Episode 85
January 8, 2012
Poutine
If there was ever an ultimate good in the culinary world it would have to be french fries. French fries are the best friend who nurses you back to health after a long night of binge drinking. French fries are the long lost friend who you always bump into on vacation. French fries are the one friend you’re jealous of because they effortlessly make new friends. Why all the talk about french fries? That’s because poutine is a Canadian dish made with french fries, gravy, and cheese curds. And it is delicious. More delicious than your favorite food.
Yes. Even that.
Okay I may be a little biased right at this moment but I do love poutine.
In this episode I show you how to make french fries and gravy from scratch. Being a child
Fries cut up
born in the world of convenience I’ve never made fries from scratch. A few months back I saw an episode on PBS of America’s Test Kitchen where they made these super delicious looking fries. America’s Test Kitchen is a great show, by the way, if you haven’t watched it yet. They take recipes and give you the best way to make it and show you how to make their recipes step-by-step. It’s very informative and they even have a slight food science aspect to many of their episodes.
Getting back to the fries – Since fries freeze so well and are available for a few dollars naturally the urge to make fries from scratch never came up – until I saw that episode. I’m not going to lie. Making fries from scratch doesn’t seem to be cost effective or easy but the flavor and the ability to customize the fries can make it worth the trouble. In addition, you can make a big batch and freeze the fries.
The first step to making the fries is to prepare your russet potatoes. Give them a good
Rinse, peel, and slice your potato longways
scrub in cold water to get off any dirt and then peel them, if desired. Then you need to cut the potatoes up into the matchstick shaped pieces that fries are known for. I find it’s pretty easy if you slice the potatoes longways to make oval-shaped discs and then slice them longways again. After they are sliced up, rinse them in cold water until the water turns clear. Then place the submerged fries in the fridge for about 30 minutes and up to 2 hours.
Take each oval slice and slice it longways again to make the fries
After they’ve been chilled remove them from the fridge and pat dry them with paper towels and allow them to dry for about 10 minutes. Then lightly coat your fries with about two tablespoons of cornstarch. That’s 2 total for a large batch – a little goes a very long way. If you have any leftover you can use it to make your gravy. Once they are lightly coated, place them on a wire rack fitted into a sheet pan and allow them to sit for about 20 minutes and up to 2 hours. This is supposed to allow the cornstarch to draw out the type of starch from the potato that helps make the fries crisp as well as allow the cornstarch to form a crust that will get crisp during frying.
You can see why these fries can be a pain to make with all this waiting. Something that
Lightly coat your fries with about 1-2 tbsps of cornstarch and allow them to rest for 20 minutes and up to 2 hours
took me about half a day to make, I was able to squeeze down to a 10 minute episode. However, after all this waiting you’re finally ready to fry. The first fry is at the low temperature of 325 degrees F. This fry is to allow the fries to cook through. After frying for about 5 minutes or until they turn blonde in color, allow them to cool on paper towels and drain. The second fry is at 375 degrees F and is what makes them nice and crisp. You only need to fry them for about 3 minutes or until then turn golden.
After the first fry they will be blonde in color
Remember that if you’re doing large batches you want to break up the frying into parts. This helps prevent the oil from getting too cold while frying. Also, in between parts you want to let the oil heat back up to the desired temperature. If at anytime the oil is too cold, your fries (or any product you’re frying) will begin to absorb the oil and become soggy. The recipe recommends using peanut oil for flavor and crispness.
If you’re not ready to serve the fries you can keep them warm in a 200 degree F oven and if they ever lose their crispness you can crisp them up in a 350 degree F oven. I found that these fries lose their crispness pretty quickly as they cool so eat them while they are hot.
As for the gravy in poutine, it sounds like beef gravy is the traditional gravy. As a lover of
After the second fry the fries will be golden and crisp
Thanksgiving I am partial to turkey gravy – I’d love to try turkey gravy poutine someday. Gravy is very easy to make. I prefer to make gravy with cornstarch since flour tends to burn much easier than cornstarch. For about 1 pound (that’s two cups or 1 pint) of broth you’ll need about 2 tablespoons of fat (butter or fat drippings), 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, and about 1/4 cup of milk or cream to dissolve the cornstarch in. For an even thicker gravy, you can use another tablespoon of cornstarch or use more fat drippings.
In order to properly use cornstarch it must be dissolved first. Dissolve the cornstarch in the cold milk or cream. Warm or hot liquid will cause the cornstarch to lump up. Once the cornstarch is added to the boiling broth whisk it constantly for 1-3 minutes or until the gravy has thickened. This boiling allows the cornstarch to thicken and lose it’s starchy flavor. The gravy is ready to eat immediately, but if you let it cool slightly it will thicken a little. I always find that gravy gets thicker overnight in the fridge too.
That brings us to the cheese. Traditionally cheese curds are used on poutine but these can be hard to find since cheese curds are supposed to be available right away after producing. A common substitute is cheddar cheese. Mild cheddar is preferred but I do love my sharp cheddar.
After that it’s just a simple matter of assembling the poutine! Here’s the recipe for poutine (which includes making fries from scratch and the gravy) and the video is below. I hope you enjoy another savory detour!
