Sweet Potato Poutine

Canadians are known for many things, their sense of humor (or in some cases lack thereof), their mounties, Celine Dion, their crazy wild sexual positions. The list goes on and on. However, one of the best kept secrets from us Americans is the delightful food poutine, french fries smothered in gravy and cheese.

The dish is generally used with regular spuds. Taking creative license I chose to use sweet potatoes because, well do you really need a reason? It's sweet potatoes. For gravy, most people will use a chicken gravy. I used chicken gravy myself, yet only because I couldn't find beef broth. Traditionally, poutine is served with cheese curds. However, should you find yourself fresh out, please feel free to substitute some other soft white cheese of your heart's desire. The recipe for poutine is simple, but clearly, open for interpretation.

Regular PoutinePoutine




My Poutine= Sweet Potato Fries + Chicken Gravy + Mozzarella Cheese!




How to make the gravy
Melt a tablespoon of butter.
Add a tablespoon of flour to make the the rue.
Slowly add stock and whisk over a low heat.
Do this until it is to the texture of your liking.

Moules et Frites!

Ingredients:
1 bag of mussels
1 bottle dry white wine
1 leek (white part chopped)
5 shallots (minced)
2 celery sticks (thickly chopped)
3 pads butter
5 cloves of garlic (minced)
1 handful of fresh parsley (minced)





Directions:
In a deep pot heat the butter.
Add the chopped shallots, garlic, and a touch of salt.
Sauté until translucent.
Add white wine and bring to a simmer.
Add the mussles,celery, and leeks then cover until the mussels are open.
Top with and parsley. Serve with frites~ ☺

A Happy Accident

I cook because I can’t bake. I can’t follow directions, which is funny because I’m a teacher and spend most of my time telling students to follow directions.

Sadly, I’m also a terrible speller so I can’t even spell hypocrite (thank you autocorrect).



Lucky for me cooking is much more lenient to mistakes. Mess up a recipe for a dish and it’s innovation, mess up a baking recipe and its inedible.

My baking ineptitude has resulted in soupy cookies that run all over the tray and burn, spongy like your kitchen sponge cake, and baby quiches instead of popovers (this was probably the only thing close to salvageable). I suck at baking and I pity the people who let me use them as a Guinea pig. I really think I’m a baking villain with magical powers since something catastrophic always happens. Once I managed to set a flame retardant baking sheet on fire, beat that!

In truth, I’m just terrible at following directions. Like an idiot I find I always forget to include the butter. I am not a butter Nazi or cautious about weight. I love butter and believe it makes the world go round. Incidentally, this time my failure to follow directions lead me to a discovery!

I LOVE crepes. I love them sweet. I love them savory. I love to have them sweet and savory. When I woke up I knew I had to have one. I looked up a simple recipe and told myself, “You just saw a show on how to make crepes. This will be easy.” However, looking at my batter I knew something was wrong. It was too thick. I added tablespoon after tablespoon of water until I came up with the perfect consistency. I made my breakfast crepe and put bananas and strawberries inside. Proud of myself I sat down to eat. That’s when I saw it, the butter sitting by its lonesome self next to the microwave. I forgot to add the butter AGAIN. “That explains my problem with consistency” I thought.

Marveling at how I had done it again, I bit into my crepe and to my surprise it was perfect. Thin and soft while crispy on the outside, it was buttery, sweet, and had just the right amount of salt. I realized by adding the butter to the pan and not the batter, the crepe was still able to get the fat it needed yet I was able to control the amount. Needless to say, it is the best mistake I’ve made.

Here is my accidental crepe recipe:

½ cup milk
3/4 cup water
2 eggs
¼ tsp salt
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tbs butter (for the pan)

1) Mix all the wet ingredients in a large bowl.
2) Slowly sift in the flour and mix gently.
3) ADD a small amount of BUTTER to coat the pan.
4) Ladle about a ¼ cup into the pan or enough for a thin layer to cover the surface, swirling away from the center. Guide by swirling the pan in the air if necessary.
5) Flip when the bottom is golden brown. Add your stuffing. Fold in half and then into quarters.

(sugar and vanilla are optional if making sweet crepes)
For my lunch crepe : provolone, prosciutto, and pear. ☺ But as always be creative.