Chili Beef Loaded Poutine

I have to start by saying that I love a good proper poutine ,  nice gravy , well cooked chips ( fries ) , and squeaky cheddar cheese curds, best served in a paper bowl , and enjoyed with a plastic fork.  I honestly believe they taste better when someone else makes it for you!  Hahahaha  every once in a while I try at home... so far 3 not so amazing creations.    Then I tried again after a two year break ...  and Wow!  I finally nailed it ! Hahahaha so very far from traditional , but.. it was GOOD!!   Here is how I made it :)) It was mostly all leftovers from a couple of different meals too :))
Enjoy!  

The Leftovers :)   Pan gravy, caramelized onions and mushrooms, and a mildly spicy chili spiced ground beef . Here is a link to make my basic gravy :)
http://richfletchersgoodfoodrevolution.blogspot.com/2010/12/who-doesnt-love-gravy.html

First up , make the chips ...  I MUCH prefer them well done
Here is how to make my chips :)
http://richfletchersgoodfoodrevolution.blogspot.com/2010/12/easy-hand-cut-chips.html

The leftovers...  almost forgot about the roasted red peppers :))   I spread everything out, poured the gravy into pyrex  .. and into the toaster oven it all went , at 325 - 350 for about 20 minutes ( same time as the chips took basically )

Less Words, More Food 6

:)) After this post , I will finally be caught up ! Well, at least on the same month anyways.   Here are some of my dishes from January..  Keeping with the title , Less Words, More Food!!  Here you are :) Enjoy.

Always a fav, Bacon, Egg and Chips - Was also a blog post for the 10 with 5 challenge. 

:) And another recent blog post ,  Pulled pork n beans jacket potato!  

Just got to love frittatas :)   This one is Hamburger, Mushroom , Green Peppers and cheese 

Homemade Tostadas :) With spicy beef , peppers and cheese !  

A slightly more colourful frittata :)) MMmmm  

Cottage Pie :)) Yummy comfort food ! 

Smoked pork shoulder , in beef stock with carrots , onions, garlic and chili powder.  Soon to become pulled pork.  

Some of the bacon hummus , with a  nice granny smith apple

An interesting attempt to spruce up beans on toast ,   with some cheese, onions, garlic and red pepper on homemade garlic loaf. Was good, but i think this is one of those , less is more kinda foods.

So there you have it . :)  I hope you have enjoyed this post :)
Happy Cooking !!  

Bacon, Egg & Chips - 10w5 #5 - Good Food, Cheap

Today is an interesting day :) For a few reasons, it marks the 3 month mark for this blog, and 6 months in for my FB food page.  I didn't plan it but they both started on the 28th. LOL So three months in and nearly 4000 page views later, here we are.  

With my latest Series, and a challenge post all rolled into one.  

Good food, cheap is a new series I'm going to work on , you should expect at least a couple a month , most likely more.   What I want to show, is that it doesn't take a lot of money to eat good food.  These will be the same as my normal posts but I will share the prices, and tips on where/how to get those deals.  

Ingredients : 

4 med/large russet potatoes $ 1.00 (10lb bag for $3)  

4 Farm Fresh Eggs $ 1.35 (A dozen for $4 ) 

Half a pint of Tomatoes $1.00 ($2 / pint ) 

Bacon $1.00 ( On sale $1 / lb )  ($4.00 for butcher Bacon ) 

3 cloves of garlic $ 0.25 ( $0.75 / head for organic ) 

Total for dinner for two $ 4.60 ( $7.60 using top quality bacon ) 

I would just like to make a note about the bacon , normally I have been buying bacon from a local butcher , and actually had done so here, but due to a few delays it had been in the fridge for a week , and had started to turn.  I had a craving for bacon, the butcher was closed. So I went for the back up bacon , which I buy on sale a couple of times a year , and usually just use for bacon bits.  

Assemble all your ingredients,  I rinsed this bacon to help remove some of the extra salt that cheap bacon tends to have . Worked out well . 

Slice up your chips,  crack the eggs into a large cup to help them warm up , and make pouring them into the pan easier :)

 Here is a link for how I make my Chips :)  http://richfletchersgoodfoodrevolution.blogspot.com/2010/12/easy-hand-cut-chips.html

Chips take the longest , so you will want to get them started first .  

Less Words, More Food 4

I'm slowly getting caught up :)   What I really need is a full day at the PC, in a writing kind of mood.  This is the last of Decembers catch up posts, so at least now I'm in the New Year lol :)  I'm a little pushed for time , as I have dinner plans tonight... so Ill keep this one really short of words , and just show you some food!!!

