I’ve never heard of this recipe, but the ingredients make me want to put in a dash of worchestershire sauce or maybe some curry powder for some zip.
This is a family recipe, and as you mention bringing it for Easter, at the risk of being contrarian, I’d suggest you consider not changing the recipe at all. Folks who are expecting one thing aren’t always ready to have a new dish on the table.
Well that is why I said not too far outside the box.
By the way I’ll be making this thusday night so it will have all day Friday for spices to mix.
Brian
So true.
How about you sprinkle some paprika on top. Paprika looks fancy, but doesn’t taste like anything if you ask me.
Hungarian hot paprika does.
Haven’t seen it recommended yet, but maybe a little bit of white pepper to kick it up a little.
I have a recipe for a chicken/rice/broccoli casserole that also uses a cream soup and cheddar cheese. Through a little experimenting, I found out that a bit of soy sauce was a nice touch. Not so much that people notice, but enough that it enhances the flavor.
Paprika does too taste like something provided that a) you get fresh, high quality paprika (it should smell strongly of sweet red peppers) and b) know how to use it.
Paprika sprinkled over a dish doesn’t do much for the flavor. It’s more a “feast for the eyes” with its wonderful bright red color (you are getting the good stuff, right?) In Hungary, the primary way to add paprika flavor after the fact to a dish was to dissolve it in hot oil first and then add that to the dish. Normally, though, you would dissolve the paprika in with the onions-lard/oil mixture that traditional begins most Hungarian dishes, and you would use fairly generous amounts–from one teaspoon to a tablespoon or more.
But, yes, if you use it as a sprinkle over a dish at the end, it’s not really there for flavor, but color. It’s also good sprinkled on poultry before you cook, as it browns nicely and lends your bird a pretty color when it’s done roasting.
I tend to disagree with this flavorless view of Paprika. A good, fresh, Hungarian Paprika adds flavor primarily,not color. In Germany, barbecue chips are known as Paprika chips. They are noted more from the flavor as by the color.
Add two or three anchovies and a small amount of a good swiss or gruyere cheese to your naughty potatoes. Great and subtle tastes. They’ll wonder what you did, but won’t quite be able to place it.
Yes, but there is a lot of paprika in those (comparitively) and there’s plenty of oil in the chips that helps dissolve the flavor. I’m not saying paprika is flavorless, but, depending on how you use it, it’s as often used for color as flavor. In the US, I would say that it’s used more for color, whether it’s browning a chicken or sprinkling over devilled eggs.