The WWF Cookbook is a treasure trove of crazy recipes from the Attitude Era, each of which is purportedly the creation of one of the wrestlers. In Wrestling With Food, Sydney is on a mission to try cooking all of them to see if any are actually edible.
ALRIGHT. Something a little different this time, since not only is this NOT a recipe from the WWF Cookbook, Sydney’s not even the one making it – it’s me, much-maligned husband Tom.
As you might have heard, Kevin Steen was officially signed to WWE this week. We’re big fans of his here at Wrestling On Earth, and he was actually one of the very first wrestlers to show us any support through his participation in our first 4 on 4. One of the questions we asked him there was “if you had your own breakfast cereal, what would it be called and what would be in it”, to which Kevin answered:
“It would be french fries, gravy and cheese. It’d be called poutine.”
That planted the seed of an idea, so I later reached out to Kevin to ask what his favourite kind of poutine is and things started rolling. After some research (i.e. ripping off a recipe I found online), I’ve now put together something worthy of the WWF Cookbook: Kevin Steen’s Chicken and Pea Pou-Steen. It hits all the marks of the original cookbook’s recipes, in that it’s not actually written by the wrestler it claims to be from, it’s not particularly healthy and it has terrible wordplay in the title. Let’s get going!
The ingredients:
Cooking spray
2 large egg whites
2 teaspoons paprika
Salt and pepper
2 pounds large Yukon gold potatoes, cut into ¼-inch-thick fries
1 bunch scallions, chopped
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1½ cups shredded rotisserie chicken (skin removed)
¾ cup frozen peas
4 ounces mozzarella cheese, diced
Yeah, I’m not using cheese curds, SORRY KEVIN / CANADIANS / FANS OF AUTHENTIC POUTINE. I couldn’t find them at my local crappy supermarket and I think they might be tricky to get a hold of because of America’s ridiculous health and safety standards. I found an alternative recipe that uses mozzarella instead so… look, it’s fine. It’ll be fine.
The process:
1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat (NOTE FROM TOM: I DON’T KNOW WHAT A SILPAT IS???). Whisk the egg whites with a sprinkle of salt, pepper, and the paprika.
2. Cut the potatoes into ¼ inch thick fries and toss the fries in the egg whites. Let the excess egg drip off, then spread out on the baking sheets. Mist with cooking spray and bake, flipping halfway through, until golden and crisp, 20 to 30 minutes. (NOTE FROM TOM: I didn’t really let the excess egg drip off completely, but that’s no bad thing because then you get a little extra goodness all up on the fries.)
3. Meanwhile, coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Add half of the scallions; cook over medium heat, stirring, until softened, 1 to 2 minutes.
4. Add ½ cup chicken broth. Whisk in the flour until smooth, then gradually whisk in the remaining 2 ½ cups broth and the Worcestershire sauce. (NOTE FROM TOM: I FUCKED THIS UP. I didn’t whisk it enough initially, and then rather than gradually whisking in the broth, I just dumped it in. I let Kevin down, I let Sydney down and, worst of all… I let Steve Blackman down. There’s nothing the Lethal Weapon finds more frustrating than a mediocre gravy!)
5. Simmer, whisking occasionally, until thickened, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the chicken and peas and warm through, about 3 minutes. (NOTE FROM TOM: So, brief interlude here: if there’s one food Sydney hates, it’s mushrooms. If there’s two, it’s mushrooms and peas. NICE GOING, KEVIN STEEN, PICKING A KIND OF POUTINE THAT MY WIFE WOULDN’T LIKE. Anyway, as a compromise, I just put the chicken in first and served Syd’s up before tossing those little green beauties in so I could have the FULL AUTHENTIC Pou-Steen experience.)
6. Scatter the mozzarella evenly over the chicken mixture. Layer the fries and chicken mixture in bowls; top with the remaining scallions.
ET VOILA.
The verdict:
Me:
I liked it! I was worried the mozzarella might not get melty and delicious enough, but it all worked out well. I think the gravy and chicken could have used a little extra seasoning and I’d probably have a few more fries if I was to do it again, but certainly not a bad experience at all.
My star rating: 4¼ out of 5 stars.
Comments from Sydney:
First of all, anytime you come home from work and dinner is in progress, it’s always a good thing. We did do a little bit of a poutine tour when we were in Canada last summer, so the bar was set a bit high, but Tom rose to the occasion. He even excluded the peas from mine (peas are the devil’s vegetable) so I could eat freely without having to worry about picking them out. The whole thing was good – the only thing we both agreed on is that we would probably have like a little more seasoning. But I would happily eat this again.
Sydney’s star rating: 4 out of 5 stars.
I ain’t doing this again in a hurry, so while you can harass me @TomBlargh, it’s probably best to tweet @Sydneyb79 with your suggestions for any future WWF Cookbook recipes!
– Look out for another Wrestling With Food soon, or check the Wrestling With Food archives for a full rundown of all the recipes covered so far. In the meantime, you can follow Sydney on Twitter.