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GENERAL BOARDS => Favorite Recipes, Preparation, & Consumption => Topic started by: budgood on May 11, 2010, 08:34:29 PM
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French fries with cheddar curd covered with gravy!!!!!!!!!!
OMG, I am drooling here.
I know what I will be doing with the next batch of cheddar.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Real-Poutine/Detail.aspx (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Real-Poutine/Detail.aspx)
* 1 quart vegetable oil for frying
* 1 (10.25 ounce) can beef gravy
* 5 medium potatoes, cut into fries
* 2 cups cheese curds
Directions
1. Heat oil in a deep fryer or deep heavy skillet to 365 degrees F (185 degrees C). While the oil is heating, you can begin to warm your gravy.
2. Place the fries into the hot oil, and cook until light brown, about 5 minutes. Make the fries in batches if necessary to allow them room to move a little in the oil. Remove to a paper towel lined plate to drain.
3. Place the fries on a serving platter, and sprinkle the cheese over them. Ladle gravy over the fries and cheese, and serve immediately.
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mmm that takes me back. it's the quality of the gravy that makes the dish. It shouldn't be too fancy.
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If you can find a butcher, try to get some veal and beef bones and make a basic espagnole sauce or demi glace for poutine. You'll get a food coma it's so good.
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Oh that does sound good. I love french fries with gravy or french fries with cheddar and bacon but all of it together? Sounds like a meal fit for a king!
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Ahh, but it's not poutine unless you have the *right* cheese :) I say that having grown up in Québec, which is generally attributed as the origin of poutine :) The curd isn't *quite* cheddar. In fact, I've never found it anywhere else in my travels. But I guess if you can't find "fromage en crottes", cheddar curd will do :)
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My understanding is the curds are just fresh curds saved before being pressed. What we like to call Squeeky cheese.
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Yes "squeaky" would describe it nicely. But it's also salted.
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Yes finished curds just not pressed into a wheel.
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Up in Canada, Costco has started to sell cheese curds - they are orange though which is not so nice for poutine. They are very cheddar tasting curds. But Bothwell's is a great brand, I find, and they're yummy. We have been using white cheese curds from the farmer's market here to make poutine ... once a week. Oh boy. We're a little crazy about poutine here at the moment.
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Lol, I didn't think you could get that anywhere south of Aroostook County, Maine! Right next to a big slab of Tourtiere pie.
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Lol, I didn't think you could get that anywhere south of Aroostook County, Maine! Right next to a big slab of Tourtiere pie.
Mmmm...I had my first real poutine on a trip to Nova Scotia. It was definitely rib-sticking to say the least. Perhaps "nap-inducing" would be more accurate.
Interested to see your reference to Tourtiere. I have a version of this savory meat pie sitting in my freezer right now, a gift from a Vermonter friend of French-Canadian descent. His family pronounces it "toot-kay", and their version definitely resonates with the . . . eh, how do you say? . .. ordures blanc quality that poutine has in spades.
Their recipe is ideally filled with a coarsely ground blend of pork and a little veal, stretched with meal made from saltines. Traditionally enjoyed on a TV table with the game on, accompanied by mustard, pickles and a cup of coffee.
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Lol, I didn't think you could get that anywhere south of Aroostook County, Maine! Right next to a big slab of Tourtiere pie.
well you are right down the road from Pineland farms lol cheese curds ;P
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It's weird that not anyone from Québec jumped in this topic as it's originating from there !
There are so many types of poutine, the base being french fries, squeaky cheese curds (very fresh) and gravy sauce as noted here.
Some add wiener sausage bits and cooked onions.
The one with seasoned beef meat.
The other one with chicken bits and peas called "Galvaude".
The Italian poutine by replacing the gravy with spaghetti meat sauce.
In fact, add whatever you can dream of to the fries and cheese !
Yes, it's a bit on the high side calories, but in winter here, you need a lot ! :)
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Ok.. let a Canuck finally jump in here... disclaimer: I'm not from Quebec
If you haven't had an authentic poutine from anywhere close to Quebec i.e. Eastern Ontario and New Brunswick ... you haven't fully lived yet... its off-the-hook delicious! It's so popular, that even McDonalds was (is?) selling it around there... Ya.. that's right... McPoutine...
There are many imitation poutine out here so beware... but around Ottawa and Quebec and New Brunswick go to any pub and you are sure to get the authentic stuff... knockoffs around there will quickly be shunned and shamed to bankruptcy ... so you're safe.
The curds are NOT cheddar... but close...and better... and good luck getting anyone to tell you what cheese these curds are actually made from... last curds I had was made from "St. Alberts cheese coop" there are other coops in Quebec that are even better...
If anyone can fill the gap with this special curd ... please jump in here.
