I chose to make this "dish" today because several ingredients were reminicent of "chicken curry" perfected by my mother-in-law while living in Zambia. I had hoped for some sort of nod to her recipe with this experiment. Plus one of my dearest friends is of Swedish descent (hi DL!) and I thought it might be a nice surprise sometime to make a fun modern recipe from her homeland. I was sorely mistaken.
Flying Jacob
4 pieces crisp fried bacon, chopped
4 cooked chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
3 bananas, sliced
1/2 c Heinz chili sauce
1 c heavy cream
peanuts, lightly salted
Preheat oven to 375. Whip cream and mix with the chili sauce until well combined. Place chicken in large baking dish and sprinkle with bacon and two of the bananas. Pour on cream and chili mixture, distribute evenly. Top with remaining banana slices and a handful of peanuts. Bake 15 - 25 minutes. Serve over steamed white rice.
Chef's Note: There are two things I would immediately change about this dish. The first would be to add some additional spice to the cream and chili. It was not flavorful enough when combined with the chicken and lacked any punch or real interesting flavor. No "wow" factor whatsoever. Second, I would omit bananas completely. They were atrocious when cooked with the chicken and cream. Everything on my plate tasted like banana... the chicken, the sauce, the rice... Oh, so, bad.
I might revamp this recipe at some point and try it again, but the terrible bacon-banana-chicken taste will have to have become a distant memory first. Not to mention the disgust at having to throw out the rest of that inedible banana chicken. What a waste of time.
LOL - You should have called me! I could have told you that Swedish cuisine is anything but that. I mean, we're talking about a culture where lutefisk
ReplyDeleteis considered a delicacy. All their food is boiled, mashed, tasteless muck. Basically the only good things to come out of Swedish cooking are: Swedish meatballs (köttbullar), lingonberry jam and potato pancakes (lefse). :P But kudos to you for trying something different! :) (Btw - love your labels! LOL)
I had to swallow my pride to post a failure... at least I didn't have to swallow the food. :P
ReplyDeleteD, why do you think the Swedish food is so bad? Is it the lack of light makes it impossible to see what you're eating so it doesn't really matter? Is it because they just don't care what they eat? Is it that they don't know any better?
ReplyDeleteNAST!!!! Sorry for the waste of ingredients :)
ReplyDeleteOh yes, total waste of perfectly good chicken and 2 cups of WHIPPED CREAM. Makes me wanna cry.
ReplyDeleteIt was nass with a capital T. :P
Oh man, that cream is expensive too...That could have made some tasty chocolate ganache for a nice batch of macaroons ;)
ReplyDeleteIf it makes you feel any better, I've had my share of kitchen disasters as well. Thank goodness for oatmeal for plan B!
(I'm lucking from Davina's blog, btw)
Chandy, Yes, the loss of the cream was heart breaking but I don't miss it at all. It tasted like bananas. Eww!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by. Let me know if you try anything I've posted and feel free to recommend recipes too.
Laura
@ Laura - I dunno why their food it so terrible. I think you're right though, it's all "location, location, location." They're in the dark for a good portion of the year, food is hard to grow, it's cold all the time, exotic ingredients are hard to come by, etc. Hopefully I'll be able to host my Festival of Lights open house this Christmas, and I'll give my heritage a better reputation by showcasing all their yummy baked goods! :)
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