This year has been the worst for head colds that I can remember. I thought I was getting sick when I got home from Arizona, but it faded and other than a bit of stuffiness, I was fine. Then my youngest came home from school sick, and less than a few days later, it hit hard. A rescue inhaler, Mucinex, Delsym, and Sudafed were the only things that kept me going. I barely was able to work. I’m sad to say that many a Little Caesar’s pizza was eaten in my illness.
And as all things do when you are sick, life just kept piling up at my door. The long and short of all of it ended up with me starting school in April for a 4 month bootcamp course web programming to increase my skill in certain languages. The intense schedule and subject matter is going to make life all the more complicated. That’s okay, right? I know that I can do hard things, this is no different. And between my Instant Pot and my various sous vide devices – I’m going to rock this.
This will also mean a new type of recipe – one where I cook once, but get 3 major recipes from one cook. I hope you are excited to see what comes, because I have some amazing ideas.
Pou-what?
Poutine is a Canadian dish, originating in the province of Québec, made with French fries and cheese curds topped with a light brown gravy. This fast-food dish is typically found across Canada and in some places in the northern United States. In Canada it is sold in small “greasy spoon” type diners (commonly known as cantines or casse-croûtes in Québec) and pubs, as well as by roadside chip wagons and in hockey arenas. National and international fast food chains also sell mass-market poutine in Canada (although not always country-wide).
I had Poutine at the Copper Onion for the first time and fell madly in love. They served it with braised short ribs and beef gravy. I returned over and over and over again while it was the special. What’s crazy, this is not “fine dining” type food. I mean, sure, they elevated the flavors a bit with better ingredients – not to mention that the Copper Onion has some of the best steak fries that I’ve ever had, but it is french fries, gravy and cheese – not exactly high class fare.
The best poutine I’ve had in Utah was at an Irish pub called “Piper Down“. I was at a friend’s birthday and bored out of my skull. I don’t drink, but I was hungry as hell and when I saw poutine, I was all over that. Kind of like gravy on French fries.
Nashville Fried Chicken
I’ve done fried chicken on the blog before. This is no different – same recipe – except I coated it in the most delicious spice mix. Don’t do what I did the first time I made this and assume you can handle the heat and just dunk the fried chicken nuggets in the spicy glaze. Brush it on, taste it, and have more to add. Holy heck the heat was intense. Good, but intense.
Nashville Fried Chicken is a type of fried chicken that is a local specialty of Nashville, Tennessee. It might be local to Nashville, but it has been growing in popularity nationwide over the past year. Typically, it is white meat marinated in a water-based blend of seasoning, floured, fried, and finally sauced using a paste that has been spiced with cayenne pepper. It is served atop slices of white bread with pickle chips.
But I didn’t want to just slap some spice on my sous vide fried chicken – I wanted to find something unique to do with it that is drool worthy delicious. The meat is incredibly juicy anyway and so flavorful. And I was already planning on making a poutine, but the combination of Nashville Fried Chicken, crispy French fries, yummy cheese curds, with a rich chicken gravy just made sense. It goes together like peanut butter and jelly. Or at least I think so.
Do I Have to Have an Air Fryer?
No. I don’t even know if I like the air fryer yet. The fries were great, but I haven’t had enough experience with my newest kitchen gadget to determine if I like it. Review coming hopefully next week about that. If you don’t have an air fryer – follow the Thick Cut French Fry recipe on Chefsteps.com
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servings
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- 3 pounds chicken breasts boneless and skinless
- 1/2 cup hot sauce
- 3 tablespoons cayenne pepper
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 tablespoons creole seasoning
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon white pepper
- 2 eggs beaten
- 2 cups flour
- 1.2 kg russet potatoes about 3 large, unpeeled potatoes
- 1 kg water
- 15 g salt
- 2.5 g granulated sugar
- 2.5 g baking soda
- 3 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp flour
- 1 tbsp ranch powder
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- cheese curds a small handful, or as much as you want.
- green onions to taste
- dill pickle chips whole or diced - to taste
Ingredients
Sous Vide Fried Chicken Tenders
Air Fried Sous Vide Thick Cut French Fries
Chicken Gravy
Poutine Toppings
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- Preheat water to 144 degrees.
- Cook dark meat for 2 hours, cook white meat for 1 hour.
- Cut cooked chicken into 2 inch cubes.
- Combine cayenne pepper, chili powder, creole seasoning, brown sugar, garlic powder, onion powder and white pepper.
- Coat chicken with 2 tablespoons of spice seasoning, 2 eggs and 1/2 cup hot sauce.
- Allow to marinade 15 minutes while fries are cooking in the sous vide.
- Heat oil to 400 °F / 204 °C. Coat in flour and fry til golden brown in hot oil.
- Take 1 cup of oil you used for frying the oil. Add the rest of the spices to the oil. Mix until combined. Brush hot oil glaze on chicken. Control the heat by only brushing a little at first, then adding more to taste. Serve immediately.
- Preheat sous vide to 194 °F / 90 °C.
- Cut peeled potatoes into slices finger thick.
- Submerge in water to keep them from browning.
- Combine water, salt, granulated sugar, and baking soda to prepare a brine.
- Package fries with an equal weight of brine. Vacuum-seal bag or hang open edge over the side and clip in place. Space fries in one even layer within the sealed bag.
- Gently remove fries from the bag. Lay them out on a wire rack to cool and dry, making sure they don’t touch each other.
- Preheat air fryer to 360 °F/(182°C).
- Transfer to a bowl, add the oil and toss to coat.
- Place half of the potatoes in the fry basket and insert into the air fryer. Cook for 5 minutes, then increase the temperature to 390°F (199°C). Pull out the basket and, using tongs, toss and stir the potatoes. Return the basket to the fryer. Continue cooking until the potatoes are cooked through and golden brown on the outside, about 15 minutes more, opening the basket 2 or 3 times during cooking to toss and stir them.
- Melt the butter over medium heat in a saucepan.
- Add flour and blend thoroughly.
- Slowly add in the broth, ranch powder, salt, and pepper.
- Allow to simmer until mixture thickens.
- Place the fries on a serving platter, top with Nashville Fried Chicken Nuggets and sprinkle the cheese over them. Ladle gravy over the fries, meat and cheese, sprinkle with green onions and a little pickle and serve immediately.
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