Leftover Gumbo Sandwich on French Bread with Baked Sweet Potatoes Fries and Fry Dipping Sauce - Friday - One Week Menu

Hello Everyone!
We are down to two more nights worth of leftovers.  The recipe for this post is more of a different way of serving something than an actual recipe.

 I love gumbo.  Its one of the foods I quickly grew to love when I moved to Louisiana.  But even as much as I love gumbo, I don't always want it served over rice as a soup.  I came up with this idea because I love french dips and I thought that I could make a version of it with my leftover gumbo.
I included the gumbo recipe in an earlier post and told you to keep a little out of the freezer for another meal, this is the meal that I was referring to.  This is a super simple dinner and is quick to prepare.

Leftover Gumbo Sandwich

Ingredients

French Bread, sliced in halves diagonally

Leftover Gumbo

Mayo, optional

Dijon mustard, optional

Cheddar Cheese, sliced or shredded

Instructions

1.  Put at least two cups of leftover gumbo into a pot and heat over medium heat until warm.

2.  Using a slotted spoon, remove all of the meat and veggies from the heated liquid.  Place the solids from the gumbo onto a bottom slice of bread.

3.  Cover with the cheddar cheese (I liked shredded, but my husband prefers slices.)

4.  On the top slice of bread place the condiments that you wish.  Mayo and Dijon mustard are delicious, but you may want to do the condiment you prefer.  I don't like lettuce and tomatoes on my sandwich, but you might.  Don't be afraid to try what you like.

5.  Once you have arranged your sandwich, put the top slice of bread on the sandwich.

6.  In a small bowl or pastry cup spoon the liquid from the gumbo.  Use this as your "au jus" to dip your sandwich into.

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Sweet potato fries are a bit of a southern thing, especially here in Louisiana where they were grown for a while.  As you can see by the vintage ads I found online:

I think this may be my favorite ad.  I love the name of Bayou Maid.  I also am partial because the college I went to was not that far from Carencro, LA and Carencro is where I experienced my first really good gumbo.

While they are delicious, they can be a bit unhealthy if fried in the traditional manner.  In this recipe, I show you how to make sweet potato fries in the oven.

Ingredients

1 tbsp. olive oil, (can use less if you choose, you just need enough to coat the potatoes)

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/4 inch strips (You can use a crinkle cut knife if you want them to look pretty)

1 tsp. kosher salt, (Salt is to taste, you can add more if you desire)
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. sugar (optional -- this actually is good on all fries, but is especially good on sweet potato fries, but the recipe tastes just as good if you are afraid to try it.)

Instructions
1.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3.  In a large bowl, toss the sweet potatoes with the oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and sugar.
4.  Spread sweet potatoes in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet.
5.  Bake until sweet potatoes are golden brown and tender, turning occasionally, about 20 minutes.
6.  Depending on how much salt you've used, you can sprinkle with creole seasoning when you take them out of the oven.

Let the fries sit before serving.

You can dip them in anything that you would dip your regular fries in, but I find that this sauce is especially good.

Dipping Sauce

Ingredients
2 tbsp. mayo
1 tbsp. ketchup
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
2-3 drops hot sauce  (I like Louisiana hot sauce, but, on occasion, Sriracha is good too)
  
Instructions
1.  Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl.

Feel free to adjust these seasonings to your personal taste.  Sometimes I like to add more mayo, other times I like to skip the lemon juice.  It really is whatever you feel like tasting when you make the sauce.

I am going to try to post one more post tonight and then I will be caught up on the one week recipes and will start posting my Christmas Crafts and Recipes!