Recipe to make Poutine: The Meal to Die For

The following is an article was written by my dear writer friend, Carol Roach. I have never heard the name poutine, but I have had fries made this way. I've just called them cheese fries, but I am sure these are so much better. Please take a minute to read this well written article about how to make poutine.


Poutine: The Meal to Die For


Is it really possible, could it be true, is the last standing tradition in Quebec coming to an end? If you are wondering what the heck I am talking about I am talking about that wonderful gooey mess of food called poutine. Poutine is a traditional French Canadian dish originating in Quebec Though there are several stories about just where in Quebec this tasty dish comes from. Poutine has now become a national treat. Poutine pronounced by the rest of Canada as pooh teen, is actually pronounced, "puts in" here in Quebec.

If you ask Mr. Fernand Lachance of Warwick, Quebec, he will say that the dish originated in his restaurant, in 1957, when a customer came in to ask for a bag of deep fries and curd cheese. " Ça va faire une maudite poutine! 'That's going to make a terrible mess!" Lachance responded to his customer,

Mess or not, poutine became an instant success and customers began to ask for it on a regular basis. Lachance claims the popular dish we have today with the French fries cheese curds and brown gravy is again a family variation. He says he started serving the brown gravy because his wife made it and today we have the three-ingredient combination that we Queberers just love.

The story I heard was that poutine is a dish from Lac St. Jean, Quebec. Where ever it is from, I tell you that it is good.

How Do Make A Good Poutine

You start with fresh potatoes, cut your own, I don't use frozen potatoes
Fry them in vegetable oil, now some people say frying them in lard is better I don't know I never tried that.
Pour brown gravy on top of the French fries
Then add curds of cheese, the original recipe calls for Gouda, or white cheddar, but you can use mozzarella, which is what I use.

Heat in the oven until the cheese is melted or nuke it in the microwave if you wish.

It is a simple recipe that is eaten alone as a meal, or can be eaten with hamburgers or hotdogs, or anything really that you would normally have with French fries.

Cautionary note: don't over do it, poutine is very filling.

Link to Carol's content producer page

Recipe for Spicy Chicken nuggets

Do you like chicken nuggets? Would you love to make them yourself and have them just the way you like them? I do just that with my recipe for spicy chicken nuggets. My mom was a diabetic and she couldn't eat a lot of processed foods because of the hidden sugar or other chemicals that would make her terribly sick. I got this recipe from my dad. He always seemed to have her best interest at heart when he cooked.

Dad always bought chicken with the skin on it, because it was cheaper, but I usually buy chicken without the skin. It's just less work for me. I like to cut the chicken when it is about half frozen, because the knife glides through the flesh so much easier.

Here is what you need to make my recipe for spicy chicken nuggets:

White meat chicken pieces
Spice rub (I use McCormick's chicken rub)
1 egg with a dash of milk (whisked)
shake and bake Chicken flavor

Use as much chicken as you want for your meal. Rinse off the chicken to make sure it is clean before you start to cut it. Once the chicken is cut into bite-sized pieces place the pieces of chicken into a Ziploc bag and pour in 3 tablespoons of spicy chicken rub. Work the spice rub into the chicken and place in the refrigerator for an hour.

After the chicken has chilled for an hour in the spicy rub you will want to put a coating on the chicken nuggets. Beat 1 egg with a dash of milk in a large bowl. Now add the chicken nuggets to the egg wash. Then just shake up your chicken pieces in shake and bake and bake them for 18 to 20 minutes in a 400 degree oven.

Enjoy!

Recipe for Amish Friendship Bread from a Starter Mix

In order to make Amish Friendship Bread you have to have someone give you some starter. The starter mix is fade from flour, milk and sugar. In the place of flour I use Bisquick instead, and this works really well. I will write the directions using the word flour but if you prefer to use Bisquick it turns out even better. I got my starter mix from a friend who got hers from a friend and on the generations of friendship bread starter mix goes back. I'm not sure how old the original starter mix is, because I'm not sure how far back the line of friends go. There may be starter mixes several years old.