Always a favourite:) Butcher's Bacon, Hand Cut chips, and farm eggs, cooked in a little bacon grease with chili . 

Free Range Beef, with mushrooms, peppers, onions and cheese on whole wheat nachos :)

Curry Turkey Tacos, with a red wine vinaigrette salad

Well, that was an interesting year :) Bring on 2011!!

Happy New Year Everyone :) Best wishes and dishes to all ! 

For me, like most people , 2010 was a bit rough. Times are tough , prices keep going up and salary's never keep up. So what did I do ??  LOL I quit my job !  I'd had enough of the office life , it was time to move on.  And that's just what I did, without a plan or a direction I found myself a little lost .   That was until I ran into a farmer friend who offered my some temporary work building a greenhouse.... I think I have found my calling .  I love working hard, getting dirty and most of all I LOVE food!!  Especially local organic & free range kinda food. So to be a part of that process is fascinating and exciting!! :)  Sadly tho, the growing season is over up here, at least until we get closer to March.  But Ill be back there finishing the greenhouses, and helping with the planting soon enough.  This month I have the privilege of taking care of the chickens, feeding , cleaning and egg collection duties.  So very cool.  I think the chickens are getting to know me finally , as no longer run away from me , and have even tried pecking at my shoe laces or gloves. 
Here I go babbling away again , when all I wanted to post today was a quick recap of the 6 most popular posts from last year ... two of which are related to working on the farm :) Which I am so happy about!! As that is the direction I wanted my Good Food Revolution to go in !! 

#1 http://richfletchersgoodfoodrevolution.blogspot.com/2010/11/very-vnteresting-day-for-garlic-lover.html

 #2 http://richfletchersgoodfoodrevolution.blogspot.com/2010/11/roasted-double-stuffed-pork-tenderloins.html

Click the link below to see the rest :)

Less Words, More Food 2 :)

Its been a strange week for food for me,  a few days of cooking like a mad man ,  then a couple of days surviving on cheese and toast :)  Also,oddly enough it started with meatballs, and ended with meatballs :)

Here is a quick look at what has been coming out of my kitchen :)

Grass fed Beef Meatballs with Garlic Latkes

More free range beef, all from a local farm :) Today was -20C a good stew was needed .

Who needs words when you have food pics:) LWMF 1

Ive been thinking about , how to get an extra post in every week. I came up with this idea the other day ,  Once every week Ill post a week in review, kind of post.  With just captions, and maybe a short blurb. So here is my first try at this : Please let me know what you think ... all suggestions, and comments are appreciated. 

Marmite & Chili Roast Beef & Root Veggies.

Vegetarian Dinner, Jacket Potato with garlic/onion baked beans and cheese :)

Easy Hand Cut Chips

I just love potatoes...  mashed, baked, roasted, even boiled, pan fried to name a few .  Or as in this post , deep fried.   I call them chips, potato chips to me are crisps  :)   but to most they are fries or french fries.  Probably due to years of advertising on TV, whenever I hear the word fries, i think of red cardboard sleeves stuffed full of salty / greasy mass produced shoestrings.  

Growing up we had chips a fair bit , Almost every Monday night it was cold meat & chips night ( the cold meat being the leftover Sunday roast )    always hand cut and deep fried in vegetable oil on a big pot on the stove.  I used that method until I nearly caught the stove on fire , and severely burned my hand avoiding just such a disaster.  After that I bought a little hot pot deep fryer, not the automatic ones but a nice simple bucket with no exposed elements , and a quick release power cord.  Ive also switched the oil over to sunflower or canola oil , currently its a blend of both I'm using. 

 This post was requested thru my FaceBook Food Page ( link at bottom of page ) on which I regularly post my dinners,  and keeping with tradition . I really enjoy my Monday night cold meat and chips dinner.  Its a nice simple, and fast way to get food on the table . Okay , on to the chip making. 

Start with a washed potato, I like russets, or Yukon golds, but any will do.  Simply cut it in half lengthwise, and then cut each half lengthwise again. ( Quartering it )  
Don't forget to get your oil warming up , I like 375F for mine.   

Normally cutting in half , and then slicing into quarters is good enough, but this year the spuds are HUGE , this one topped 1lb (450gm) .  So i cut a 1/2  inch (1 cm) slice from the cut side.