What You Should Have Eaten #43

Orange and Herb Chicken Caesar

This is a variation on last week’s dinner. I’m expecting it to be just as easy to make and just as tasty.

The drink with this meal was a Sweet Orange: triple sec, orange juice and apricot nectar. Very fruity, not much of a kick at all. Not bad, but it was kind of a waste of alcohol. I think I would have rather have had a glass of fruit juice.

While tasting complete different, there wasn’t a whole lot of difference between the preparation of this meal and the previous one. It’s amazing how a few substitutions can really change a meal.

I liked this meal more than the Tex-Mex recipe. I’ll always choose citrus over spicy, even if it’s a very mild spicy. The kids liked this too, so that was a pleasant bonus.

Also, in case you've forgotten: When I can remember to add this to the bottom of my posts, I’m going to whore myself out with an impassioned plea: click on the ads. PLEASE click on the ads. I don’t care if you exit out of it immediately or actually look around. This isn’t some professional blog where I believe in the products I’m shilling. These are automatic ads placed by Google. But when you click ads, I get a little bit of money, and as a single father of three, every penny from every source helps...especially with Christmas looming on the horizon. So I’m going to keep this tiny bit of begging at the bottom of my posts, and I hope you’ll take an extra 10 seconds after reading my blog to click on an ad. The only thing it costs you is time. :) Thanks so much

What You Should Have Eaten #31

Super Mashers with Chicken and Green Chili Hash

Tonight’s drink is a French 75. It has Pernod in it, and I’m hoping all of the other ingredients drown that one out. I don’t have any readily available champagne flutes, so I’m going to be using a white wine glass. Any objections?

 

It’s tasty. And yes, the dash of Pernod isn’t noticeable.

I don’t know if this is commonplace or not, but when I chop fruits and veggies and herbs and such, I don’t wipe off the cutting board. I like the flavors to intermingle.

 

There’s not much to say about these recipes that are just slight changes from earlier recipes. This is what I fixed last weekend, except chicken is substituted for steak (among one or two other slight changes).

 

I kinda think I liked this recipe better. I liked how the slight spiciness of the chicken and peppers balanced out the blandness of the potatoes.

 

What You Should Have Eaten #7

Chicken with Wild Mushroom and Balsamic Cream Sauce

I’m not topping the drink with the bitter orange. I learned my lesson last time. Just a few dashes should do it.

And there goes the vodka. Looks like I’ve got to make another trip to Bluegrass Beverages!

Okay, not as bad as the last drink I had with orange bitters in, but still pretty rough. I ran out of vodka before getting the recommended amount, and I don’t think there was enough lemon juice or triple sec (that’s the orange-flavored liquor I used) to cut down on the bitterness. Still, it’s drinkable, so I shall.

I had the hardest time finding orzo at the grocery store. Not with the rice. Searched the pasta aisle. Wasn’t sure if it was ethnic or not, so I looked in the Hispanic section, then the smaller ethnic areas. Eventually found it with the kosher products.

I wanted to go with fresh mushrooms, I really did, but they were incredibly expensive. The creminis were $6.99/lb., and the shitakes were $9.99/lb.! So I went for prepackaged, and even decided to slice my own shitakes in order to save a few more cents. Yeah, I’m that cheap.

I was surprised at how good this was. Not the chicken or mushrooms; I assumed they’d be good. It was the orzo. I thought I had cooked it too long then let it sit too long waiting for the chicken and mushrooms to finish. Mixed all together, though, it was a pleasant eating experience.

I apologize if future posts may be light on pictures or details. Personal bidniz, donchaknow. I'll do my best to keep these post top-shelf, though. They might be a bit fewer and farther between, but I'll do what I can.