On July 12 I received a Ziploc storage bag with a portion of starter mix. The mix contained fermented starter mix that my friend Brenda had made and fermented from the starter mix she had received from her friend. Along with the starter mix I received a set of instructions. Now each person that gets the fermented starter mix records the day they received the mix. I received mine on the 12th, so it sits on my counter top in the original ziploc bag in which I received it.

Here's what you do to make the Amish friendship bread starter recipe:

If you don't have anyone to give you a starter mix you will have to make your own. In a ziploc bag put one cup of milk, 1 envelope of dry yeast, 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of flour and it works really well. Close the bag and mash the bag until the liquid and solids are combined.

Now leave it on your counter. Make sure you mash the bag to mix the ingredients, and don't put any metal spoons in there to mix with. It works best to just mash the bag to do the mixing.

Record the date. Count this date as day 1.

Day 2 mash the bag

Day 3 mash the bag

Day 4 mash the bag-periodically you will have to unseal the bag to let air out because the bag will blow up like a balloon as the mixture ferments).

Day 5 mash the bag

Day 6 add 1 cup of milk, 1 cup of flour, and 1 cup of sugar. Now mash the bag until ingredients are mixed.

Day 7 mash the bag

Day 8 mash the bag

Day 10 mash the bag

Day 10 add 1.5 (one and one-half) cups of flour, 1.5 cups of sugar and 1.5 cups of milk. If you want to you can do this step in a non-metal bowl. It might make it easier when you have to divide up the batter.

Now split up the batter into equal 1 cup starter kits in 4 Ziploc 1 gallon bags. Keep one of the starter kits for yourself and give others away to your friends. Encourage them to do the same. Be sure to give them these directions so that they know how to make the Amish Friendship Starter mix.

Once you give away your starters, keep the one cup of starter and start the process over again, but leave out the yeast. You don't need to add any more yeast, because the yeast is still alive and growing as you keep feeding it with sugar and flour and milk. So every 10 days you will be making starter and giving it away. It is this chemical process that makes the bag expand with air.

If you don't want to use a Ziploc bag to make the starter in, you may use a non-metal bowl. If using a bowl to ferment the starter, use a wooden spoon to stir it with each day. Don't use a metal utensil because that will ruin your mixture.

Now here's the recipe directions for the making of the bread from the starter mix:

This is what you need to do:

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

Take 1 cup of starter mix and place in a bowl add 3 eggs, one-half cup of milk, 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, one-half teaspoon of salt, 1 large box of Instant vanilla pudding. Also add 1 cup of raisins, 1 cup of Diamond Walnuts chopped, and 1 cup of chocolate chips.

Now add three-fourths cup of melted butter or margarine, add 1 cup of sugar and one-half teaspoon of vanilla. Add 2 cups of flour. Mix well until all the ingredients are incorporated.

Grease to loaf pans with butter or margarine. In a separate bowl mix up a half cup of sugar with a half teaspoon of cinnamon and sprinkle the inside of the greased bread pans. Now pour or spoon out the bread batter into your loaf pans. You can also use a large bundt pan if you want to instead of the bread pans.

Bake the bread for 60 minutes. Be sure to let the bread cool for at least 10 minutes before removing from the bread or bundt pans. Cooling allows for the bread to shrink away from the sides of the pans.

Now with the remaining 3 bags of starter mix, keep one for yourself and give the other two away. You will make lots of friends this way. As long as you have starter mix keep it out fermenting and every 10 days separate it and start the process again. Hope you don't run out of friends to give this to! If you don't have anyone to give the starter to you can freeze it. You won't kill the yeast. When you are ready to use the frozen starter just let it thaw for 3 hours to room temperature before using it.

Enjoy!

Recipe for Great Snacks Featuring Hillshire Farm Smoked Italian Sausage

Recently I had planned a little get together for after church; all the sisters of the church were coming. As luck would have it I didn't get to the store in time to get what I needed to serve my guests. I usually go to the store way ahead and have the food in the freezer for when I need it, but I go
t distracted and by the time I thought of getting the food I was broke.

