Chopped Challenge #9: Steak Chili-Smothered Tater Tots

For Chopped challenge #9, Justin gave me tater tots, chili powder, pearl onions, and beef jerky. I decided to make a steak chili served over tater tots. It was really quite tasty, and I think it's something I would definitely make again sometime, though I could really take or leave the beef jerky. It's used here sort of like bacon bits and would be wholly unnecessary if it hadn't been one of my required ingredients. It tastes good, but it just really wasn't needed.

Crab Pot Pie

I don't often watch Paula Deen on TV. I find her slightly grating. I don't know why; I just do. There's also the fact that just watching her cook makes me fatter. For whatever reason, one afternoon a couple weeks ago I put on an episode of her show, and she was making crab pot pie. That's not something I'd ever considered before. Chicken or turkey, sure, but crab? How have I not thought of this?

I used Paula's recipe more as an idea and a jumping off point than as any sort of guide. This recipe actually more closely resembles Justin's mom's chicken pot pie recipe, though it's not directly based on that either. Basically, Justin and I sat down and said, what vegetables are required for pot pie and what vegetables would be tasty with crab? From there we narrowed it down to those included in this recipe. If I made it again, I don't think I'd change a thing (other than to maybe use an egg wash on the pie crust to make it come out more golden brown). It was really weird for the first few bites, but once I got over the expectation of poultry flavors, I really liked this.

Rosemary Chicken & Potatoes

This is one of those dishes that's really simple in both execution and flavor profile, but sometimes that's exactly what you want--here the rosemary really has a chance to stand out without a lot of other flavors getting in the way. I always feel like fresh herbs make things feel fancy anyway, so you don't really need anything else to make this dish feel special.

Chopped Challenge #2, Part 1: Turkey and Dumplings

*I'm splitting this post into two parts, one each for the entree and the side dish.

For Justin's first turn cooking for our Chopped challenges, I gave him ground turkey, condensed cream of chicken soup, refrigerated biscuits in a can, and leeks. It's not a terribly difficult, off-the-wall set of ingredients, but I figured he could come up with something fun to do with them. I wasn't wrong.