In Theory

11/8/2012

In theory,
this Indian Tomato Chicken should have had more flavor, more taste, not been so bland.

Not the most photogenic food dish, but still...

The recipe starts out good enough
...look at those spices and simple ingredients.

How can you go wrong with onion, ginger and garlic?

And all those healthy spices....turmeric, cumin, cardamon, nutmeg...yum.

The onions sauteing in the pan with the fragrant spices...

Easy enough, now add the cubed chicken breast
and the tomatoes....

But alas, not much flavor....I don't know why. Maybe this is supposed to be a mellow dish.

Now Tim liked this and ate the whole thing over the course of two days.

It is very healthy. I just prefer more flavor.

Here's the link for this Indian Tomato Chicken though, in case you want to check it out though.

In theory,
Whole Chicken + Bacon = Now How Could This Have No Flavor????
Alex G's Roast Chicken with Bacon.

Whole Chicken seasoned with salt and pepper...

Stuff it with lemon and thyme...

okay, sounds like a plan....

Wrap the sucker with bacon.

Well, why not?!!!

BRING!
IT!
ON!

Bake the chicken in the oven until temperature reaches 160 degrees, about an hour....

HEY!!!
Where'd all the bacon go???

Well, I know the flavor went down to the bottom of that pan.

So I mash the lemons, just as the directions say to,
to get that citrusy juice out.

I add the pan juice into the lemony juice, and I add the mustard in and let it all come to a boil for the sauce.

Yes, I do think this chicken will have sooooooo much more flavor with that sprig of thyme on top,
why do you ask?

Also, that dinner plate,
INSTEAD OF AN APPROPRIATE MEAT PLATTER,
should help make this chicken dish taste yummy too, yes?

No.
No flavor.
None.
Even with that citrusy pan juice.

And no.

Even paired with whole wheat fettuccine and marinara.

Just no.

No flavor.

I have since gone into therapy cuz the equation
Chicken + Bacon = True Love Forever is sometimes...

wrong.

Another example of Chicken + Bacon = Sometimes Makes Angie Cry Instead Of Go Mmmmmm........

Pioneer Woman's Ranch Style Chicken.

Now how can all this goodness not yield much flavor?

And I love the Pioneer Woman's recipes...they're usually spot on!

You start by pounding out the chicken.

Mix the mustard, honey, lemon juice, paprika and
cayenne pepper together....

Add the chicken to the marinade and refrigerate 1-3 hours.

Get Sylvia The Cast Iron Pan out.

You remember Sylvia from this post, yes?

Fry up the bacon.

Yes. Yes, I think I will.

Clean out the pan and brown that chicken up on both sides pretty good.

Looking tasty already!

So after putting the chicken in the oven for ten minutes and then bringing it back up to the stove, throw the cheese and bacon on top.

Plate one up for yerself....
take a bite and ask....

"How can all these yummy ingredients create a chicken breast with so little flavor?"

Flavorless
almost.

Makes no sense.
Maybe I did something wrong but I don't think so, it's a pretty simple recipe. Anyway, here's the link just in case you try it and get a different result.
If you do try it, pleeeeze let me know :)

In theory,

These
Jamie Deen Barbeque Baby Back Ribs should be finger lickin' awesome!!!

This recipe required lots of stuff, the usual, but that's okay.

A good barbeque rub and sauce is hard to beat and worth the extra ingredients and work.

The rub...lots of good stuff in there like paprika, dry mustard, chili powder, brown sugar and more....

And the barbecue sauce fixins should be good too....oil, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar and such...

Mix it up and let it simmer on the stove in a sauce pan for 30 minutes or so until it thickens.

Once the ribs are done grilling or baking, slather the thickened barbeque sauce all over the ribs and dig in and enjoy.

Now wait a minute! There's no big flavor other than the barbeque sauce.

Which is fine.

But it tastes like barbeque sauce you can get out of a bottle.

All that work for
nuttin' special.
Crap!

You know, folks will probably think this sauce is real good but with the amount of work and ingredients, the taste should be something a bit more special.
It was just average to me.
I was surprised cuz I like Jamie Deen's recipes typically.
Here's the link in case you want to take a gander at it.

Okay lastly, In theory,

Bill's Bourbon Chili

should have been a huge hit.

But it wasn't.
*insert frownie face*

Lots of good stuff though here....
see the ground turkey breast in the lower right corner?

I think that's where I made my mistake.
The recipe called for ground beef.

Anyway, I'll share all the pictures......

Seems easy enough....
so then you plate it up and look forward to that total yumminess Bourbon Chili..

But the flavoring just was not there, even though chili powder and chipotle chili pepper were in there.

So I crunched up tortilla chips thinking that would add flavor.

But it didn't.
Oh well.

YOU KNOW WHAT WAS GOOD THOUGH????

That sour cream on top with the lemon zest!

Seriously, this sour cream recipe was so refreshing and so easy!

Zest up the lemon peel and mince that mint and throw it all together.

See,

I even wrote on the legal pad,

it was so nice and refreshing.

So this recipe was worth it just to find out about this simple sour cream topping.

Well I do have more disasters to share, but I don't want to bore you too much...

I'll wait till the next edition of Cooking Misadventures to do that :)

Now I gotta get back to work and post this
2001 Pontiac Bonneville SLE
with 107K miles...metallic dark blue,
super excellent condition inside and out as always :).
Yee Haw, check it out on the Turnkey Auto Inventory page!