Week 4: Loaded Potato Salad

The Recipe
750gr potatoes, in ~½cm slices
Oil
Salt, pepper, cayenne to taste
125gr bacon
2-3 diced carrots
4-6 cups sliced lettuce
1/2 cup shredded cheese
1 avocado, cubed

Cook the bacon until crispy and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 200C. Place the potato slices on a greased baking sheet, spray with oil, season with salt, pepper and cayenne pepper and bake until slightly golden - about 15-20 minutes. Leave to cool.

Toss the salad and serve with dressing of your choice.

The Verdict
Unfortunately I added too much cayenne to the potatoes, so they had a bit too much of a bite and could've been more crispy. Other than that I really liked it though. It's a lot of work, so I probably won't make it that often, but it's a nice alternative.

Week 3: Ham and Potato Corn Chowder

The Recipe
Oil
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, sliced
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp thyme and basil
½ dl flour
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups milk
2-3 large potatoes, diced
225g ham (I used a mix of ham and sausages)
4-8 slices bacon, diced
1 can (~200g) corn
~100g mushrooms, diced
A handful cherry tomatoes, halved
Salt, pepper, chili, curry

Cook the bacon in a large sauce pan until beginning to crisp. Add a bit of oil if necessary and add the onions, carrots and celery. Cook until tender.

Mix in the garlic, thyme and flour and cook until the flour is lightly browned, about 2-3 minutes.

Slowly stir in the broth and milk. Add potatoes and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add ham, corn, mushrooms and tomatoes, reduce heat and leave to simmer for 20 minutes.

Season with salt, pepper and spices just before serving.

The Verdict
Really, really good! I'm not usually a huge fan of celery, but it actually worked well here. It could have used a few more mushrooms, but otherwise I have no suggestions for improvements. Definitely a soup I'll be making again - it was awesome comfort food :-)

Week 2: Honey-Mustard Chicken

The Recipe
2-3 chicken breasts cut in halves (~450g)
Juice from 1 lemon (~3 tbsp)
5 tsp mustard
5 tsp honey
1 tbsp butter
5-6 tbsp breadcrumbs
Salt, pepper
Oregano, thyme, curry, paprika, garlic powder, chili, basil

Turn on the oven to 200C. Put the butter in an ovenproof dish and put it into the heating oven to melt the butter and coat the dish.

In one bowl mix lemon juice, mustard and honey. In another mix breadcrumbs, salt, pepper and all spices (a dash of each).

Coat the chicken in the mustard mixture and then in the breadcrumb mixture. Place it in the ovenproof dish.

Cook until done - about 25 minutes - turning it over half-way through.

Serve with rice, asparagus and green beans.


The Verdict
Really good! The chicken was nice and moist, and I loved the taste. It was a bit heavy on the mustard, but nothing too bad. Definitely something I'll make again.

Week 1: Stuffed Bell Peppers

The Recipe
3 large bell peppers
200g fresh breadcrumbs
A bit of milk
1 tbsp capers
6 olives, chopped
2 large tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
fresh basil (~12 leaves)
a handful rocket salad (~35g)
125g bacon
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp stale breadcrumbs (a.k.a. rasp in Danish)
6 slices of cheese

Preheat the oven to 180C. Cut the bell peppers into halves and remove the stems. Put them into an ovenproof dish.

In a pan, cook bacon and garlic until done. Put aside.

Meanwhile, put the tomatoes in a bowl, pour boiling water over them and leave for 5-10 minutes until the skin starts to curl. Remove skin and chop the rest, removing the seeds. Cut basil and rocket salad coarsely.

Put the fresh breadcrumbs in a second bowl and add just enough milk that the crumbs can incorporate it all. THIS IS LESS THAN YOU THINK! I think I ended up using less than 1dl. Just add a bit at a time until it's clear that it can't take more. Mix the bread with capers, olives, tomatoes, basil, rocket and the cooked bacon and garlic. Add half the olive oil, salt and pepper.

Stuff the peppers with the mix, add a bit of stale breadcrumbs to each and sprinkle with the rest of the olive oil. Put a slice of cheese on top of each and cook for about 30 minutes.

Serve with a nice salad.

The Verdict
I really liked the way it tasted, but the texture was WEIRD!!! The breadcrumbs didn't really work for me, and I think I'll substitute them with mince of some sort if I am to make this again. The capers and olives worked REALLY well, but there wasn't nearly enough of either.

In the end, I'll probably never make this again as-is, but might use it for inspiration.