This dish is such an oldie and so delicious. The best part about it is that people will think it involves a modicum of effort. But there’s a cheat at the heart of this recipe (which you needn’t reveal to your diners) which makes it one of the easiest recipes in the Retrokitchen.
It’s been a while since I posted and, looking at these photographs, old Dad and I are a bit out of practice. One or two of the photos aren’t as slick as normal. The main problem is that old Dad, old Mum and I are sober.
That’s right we’re doing dry July. No hope of a cask of wine in this post. We’re consuming a non-alcoholic staple of the 1970s – cordial:
This looks a bit posh for the 1970s. But somehow I couldn’t persuade old Mum to drink bright red Cottee’s!
Ah well at least the food will be tasty. The ingredients are easy.
1 clove garlic- $1.20 per bunch:
As you can see, this is a recycled photo with a different table cloth and 3 cloves of garlic, but you get the idea.
1 small brown onion- around $1.00:
This is another recycled photo showing a medium brown onion. I have an over-active imagination today!
500 g breast stir fry chicken – $10.50 per packet:
A dozen cup mushrooms – say $3.00:
and, in addition:
Apologies for the two photographs – there was a bit of tension in the Retrokitchen today. It was politic not to ask for a restaged photograph of the mushrooms.
Now for the slightly embarrassing secret ingredient – Continental Chicken Tonight Cacciatore sauce – $2.50 per jar:
No-one will ever guess – your meal will be too tasty to have come from a jar!
Fresh basil – no price for this as I pinched it from old Mum’s herb garden:
A dozen pitted kalamata olives – say $2.00:
Your preferred pasta – this one set me back $1.95:
Parmesan cheese – this load cost $3.25:
Now let’s get cooking!
Step 1 – chop garlic:
Step 2 – chop onion:
Step 3 – remove chicken strips from packet and slice each strip in half:
Step 4 – slice mushrooms:
Step 5 – slice olives:
Step 6 – pour 3 tablespoons of olive oil into pan and heat:
Step 7 – once oil is heated, place garlic in pan and cook until light brown:
Step 8 – place onion in pan, stir and cook until golden:
Step 9 – place chicken in pan, stir and cook until light brown:
Step 10 – place mushrooms in pan, stir and cook until softened:
Step 11 – reduce heat, place secret sauce in pan and stir:
Step 12 – place basil in pan and stir:
Step 13 – place olives in pan:
Step 14 – cook pasta (you might actually start this before the chicken):
Step 15 – serve with parmesan in easy reach:
Step 16 – top with parmesan and wash down with cordial!
I’ll be back next week. Old Dad, old Mum and I are going to have a celebration of the mid point of dry July – with cask wine and beef casserole. It is truly delectable so be sure to check in to the Retrokitchen!
Hi Retrokitchen,
Delicious cheat recipe! I’d love to see a video in one of your future posts.
Keep it up (and good work with Dry July).
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Thanks Agnes! A video is an intriguing idea. The most likely candidate for a video is the carpet bag steak – it involves somewhat deft manouvering to get the smoked oysters into the centre of the steak!
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