Homemade Chicken Nuggets and Freedom Fries

Have you ever really wanted some nuggets and fries but thought that taking an extra hour and a half was the way to go? Then this is your recipe! Seriously, though, I love feeding the boys this type of thing, but the pre-made stuff is all chemicals and preservatives and deep fried and exactly what the kiddos love. So I make my peace with it by doing it myself; then I at least have an idea of what's actually in it and they will eat anything that looks close enough to store or restaurant bought fries. This recipe makes a couple of meals' worth, depending on how many / how big mouths you have to feed.

You will need:

2 lbs red-skinned potatoes, scrubbed
2 Tbsp Olive oil (I've said this before, but not EVER EVOO for cooking, right? Save it for salads)
Kosher salt
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
5 egg whites or egg-related substance (about 3/4 c)
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 c whole wheat / whole grain flour
Kosher salt, pepper
1 1/2 c panko bread crumbs
Dried thyme leaves, ground sage, fresh rosemary
Spray oil

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Prep! I have an awesome freedom fry (sorry, I read online that there was actually a bill put in after 9/11 to change French fries to Freedom fries and it was too awesome to not repeat) cutter, made by Starfrit, but if you don't, chop your potatoes into 1/2 centimetre matchsticks. Approximately. Ish. Cut your chicken into bite-sized chunks, depending on the size of your chompers.

Set up your breading station, starting with the egg wash. Mix your egg whites and mustard in a pie plate or equivalent. Instead of using shallow dishes, given the size and amount of the chicken pieces, we are going to use sealable plastic bags for the rest. Put the flour and some salt and pepper in one bag, the breadcrumbs, sage, thyme and rosemary in another. Get two sets of tongs!

For whatever reason, whenever I strip herbs, I always think of the line in Brokeback Mountain about "you boys playing stem the lily". I don't even know what that means.

I like to get the fries going first; put all your 1/2 centimetre matchstick potatoes into a large-ish bowl, drizzle on the (NOT EVER EVOO) olive oil and kosher salt. You can really use any coarse salt, I really like sea salt also, but my kids don't know from fancy.

Swirl around with  spatula, then spread out in a single layer on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper.

Bake for 30 minutes, flipping halfway. On to chicken!

Take your cutup chicken, dump by batches into the flour bag, bounce around until completely covered.

Take the floured chicken out of the bag and dip it into the egg wash. Flip once to make sure completely wet. I suggest tongs, but it's your fingers.

Dump the eggy chicken into the breadcrumb baggie, bounce around until coated.

Lay out in a single layer on a baking sheet (I strongly suggest parchment paper), spray with oil and bake for 25 minutes, flipping halfway through. More tongs!

When you are done, the should look something like zo:

I didn't work out the calories because I kind of messed around with serving sizes, but I would guess this is way lower than whatever you can buy at a store or restaurant. Approximately. Being a Canuckleadian, I also usually add a homemade gravy for the Freedom Fries, but that is totally up to you.

Enjoy!

Roasted Garlic Potato Chow-dair

I had a bunch of roasted garlic left over from the mayo the other day, so I figured I would put it to good use in a yummy soup, mostly because it has been ALMOST -40 the last couple of days. Gross! Anyway, I used red-skinned potatoes, because that's what I had, but really, you should use russet. That's what all the cool kids say. I also threw in cauliflower because I get all excited when I see something in which I can potentially hide vegetables.

You will need:

2 slices bacon (I like reduced-sodium because I like to suck the fun out of everything)
1 large onion, finely chopped
1/2 large carrot, finely diced
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
2 heads roasted garlic
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 tsp thyme
Salt, pepper
1/4 c white wine
4 c chicken stock
1 lb red-skinned potatoes, diced
2 c cauliflower, chopped
2 c milk

Lots of prep! Dice your potatoes, carrot and celery, chop everything else finely. Cut the bacon into small chunks. Don't make your potatoes too small, say about half a centimetre across. Gotcha! Slipped in the metric system when you weren't looking. Don't worry about your cauliflower being any particular size, you just want it relatively easy to break down. Now, start! If you haven't any roasted garlic already (whaaat? doesn't everyone have 9 roasted bulbs just kicking around??), see here for instructions

Brown the bacon in a large Dutch oven, remove the bits and set aside.

Add in the onions, celery and carrot, cook until softened, 3-5 minutes.

Add in a head and a half's worth of roasted garlic, about 10 cloves. Cook for one more minute. Add in the 2 Tbsp flour and 1 tsp of thyme, stirring to combine. Add in salt and pepper. Cook for 3 minutes, until it starts to stick to the bottom.

