashed Chicken Surprise

Even when trying new recipes almost every day, it is hard to cook outside the box. I tend to see recipe feeds with the same cuisines over and over again. The goal of this adventure was to cook new and exciting meals, meals not every having been served on the dinner plate before, meals having never ordered at a specialty restaurant before. Meals and recipes from around the globe!

As it turns out, recipes from around the globe is difficult as ingredients are regional. Not gonna find a lamb rump in this neck of the woods, banana leaves at the local ethnic market, or anything other than ham, turkey, salami, or roast beef, Havarti, Swiss, or cheddar at the deli. Ethnic meals are therefore limited in selections. Tonight, in my never ending efforts to be global, was a Russian (possibly?) Squashed Chicken Surprise.

Modifications Made:

Ten gold potatoes replaced baby potatoes. They were boiled as instructed, cut in half width wise, and smashed with the palm of my hand. Bacon was doubled, sun-dried tomatoes were omitted, Hungarian paprika replaced smoked paprika.

Scaled for Likability: Great

This tables final result did not look anything like the original posting as mine was not swimming in moisture and tasty juices. In rereading the instructions, I am not really sure as to where the clear liquid would have come from as no additional chicken broth or water is added. In fact the only liquid at all is from one cup of heavy cream. Lest not, the dish was moist and flavorful and had a great combination of textures. The bacon, the chicken, the mushroom, the potatoes, all wrapped up in cheese. The best part, unlike all previous attempts at cooking bacon inside of a dish, this bacon remained crunchy!

In cooking the dish again in the future, one cup of chicken broth will be added to the chicken and veggie mixture before placing in the skillet. Chives will be added atop for a nice onion hint at thee end as well as a brightness of green splash against the red and yellow background.

Better Than Campbell's Old Fashion Vegetable Soup

Went to the store with the hopes of gathering fresh produce for soup. With more than 45 people in line for two packages of any meat product and the produce section containing only avocado, orange, and most randomly, strawberries, I settled upon canned soup. Well not canned soup since that section was still void of food, too. Instead soup made from canned goods as the canned vegetable section had been mostly restocked. Soups like this 15 Minute Vegetable Soup are ideal in dire food situations such as current times. Modifications Made: Plain petite diced tomatoes omitted, frozen carrots instead of canned, green beans and corn undrained, peas omitted (gross, nasty little pods), one cup celery, three cups diced potatoes, one can tomato sauce, two beef and two pollo de tomate bouillon cubes, six cups water. Once onions were softened, carrots/celery/potatoes/juice of green beans and corn, sauce, bouillon cubes, water were added and allowed to simmer until carrots almost tender. Green be

Sour Cream & Chive Scalloped Potatoes

Can't believe the Month of the Potato is over. There are so many more potato recipes saved. Guess I will have to work them into another month. Last week's scalloped potatoes were one of the best new recipes during the month of potatoes. With today being the last day in the Month of Potatoes, I decided to go out with a bang by cooking another batch of scalloped potatoes but this time sour cream and chive. The Best Scalloped Potatoes , or so they said. Modifications Made: Recipe was reduced by half. Mayo was omitted and one entire package of chives were chopped and added to sauce before pouring onto layers. Scaled for Likability: Good Betty Crocker Sour Cream and Chive Box Scalloped Potatoes were the standard for this recipe. These were a family favorite for years but have long since been discounted. Bummer. Trying to replicate this seemed easy enough. Alas, it was not. These had a nice texture but were too oily from the cheese and did not contain enough onion, garlic,

Papas a La Mexicana (Ranchera)

It is a crying shame that there are six hens and not a egg in sight. What am I supposed to do with homemade ranchero sauce? Thankfully with a few quick searches of the internet a recipe from my hometown newspaper was discovered: Papas Ranchera . Not once in the thirty years I lived in my hometown did I ever eat at a local food joint serving papas rancheras. No time like the present to remedy this cultural dish. Because this recipe is hidden behind a paywall (grrr...) I have included it here for you: Servings: 4-6 Ingredients: 1 pound potatoes, diced 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/2 large onion 1 1/2 medium tomatoes 3 jalapenos 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup juice from canned tomatoes Instructions: Fry potatoes in vegetable oil until lightly browned (about 4-6 minutes). Saute onions, tomatoes, jalapenos until soft. Add garlic powder and salt. Add tomato juice until vegetables are covered (may need to add water). Bring to a boil and then add potatoes. Cover and reduc

Eating Waffles

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