Cookbook: Marvel Eat the Universe: The Official Cookbook
Recipe Name: Hulk’s Paillard Arrabita with Purple Smashed Potatoes
Ingredients:
- Two 6-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 Cup all-purpose flour
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 1 cup italian breadcrumbs
- Kosher salt
- 1 pound small purple potatoes, boiled
- Canola Oil
- ½ yellow onion, diced
- 1 jalapeno, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- ½ cup white wine
- 2 cups packed fresh parsley leaves
- 8 cups packed baby spinach
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Juice of 1 lemon
The Cooking:
Unlike the last time I made a recipe from Marvel Eat the Universe, I actually read the recipe beyond the ingredients list. With full knowledge about what I would be in for, I set to work with high hopes.
Fate had other plans for me though. I needed to boil some potatoes in preparation for my meal and quickly found that the purple potatoes I purchased earlier in the day were not in an okay condition for consumption. Ugh. I ran to the store for more purple potatoes, but there were none to be found. I settled for red potatoes, setting myself up for a more Christmas themed color scheme than Hulk.
With that issue solved, I went back to work, glad that the ingredient issue happened before I got too deep into the process. Moving forward, the recipe came together pretty easily. I’ve breaded and cooked chicken in oils before, so that came simply enough. It felt strange smashing potatoes between plates, but it got the job done while giving me a small taste of “Hulk Smash” life.
The Green sauce was the most unique part of the recipe for me. I purposefully cut out the onion because yuk, but stayed true to the recipe from there. Things smelled great and thankfully everything fit into our food processor which I used to blend the sauce into a nice liquid. This seemed almost smoothie like. My sauce was clearly darker than the picture from the book, but whatever. Green is green.
Everything came together nicely, even if the colors didn’t quite match the example in the book. The red potatoes didn’t stay red and ended up more brownish. Dark green, brown pants Hulk? That must be my knock-off, bootleg version that I’m trying to get past Disney legal. We’ll call him the Quite Edible Chulk (Chicken + Hulk).
I should also note that part way through our meal, my wife Confetti asked why I hadn’t served the wine I bought for dinner? Dang. That’s when I realized I left the white wine out of the sauce. That might explain the color. Whoops. Still tasted good. I guess we’d have to save that for a different kind of getting Hulk smashed later.
Chao’s Thoughts on Taste:
I went in assuming I would like the breaded chicken and potatoes. That was an easy and accurate prediction. The green sauce surprised me though. Heavy on spinach and parsley, the sauce seemed like it might be too “green” for me but it ended up being one of my favorite parts of the meal. In the future I might add a little more jalapeno or red pepper flakes to up the spice level a bit, but I still really liked it. This recipe was absolutely smashing!
Confetti’s Thoughts on Taste:
Bummed that our purple potatoes didn’t work out, but whole meal was delicious! Chaos did a great job cooking. The green sauce wasn’t my favorite, but spinach has never been my thing. Would definitely eat this again!
Yeti’s Thoughts on Taste:
More and more I like to try what my parents are eating. Sometimes, it’s great (salmon) and other times, not so much (asparagus). This Hulk inspired meal really hit the spot. I loved smashing potatoes and the chicken was good too. Dad was afraid I might not be able to handle the sauce, but I demanded more on my chicken when I could get it. Hulk isn’t the best communicator and he sometimes hits things while out of control. I find him relatable.
Chaos & Confetti 