3 Lbs Russet Potatoes (roughly 4 Potatoes)

1 lemon cut in half 

1 1/2 C All Purpose Flour

2 Tsp Kosher Salt

1 large Egg

2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter

2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/2 C roughly chopped Fresh Sage leaves 

3/4 C freshly grated Parmesan

1/8 Tsp dried Chili Flakes

Cracked Black Peppercorns for garnishing

Large Crystal Sea Salt for garnishing (optional)

Peel and quarter the potatoes and place in a pot large enough to cover with tap water completely.  Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer.  Simmer the potatoes until the potatoes are completely cooked, approximately 30 minutes.  Gently remove the potatoes and place them on a tray to cool and dry out a bit, till they are cool enough to handle but still warm. You may cover the potatoes with a tea towel to keep warm.

Cut a lemon in half and prepare to grill it. Place the lemon flat side down on a grill pan or skillet on medium high heat.  Don’t move or touch it, let it grill until the lemon is blackened and softened.  This will take roughly 12 minutes.  Once grilled, set aside and let cool.  You will get to play with this later.  

Take your egg and beat with a fork or whisk in a small bowl. Set aside. 

Place flour and salt in a separate large bowl and mix till combined.  

Once potatoes are still warm but cool enough to handle, use a ricer to squeeze them into a clean, dry medium sized bowl.  If you don’t have a ricer, then use a potato masher but make sure you don’t mash them more than necessary as the gnocchi will turn out gummy; a ricer is preferred.  Add beaten egg to the riced potatoes and combine with your hands till it is evenly combined.  Again, work as little as possible to prevent a gummy gnocchi.  

Add potato and egg mixture to the flour salt bowl, and once again combine by hand till you have a fairly smooth dough that is tinted evenly yellow from the egg being well combined.  Cover this bowl with a plate to make sure it doesn’t air out while it rests. You can also use plastic wrap Rest for 10 minutes.

Prepare a large tray with a light dusting of flour and set aside.

Once dough has rested for 10 minutes cut into roughly 6 equal sized pieces.  

Flour a clean work surface generously and roll out the 1/6th portioned pieces of dough, one at a time, to a long even dowel roughly the thickness of your thumb.  Using a paring knife, cut the dowel into pieces that are roughly one knuckle in size.  Press the tip of your finger into each piece leaving a dimple in each piece.  Once done, transfer to the dusted tray in a single layer and keep separate so that they don’t pile up.  Repeat until all of your dough is complete.  

Bring a large pot of water to the boil and season with salt.  Gently grab gnocchi (they are delicate) and  transfer the gnocchi to the boiling water and cook till they float, roughly 1 minute max.  Remove the cooked gnocchi from the pot with a slotted spoon and place the drained gnocchi onto a clean dry tray.  

Now this step you will want to do in small batches to avoid crowding the pan, if you do so they will clump together and that’s not good.  Bring a large nonstick pan to medium high heat.  Add butter and olive oil to the pan.  Once butter is sizzling add fresh chopped sage.  The sage will sizzle immediately, add enough of the gnocchi to the pan ensuring that the pan is not crowded and it sits in a single layer, no clumping.  Allow the gnocchi to brown, toss the pan gently to brown the other side.  This should take all of 5 mins total. 

Transfer the contents of the pan to a platter and grate fresh parmesan over the the whole platter.  Sprinkle the red chili flakes over the whole platter and also freshly cracked black peppercorns.  Finish with a drizzle of the charred grilled lemon and large crystal sea salt. 

Try not to eat the whole recipe and share, if you can resist.  

Chive Dumplings 

• 1/4 C Ricotta Whole Milk
• 1 Egg
• 1/4 Tsp Kosher Salt
• 1/4 Tsp Black Pepper
• 1/4 C Yellow Cornmeal
• 1/4 C chopped fresh Chives
• Vegetable Stock to simmer

Combine ricotta in food processor and process until smooth.  Add beaten egg and season with salt and pepper.  Combine with cornmeal until completely smooth.  Transfer to a clean bowl, add chives and mix.  Let rest for 10 minutes and then form into 4 balls of 46 grams per dumpling.

Bring vegetable stock to the simmer and add dumplings just enough to not crowd the pot.  Once they float allow to simmer for 1 more minute, remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Reheat for service in a poaching vegetable stock liquid.

Potato Soup

• ½ Tsp Vegetable Oil
• 2 C chopped White Onions
• 2 C diced White Potatoes
• 3 C Chicken or Vegetable Stock
• 4 sprigs of fresh Thyme, including stems
• Salt and pepper to taste

Sweat onions in vegetable oil until translucent.  Add diced potatoes and sauté for 1 minute.  Add stock and thyme and simmer until potatoes are fully cooked roughly 15 mins.

Remove thyme stems from pot and puree in a blender until smooth.  Season to taste.

• 3 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 Onion, diced
• 1 ½ Lb Jerusalem Artichokes, roughly chopped
• ½ Potato, quartered
• 3 sprigs Thyme, tied with string, + 1 sprig, leaves picked for garnish
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 7 C Water
• ½ C 35% Cream
• Salt
• Olive oil for drizzling

Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a medium pot over medium heat.  Add the onion and sweat until tender and translucent.  Add the Jerusalem artichokes and potato and stir.  Add the thyme, bay leaf and water and continue to stir.  Bring the pot to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer.  Once the Jerusalem artichokes and the potatoes are fork tender, remove the thyme and bay leaf.

Transfer the soup to a blender and puree in batches until smooth.  Strain the soup through a fine mesh sieve into a clean pot, bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 1 minute.  Add the cream and season to taste with salt.  

To serve, pour the soup into bowls and garnish with a drizzle of olive oil and thyme leaves.

