Poutine! Last weekend I went up to Quebec City for the Winter Carnaval and no surprise, the Poutine craving is strong still this week. I brought back cheese curds (yes, you can bring cheese into the US from across the border) so made myself this awesome lunch.
Ingredients
for the Gravy
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
20 oz low sodium beef broth
10 oz low sodium chicken broth
Salt and Pepper, to taste
For the Fries
2 pounds Russet potatoes (3-4 medium potatoes)
Peanut or other frying oil
Toppings
1 to 1 1/2 cups white cheddar cheese curds, room temperature (Or torn chunks of mozzarella cheese would be the closest substitution)
Directions
Prepare the gravy: In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in the water to make a slurry and set aside.
In a large saucepan, melt the butter. Add the flour and cook, stirring regularly, for about 5 minutes, until the mixture turns golden brown. Add the beef and chicken broth and bring to a boil, stirring with a whisk. Stir in about half of the cornstarch mixture and simmer for a minute or so. If you’d like your gravy thicker, add a more of the cornstarch mixture, in small increments, as needed, to thicken. Season with pepper. Taste and add additional salt, if necessary, to taste. Make ahead and re-warm or keep warm until your fries are ready.
For the French fries: Peel the potatoes and cut into 1/2-inch thick sticks. Place into a large bowl and cover completely with cold water. Allow to stand at least one hour or several hours. When ready to cook, heat your oil in your deep fryer or large, wide, heavy cooking pot to 300F. Remove the potatoes from the water and place onto a sheet of paper towel. Blot to remove as much excess moisture as possible. Add your fries to the oil and cook for 5-8 minutes, just until potatoes are starting to cook but are not yet browned. Remove potatoes from oil and scatter on a wire rack. Increase oil temperature to 375F Once oil is heated to that temperature, return the potatoes to the fryer and cook until potatoes are golden brown. Remove to a paper towel-lined bowl.
To assemble the Poutine: Add your fried or baked fries to a large, clean bowl. Season lightly with salt while still warm. Add a ladle of hot poutine gravy to the bowl and using tongs, toss the fries in the gravy. Add more gravy, as needed to mostly coat the fries. Add the cheese curds and toss with the hot fries and gravy. Serve with freshly ground pepper. Serve immediately.
