Jo Jo's aka Jojo's [General]

2009 Feb 5
while living in the States (which I spent 15 of 26 years on the West Coast) I experienced this interesting streetfood

big thick wedges of baked russet potatoes battered (reg, Ranch or Cajun) and deepfried

and of course Ranch dressing to dip them in
just before leaving Seattle, someone came out with a Loaded (cheddar, bacon and green onions) and a Chili & cheese topped versions and then my fave sweet potato jojo's (Cajun of course) *salivating*

been jonesing for them lately
anyone know of anywhere that does em?

I'd do them at home but during the winter months, I'd rather not deepfry anything as the smell lingers

and my neighbors complain I never invite them down for dinner

2009 Feb 5
There are no jojos in Ottawa. Make em yourself!

The closest that Ottawa gets to any type of regional American cuisine is Jean Alberts, and I highly recommend them. They make cheese fries with chopped pork chop on them served with ranch sauce... give that a shot!

2009 Feb 5
Chef Obi - As of yet, I still haven't managed to get to Jean Albert's - LeRoy's just outside of Kemptville... but I hope to once the weather warms up. However, Chimichimi has been and he wrote a glowing review... check it out. If anyone can satisfy your southern american hankering it will be those guys.


2009 Feb 5
F&T...being I do not believe in cars, the chances of me getting out to Kemptville is nil unless the IGA wants me to give another cooking class but since I jumped out of that talent pool, that makes it doubly nil

SOUTHAMERICAN?
pfffffffft
call me Chimaican (chinese jamican mix)
call me Brit (which is on my birth certificate)
call me the nuevo galloping gourmet
but never southamerican

I love you Canadians
(lol I finally learned to pronounce Newfoundland properly...next Rideau)

after doing some research it seems a West Coast Thing
should have known by the Ranch dipping sauce

and I checked my suppliers, GFS can get them from LambWeston (a Canadian! company)
but they look disgusting

Just gonna wait til the Spring when I can open my windows without all my plants freezing and then dial up the sweet potatoes
hmm may try them with some Taro also
(Can't eat reg potatoes..so have never had reg fries...I only became addicted when the sweet potato ones came out)

2009 Feb 5
and please call me Obi
you don't work for me
and then again I'm alittle touchy about that
In a Kitchen, I lead by example and when it's slamming, we are all in the trenches together


2009 Feb 6
Obi, your reply is a bit of a WTF for me!

Southern American == in or near Texas
South American == on the continent south of Mexico

And if you don't want people to call you "chef Obi" then don't put that as your user name! :)

2009 Feb 6
FF - double ditto, you took the words right out of my mouth.

2009 Feb 7
sorry guys
early morning before work
wasn't quite awake yet
just never been called a South American before and was confuzzled

2009 Feb 7
.....wooosh! (747 flying overhead).

2009 Feb 7
hehe, Obi's post sort of made sense to me. :)

Curious, Obi, why can't you eat reg'r fries / potatoes? An allergy or dislike?

2009 Feb 7
Glad I wasn't the only one who was a tad confused by that reply.

And as for nicknames... just Obi works for me too (less typing).
:-)


2009 Feb 7
IF, yes I do have dificulty with regular potatoes
certain tribes of China, lack the enzyme
and you don't want to be close by if I have eaten more than a piece or two and let one rip :S

thank you F & T

cheers

2009 Feb 8
I am not sure that I ate a jojo. But 5 years ago at Darcy McGee's (Sparks and Elgin location), I had a platter that contained large wedges of russet potatoes, about 1/6th of a potato cut long ways) cooked until "al dente", battered, and deepfried.

I've never thought to look in the handful of times I've been since, but perhaps they still have them... or a close approximation.

2009 Feb 9
You can make something close in the oven on a good nonstick cookie sheet.
Peel sweet pots. Or use Yukon golds and don't peel.
Cut in wedges
Toss with oil till well coated. If doing yukon do skin side down first to prevent sticking.
Bake at 450
Turn every 7 mins-so all three sides of wedge have a turn touching pan.
Transfer to papertowel.
Toss with some seasoning.

SEASONING
6 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp onion powder
1tbsp salt
1tbsp basil
1/2 tbsp pepper
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp parsley
1 dash cayanne

Seasoning is good on chicken, eggs, hashbrowns, and homemade tacos.


2009 Feb 10
HHH, it is a jojo alike
most jojo's start out life as left overs from the previous nite's prime rib dinner aka baked potato, the batter keeps it from falling apart

OR
thanx
I do already have a recipe
and IT IS the batter that makes it
hard to do battered in the oven
thanx nevertheless

2009 Feb 10
Battered and deep fried ... that's what I thought.

allrecipes.com

The baked version sounds much more heart-friendly.


2009 Feb 10
true dat CC
but for a once in a while indulgence............

only so much rabbit food and wild rice, I can eat
even my protien portions are down to 3 - 4 ounces a meal
no diary other than youghurt and hard cheeses
and wild caught seafood and organic products get pricier by the second
and why is ottawa so bloody expensive?

2009 Feb 11
Not just expensive, but way more expensive over the last year! At some point or another my average grocery bill went from $30 to $50 without any change in eating habits.

I'd love to see a Canadian "grocery inflation" map to see if Ottawa is getting pricier more quickly compared to everywhere else.

Since I may just be remembering how cheap food seemed to be when I was in grad school, without accounting for how much more expensive it would be now.

2009 Feb 11
Hey MoMo ... We Ottawa Foodies here have already discussed the rising price of food. Back in January of 2008 !