Deglaze with the wine, stirring to scrape up all the browned bits on the bottom. Cook until the wine is all gone, then add in the chicken stock, potatoes, cauliflower. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes, until the potatoes and cauliflower have softened.

Taste! Re-season as necessary. I like to break up the potatoes a bit, using a potato masher, but you could also use a hand-held blender. I prefer the masher because I like to leave chunks, but it you are into smooth soup, use one by all means.

Turn the heat up a smidge and add in the milk. Using a garlic press, crush the rest of the roasted garlic cloves into the soup - about 4 or 5. Stir and cook for another 5 minutes or so, uncovered, until it has thickened somewhat. Taste again! More pepper, probably. More thyme for sure. Make it so!

I garnished each bowl with the cooked bacon from the beginning and portioned this into 6 1 1/2 c servings at 209 calories per. Add on a slice of whole wheat, whole grain bread and some butter, good to go for supper or lunch on a really FREAKING cold day.

Enjoy!

Monday: Tortiere

This falls under the Fambly Week umbrella; my high school best friend's mom (holla Julie!!) made the best tortiere I've ever had, and it was always awesome when I could sneak some. Unfortunately she passed before my BFF was into cooking, so her recipe was never passed on. I've tried a few commercially available ones, they just did not do it for me, so I figured I would give it a shot on my own.

This is traditionally a pork meat pie, but I wanted to try a couple of variations, see what gave the best flavour. I tried all pork, half pork / half beef and half pork / half turkey. The turkey blend just did not have enough meaty flavour, so it was between the beef and all pork. I went with the beef mixture, but I really think either would work.

You will need:

For the crust:

2 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c butter, cold and UNSALTED
1/4 c lard, cold
6-8 Tbsp cold water
1 egg white

1 lb extra-lean pork
1 lb exra-lean beef (or just use all pork - it's your pie, sailor!)
10 oz potatoes, 2 medium
2 celery stalks
2 small onions
3 garlic cloves
1/4 c red wine
1/2 c beef stock
1/2 tsp each nutmeg, ground cloves, thyme
1 bay leaf
Salt, pepper

I just ate the carrot, decided not to use it. It was nummy, though!

Turkey / pork at 12, Beef / Pork at bottom right, all pork plus pork at bottom left

First, get your crust ready. It needs time to rest and break down gluten and blah blah. So, measure your flour and salt into a wide bowl, add in the cold butter and lard. Work it in with a pastry blender or two knives, until it looks like itty bitty pea / crumbs.

Make a well in the center and start adding in your cold water by the tablespoon. Swirl it with your fingers, adding enough so that it feels cohesive without being gooey. We do not ever want gooey.

Once it will hold together in a ball, break it into two balls, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Gluten blah blah destroying something or rather, make it so!

On to prep! LOTS of prep! Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Peel your potatoes, (sacrilege, I know, but I wouldn't want people wandering across a potato peel and having it throw them off completely), chop them up and bring to a boil in a pot of water. Cook for 10-15 minutes until poke-able, drain, mush and set aside. While they are boiling, chop your celery and onions into a fine dice, mince your garlic. That's not actually a lot of prep, maybe it just felt like it because I did three types. Anyway!

Cook your meat in a LARGE saucepan, breaking apart as you go. I really like it to be as fine as possible, but you may like chunky-style. It's your pie, sailor! Do as you will. Break it down somewhat, cooking until all of the pink is gone, about 8-10 minutes. Drain off the fat.

Add everything else in. Seriously, dump it all in there, including the potato. It's gonna take a little while, mix it carefully in that pan that totally looked big enough, didn't it? Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 25 minutes. Take the lid off and let simmer for another 5-10, until the liquid is almost all gone. Taste! Add more pepper, probably more thyme, salt, whatever. Taste again!

 

Roll out half of your dough, I suggest this awesome pie roller measuring mat, because it's pretty much idiot proof. Drape your rolled out dough over the pie plate, brush with egg white. Roll out the other half of your dough, leave it on the mat while you fill your pie.

Add in the meat filling, top with the rolled out crust.

Mush together the outside ring, make it as pretty as humanly possible. Or you-ly possible. Slice a few vents in it, brush with egg white and bake for 40-50 minutes, until golden brown and flaky-looking.

It's a happy pie!

Also a ginormous pie

Happy and now with a tan!

This worked out to 450 calories per slice, and there are 8 servings in one huge pie. That is super high, but we could still in a nice refreshing salad with this and have a little bit of dressing. Like dot it on.

Enjoy!