The Funky Kitchen

Let’s play a game, shall we?

The Funky Kitchen has opened up a deli/sandwich shoppe. (Wouldn’t that be fun?) Say you were one of my regular customers, someone who could come in and say, “Hi Dana, I’ll have the regular please,” and I would be able to tell what it was.

What would your regular have on it? What would it be on? I ask because people’s answers vary so much, and due to the extremely adaptable nature of a sandwich, there are a lot of interesting ideas out there. If there was a signature sandwich with your name on it, a perfect sandwich for you, what would it be?

The Dana

(Sopressata sandwich on an English muffin, with all the right fixings)

Start with an English Muffin, vaguely toasted. I really like the size of English muffins for a sandwich, and also the spongy texture. I’m not known to be the greatest advocate of toasted bread, but a lightly toasted English muffin is perfect for the Dana sandwich. The little bit of crunch adds to the texture.

To the bottom side of the sandwich (depicted at the left) add a little bit of mustard, and to the top side (depicted at right) some mayonnaise.

To the bottom of the sandwich: a few slices of sopressata. Sopressata is my favorite deli meat by a fair measure. To the top of the sandwich: 2 or 3 layered pieces of romaine lettuce. I love the crunch of romaine, and the slight bitter flavor it has.

Atop the sopressata: a few shavings of old cheddar cheese. Atop the lettuce: A slice of tomato with black pepper cracked over top.

Stack the sandwich parts together, and voila! My most favorite sandwich. If you don’t have English muffins available, or are looking to have a larger sandwich, rye bread would be a close second choice for me.

Mr’s signature sandwich seems to be a riff on a club sandwich, and is much more gargantuan than mine. From the bottom, he has: toasted white bread, mayo, pepperjack cheese, bacon, chicken, toasted white bread, kolbassa (coarse garlic sausage), lettuce, tomato, cheddar cheese, more bacon and a third slice of toasted bread. Quite a sandwich! Maybe that’s what I should make next.

I’m looking for interesting ideas for what to put between slices of bread; what would your perfect sandwich be?

This time last year:  Spaghetti with Spicy Italian Sausage, Roasted Acorn Squash and Labneh

Fellow Canadians: you’ve probably met one or two other these before, right? And to those of you who haven’t yet had the delight: this is a poutine.

It is crisp golden french fries mounded with fresh cheese curds with a ladle of gravy over top. You don’t need to be a potatoes and gravy addict like myself to know that a plate of this is pure bliss. Salty, fried, carbohydrate laden heaven.

The poutine hails from Quebec, but migrated across Canada spreading gooey savory joy. Poutine is calorie dense. It probably does not have a place in your New Year’s diet. This is Canada, though, it is cold this close to the Arctic. We need food that sticks to the bones. And what is life anyway, without the opportunity to try new things?

With all of this talk, did I make poutine for you, dear readers? No, I didn’t. I’m sorry. How to do it: French fry some potatoes so they’re crisp and golden on the outside, soft on the inside. Cover with cold cheese curds, then hot gravy. That’s that, it isn’t too difficult, and you should try one.

What I bring to the table today, are petite poutine. A bite size, appetizer version of the Quebecois loveliness that is poutine. Having had one (or maybe a second sneaky one, ahem) at a friend’s wedding recently, I just had to recreate the recipe.

Petite Poutine

(Recipe inspired at Ian and Heather’s Wedding)

24 baby potatoes

2 Tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

Cheese curds

Gravy

Directions

• Cut the tips off of both ends of your potatoes, so that they will stand upright on their own.
• Core out the inside of each potato, about 3/4 of the way through, creating baby potato cups. A melon baller or an apple corer makes the job very easy.

• Toss the prepared potatoes with the olive oil, salt and pepper to coat.
• Roast the potatoes in a 375° oven until they get crisp and golden (45 minutes).

• Put a cheese curd into each roasted potato cup then top it off with gravy.

• Return your petite poutines to the oven until the cheese is melted and the gravy is bubbly.
• Bon appetit!

So yummy! I’m definitely going to make these for my next party. I love that poutine, something of a big mess food, becomes a 1 or 2 bite finger food. You minimize the dishes, and cut down on the calories. What’s not to love?

Mr says: These are the greatest idea to ever grace the idea of ideas. (And you should have called them poutinis!)

This time last year: Mum’s Parmesan Chicken

Nuts and bolts are one of my favorite holiday snacks. In a season where sugary treats are fairly ubiquitous (think: fudge, cookies, candy canes) nuts and bolts are a nice savory refuge from the tables full of dainties. Not that I don’t have a case of dainty love to boot, but nuts and bolts are the thing to munch between butter tarts.

I like them so much that every holiday season I wonder why I don’t make nuts and bolts all year, but somehow it does not happen until you start thinking about Christmas trees again. Maybe this can be one of my New Year’s resolutions: make nuts and bolts more often!

Anyway, to make nuts and bolts you need a great big roaster. I borrowed one from Mr’s mum, because none of mine are voluminous enough to hold all of the nuts and bolts. If you don’t have a great big roaster, you could also use multiple smaller roasters, but then you’ll have to do more stirring.

Nuts and Bolts

(recipe a combination from my Mum and Mr’s Mum)

4 Cups Shreddies

4 Cups Cheerios

4 Cups Crispix

3 Cups Pretzels

3 Cups Cheezies, the crunchy kind

2 Cups salted peanuts

2 Cups Cheese Nips

2 Cups Cheese Bits

1 Cup butter

2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp onion powder

2 tsp celery salt

2 tsp paprika

Directions

• Preheat your oven to 250° F.
• Add the first 8 ingredients to your large roaster. You want enough room left in the roaster to be able to mix the nuts and bolts.
• Melt the butter. Mix into it the Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, celery salt and paprika. This is your seasoning mix.
• Drizzle the sauce over top of the dry ingredients, stirring so that an even coating is achieved.
• Put the roaster into the oven for an hour and fifteen minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.
• Allow to cool, then enjoy!

Normally I would shy away from recipes involving a lot of pre-made, open the box and use it products. But it wouldn’t be Christmas for me without these tasty munchies. Merry Christmas!

Everyone seems to have their favorite part of nuts and bolts; my favorite part is the Shreddies, Mr’s are the Crispix. Neither of us are fans of the pretzels, but we’ve got family who really love them so I couldn’t skip out. Nuts and bolts are kind of like a family in a way; you may all be slightly different, but you come from the same bowl.

When you put your cookies out for Santa, don’t forget a couple of carrots for his reindeer!

This time last year: Lemon Roasted Potatoes