If I do say so, I think I can think on my feet. I looked to see what I had to work with and I saw that I had Italian smoked sausage by Hillshire Farm. I had plenty of that so I started looking around for something to go with it. I was able to pull off two great snacks to serve. The first one was something similar to pigs in a blanket, which I call sausage and cheese wraps, and the other one was what I called pigs in sweet sauce.

Here is what need for sausage and cheese wraps:

Grand's refrigerated biscuits
1 pack sausage
1 block Cracker Barrel cheese

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Prepare the biscuit dough so that the pieces are lying flat on a floured surface; flatten them with your hand, so they can be filled. Cut up small pieces of sausage and small pieces of cheese and fold the biscuit over and seal each one so the cheese will stay inside. The biscuit dough should flatten to at least double in their circumference. Place your filled biscuits on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until the biscuits are golden brown. The biscuit dough will bake a little faster than normally because they are thinner, so you will need to keep a watch on them to make sure they don't burn.

Here is what you need for Pigs in sweet sauce:

1 cup current jelly
1 tbsp honey
1 cup ketchup
1 pack sausage cut up into small pieces

In a small skillet add the jelly, honey and ketchup, heat until it begins to boil. Lower heat and add the sausage. Let the sausage heat through for about 10 minutes. Serve hot in a bowl and let people serve themselves with toothpicks. This is especially good served with sharp cheddar cheese on the side.

Recipe for Spicy Chicken Wings

I love chicken wings; I buy them already separated into two pieces and the little wing tip is cut off. This recipe for spicy chicken wings is good for a lunch, dinner, snack or party. Bear in mind that I like my chicken wings hot and spicy. You can adjust this recipe to your own liking, if you don't like as much heat as I do.

Here is what you need to make spicy chicken wings:
3 pounds of split chicken wings

This is for the marinate:

1/2 cup of soy sauce
3 tablespoons of chili sauce
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 tablespoons of honey
1/2 teaspoon of salt
3/4 teaspoon of ginger
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons of Louisiana Hot Sauce

Here is what you do to make spicy chicken wings:

Pour all the liquid and dry ingredients into a Ziploc bag. Close the bag and mix up the ingredients well. Then open the bag and place all the chicken wings in the marinate. Let as much air out of the bag as you can before sealing the Ziploc, and lay the bag flat on a plate or pan in the refrigerator for 4 hours.

After the chicken wings have marinated for the 4 hours, take the chicken wings out of the bag and arrange them in a roasting or baking pan. Pour the marinate on top and bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes until done. When done arrange the chicken wings on a plate and pour the drippings from the marinate over the wings. Serve with blue cheese or ranch dressing. Add extra hot sauce if you desire.

Recipe for Chicken Salad Snack Treats

If you enjoy healthy snacks, then I have one for you. My recipe for chicken salad snack treats is one that my dad made for parties. My mom would ask my dad to make these so she could take them to work to share with her coworkers. I like chicken salad snack treats as a meal instead of having a sandwich. I like to keep chicken salad in the refrigerator so I can have them whenever I want them.

Here is what you need to make chicken salad snack treats:

3 and 1/2 cups of cooked chicken diced up in small bite sized pieces
2 hard boiled eggs
1 small onion
1/2 teaspoon of salt (optional.. leave off if you are concerned about sodium)
1/2 teaspoon of Mrs. Dash
1 cup of celery
1/4 teaspoon of pepper
1/2 cup of mayonnaise
1/4 cup of sour cream
1 teaspoon of chopped parsley


Mix the ingredients all together and serve on Ritz Crackers. I like to use salt and Mrs. Dash, but if you are on a low sodium diet you can substitute the salt with your favorite flavor of Mrs. Dash.

Enjoy!

Recipe for Healthy Homemade Pizza

When I was growing up I didn't know we were poor. We had a home and food on the table. Almost recipe dad made was homemade, rather than packaged. He had a garden all my life as a kid and young adult. Unlike Dad, I don't have a garden; so most of my recipes are almost homemade. The next recipe I am going to share with you is my almost homemade pizza.


