When the Dairy Farmers of Canada approached foodiePrints to participate in their Anyday Magic Recipe Makeover challenge, not only did we agree, but we agreed to participate in two ?rounds.? Each round consists of three food bloggers, remaking a chosen recipe, using cream instead of milk and, when possible, butter instead of oil.
We participated in a breakfast challenge earlier this year. Jenn remade a bowl of hot oatmeal into a nice stack of blueberry pancakes.
In June, we were issued a dinner recipe to remake, ?Mom?s Chicken Macaroni?
I?ve been eating and making this dish for as long as I can remember ? until my husband got sick of it! He?s on a health-kick; so as yummy as this recipe is it sure isn?t healthy. I?d love to put it back in rotation with our other favourite meals but it definitely needs a makeover.
- fry 1 white onion finely chopped, add chopped chicken breast and chopped bacon, fry until cooked
- boil macaroni pasta until al dente, combine with chicken, bacon, and onions in large dish
- stir in 2 cans of cream of chicken soup
- cover with melted cheese and crushed regular chips, broil until cheese is melted
Having grown up with oriental diets, Jenn and I are somewhat new to the casserole concept: tuna, green bean, etc. Prevalent from the 1950s to the 1970s, ?casserole? refers to both a baking dish and the combinations of meat, vegetable, and starch placed into it. The dish is oven-proof and commonly made of ceramic or glass, often equipped with a lid. The ingredients are usually topped with either cracker crumbs, bread crumbs, or cheese, which is broiled to create a crust. Casseroles are otherwise baked. The ingredients are bound together using everything from classic French bechamel to canned soup. ?Mom?s Chicken Macaroni? fits the genre.
The challenge being to ?remake? the casserole, we weren?t about to turn a classic comfort dish into a healthier pasta bake (essentially another form of casserole), pasta salad, or loose noodle dish. Though, carbonara came to mind.
Noting many of the ingredients make up the filling of pot pie, we turned to a comfort food we are very familiar with, dumplings. Originally, we thought to make ?ravioli?-style dumplings with wonton wrappers, keeping with convenience of the original dish. Instead, we made pierogies. And, it being summertime, we finished them on the grill.
So, we made a pot pie filling supplemented with some sharp cheese. Then we wrapped the filling in scratch pierogi wrappers. These, we gently fried in butter and finished on the gril. Grilling pierogies gave them a wonderful smokey flavour.
Chicken Pot Pierogies, served with Sour Cream and Pesto
When we offered a sneak peek at the pierogies we were working on to our Facebook followers, we were advised to add bacon. So we made another batch, our fourth, and did just that.
Chicken Pot Pierogies, served with Bacon and Sour Cream
More Chicken Pot Pierogies, served with Bacon and Sour Cream
If you think this a creative take on the macaroni chicken casserole, do click here to see the recipe and vote by Facebook ?liking? our makeover submission. This round, we?re up against a bonafide pastry chef!
If we garner enough votes, we will again be offering Dairy Farmer prize packs to our readers.
Cheers!
Oh, want to see one of our less than successful makeover concept prototypes?
Originally, I had the bright idea of taking pasta and leveraging its ingredients to make a batter. This, I used to coat chicken that I marinated in sour cream and herbs. While the batter did work and I want to use it to fry fish with sometime in the near future, battered chicken didn?t quite fit well with the submitter wanting her original recipe to be made healthier.
Interestingly, last weekend Jenn and I attempted New York Chef David Chang?s ramen gnocchi, which are made from instant ramen noodle packs. That recipe (2 cups milk, 200 g ramen, and 4 egg yolks) is available both online and in the first issue of Chang?s Lucky Peach magazine. We hope to find the time to remake this recipe into something autumnal soon.
Ramen Gnocci, sauteed in butter and garlic scape pesto
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