Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Ptomaine Wednesday: Spicy Moroccan Chicken

I've been making my way through the packet of recipes I bought from The Pampered Chef- Weekday Dinners-Done!. It's been nice to have some variety for dinner, but I have a couple issues with this collection of recipes.
The first problem is that one of the selling points for this collection is that 2 grocery lists are included. The lists are incomplete. I made all the recipes in week one, which used 16 oz of sliced mushrooms and 6 green peppers. The grocery list calls for three peppers and one 8 oz container of mushrooms. There were errors on the second week list, but I caught those before I went to the store by going through each recipe one-by-one.
Another issue is that the recipes call for much more microwaving than I am used to. Last night, I made Deep Dish Cheeseburger Pie, and the recipe called for microwaved ground beef. I did it, but I don't know why. I have lots of skillets.
Lastly, the recipes call for specialty seasoning mixes made by Pampered Chef. Since they also call for specialty equipment made by TPC, I thought that this was a marketing thing, to get us to buy their spices. But they don't sell the spices anymore, so even if I wanted to buy their specialty blends, I couldn't. Fortunately for me, others have had these problems and posted recipes for spice blends on the internet.
Which brings me to tonight's recipe. Here is a photo of the recipe card:
The recipe called for TPC Morrocan rub, for which I substituted 2 tablespoons of this mixture:

Moroccan Seasoning Mix
Recipe #141053 | 5 min | 5 min prep

This spice blend is used extensively in Moroccan cooking.Use the freshest spices you can find. Recipe found on the net.
SERVES 8 , 8 Tablespoons (change servings and units)

Ingredients
5 teaspoons ground nutmeg
5 teaspoons ground cumin
5 teaspoons ground coriander
2 1/2 teaspoons allspice
2 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/4 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
Directions
1Mix spices together and store in an airtight container.

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 (5g)

Recipe makes 8 servings

Calories 20

which comes from recipezaar. Here is how it turned out:
You should try it, the rub is amazing. I could smell it for hours.

I cooked the chicken almost as directed. I did not use instant rice, because I can make slow rice. I also used frozen green beans instead of frozen peas.
Here is a picture of my bowl, followed by Spencer's artfully arranged plate. Except he insists the green bean, which sits atop his heap "just so" is a happy accident. Whatever.
Next week, I am going to try a recipe from this book:
and that will be the first time I have tried a Rachel Ray recipe. I've seen her show a couple times, she looks friendly. I hate the word "sammies", though.

3 comments:

  1. So, how did it taste?

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  2. The chicken was okay. I was disappointed that it didn't taste as good as the rub smells.

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  3. I'm totally late with this comment...but PC still sells all the spices. I have several and really like 'em.

    http://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/category_details.tpc?code=PANTRY&id=12&parentCatId=12&parentId=

    ReplyDelete