See ---> ottawafoodies.com/forum/764 <---

I was predicting $32/kilo steaks either last summer or this summer. Welllll ... hold on to your seat ... we may see those $32/kg steaks yet if de-flation does not set in.

I was once told that for every challange or difficult situation there is usually an opportunity (I know, I know.. sounds Obamish).

So on the upside, my Agri-Business Mutual Fund is humming along really good with only a little loss over the last year(and it has way out performed anyother investments I have now or had before movimg into the Argri-Business Sector).


2009 Feb 11
And, wouldn't you know it, the Ottawa Citizen has an article about how wildly disparate food prices are in Canada.

www.ottawacitizen.com

On the one hand, I think it's crazy that a bag of pasta that costs $2 in Barrie costs $8 here. On the other, I'm not surprised that that same bag of pasta costs $11.50 in the Yukon.

Just goes to show how much it pays to shop for deals. Not even coupon-clipping, but just checking the prices of things.

2009 Feb 11
Momomoto - I saw that news article on tv on Monday... they were interviewing the guy who wrote the report (or collaborated on it), anyways, the differences were fascinating. He said it was mind boggling how an item could be found in one place much cheaper than another, and in many cases the stores / towns were not that far apart... like Hamilton and Kitchener-Waterloo was one example he gave.

I can see the Yukon thing, due to transport, but it's wacky when places are close together.

He said the study didn't just look at healthy food (although that was the basis) Health Canada's, Statistic's Canada, and Agri Canada's basic food basket, but they also threw in 3 extras... from the junk food category (just to see how that compared as well). We've all heard the arguments that Junk Food can be considerably cheaper than healthy food.... anyways, they looked at Chips, Pop and Cookies. And get this... the cheapest place to buy Chips in all of Canada? The Yukon... and trust me a whole lot of transportation issues goes into getting chips there (they take up a lot of space, and can't be crushed etc). So the question comes down to the demographics... why is it junk food is marketed at such a competitive rate to those in the Yukon?

Very interesting study.

2009 Feb 11
This study is a bunch of bunk !!

They do not give any details of their so called study.

For example:

"Mr. Di Buono said some of the most "disturbing" data was reflected in the price variations of grain products. For example, a 900-gram package of whole-wheat pasta that cost $2 in Barrie, Ont., was priced at $7.90 in Regina, and $11.37 in Dawson City, Yukon."

Did they compare the same brand name in each location?
Was it on sale in Barrie ?
Did they buy the pasta at Costco in Barrie, at a Quickie Mart in Regina and a Hudson Bay Company in Dawson City ?

Notice they don't say average prices.

Food prices are mostly set by 'the invisible hand' of the market.

Here is a local example of price variation.

One of my fave chocolate bars, the whole hazelnut in milk chocolate Ritter Sport Bar.

Location:-----------------------------------Price:
Great Canadian Stupid Store in Westboro-----$1.99
LOEB in Wellington Village--------------------$2.49 (This week 2 for 4 bucks)
Ottawa Bagelshop in Wellington Village--------$2.99

A 33% difference within 1 kilometer.

Why does the Bagelshop charge so much ? BECAUSE THEY CAN !!!

Oh yeah ... The bottom line is that they are calling for the government to regulate the price of 'healthy' food.

Ahhhhh Hahahahahahahaha !!!


2009 Feb 11
Captain C - All valid points. The interview I saw (think it was on Global) the gentleman clearly said that the products were always the same (brand name & package size) but the stores could have been different (Loblaws, Price Chopper, Loeb, Safeway, Metro, Sobeys, whatever). It was interesting that the Interviewer didn't pursue that further... as I was thinking there would be a lot of price difference between a mainstream grocery store and a smaller neighbourhood grocery store (say a Farm Boy or smaller).

It still boggles my mind though how a package of whole wheat pasta could be around $ 2 in Barrie and $ 8 here... something stinks!

2009 Feb 12
I agree that I'd like to see the whole study before deciding whether or not they've done "good science" or "bad science." I wouldn't go so far as to call it "bunk" . . . yet.

I also agree that the answer is not "regulate the price of healthy food," because the invisible hand should (theoretically) be able to take care of these things, at least on a city scale. Heck, if I had a Price Chopper nearby, you'd better believe I'd do as much shopping there as possible.

However, assuming they've been scientifically rigorous (e.g. they've checked non-sale prices, they match similar stores to similar stores, etc.), or at least rigorous enough, then the conclusions are disturbing. Because the invisible hand breaks down at the national level. You can't just say "I'm sick of paying too much for ground beef in Ottawa! I'm moving to Kingston!"


2009 Feb 12
Momo
how does 3$ a pound sound for ground beef?
ground fresh souced locally (the farm is in Greely)

my resto deals with O'Briens Farms

obrienfarms.ca/

www.obrienfarms.ca

I don't know how to set up a link on this system but I am sure you know how to copy and paste
for summer for my personal use I am getting the 10 pound burger box 30 burgers for 30$
that should last all of 2 weeks

2009 Feb 13
Ha! Sounds absolutely lovely. If they do small amounts I may get in touch with them: we live in an apartment and there isn't much freezer room to spare.

It was nice when I was away at grad school, because the husband of one of the techs ran a beef farm, and sold absolutely lovely grass-fed beef in small portions. It'd be nice to get that back.

These folks could also be my opportunity to get shoulder or neck. I haven't had much luck finding whole cuts that I can turn into my own stewing meat. I should phone around, though.