First you want to make the crust. It's not hard. Here is what I do:

This recipe will make two large pizzas or 6 small ones. You can always freeze the extra pizza if you aren't going to eat it right away.

2 cups of whole wheat flour
2 and 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1 and 1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 envelopes of instant yeast
1 and 3/4 cups of cold water
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Nonstick olive oil spray (I like PAM spray)

This is an easy recipe to make. In a large mixing bowl add your dry ingredients. Add the oil to the water and pour it over the dry ingredients. You can use a bread mixer if you want to, otherwise just mix it with a fork until the wet and dry ingredients are fully incorporated.

When you are through mixing the dough, sprinkle some flour out on a dry surface. Knead the dough for about 5 to 7 minutes. Then cut the dough in half, or if you want to make personal sized pizzas cut the dough up into 6 even pieces. You can do that by shaping the dough into a log and then cutting it.

Press your pizza dough onto your pizza pan. Spray a light coating of olive oil. If you choose to make 6 individual pizza crusts flour your surface and press out the dough into small disks, and place them on flat baking pans. Lightly spray them with olive oil just like stated above for the full size pizzas.

Now for the sauce:
This part is easy. Use your favorite brand of pizza sauce. I like to use Rago or Prego brand of spaghetti sauce in my pizza recipes. Spoon on the sauce until all the crust is covered except for about a half inch border around the pizza. Top with your favorite veggie and/or meat toppings. I like to top my pizzas with onion, peppers, mushrooms, and pepperoni.

Make your pizza recipe your way.

Enjoy!

Recipe for Blueberry Walnut Cereal Bars

I like to have breakfast in the mornings, but sometimes I just don't have the time to sit down to a cooked meal. On the days that I don't want to take time to eat at the table, I choose to have my homemade cereal bars. I love cereal bars, but being on a shoestring budget, but I don't always have the extra money in my budget to spend on them.

I got the idea for this recipe from my dad. Without dad we might not have eaten as well as we did. Dad could bake or cook anything. He made up recipes in his head, and when he tried them out they turned out wonderful. We never had a lot of money, but we were more fortunate than a lot of people. We always had food on the table, and we always had clothes to wear. My mom's talent wasn't in the kitchen, but she could make some of the prettiest clothes that looked as good as the clothes my friends wore.

I hope you will love my blueberry walnut cereal bars as much as I do. They are easy to make, and they are ready in 15 minutes, if you are in a hurry. They are delicious cold or hot. When they get cold they have a firmer texture; when warm the cereal bars have the texture of a cake or muffin. We have a blueberry farm in the family, so we don't have to buy our blueberries. My family and I pick blueberries during the harvesting season and what I don't use right then I freeze for another time.

Here is what you need to make blueberry cereal bars:

1 cup of all purpose flour (you can substitute with whole wheat if you wish)
1 cup of plain quick cooking oatmeal
1 cup of milk
1/2 cup of sugar (or Splenda if you prefer)
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 egg
1/4 cup of oil (I use olive oil)
1 cup of blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup of chopped walnuts (blended in with mix or on top as pictured)

While you are getting ready to make the blueberry walnut cereal bars, get your oven preheated to 425 degrees. Spray a baking pan (one that you would bake brownies in) with nonstick cooking spray, and set aside. In a medium to large mixing bowl add all your dry ingredients, except walnuts. Add the egg and the oil and the milk. Mix well until the egg and oil is well incorporated into the mix. Now fold in the walnuts, and the blueberries.

Pour the cereal bar mixture into your baking pan. Give the pan a little shake to even out the top. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until done. You know it is done when you insert a knife or fork and it comes out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting into single serving bars.

I like to wrap my cereal bars up individually in plastic wrap and then keep them in a Ziploc bag in the refrigerator. When I want something quick for breakfast or lunch, when I don't have time to eat, this is perfect.

Enjoy!