I’ve got to get this one written down quick because it was an amazing success and I am just so proud of my work. Creativity and presentation might suck, but the taste was freaking unbelievable – and Becca ate EVERYTHING!! THAT is saying something..
Secret Ingredients:
Chorizo, Chayote Squash, Sun dried tomatoes and canned blackberries in light syrup.
My thoughts?
Chorizo? Piece of cake, love it. Don’t know what I’ll do with it but I can handle that.
Chayote Squash? What the hell? Never heard of it, but since it’s a squash, I’m hoping I’ll like it since I love squash.
Sun dried tomatoes -EWWW, hate tomatoes! And so does Becca. How am I going to use these?
Blackberries.. in a can??? Oh Gross! Hate blackberries!!!
Did my research - I love the food Network website and COOKS.com. Yes, this will be a piece of cake. The squash is squash – not like that damn pear we used in Episode 1. I can do this. Chris will be upset that I’m using the Blackberries as a dessert – I’m just not confident enough into using it as a sauce or anything else yet. Soon I think, but not yet.
On to the meal.
Main Dish – Chicken Fettuccine with Sun dried tomatoes. I blackened the chicken then mixed the chicken and the Sun Dried tomatoes in heavy cream with garlic and made an awesome sauce. I added my fettuccine noodles and BAM.. Chicken Fettuccine.
My thoughts – While prepping, I was a little afraid of this dish. The rub I used for my blackened chicken smelled a little spicy and I was afraid it would be too much for Becca. The sun dried tomatoes smelled horrible and the oily substance it was in gagged me beyond!! But.. The dish created was absolutely amazing! Becca wrinkled her nose at it but once she tasted it, she devoured her plate. THAT tells me it was pretty good. I liked the flavor though I think next time I’ll cut out some of the spices in the blackened chicken. It was a little too overpowering to me.
Chicken Fettuccine with Sun dried tomatoes
Side Dish – Chayote Squash. I found a cool recipe for Baked Chayote squash. I cooked the squash whole until softened. I then cut them in half, and scooped out the insides into a bowl. I then mixed the squash pulp together with Parmesan cheese, cheddar cheese, cream and egg and chopped chorizo (yes, I cheated and just threw the chorizo in with the side dish) then put the mixture back into the shell of the squash – then topped with more cheese and bread crumbs and then baked it.
My thoughts – after I softened the squash and had to scoop out the insides, I gagged a little. The smell of these little things was horrible. Seriously nasty. Becca just happened to come down at that time and I just knew after she smelled them, she wouldn’t touch it. BUT.. They came out of the oven looking beautiful and amazingly enough they tasted pretty good.
Baked Chayote Squash with chorizos
Dessert – I made blackberry cobbler. Not much to say on that – other than, I made cobbler and topped it with ice cream(store bought ice cream- I’m not that crazy yet!)
My thoughts – I’ve always wanted to kick ass at desserts. I love baking but really? I suck at it and tonight just proved it. It was a soupy mess and looked horrible. Becca swore she wasn’t going to touch it but in the end, the rules were we had to TRY everything and she actually ate her small serving and gave me a “yeah, it was okay”. Though presentation sucked, the flavor was pretty good. I don’t like blackberries and even after this I still don’t but it tasted pretty good, the flavor was great and the crust pretty yummy. I just don’t like the nasty little seeds.
Blackberry Cobbler
Blackberry Cobbler - presented
Overall… Well, I could have used the chorizo better. Had I known how the fettuccine would have turned out before making it, I would have added the chorizo to that because it would have been awesome in the main dish. Next time if I make these recipes again, I’ll add more chorizo to the squash because you really couldn’t taste it as much as I wanted to. Overall, I think the entire meal was a roaring success. I AM a kick ass cook! I will definitely be putting these recipes into my “save” file. Becca has suggested that maybe next time an apple cobbler would be better – and I”m thinking maybe blueberry but..
CHRIS? What do you think? Taste? Creativity? Presentation?
February 19th, 2012 at 10:08 pm
Well, I think I should stop “rating” these things. They keep getting better and better.
This one truly belonged in a nice restaurant. The pasta may have been a little heavy for lunch but as a dinner, it was perfect!
If you had put more of the chorizo in the squash they could have been served as their own meal. Like a stuffed bell pepper or something. I smelled the uncooked squash and it wasn’t horrible. If was just unusual (to us). I wouldn’t rate it even as a “bad” smell, just an unfamiliar, foreign one.
Yes, using the berries as a dessert was a chicken-out move. But you’re working on expanding… I love blackberries and I knew you guys didn’t but I wanted to see what you’d do to disguise them. You went straight out for the dessert and it turned out delicious.
And the real reason I don’t need to judge these things anymore is because you’re coming to the same conclusion we already knew. Yes, you ARE a kick-ass cook!
I know I said I’d keep it to a scale of 1-3 but this one honestly deserves a solid 3+
February 21st, 2012 at 9:09 am
The chayote squash is called “merliton” in New Orleans (don’t pronounce the R, it is silent). It grows wild (and abundant) and is usually stuffed with seafood (shrimp?), topped with bread crumbs, and baked! I LOVE that stuff! I think I’m gonna have it this week! Thanks for bringing it to my attention…