For New Year’s Eve, we did something really special, we purchased a high-end restaurant dinner kit from Chotto Matte, Toronto. The difference between a dinner kit and takeout is that you cook the kit at home instead of bringing home pre-cooked food; the kit provides all of the ingredients and instruction! We loved this idea for two reasons, we love Chotto Matte (had dinner there two years ago in London, England) and two, what a great way to spread out dinner on New Year’s Eve! We usually have friends over but of course, this year we were not able to because of Covid so we made our own exciting evening. I set up a photo area and mounted my phone on a tripod; I had pre-selected the plates each dish would be served in.
We began the evening with some tasty Sautéd Shisito Peppers. Now if you’ve never had Shisito peppers you’re in for a treat, just a little word of warning that although 90% of the peppers are sweet, there is the odd one that is super hot.
Each course was cooked and served in about 30-40 minute intervals to help spread the evening out. The choclo corn was an interesting dish; it is almost five time larger than North American corn but is creamy on the inside. Choclo corn is also referred to as Peruvian Corn or Giant Corn, they are super large kernels with a similar texture to that of Lupini beans with the exception that you can eat the skin. We cooked the kernels for 3 minutes in a small amount of water and then added the rocoto butter and cilantro provided. To say this was a spicy hot dish is an understatement. But it was tasty. Next time I don’t think I’ll put all of the rocoto butter in so it’s not nearly as spicy hot.
The first main we had was the Pollo Picante. The chicken was perfectly done, with a beautiful texture served on green causa which seems to be some type of potato. It had a strange texture and I wasn’t keen on the flavour (very starchy) but the chicken was lovely.
We had the black cod next, which was my favourite dish. Unfortunately the presentation wasn’t the greatest because the instructions had us remove the bones (there were no bones) after cooking and the fish just fell apart. It was lovely.
The final course was the Asado de Tira, a slow-cooked barbeque beef which was reheated in its plastic pouch in simmering water. The beef was very tender and presented more like a pulled beef (unfortunately, I completely forgot to photograph it). The purple potato was very interesting in that it presented as dark purple, unfortunately, it didn’t contrast much to the beef so you can’t see it even in the professional photos.
I loved everything about this meal kit, it was beautifully boxed and labelled and I loved all the little sauces in the super cute containers. The meal was a complete success. I wish more restaurants would prepare these kits for takeaway as I find high-end food doesn’t travel well as takeout, plus I really like the cooking part.
Disclaimer: We purchased this meal kit for full-price and my opinion is just that, my opinion.
What a great kit Eva and I love the idea of supporting restaurants during such a tough time. Your video showcasing the goodies was fun to watch (great hand modeling too;-) – makes for a special evening prepping and enjoying the various courses together; such a nice idea. Another TO restaurant doing great looking dinner kits is Mary Be Kitchen (think they would consider themselves more casual than high-end but delicious whole foods made from scratch, you might enjoy checking them out – owner Sarah is a blogging buddy:) x
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ps: more like dinner boxes not so much prep from scratch (great for gifting too)
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This sounds fantastic. The kit must have been local, Not shipped from London. When you say high-end, You are surely not kidding! It looks amazing!
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What fun! And such a terrific idea — looks delish. One of our favorite restaurants is doing home delivery of a preset menu — different menu each month. The food is already cooked, but you reheat (they provide detailed instructions). And it works! Not as good as if they prepared it to order, but far better than regular delivery. Three courses, plus a bottle of wine. Anyway, your dinner looks excellent. Love that corn!
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That a nice set! This is a good way to enjoy restaurant meals at home. Great idea
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Your menu sounds wonderful! Having this prepped meal really made for a celebration. Everything sounds very spicy, but you seem to have loved it.
be safe… mae at maefod.blogspot.com
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The food looks awesome Eva! So interesting to see how restaurants have pivoted. Some like this have done so well with their offerings.
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What a great way to get inside your favorite restaurants’ chef’s head! GREG
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It really is all so different and delicious looking! Peruvian corn really does have huge kernels. We saw lots of women just steaming it on the sides of roads, to well. Rocoto peppers are seriously hot! I don’t know how they compare on the capsaicin scale, but they must be as hot as habaneros. I have a bottle of pure rocoto chile pepper sauce. Wow! Overall what a nice meal!
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What a phenomenal meal!! And with seafood, it’s been hit or miss with carryout. Cooking at home would be ideal.
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It looks like a really fresh and delicious meal!
Angie
http://angiesrecipes.blogspot.com
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