Ugly Fries

Poutine is a truly Canadian dish, uniquely French-Canadian cuisine.  There are three key ingredients to good poutine.  They are white cheese curds, real gravy not packaged* or from a tin and fresh-cut fries.  When I first wrote about poutine I mentioned that some call this wonderful side dish ugly fries.  In reality ugly fries while they resemble poutine are quite a bit different.

The only thing poutine and ugly fries have in common is the basic concept of topping French fried potatoes with cheese and gravy.  In a flavour comparison poutine wins hands down.  The reason is three fold.  Fresh-cut fries form the base and if you've ever had fry truck fries you will know how much better they taste than the anemic, thin fast food fries.  The potatoes must be fried in pure lard for an authentic taste.  French-Canadian gravy is very dark and thick with the consistency of molasses.  True poutine uses fresh white, cheddar cheese curds.


In comparison, ugly fries (pictured) are closer to American Gravy Cheese Fries.  The fries are cooked from frozen.  The gravy quite often comes from a tin can or a powdered mix.  The cheese is usually shredded mozzarella rather than cheddar but in this case the cheese was a mixture of shredded mozzarella and cheddar.  While the taste is not authentic poutine, ugly fries are quite popular.

*Some in Quebec use a packaged vegan gravy by Warwick.  It is one of the best poutine gravy mixes available.

Rick Mercer - Cooking with Sheila

I learned a long time ago that developing a good sense of humour is imperative when it comes to cooking. Laughing at your mistakes while learning from them is a must! As a homestyle cook the humour helps to remind me not to take things so serious when cooking. Cooking should always be fun. With that said it is difficult to write humorous posts on a cooking blog so you really don't get to see this side of me. I seriously have a wicked sense of humour! Some of the stories I could tell that have honestly happen to me while cooking would have you busting your sides laughing but that is for another day.

Today I want to share a bit of Canadian culinary humour by Canada's favourite funny man, Rick Mercer. What makes this video even funnier is it was shot at the Stratford Chefs School in Strafford, Ontario. This prestigious culinary institute is also featured on Food Network Canada's Chef School. The school produces some of the top notch Canadian chefs specializing in Canadian cuisine. I hope you enjoy the chuckle.

Caesar (cocktail)

As a Canadian I like sharing aspects about Canada that are unique, especially Canadian cuisine. The Caesar cocktail is a good example of a uniquely Canadian drink. Born in Canada it has remained widely popular in Canada to earn the well deserved title of Canada's National Cocktail.

Caesar (cocktail)

The Caesar cocktail was created by Walter Chell at the Owl's Nest Bar in the Calgary Inn (now Calgary Westin Hotel) in Calgary, Alberta in 1969. It was to celebrate the opening of the new Marco's restaurant. The original cocktail contained tomato juice and mashed clams. The same year with the help of Chell the Mott's company began producing Clamato which is now used to make the cocktail. In the 2000's Mott's began printing the recipe on the Clamato labels including those sold in the USA however the cocktail never caught on so remains mainly a Canadian cocktail. Like so many popular Canadian foods (poutine, peameal bacon, Diana® sauce, white vinegar on fries, ketchup chips and etc) there may be very limited availability in US towns directly on the USA- Canada border but for the most part unless an ex-patriot living outside of Canada makes them they remain as only part of Canadian cuisine.

Pictured is a Caesar I enjoyed at one of out favourite boating haunts. I ordered it extra spicy meaning extra Tobasco® and pepper were added. This drink can also be ordered as a virgin cocktail meaning the vodka is omitted. Either way, the Caesar is an excellent cocktail!

Caesar (cocktail)

6 oz. Clamato juice
1½ oz. Vodka
2 dashes Tobasco® hot pepper sauce
2 dashes Worcestershire sauce
celery salt
freshly ground pepper
lime/lemon wedge
1 crisp celery stalk
3 large stuffed olives (optional)
1 quarter dill pickle spear (optional)

Rim a highball glass with the lime wedge. Turn the glass upside down into a saucer with celery salt to coat well. Fill the glass to about the ¾ mark with ice cubes. Pour in the vodka then Clamato juice. Add the hot pepper sauce, Worcestershire sauce and freshly ground pepper. Place the celery stalk or dill pickle spear and straw in the glass. Thread 3 large stuffed olives onto a bar pick and place across the rim of the glass. Serve.

