Food Photo of the Day ~ Poutine

Poutine, a French Canadian dish dating back to the 1950's. You can make your own chips (French fries) or use store bought; this is a great build your own dinner to warm up to. French fries sprinkled with local cheese curds, green onions, sautéd mushrooms, Canadian bacon all smothered with gravy is absolutely irresistible. This does not replace traditional poutine, of course, or even poutine served at a Poutinerie however this came pretty close and satisfied our poutine craving! 

Stay warm! - JD   

Food Photo of the Day ~ Oven Roasted Crinkle Potatoes

Rather than just do the same quartered oven roasted potatoes, I decided to put a hardly used kitchen gadget to the test; and create these delicious seasoned crinkle cut potatoes. Similar to chips... french fries these have a rugged look about them with lovely seasoned flavour without all the fat and grease of deep frying. I tossed the potato slices in olive oil and added whatever seasonings I had on hand and baked them in a preheated 400ºF oven on a baking tray lined with parchment paper for about 30 minutes or until golden brown and slightly crisp.

Here is the said kitchen gadget I used to slice the potatoes with. This hand held gadget fits nicely in ones palm although it is almost the size of my hand. I can not remember where or when this kitchen gadget was purchased; I do think it was some time ago and didn't cost that much. I guess it is never to late to give it a go and with a bit of muscle one can create crinkle cut potatoes in a matter of minutes. Once you get a rhythm going one wants to crinkle cut everything. Despite not being used that often it was a purchase many years ago that proved positive and will be considered more often now, not just for potatoes but other vegetables too. 

Hope everyone had a nice long weekend. Despite the rain we did! - JD 

Leftovers #14 ~ Turkey Poutine

With all the hot turkey opens, turkey sandwiches, and turkey curry soup I made turkey poutine. Fairly simple and a great way to use up the last staggering bits of turkey.

I took ready made chips, french fries, and cooked them according to the package. I baked them for a few extra minutes so that the chips became crispy. When cooked I removed the chips from the baking sheet by placing them on a plate. I then covered the baking sheet with parchment paper, being careful because it is hot. The chips were placed back onto the baking sheet and were dressed with the leftover turkey, then gravy, and finally cheese. The chips were placed back into the oven until the cheese was nicely melted. Remove the turkey poutine from the oven and serve immediately.  

You can always make your own chips however if you want to save time use ready made, low sodium, low fat chips like I did. Do not have cheese curds then use whatever cheese you may have on hand. This is one dish where you can be as creative as you like. Adding different toppings and dressing the chips how you like.   
  

Hope everyone had a good weekend, we did! - JW  

Maple Bacon Potato Chips

Nowadays, if it does not have maple or bacon never mind maple and bacon then it just isn't right. Put maple in or on anything and most, if not all Canadians will be happy. I pour maple syrup over just about anything edible. The smokier the better. I thought ketchup potato chips were the bomb... well next to curry potato chips of course. However these had me at MAPLE!  

Have a good weekend everyone! - JW