Menu #21 Alternate - Garlic and Herb Chicken

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RockyRaab
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Menu #21 Alternate - Garlic and Herb Chicken

Post by RockyRaab » Tue Dec 09, 2014 5:57 pm

Our warm spell continues. It was 55°F here in northern Utah today. Way warmer than normal - and way too warm to be indoors. So I grabbed a fishing rod and an MRE (the two of equal importance!) for a few hours on the lake. The fishing was okay. But that's not why you're here. So on with the review...

Menu #21 is the only cold (no FRH) meal currently packed. It is normally lemon pepper tuna, but as an alternate, they can pack Herb and Garlic Chicken. I managed to find one of those at my local base commissary just recently and was eager to try it.

Here's the full package , by Wornick, Curiously, Wornick doesn't seem to date stamp their packages.

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I immediately noticed three unusual items: carrot pound cake, smoked almonds and cheddar cheese crackers

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Here are the three main ingredients, packaged. The chicken had a date stamp of 3055, so it was packed in late February, 2013.

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And here they are ready to eat. I called this the Idaho sandwich because it's all white. (That's a regional joke. There very few people of color in Idaho.)

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As you can see, this is a real chicken breast, not a formed slab of chicken paste like what is found in the Chicken Fajits meal

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And almost done...

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It was a pretty bland sandwich, despite the promise of the garlic and herb seasoning. And then I found where they hid the flavor. In the sauce.

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I tasted the sauce and it was indeed nicely flavored with garlic and herbs with a buttery overtone. It's a shame that the meat didn't absorb more of it.

The smoked almonds were great but I didn't get a picture of those before they were gone. I saved the Cheezits and pound cake for later.

As mentioned, this is a cold lunch meal, so no FRH. They did include a spoon, even though it is a finger food menu. The accessory pack contained one of the slim packs of raspberry drink, salt and pepper, hand wipe, gum and toilet paper. No matches or coffee makings.

I'd eat this again if I found one, but I wish they'd include a packet of mustard, as they do with the Jalapeno Beef Patty meal . For color in the sandwich as well as flavor.
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rattattoo
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Re: Menu #21 Alternate - Garlic and Herb Chicken

Post by rattattoo » Tue Dec 09, 2014 6:06 pm

That there lack of flavor is why I never leave home without the little bag of seasonings and condiment pouches.
You can fit a lot of bounce in less than an ounce... I hate settling for less

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RockyRaab
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Re: Menu #21 Alternate - Garlic and Herb Chicken

Post by RockyRaab » Tue Dec 09, 2014 6:31 pm

Me, too. My usual food sack has paper bowls, metal utensils, extra napkins - and a bag of condiment packs from fast food joints. But today, I just grabbed the MRE.
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elandil
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Re: Menu #21 Alternate - Garlic and Herb Chicken

Post by elandil » Tue Dec 09, 2014 7:48 pm

Lucky dog. My Sopacko version only had dried peanuts and vanilla pound cake in it. No smoked almonds or carrot cake. :lol:

Funny thing is I opened my Jalapeno beef patty the other day, and instead of the Ketchup and Mustard, it only had a pack of BBQ sauce with it. The same one found with the pork patty meal. It was actually kinda disappointing.

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RockyRaab
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Re: Menu #21 Alternate - Garlic and Herb Chicken

Post by RockyRaab » Thu Dec 11, 2014 3:03 pm

My wife and I shared the carrot cake with our afternoon tea in lieu of crumpets and lemon curd (which are utterly delightful, I may add). The carrot cake was like most MRE pound cakes: a little bit dry, a nice but subdued flavor, quite dense, and a hint of preservatives. We could definitely tell it was carrot cake, both by sight and taste. Not a match for a baked cake, but better than most packaged cakes you'd find at a convenience store. My favorite is still the lemon poppyseed, by a long shot, but I liked this one.
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housil
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Re: Menu #21 Alternate - Garlic and Herb Chicken

Post by housil » Thu Dec 11, 2014 3:52 pm

RockyRaab wrote: My favorite is still the lemon poppyseed
I agree

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elandil
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Re: Menu #21 Alternate - Garlic and Herb Chicken

Post by elandil » Thu Dec 11, 2014 6:47 pm

housil wrote:
RockyRaab wrote: My favorite is still the lemon poppyseed
I agree
Idk, I used to love taking the vanilla or the marble and spreading the Chocolate Peanut Butter that came in the Beef Roast meal on it. Almost like having a chocolate iced cake... :D

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