Truly Canadian! - Butter Tarts

A lot of readers have likely been wondering when I would write about another truly Canadian treat - butter tarts. For those who do not know what butter tarts are they are a gooey, sweet filling inside a rustic flaky pastry crust. They are available commercially but trust me on this they are considerably better homemade.

Tart Shells

The basis of butter tarts is the crust. I was always told that cold hands make the best pastry as well as meaning a warm heart. Pastry crust must be flaky! My favourite pastry crust recipe works nicely for this recipe. The important thing to remember with any pastry dough is to not overwork it as that will make. You want to get the dough just to the point that it hold together. Roll the dough on a chilled surface if possible or use a chilled marble rolling pin. Cut the dough into 4 - inch circles (left). Hold the circle using both hands. With the thumb and forefinger pinch lightly together forming a cup then lightly push into the muffin tin. Lightly push the sides to fit the opening. Do not trim the crust! The crust should look wrinkled, uneven and rough.

Butter Tarts

Once you have your tart shells prepared you need to prepare the filling. If you have not tried butter tarts you are in for a real Canadian treat! Just look at how gorgeous these tarts are!

Butter Tarts
adapted from Kate Aitken's Canadian Cook Book, 1965. Pp. 230

pastry for 12 lg tart tins
1 c corn syrup
⅔ c brown sugar
2 eggs slightly beaten
¼ c butter
¼ tsp sea salt
⅔ c raisins
½ tsp vanilla

Prepare pastry and line tins. Pre-heat oven to 232ºC (450ºF). Mix corn syrup with brown sugar in saucepan. Cook over medium low for 5 minutes. Cool slightly. Pour over slightly beaten eggs, beating continuously. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Fill unbaked tart shells ⅔ full. Bake at 232ºC (450ºF) for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 180ºC (350ºF) and bake 15 - 20 minutes or until filling is set.
Yield: 12 tarts

Truly Canadian eh! - Poutine

Living in North America it is often hard to identify a truly Canadian dish. There are more than you would think and with this posting will make at least three uniquely Canadian dishes posted on this blog. I plan to post more of a Canadian influence for 2008 so you will be seeing more Canadian dishes in the future. Poutine is one of our favourites even though we do not indulge in it often. Poutine is a true comfort dish well worth making and one that will become one of your favourites as well.

Poutine

In some areas poutine is called "ugly fries". I'm not sure why as the fries are quite good and certainly are not ugly! There are three rules for making poutine: fresh hand-cut fries (sorry nothing else will do), real beef or chicken gravy (not canned, not powdered, the real McCoy!), and cheese (fresh white cheddar, ideally curds). Trust me on this, get the curds if at all possible (easily available in Canada, less so in the US). They have a slightly saltier flavour and chewier texture than grated cheddar that just really makes this dish. Ok so I had two out of the three but not the cheese curds. There are two simple rules for eating poutine: forget calories and enjoy!

Poutine is a simple dish to make. Simply deep fry the fries, top with cheese curds or in this case shredded cheese the pour over the hot gravy. I used left-over gravy from the eye of round roast. Please don't use anything but real gravy. At best you will get a sluff-off of poutine even though some sites tell you to use powdered gravy. Nope, use the real gravy for best results!

Tilapia & Butter Tart Squares

Well, the best laid plans tend to go astray and so it was this past weekend. We travelled with the intentions of staying at the home of one of our kids Saturday night and then visiting another on Sunday. Mother Nature kicked in and cut our plans short so I didn't get the cooking done at their houses that I had planned. I managed to make raisin bread before grandbaby tuckered me out. What a total sweetheart grandbaby is! The storm hit overnight and by morning with the threat worsening weather we made the decision to head home early. It was a good thing as it took us an hour and half longer to get home due to road conditions.

