Oh it’s football playoff time with a generous side of college basketball mixed in, so we’re ready for some game day snacks. My family has developed an odd obsession with poutine (well, I guess we aren’t THAT far from Canada), so I decided to make some with Buffalo chicken meatballs on the side (mainly because I couldn’t find wings at the grocery store, so I needed a quick plan b!)

1 pound ground chicken
2 tbsp finely diced celery
1 egg
2 tbsp of your favorite wing sauce
1/2 unseasoned Panko breadcrumbs
Salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste

Mix everything up like a normal meatball. Place on a wire rack placed over a foil-lined cookie sheet. Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes. While they’re baking, melt a couple tablespoons of butter and mix in a half cup of wing sauce. Toss the meatballs in the sauce when they’re done.

Serve with a bowl of blue cheese for dipping or ranch if you prefer and some nice crisp veggies (which I noticed someone had already gotten into when I went to grab my phone for a pic!)

So confession time, usually I make fries from scratch for the poutine. Today, I wanted to get something ready for between game snacking so I did a bit of a cheat and used frozen tater tots seasoned with a generous amount of salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. I baked them a little longer than usual to make sure they were nice and crispy to hold up to the gravy. When they were done, I topped them with cheese curds (cheese curds are a must – I’ve tried different cheeses and the texture just doesn’t work) and covered everything with a beef gravy*. A bit of scallions went over the top.

*The gravy is just a simple roux of 4 tbsp of unsalted butter and 1/4 flour whisked together until thickened. Slowly add a cup of beef stock, a can of French Onion soup, a dash of Worcestershire and some pepper and simmer until nice and thick.