This is meal two of our three meal package with GoodFood. This one is vegetarian so that's pretty awesome. I / We are not vegetarian in my house but I do enjoy taking a break from meat sometimes. This one I ate alone because my Picky Eater (PE), can't eat regular pasta and he has a busy night out of town. I made this recipe on September 27th, 2019.
The description on the paper said: With all due apology to King Oyster, maitake may just be the monarch of the mushroom family. Also known as hen-of-the-woods, these beautiful mushrooms look like intricate folds of forest coral. They’re native to Japan and China, though they’re also commonly grown here in the early autumn. They’re rich and earthy in flavour and are valued for their medicinal properties. But tonight, you’ll be using them in your dinner. Their robust flavour means they pair beautifully with savoury crumbled sausage meat nestled in the divots of ear-shaped orecchiette. Top your rustic pasta dish with crumbled garlic pangritata - that’s garlic, butter, and panko breadcrumbs - and parsley for freshness. Throw together a baby arugula and sunset-hued multicoloured carrot salad on the side to complete this elegant meal (GoodFood Recipe - Sausage & Maitake Mushroom Orecchiette).
This one did have a little more prep than the first recipe. It asked me to do all the chopping once I had a pot of water boiling for the pasta. While the pasta was boiling I had time to chop the vegetables and the herbs. One thing I dislike about all of these boxes is they give you instructions that no average home chef would reasonably be able to do. Especially when it comes to garlic I have noticed. Maybe it is just me, but I have a really hard time, mincing garlic, or dicing garlic. I can ever get it small enough (and I don't have a garlic press, even though the recipes don't call for that). I also dislike how many bowls you need and pots and pans. This recipe needed six bowls, a strainer, a medium pot, a medium pain, and a large pan. That seems like a lot of dishes for something that is supposed to make your life easier. To save on dishes I reused one of the pans I had already used. It was only used to toasted breadcrumbs so, no big deal there. I also ended up cooking the mushroom and the sausage together. I mean, I hate to mix foods, but it was going to be mixed in the end anyways so, I didn't see a problem with it.
Today, I learned my lesson about following the instructions carefully and making sure you know everything the kit included. After everything was cooked I was supposed to add demi-glace and cream to the pan and I just added the cream. I was mixing and mixing wondering why on earth it wasn't thickening up until I saw the unopened package on the counter! Once I added that everything was good to go.
It was delicious, there is no denying that. It also came with a side salad that I wasn't a fan of. The vinaigrette was not that great. It was basically oil and vinegar this time. And the salad was just Arugula and Carrots (the instructions also called for a peeler for the carrots, I just washed them and chopped them).
The Opinion:
The dish tasted amazing. But the process was not that great. I understand that they make the recipe so that you can understand it and so the steps don't become overwhelming. But it uses up a lot of dishes. I also wasn't a fan of mincing the garlic. I couldn't do that well enough and there were large chunks of it throughout the dish. Also, I wasn't a fan of the salad, not only was it just arugula and carrots but the vinaigrette wasn't the best. I think the salad was an afterthought. Unlike the first recipe, it didn't go with the pasta and it is even pictured on the side in their recipe. That seems to me, that they really don't go together. I think they tried to make them compatible by making you add arugula to the top of the pasta dish and I really don't think that was needed. The arugula got soggy and didn't add anything to the dish.
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