My Take on a Mid-Week Bake for the Canadian Poutine
I have never had real poutine but I have read about it loads and a couple of weeks ago my twitter feed went made with people posting about eating the best poutine at a food conference and I decided I could do a version of a mid-week meal based around the idea of poutine.
For those of you that are not sure what poutine is – it is chips (french fries) layered with cheese curds and gravy and originates from Canada and is really my idea of heaven on a plate!
This mid week meal is slightly different that the other bakes I have posted in that you are going to have to dirty 2 oven trays and a pan but it is required to get a good level of crisp on your baby wedges (I started off with the little wedges in with the chicken but it just wasn’t working).
Poutine Chicken Bake
Serves 2 (with left overs)
Pre-heat oven to 180C
– 700g Chicken Thighs
– 1 Onion (Sliced)
– Knob of Butter
– 1 Sprig Rosemary
– 3 Sprig Thyme
– Small Glass of White Wine
– 1/2 Pint Chicken Stock (Homemade or shop-bought)
– Baby Potatoes (Cut into little wedges / halves & blanched for 5-10 mins)
– Salt & Pepper
– Grated Mozzarella (Or curds if you can find them)
1. Start by laying out the chicken thighs in ovenable dish, lightly oil and season with lots of salt & pepper. Pop in the oven to start roasting.
Lay chicken out oven proof dish, rub a little oil over and season. Roast @ 180C
2. Next put a knob of butter in a pan and add the sliced onions with a little salt. Cook over a low heat stirring occasionally. Key here is low & slow.
Over a low heat cook onions in butter
3. Once you have the onions over a low heat remove and the chicken has had its first 10 minutes, remove it from the oven and drain the fat over the pre-blanched potatoes and coat well. Put chicken back into the oven and pop the potatoes in too.
Coat pre-blanched potatoes in chicken fat & roast unitl golden
4. Once onions have taken on a golden colour they are ready for the next stages
Cook until soft & lightly coloured
5. Turn up the heat to medium / high and once starting to sizzle pour in the small glass of wine.
Add a small glass of wine
6. Add the fresh herbs
And a sprig of rosemary & thyme
7. Cook until all thickened
And cook until reduced
8. Add your chicken stock and bring up to simmer and leave on heat to thicken. Taste & season as required.
Add the chicken stock
And reduce for 5-10 minuutes before blitzing. If too thin add a little cornflour to thicken
9. Once the chicken is golden and crispy it will be ready. During the cooking time you may need to drain off the fat a couple of times, this will help it keep crispy.
Cook chicken until golden brown, draining off fat every 20 mins
10. Serve the chicken with the crispy wedges, loads of cheese and loads of gravy – heaven!
Serve with a handful of shredded mozzarella & loads of gravy
Hope you enjoy
S Xx
