I haven’t written here for a while. I have been meaning to for some time. I even have some ideas. All I need right now is some motivation. So, when Valerie suggested that I post the recipe for tonight’s dinner, I thought, “what the heck.”
Tonight was one of those classic “must-go” evenings where dinner had to be constructed from stuff I could find in the pantry and fridge. So here we go:
Ingredients (*)
- 4 frozen chicken patties
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1/4 pound bacon
- 2 cups frozen corn
- 4 pickle sized cucumbers
- 3/16 cup ricotta cheese
- 1/8 cup sour cream
- 5/8 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 4 habanero flavored flour tortillas
- turkish seasoning mix (to taste)
smoke seasoning(toss this out because of bug webs under the lid)
* Actual ingredients and quantities may vary depending on what is in your fridge/pantry at the time…
Directions
Note that although I numbered the following steps, I did most of these concurrently… and you will want to do so also. Try to time all of them to come together at the exactly same instant for assembly.
- Heat the chicken patties per the directions on the bag (or box). When fully heated, slice into strips. I used 1/2″ strips for this meal.
- Roast the red pepper. If you know how to do this, great! If not, here’s what you need to know. You need a gas stove. Seriously. If you have an electric stove, stop right here. Run to Sears and buy yourself a REAL range. You have no business cooking on anything other than gas unless all you do is boil water and heat frozen veggies. Place the pepper directly on the grate over a low flame. Char each and every side of the pepper, rotating as needed. You want the skin to turn black, not white. When it’s black on all sides, turn off the heat and let it sit for a while. I used to put it in a paper bag at this step, but found over time it didn’t really add much to the experience. After the pepper has “relaxed” for a while, hold it under running water and peel off the (charred) skin with your fingers. Remove the core and slice the pepper to strips of desired width (or squares of desired size… if you prefer). I used 1/4″ strips for this meal.
- Fry up the bacon. I suggest cutting it into squares first and then just throwing it into a saucepan and fry it up in there (stirring often) until you’ve achieved bacon crispiness nirvana. Remove from heat. Drain grease into your grease jar (you do have one of those, don’t you?). Pour the bacon onto a paper towel to remove the remaining grease. (Note that I managed to use the word “grease” four times in three sentences… although it would have been three in two had I not told you.)
- Prepare the corn “salsa.” Salsa isn’t really the right word, but I have no idea what the correct culinary term would be for this creation. Heat the corn with just a little bit of water in an appropriately sized saucepan on the stove (this step can be done on an electric stove if you must). Drain and allow to cool a bit. Stir in the ricotta, sour cream, and turkish seasoning. Mix with a spoon (or your finger if that’s your cooking style).
- Slice up the cucumber. You have a choice here. You can use a knife , end up with slices of all different thicknesses, and risk chopping off your finger tips. OR, you can use a mandolin, end up with perfect slices of uniform thickness, and nearly guarantee that you almost slice off your finger tips.
- Put it all together. Here is where your creativity comes into play. Put the filling on your tortillas in whatever order you like. (I would, however, suggest putting them all in a line that crosses the tortilla so that you can wrap it easily around the filling.). If you lack creativity, you can just copy the order I used: chicken, peppers, corn salsa, cucumbers, bacon, cheddar cheese.
- Eat and enjoy.
Don’t know if I’ll post any future culinary adventures or not. Hope you enjoy this one even if you never actually make it!
m
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