Matty Matheson loves to cook, but the Dead Set on Life host is also set on eating delicious shit, which is great news for viewers—and for MUNCHIES readers—because we've got all the best recipes Matty has created or discovered on his season 1 trip around Canada. If Matty says it's good, you know it's good. But for him, dining out often means meals at gas stations, food trucks and roadside joints. So if you're planning your next juice cleanse, you might want to stop reading here.
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But you only live once, and living life to the fullest means eating the occasional foot-long sub stuffed with chicken fingers. So read on and save your juice cleanse for the afterlife.
If there's one thing Canada's got a lot of it's the crushed dreams of failed hockey players. But the wide open country also has an abundance of bison. Matty visited the Bison Whisperer in Alberta to learn the ins and outs of raising bison, and lucky for you, he also learned the ins and outs of making these spicy Mexican albondigas (bison meatballs) from Rostizado in Edmonton.
Speaking of buffalo, these Buffalo-style wings (the city, not the animal) come from Southsides Patio Bar and Grill, a Fort Erie, Ontario bar that is the first restaurant Matty ever worked in. They're damn tasty and simple to make. Plus, it's hot AF out there, and we all know the best way to cool down is with something spicy.
Perhaps you prefer your chicken deboned, deep-fried, doused with Frank's Red Hot, and covered in provolone and blue cheese before being being thrown in into a foot-long sub. No? Well that's because you've never dared to dream big enough. But Matty has, and he calls this chicken finger sub from Robo Mart, a gas station in Winnipeg, "the greatest invention since the steam engine."
While he was in Winnipeg, Matty also got a crash course in Filipino cooking, picking up this recipe for crispy adobo chicken wings from the guys at the Pimp My Rice food truck. These wings are cooked in a sweet, vinegary adobo sauce and topped with coriander and chicharrónes. Watch out, because they're addictive. Don't say we didn't warn you.
But Dead Set on Life isn't all gargantuan subs and deep-fried everything. Sometimes you gotta stay classy, and what's classier than lobster? Nothing, that's what. Matty's lobster bisque recipe embodies the taste of summer (crustaceans) and Canada (maple syrup), but lets you avoid all the lobster-fingered annoyance of a traditional boil.
To finish off, we're going to leave you with what might be the best way to complete any meal: snowmobile squares. While visiting Brookfield Bakery in Nova Scotia, Matty got all the secrets to the roadside bakery's signature dessert. Hint: a pound of chocolate and lots and lots of butter. And with 28 tablespoons of butter, how could it be anything but delicious?