Saturday, March 23, 2013

FAST FOOD Smashed Potato and Chicken for 2 People

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And the series continues...

I bought a chicken.

You know the ones, Rotisserie Chicken, store bought, pre-cooked, pre-seasoned and always moist tender and delicious.  They are in just about every grocery store and those big box warehouse stores.  Me, I buy mine from Sam's Club, guaranteed 3 pounds and always cooked just right.

So, my series... What can I make with a single bird.  I have already made a ...

Breakfast, Cheesy Chicken Monkey Bread for Two People, click the blue letters or the photo to see the recipe blog post.  FANTASTIC, sort of a French toast, savory bread pudding loaded with cheese, chicken, onion and spices.  Made with just the meat from a single Chicken thigh.

I also made fancy sandwich that dressed up a bowl of left over soup...

The Chicken Salad Roll up for Two People happens to be my wife's favorite sandwich.  Made easy with a can of store bought refrigerator biscuits   Creamy cream cheese is the glue that holds more onions, chicken, mushrooms and seasonings.  Made with the meat from the other single chicken thigh.

Needing a main course I came up with a FANTASTIC Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese for Two People.  If you are a fan of those famous bar snack chicken wings you will love this dressed up version.  Tabasco sauce is used to spice up the chicken.  There is even some blue cheese added to copy the dipping sauce.

Made easy with just a single breast from the beloved bird!

So, breakfast, sandwich and main course... Still plenty of meat left... Time to make lunch and this is a lunch that uses the meat from the chicken legs (both of them)!


In my series, I have a few goals/challenges...
  1. Eat Well...
  2. Recipes for 2 people...
  3. See what type of variety I can get from the single bird...
  4. Keep track of costs (and keep them low)
  5. Make my recipes "inexperienced cook" friendly with additional details and photos so that indeed, Anyone Can Cook This!
This recipe meets all those goals.  It is delicious (eat well), serves 2 people, but could very easily be made as a single serving lunch for just one person (me), while my wife runs off to her inconvenient day job.  As to variety  well, as I said, after a breakfast, sandwich and dinner, time for a lunch (but on some slow days I have made this for a FAST supper as well).  I'll get to the costs later in the post, but this is about as easy as it gets for experience, inexperienced, or even first time cooks... there is just about nothing to this (but it is tasty!

All I did was...
  1. Microwave a potato
  2. Smash the potato with the back of a knife
  3. Add Chicken meat
  4. Top with a store bought Salad dressing
  5. Serve HOT and ENJOY


And that's it... IMPOSSIBLY EASY

And a wonderful tasty lunch.  Not difficult at all, but here are some details just in case you have any questions...

Microwave 2 Potatoes according to the directions that came with your microwave (Most have a setting for quick microwave potatoes.  For mine, wash the potato, prick the skin with a fork several times, hit the photo of the potato on the microwave, wait for the ding (4-5 minutes), allow it to rest for 5 minutes and eat.

While the potato is cooking, remove the meat from the legs of the rotisserie chicken.  If you use both legs you will get about a full cups worth, 1/2 a cup per person.  Dice the chicken up and search around for any bones or gristle, remove those.  DO this with your hands or the bones and gristle may get into your food.

The dressing is a simple salad dressing.  I eat this with whatever I have on hand... Ranch, Russian dressing is especially tasty, 1,000 Island, Vinaigrette, low cal, fat free... whatever you like, you will like on this.

And that's the recipe.  I added some slivers of Basil just to make the photo a little prettier.  Also a sprinkle of Paprika (same reason).  The dressing and the store bought rotisserie chicken already are seasoned,but salt and pepper to taste is never a bad idea.

As to cost....

Well, I have been figuring the cost of the chicken at $1.00 per dish.  The entire chicken only cost $4.88 (round up to $5).  this is the fourth recipe I have made from the single bird, so that may mean free chicken soon.

As to the rest of the ingredients, I am tempted to claim potatoes and salad dressing as pantry items.  If I always have the ingredients around, I mean how much does a few ounces of salad dressing cost?  Or a potato when you buy them in bags of 10 pounds (Sam's Club, $4 for 10 pounds)?

But, for this recipe, let's say that I am using $0.50 cents worth of potatoes and another $0.50 cents worth of dressing...

Total cost of lunch for 2 people... $2.00
Cost per serving just a buck.

Now that's fast food, from MY dollar menu!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this... Cheesy, meaty and deliciously topped with whatever salad dressing you like best!

As to the challenge... So far I have only used two chicken thighs, a single breast and now the two chicken legs... still plenty of meat left to go.

Very easy, DELICIOUS and ... certainly fits well with my goals.

Stay tuned, come on back tomorrow and see what else I make from the single bird!

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This recipe has been added to my growing list of "52 Uses For a Rotisserie Chicken"  (Now close to 100!)...I am so confused... $5.49 for a fully cooked, fully seasoned Oven Roasted, Rotisserie Chicken. Yet shop in the raw meat department and most raw chickens are at best $8 each and usually far closer to $10. Anyone have an answer??? Me either. So, I can either rail against the machine, or learn to embrace the beauty that is the $5 chicken! In this pin are recipes I have made, and recommend. MORE than 52 (I just can't stop)..
You get the idea.  From Scratch Pizza to Chinese Take Out recipes, Lots of Soups and Chili... Appetizers to Main Courses (Still can't find a dessert, but I am looking).  More than enough ideas for that store nought bird to shine with just a little extra work

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