6ix Side Sliders

• 1 1/2 Lbs Ground Beef
• 1 1/2 Lbs Canadian Bacon (Peameal)
• 2 C grated Maple Cheddar
• 4 Slider Buns (Potato OR Brioche Buns)
• 2 Tbsp melted Unsalted Butter
• Kosher Salt for seasoning
• freshly ground Black Peppercorns for seasoning

Form ground beef into 24 equal sized 1 oz balls, then smash between your palms to form 24 thin patties.  Place on a clean tray and refrigerate till game time.  

Cut peameal bacon into 24 even sized slices then place on a tray and refrigerate till it’s time to put it all together.  

Preheat a cast iron pan on medium high heat.  Cut slider buns in half and brush each flat surface with butter.  Place on preheated pan until browned on flat sides, set aside.  

In the same pan, place an equal amount of burgers and bacon, making sure to not crowd the pan.  Season the beef with salt and pepper and allow both meats to brown, flip, then re-season.  Place a bit of grated cheese on each burger patty.  Finish cooking all the meat and the cheese should melt at the same time.  You will likely need to cook in batches.

Assemble slider starting with the bottom bun, then alternating peamel and cheesy burger patties until you have a slider that has 6 pieces of bacon and 6 pieces of beef on each.  Top the bun and stick a knife in the top to hold it all together.  

Serve with Poutine (below) and watch the Raptors win their first championship.

Poutine Gravy

• 1 1/2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
• 1 1/2 Tbsp All Purpose Flour
• 5 whole fresh Sage leaves
• 1 C Beef Stock (homemade is best)
• Kosher Salt for seasoning 
• freshly ground Black Peppercorns for seasoning

Preheat a medium sized pot to medium heat and add butter until it melts.  Add flour and whisk immediately to prevent lumps then reduce heat to low.  Once the two ingredients are smoothly combined, add fresh sage leaves and allow the roux to brown, whisking frequently.  When the roux becomes a nutty brown, after about 10 minutes, then add beef stock and whisk until smooth.  Bring the contents of the pot to the boil then reduce to a low simmer and allow to cook for another 10 minutes, making sure to whisk often to prevent lumps and / or scorching.  Season to taste, cover and keep warm on a low heat, now its fry time!

Poutine

• 3 Lbs Russet Potatoes 
• Kosher Salt for seasoning
• 3/4 C Cheese Curds
• Peanut Oil or Vegetable Oil for deep frying

Wash potatoes and cut into 1/2” thick batons, place in a pot of water till fully submerged.  Once all potatoes are cut and added to water, add a handful of kosher salt to the pot and bring to the boil.  Reduce heat to a slow simmer and cook until potatoes are nearly falling apart, approximately 15 minutes.  Gently transfer potatoes to a clean dry tray using a spider or palm sized slotted spoon.  Allow to cool to room temperature on the tray on the counter.  

Bring a large pot of frying oil of your choice up to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, making sure the oil does not exceed half of the volume of the pan.  In small batches, gently place the cooled cooked potatoes into the hot oil until they are golden brown, approximately 4 minutes.  Transfer to a tray with ample paper towels, using a spider or large slotted spoon.  After draining excess fat, transfer fries to a plate, top with cheese curds and then top it all off with hot Poutine Gravy (above). 

Serve with 6ix Side Sliders (above).

Cheesy Roast Wings and Potatoes

• 2 Lbs Chicken Wings, split (drumettes and flats only; save wings for stock or another use)
• 1/2 Tsp Sweet Paprika
• 1/4 Tsp ground Coriander 
• 1/2 Tsp Kosher Salt
• 1/4 Tsp freshly ground Black Peppercorns
• 3 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 C roughly diced, skin-on, Yukon Gold Potato (about 1 inch cubes)
• 1/2 C grated Smoked Cheddar
• 1/2 C grated Medium Cheddar
• Additional Kosher Salt and freshly ground Black Peppercorns to taste
• Garnish:
• Campari Salsa (recipe below)
• 2 Tbsp chopped Flat Leaf Parsley
• 1 Jalapeño, finely sliced into rings
• Lime Wedges, optional

Preheat oven to 450°F.  Set rack to middle of oven.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Pat wings very dry with paper towel – this will help wings crisp up, rather than steam in oven.  In a large mixing bowl, gently toss wings with paprika, ground coriander, salt, pepper and 2 tbsp of olive oil to evenly coat all wing pieces.  Arrange wings in a single layer on prepared baking sheet, leaving about 1/4 tray open to add potatoes. 

Using the same (now empty) mixing bowl, toss cubed potato with remaining 1 tbsp olive oil and a generous pinch of salt and pepper.  Arrange potato cubes in a single layer on remaining area of baking sheet.  Roast in oven for 40 minutes, flipping wings and turning potatoes at the halfway mark.  Both wings and potatoes will be golden and cooked through.

Remove tray from oven and using tongs, carefully arrange wings and potatoes so they are evenly mixed up on tray.  (If desired, for presentation purposes, you can line a round metal pizza tray with parchment and mound cooked wings and potatoes in a golden pile at this point.  Your choice!)  Generously cover the wings and potatoes with the grated cheese and return to oven.  Bake until cheese is melted and bubbling, about 4-5 minutes.

To serve, top the hot cheesy wings and potatoes with dollops of Campari salsa and sprinkle chopped parsley over top.  For the heat lovers, top one half of the tray with jalapeño slices.  Serve with additional lime wedges.  Roll up your sleeves and enjoy while hot!

Campari Salsa

• 1 C diced Campari Tomatoes
• 1/4 C finely diced White Onion
• 1 Tsp minced fresh Garlic
• 2 Tsp fresh Lime Juice
• Kosher Salt and freshly ground Black Peppercorns to taste

Gently combine all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.  Let sit for at least 10 minutes to allow flavours to get to know each other.