Home Chef Round 2

 

I did my second Home Chef order this week. It arrived on Thursday early in the morning. You have to order at least 2 dishes. I would be more favorably inclined to using the service if you could order only one meal at a time.

 

 My choices were Mushroom Smothered Tri-Tip Beef, a Fast and Fresh item, and Teriyaki Salmon with Mushroom Fried Rice, a 15-Minute Meal Kit. I changed my preferences so I would see recipes with less work. 

Again all of the packaging was not eco-friendly. Many of the containers could be opened easily but they should tell you to have scissors on hand. That was the only way to open the meat packages.

I did appreciate that the salmon and the beef were not only in their own plastic pouches but were packed separately from the other ingredients which came in a large plastic pouch each.

I made the tri-tip beef first. It could be cooked in the oven or in the microwave. I chose microwave. It had its own cooking "pan" that was divided into two compartments.

The mushrooms came sliced this time. It was mostly taking things from the packaging in the order specified. 

The instruction cards always start out telling the cook to rinse any fresh produce. This time it also said to pat dry the spinach.

I put the potatoes in one half of the pan, the mushrooms in the other.

Then I covered the potatoes with the spinach that I had rinsed and patted dry. 

One ingredient they tell you to have on hand is olive oil; I needed to add that to the mushrooms. Covered the pan with a moist paper towel and nuked.

While that cooked, I unwrapped the pre-cooked beef and drained though there was hardly any liquid to drain.

Finally I added the meat to the mushrooms and topped with cornstarch (in packet), demi-glace (in a packet), and two tablespoons of water. Stirred it all up. Added the garlic herb butter (in its own little packet) to the top of the spinach. Nuked again and then thoroughly stirred the spinach into the potatoes. It took about 10 minutes from start to plating.

It cost $9.99 per serving, a bit more than average because of the beef. Tasty and easy though I found myself reaching for my water glass often; a lot of sodium in the ingredients.

The next night I cooked the teriyaki salmon (15 minute meal kit).

This time I had to slice the mushrooms. The card said cremini but these were definitely baby bellas (it even said it on the package).

The other thing I found different from the ingredient list was there were two packets of the umami seasoning (1 gram each). However when I measured the seasoning with a teaspoon it needed both packets to equal that. 

I washed and sliced the mushrooms.

Cooked the salmon pieces flesh-side down in a non-stick pan in olive oil as instructed.

When I tried to turn the salmon over, I used tongs which is what was pictured though not stated in the photo. One of the slabs stuck and broke apart.

While the salmon cooked, I microwaved the rice in its pouch. Then in a large non-stick skillet I placed the mushrooms in olive oil and browned. Lastly, I added the nuked rice to the skillet along with red pepper flakes (in a packet), the umami seasoning (in two packets), and the peas. After cooking for a few minutes, half of the teriyaki glaze (in a bottle) was stirred in. 

Once plated, the rest of the teriyaki glaze was drizzled over the salmon. 

I should have dispersed the pepper flakes better; I had a few spicy bites when eating the rice. I also found myself thirsty even though I did not add the pinch of salt to the mushrooms nor the salmon. 

$8.99 per serving plus $13.99 shipping (for both meals together). 

I will probably unsubscribe from the service in a few months. I used up my credits from the gift card. These faster easier meals were more to my liking, but too salty and too expensive for my budget.