Flygande Jacob/Flying Jacob

In doing a bit of research into this recipe, I learned that Sweden wasn't always the formal, proper place that it is now.

For example nowadays it's almost unthinkable that guests bring something to a dinner party. if you are hosting guests, you are taking care of their every need, including catering for vegans it seems, which is something I'm wildly adverse to. The australian idea of asking people to bring their own drinks to a party is unthinkable in modern day Sweden, and your potluck dinners are a far away dream. But it turns out not so far away, because in the 70s in Sweden, neighbourhood potluck dinners were something of a fashion, probably because sweden used to be more friendly than it is now.

Now entre stage right one Ove Jacobsson, who reputedly looked in his fridge one evening after being tasked to cook the main course for a potluck, and saw the ingredients for this dish. It was a hit, and all his friends wanted the recipe and it was published later that year.


Very sadly, in my opinion, this dish has fallen somewhat out of fashion due to sweden being a lot more health conscious and general distaste of all things 70s.
However children still love this dish ,and I fully believe that's because they are smarter than most health conscious Swedish adults.


And that concludes today's Swedish history lesson.

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts cut into small pieces
200-300 g bacon, diced (I buy the ready cut ones because sloth)
Italian herb mix or seasoning
300 ml heavy/whipped cream
1 tablespoon curry powder
2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce or a hot and spicy ketchup, depending on your taste
half a cup of crushed roasted peanuts
1 cube chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste
2 sliced bananas


method

1. first prepare your chicken by seasoning it with italian herbs and letting it sit for a while in the fridge.
2. preheat oven to 175 degrees.
3. fry your bacon in a hot pan till all pieces are nicely crispy. place aside for later.
4. in the same pan, gently brown your chicken, but don't cook it all the way through.
5. place your chicken in a baking dish with your cream, bananas, curry powder, sauce, stock and possibly some salt and pepper. make sure your dish is high enough to accommodate bubbling cream. that's honestly a mistake I never want to repeat. put it in the oven for 20 minutes.
6. remove dish from oven to add your bacon and peanuts. put dish back in oven for 3-5 minutes.


Traditionally its served with rice or salad in Sweden.

Enjoy!