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Well, I'm from Montreal originally and once you have poutine from Quebec...nothing stands up to it....I can't even seem to perfect my own curd cheese!!! I've tried many different recipes but they never squeak. The patented "squeak" sound happens when you rub the cheese on your teeth believe it or not...it makes the texture really good and when it squeaks, it will usually soften - not melt completely, when hot gravy is added to the poutine.
Also, the curd cheese shouldn't be refrigerated and it should be used fresh within the day. I find this hard to do because even halfing the recipes makes a good amount.
I have been looking up authentic curd cheese recipes from Quebec bloggers. The French phrasing is either: fromage en grain, fromage en crotte, and sometimes even Cheddar Skouik! Skouik!. This means squeak squeak. I personally wouldn't attribute it to a Cheddar. To me, it's kind of like a Mozzarella.
I found another recipe, Mon Fromage En Grain (http://savoirfaireconserver.blogspot.ca/2011/05/mon-fromage-en-grain.html), which I'm going to try if I can understand the French and I'll post about it soon!
Another thing to consider is the gravy though. I've been making my own poutine for years and we STILL haven't perfected a really good poutine gravy! A lot of places will use a mix of chicken and beef base, which we'll try next.
The fries...well, my bf and I don't have a deep fryer and baking them doesn't do it, so for now we use frozen fries. We found a good brand that we like, it has "crispy coating" on it so the fries are really good.
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That Mon Fromage En Grain looks promising... I'm not too good with my French but that could be it. Looks like a good site for foodies :) I would like to crack this poutine cheese secret, and hope you take on the challenge too...
Did the article state anything about poutine?
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A colleague of mine from Iowa says that they sell "squeaky cheese" up there; my understanding was that it is basically cheddar cheese curds that have hit the pH mark and been salted, but not molded.
I have produced a "squeaky curd" with at least one make ... but now I can't remember which one. It was one of the signs that the curd had reached the right level of dryness.
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Indeed, I look for the squeak curd every time I make my cheddar... no bragging here, but I thought that was normal and a characteristic whilst making all my cheddars, I don't remember them not squeaking...lol... I put some away after salting for snacking, but only enough for a day or two as they do downhill fast after that :)
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Hi Fritz
The recipe of hers does sound promising, but she does something different with her cultures...she wrote this:
"1/4 c. à thé de ferment lactique méso II de Abiasa (c'est à dire Lactoccocus cremoris)
800ml de lait 3.25%
D'abord, je me suis faire une culture-mère du ferment lactique Lactoccocus cremoris. Pour se faire, j'ai chauffé doucement 800 ml de lait 3.25% à 30 degré C à l'aide d'un bain-marie. J'ai ajouté 1/4 c. à thé de Lactoccocus cremoris dans le lait."
Roughly translated...she uses a Meso Culture type 2 (brand name Abiasa) that is a Lactoccocu Cremoris to make a mother culture. She heats up 800ml's of whole milk at 30C in a double boiler and adds 1/4 tsp of the culture to the heated milk. Then to her cheese, she adds 1/4 cup of that mixture as her culture. Otherwise, the instructions sound pretty standard to me.
I've never read anyone adding culture in that way but I'm up to trying it. I think that I could use an MM100 that I have, which has a strain of Cremoris in it...
I might try this on the weekend, so I'll keep good notes and try to write out my recipe in English. As far as I read, she never mentioned if it squeaked though! Her post was from 2011 and her last post was almost a year ago, so I don't know if she still reads comments or not!
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Awesome, can't wait for your report... that Meso 2 is a very popular culture to have on hand. Don't worry too much about brand name. You will probably never buy it from the manufacture and in this case the retailer and recipe writer will simply refer it to as Meso 2.
Good luck on the SqueekSqueek cheese :)
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I'll try it out this weekend and my fingers are crossed! I forgot to answer your question, the author didn't mention poutine, but fromage en grain is meant for snacking and poutines...I've only had one recipe squeak, and it was one of my failed Mozzas lol...
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That wasn't a failed mozzarella .... it is simply a yet unnamed new cheese :)
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Lol Fritz :D I can agree to that now but at the time I was inconsolable lol!
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This is delicious! Of course, it's not exactly good for you, but that's not the point. Finding cheese curds can be next to impossible in some parts of the region, so take the time to order them online and do this recipe justice!
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Never had Poutine, although it sounds delicious, but here is the recipe I use for brown gravy for my Pork Chop sandwiches and it goes great on fries.
4 slices smoked bacon cut into 1” pieces
4 tblspns butter
1 tblspn olive oil
½ cup all purpose flour
1 ½ cups chicken stock
½ tspn red pepper flakes
salt to taste
Place the bacon into a cast iron frying pan and render the fat down. Remove the bacon pieces and add in the butter, olive oil, and flour and cook to a dark chocolate stage. Add in the stock and stir in the pepper flakes and salt.