I started making some Epicure meals this week, by using the packs that were given to me. This week I had scheduled to make Sweet and Sour Stir-Fry and Donair. I'm going to share both meals with you, my experience making the meal, and how it turned out in the end.
Sweet and Sour Stir-Fry
Making the Meal:
This meal was very easy to make. I did make some changes to it though. I followed the recipe on the back of the pack. The pack was the seasoning for the sauce that you put on chicken and veggies once they're cooked. The ingredients for the sauce was pineapple chunks and juice, soy sauce, white vinegar, and water. Very simple to mix together. The recipe also called for a WOK. For those of you that do not know what a wok is, it is basically like a pan but with higher edges. It traps the heat and the meat and veggies cook faster. It is typically used for stir-fry so I am not surprised that it was on the recipe.
The recipe also called for snap peas. Once the chicken is cooked, you add the snap peas and the sauce. I did not use snap peas. Instead, I used broccoli. I love broccoli, especially with chicken. I also did not coat the chicken in corn starch. I used flour. I know corn starch is a gluten free alternative for flour, so that's probably why it was the chosen ingredient. However, I did not have any corn starch, so flour it was. We are not gluten free in my house, so this change in the recipe is not a concern.
I cooked the chicken first in the Wok, then added the already cooked broccoli (frozen bag that heats up in less than 5 minutes in the microwave), and then finally, the sauce. I prepared a cup of dry rice while the wok was cooking everything together, and heat that up in 5 minutes. The entire recipe from start to finish took about 25 minutes. That's pretty good in my opinion. I added the chicken and broccoli on top of the rice, and dinner was ready.
Let's Eat!:
Overall, it was a delicious meal. My meal did not look like the meal on the pack (go figure) but it was still good. My husband did say it seemed a little dry. That's not the seasoning's fault, that's all on me. I think I added too much to the seasoning to make the sauce that it was very runny and less saucy. If I ever buy the pack from Epicure and make it again, I will definitely make sure it's a little more saucier before I add it to the chicken and veggies in the wok.
The pineapple was a nice addition. I love pineapple, but I don't usually cook with it. I have used it for salmon tacos, where we add a pineapple pico on top of that. But actually cooking with, this is a first for me. My husband said the pineapple was probably his favorite part.
We attempted to give the meal to my infant and toddler. My infant enjoyed some of it, not so much my toddler. But anyone with a toddler knows, they don't eat... It's the most frustrating thing. If my children were a little older, I think they definitely would have eaten it. It was probably more sweet than sour, but I think kids would enjoy it.
Would I make again?:
Absolutely. It was delicious. I make a similar meal where I cut up chicken in smaller pieces, heat up a frozen bag of broccoli, marinate the chicken pieces in teriyaki sauce out of a jar, and then cook it. I usually add yum yum sauce and serve over rice. It is very good. Sometimes I get fancy and I make fried rice. So this meal reminded me of that.
Donair
Making the Meal:
I have never heard of donair before, but after looking at some of the ingredients listed to add to the pita, it seemed like a Greek style meal. I was anxious to try it. I use one pound meat instead of 2 that the recipe required because this meal was only going to serve my husband and myself. I had to order some ingredients ahead of time. For example, Greek style pita bread, tzatziki sauce, tomatoes, cucumber, shredded lettuce and feta cheese. The recipe called for red onions, but I wasn't feeling onions. It also didn't say anything about feta, but I love feta and the other ingredients suggested seemed like feta would be a great match with it all.
I mixed the one pound of ground beef with the seasoning packet. I did not use it all though since the recipe called for 2 pounds of meat, I did not want the seasoning to over power just the one pound of ground beef. Once the meat was ready, I put it in a loaf pan. Epicure has a silicone loaf pan that could be cooked in the microwave. Unfortunately, I did not have that, so I cooked it in the oven for about 50 minutes. It made our house smell sooooo good. During 50 minutes, I thinly sliced the cucumber and tomatoes. When the meat was cooked after 50 minutes, I let it sit for a bit, then I started to thinly slice the meat. I laid everything out on our kitchen island and we made our own "gyros".
Let's Eat:
First, I spread the tzatziki sauce over the entire pita. I placed some donair meat on top then added lettuce, sliced tomatoes, sliced cucumber, and feta. I folded it over and ate it like it was a taco. My husband said it felt like a fancy taco night. You guys... this meal was SOOOOO GOOOOOOD! Absolutely delicious. I am so glad I decided to buy feta for this, because it was perfect with it. I also considered putting hummus on it, or on the side to dip it in. My husband added pickled garlic and he said that was a nice addition as well. I gave a little bit of meat to my infant. She wasn't sure of it at first, but she still ate it. My husband liked it so much, he had 4 and then another one for lunch today.
Would I Make Again?:
I have never made a meal like this and I will definitely make it again. It's the type of meal that I would invite people over to eat it with us or an easy meal to make over vacation. It is that delicious. When I am finished with the 3 weeks of meal plan with Epicure, I will definitely buy this seasoning pack separately and add it to my monthly meals.
Other Recipe Options:
While the meat was cooking in the oven, I was curious other meals that the Donair seasoning pack could make. So I went on the Epicure site, searched Donair and these are the "recipes" it showed me. I think if I ever make this again, I will continue to make it with the pita. But I like seeing other options just in case if I'm feeling something different.
What do you think? Do any of these recipes sound yummy to you? I will share more Epicure recipes next week! Thanks for reading!
Susana
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