Tilapia

We eat a fair amount of local fish but also enjoy fish from other sources. Tilapia is a very mild tasting fish to the point that there is almost no taste. Many chefs find this mildness a flaw but for those who want the benefits of eating fish without a strong fish flavour, tilapia is ideal. I find myself siding with the chefs so tilapia is not often served.

The mild flavour of tilapia lends itself well to a variety of seasonings but I wanted to highlight the mildness. I pan fried the tilapia fillets in grapeseed oil and seasoned lightly with lemon pepper. The sides were a long grain/wild rice blend cooked in chicken stock and home canned green beans. The meal was light but filling.


Butter Tart Squares

Anyone who knows me or who reads this blog will know that desserts are not my strong suit. We don't include desserts as a normal part of our dinners. From time to time, I splurge and make a dessert. Tonight's dessert was butter tart squares. Butter tarts are a Canadian treat, a staple of Canadian pioneer cooking. They are of Canadian origin. The ingredients are simple staples found in every pantry. So when I came across this recipe for butter tart squares I had to try it to see how close it came to actual butter tarts.

This picture really doesn't do justice to the squares. The squares are made in two steps and I used the KitchenAid^® stand mixer for both. The topping forms a thin crust. Now this dessert is oh so sweet! Anyone with a sweet tooth will be in seventh heaven eating this.

Butter Tart Squares

1 c all-purpose flour
2 tbsp sifted icing sugar
1/3 c butter

2 eggs
1 1/2 c lightly packed brown sugar
1/4 c melted butter
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tsp vanilla
1 c dark raisins
1/2 c chopped nuts

Combine first 3 ingredients until crumbly. Press into a greased 9 inch square pan. Bake at 350 F for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven.

Mix the remaining ingredients well. Place on top of crust and bake for 25 minutes or until set and browned. Place on wire rack to cool. Cut into squares.

Pork Tourtière (French Canadian Pork Pie)

Pork Tourtière is also known as French Canadian pork pie. My early French Canadian ancestors would have brought a very similar recipe with them in the very early 1600's. This pie was originally made with game something that would have served my ancestors well until their farms were established. Because pigs were important for the survival of farms in Québec, pork was later substituted for game.

Traditionally Pork Tourtière is served as part of the Christmas celebrations, often served upon returning from Midnight Mass. My eighth great grandparents would have not only served this meal Christmas Eve but likelyate it often through the winter months. My second great grandparents (cira. 1808-1872) would have served this dish with turnip and perhaps an apple desert of some type, more than likely applesauce. The pie crust would have been made with lard so for an authentic taste, use lard instead of shortening and the pork would have been ground at home. The pie would have been bake either in a fireplace later a woodstove. It is a simple, unpretentious dish that is true comfort food.


Pork Tourtière
source: Canadian Pork Council, Pork Perfect Pork. 1983. Saskatoon, Canada. Pp. 129.

2 lb ground pork
3 small onions, minced
1/2 c boiling water
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp salt
2 tsp sage
1/2 tsp celery salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp ground cloves
3 medium potatoes, cooked and mashed
pastry for a deep double-crust pie

In large saucepan, cook pork, onion, water, garlic, and seasonings over low heat, stirring constantly until meat loses its red color and aout half the liquid has evaporated. Cover and cook 45 min longer. Mix mashed potatoes into cooked meat mixture. Cool. Prepare pastry; roll out half and line pie plate. Fill with cooled meat mixture. Roll out remaining dough and cover pie. Seal and flute edges and slash top crust. Bake in 230ºC (450ºF) oven 10 min. Reduce heat to 180ºC(350ºF) and bake 30 to 40 minutes longer.
Makes 6 to 8 servings.

My notes: I steam the potatoes then mash for a nicer texture. This pie freezes well either whole or in one-serving sizes. Freeze on a cookie sheet then vacuum seal when frozen.