Poutine - BotRG Style!

First off, I could eat Poutine everyday if I had my way.  I would dies quickly and fat, but man would it be freaking tasty.

Poutine in it's base form is noted to be a East Coast Canada dish.  Thin cut french fries, cheese curds, and brown gravy.  That's the basic.  Now you'll find Poutine in many many different styles.  Here's what I did the other night.

I started with hand made french fries, cutting by hand meant they were not so thin cut, and bathed in hot oil in small batches.  I kept the done ones in the over at warming temp.

My sauce was a left over tomato sauce that I added beans to it.  In this case, cheddar cheese was used and I got some chopped onions on it as well.

Everybody loved it!

Guest dinner! Veggie Links and Greens

My good friends came over for a visit.  Being those type of cool friends, while I offered to cook them grub, they brought some extra grub for me to use.  It was like a mystery bag of food!

Havarti cheese, Vegan links (think sausage links, but not trying to pretend to be meat, pack with protein and tasty).  I dug into the produce bin to see what I could use.

I came up with Pan Grilled Vegan Links with quick braised Red Chard and rice.

What I used:

• Left over rice, reheated with a little bit of veggie stock and S&P
• The veggies
• Red Chard - large viens removed and chopped, the greens slicked width wise
• leeks - diced
• carrots - diced
• turnips - diced
• stock
• spices - cumin, lemon juice, vinegar, oregano
• Links

How I put it together:

Into my pan goes the "tough stuff"; leeks, carrots, chard ribs, turnips.  Cook a little oil for about 8 or so minutes until slightly soft.  Now add some more stock, and heat that up to steamy, add the spices and the greens and bring medium heat and cover.  Cook for about 10 ish minutes until the greens are soft.

This is not a proper braising, but its quick!

The links, never seeing these types before, I just pan grilled, then added a little water to steam them up a bit.

I plated them and for the non-vegans I added the cheese to the links and the veggies.

The Aftermath:

I thought it was tasty.  Simply, rustic.  My friends found it better if they mixed the rice and veggies together.  I know my friends read this, it would be fun to see their comments below!

BotRG Toddy!

I made drinks for me friend and I (both our wives are both pregnant)  We have some brandy on hand, for it is that time of the year (my word, I could live off brandy eggnog if given the chance)

1oz Brandy, splash of lemon juice, a couple cloves and a cinnamon stick and grated nutmeg.  Into large snifter glass, add hot water.

It tasted much better half way through the glass, the spices came out more by that point.

Sloppy Turkey Melts

That time of year.  Left over turkey.  Are you slowing down on ideas?  Here's one.  Sloppy Turkey melts combine the idea of turkey salad with a "Melt" style sandwich.  Plus it uses up some of those harder to use veggies in the drawer




What I used:

• Turkey
• Leeks
• Parsley
• S & P
• Mayo
• Cheese - shredded
• Mustard
• Spices - Paprika, cayenne, oregano
• Bread & butter

How I put it together:

• Chop up turkey, leeks, and parsley and cook in a pan with some oil or butter until the leeks are soft.  Transfer to a bowl.
• Add spices, cheese couple spoons of mayo and a good spoon of decent mustard (more if your using American Yellow stuff)
• Mix until gooey and mushy goodness.
• Now you're going to do the rest link a grilled cheese sandwich, bread with butter side down on a pan, spread of the "Melt" mixture, second piece of bread.  Cook until the bread is toasty and golden browned.
• Eat and be happy

The Aftermath:

I loved the zing of the mustard.  We use Trader Joe's brand Dijon Mustard, it is the closest thing to true French mustard we can find for a fair price.  Spicy and tasty.

Crepes stuff with Chard & Potato and Mushroom & cheese sauce

I open the door, look inside, close the door.  Turn and face the cabinets, I don't open them, I know whats inside.  I am waiting for a spark.  I open the fridge again, look around, close the door.  Nothing, no spark.  Then, (ding) it hits me, Dinner Crepe.  I haven't had crepes since France.
This turned out so much better than I had expected.  I like that when that happens!  We had swiss chard, and potatoes, and I have been craving pancakes.  Quick search online gave me the inspiration and away we go.
A mixture of Chard, potatoes, parsnips, and cheese stuffed inside savory crepes and topped with a mushroom cheese sauce.  oh em Gee!

Chard & Potato Stuffed Crepes with Cheesy Mushroom cream sauce.

What I used - Stuffing:

• Potatoes, parsnips - shredded and blanched
• leeks, chard stems, celery, mushrooms - diced
• Swiss Chard - sliced into strips
• Cheddar cheese - shredded
• Chili flakes, oregano, S&P, cumin

How I put it together - Stuffing:
All but Chard leaves and cheese into pan and cooked until almost soft, 10 min ish.  Added a little water for steam and then the chard leaves.  cook again until the leaves wilted.  Then I added the cheese turned the heat to almost off, and covered.

What I used - Cream sauce:

• Cream of Mushroom soup (yep, you knew I would have to use that at some point)
• milk
• S&P
• Cheese

How I put it together - Cream Sauce:
Into a pot, goes the soup, just enough milk to loosen, just to a creamy / gravy like smoothness.  Once mixed, added cheese and heated up until melted and creamy.
What I used - Crepes:

• Flour, white whole wheat flour, corn meal (I am almost out of all three of these.  Had about 3/4 cup of FlourS and filled in with 1/4 cup of corn meal.
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup water
• TBS of olive oil
• salt

How I put it together - Crepes:
Beat all items in a bowl.  Then heated up the good old cast iron pan to medium high, oiled it, and 2 oz pours of batter and spread it around the pan.

flipped over once bottom was done, just enough to color the top lightly.
Stored the done crepes in a very very low oven to keep warm.

The Aftermath
Stuffed with the warm mixture and drizzled with the cheese sauce (not covered).  It was eaten very quickly at the dinner table, a good sign that it was yummy.  You should try something like this.  And then tell me about it.

It is Not Chipped Beef on Toast. More like V. O. S.

Do you remember Chipped Beef on Toast.  Some of us called it Shit on a Shingle (S.O.S). I haven't had it in years, and I think I want it again. But I made the vegetable version today for supper.  It was easy, under 30 min total time. With the toast and the white -cheese sauce it worked pretty well.






What I used: Veggie Mix
The veggie tub arrived yesterday so I have my hands full of fresh stuff.
Potatos
Carrots
Celery
Parsnips
Mushrooms
Red Chili pepper
Olive Oil, S & P, herbs (basil, oregano) Cumin
How I put it together: Veggie Mix
Chopped it all up and put it all in my pan with about 1 cup water and 1 cup veg-stock, covered and let steam until the tators were soft.  About 15 ish minutes.
What I used: White Cheese sauce
1 cup Milk
1 (+.5ish) tablespoon corn starch
very tiny diced onion, not too much either
splash of Soy sauce
a few table spoons of cheese diced small.
S & P
How I put it together: White Cheese sauce
All items into pan over medium high heat and whisked until thick.
How I put it together: V. O. S.
The toast got cut into quarters, placed on the plate in a 'U' shape.  The veggie mix went in the middle, and the sauce was drizzled liberally around the edges.