Yesssss. HOMEMADE POUTINE GRAVY. If you have not yet had this Canadian dish, it is fries, gravy, and cheese curds . . . aka heaven on a plate. Crispy hot fries, a thick-but-not-too-thick beef and chicken gravy, and squeaky cheese curds.
Cheese Curds, you guys!!!
One of my best friends in law school (and officiant at our wedding!) is from Ontario. I had neither heard of nor had poutine before he introduced me to it. But how could you go wrong with those ingredients??? Of course, having homemade french fries and fresh stock yields the very best results, but with this recipe, you can fake it with frozen french fries and a home-seasoned broth. (When the poutine cravings hit, I don’t have time to boil up some beef bones or pull out the deep fryer.) This recipe is perfect for making the quick and easy version taste every bit as good as the more complex version.
I was able to find Wisconsin cheese curds at the cheese counter in my local King Soopers. You can even order them through Amazon.com’s new food pantry. If you can’t find cheese curds, the best substitution is probably full fat mozzarella (not the fresh mozzarella) — not quite the same, but c’mon. It’s cheese on homemade poutine gravy on fries.
It will be incredible no matter what.
When you make the broth, I HIGHLY recommend following the recipe’s ratio of beef to chicken broth. While it may be inconvenient to have to buy both kinds of broth, the mix makes it a little more authentic poutine gravy-ish.
After I’ve cooked the fries, I just like to pile them into my cast iron skillet or even leave them in the sheet pan. It is easy to just set on the coffee table with a bunch of forks. Approximately 30 seconds after I took the last photo for this post, David and I tucked in. I might have rushed the photo shoot, as you can probably tell, simply because I could not wait to dig into the pile of homemade poutine gravy and squeaky cheese curds . . .
wyldflour
4 sides of fries
10 minPrep Time
25 minCook Time
35 minTotal Time
Save Recipe3 based on 2 review(s)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups beef broth
- 3/4 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 onion, rough chopped
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- 2 teaspoons tomato paste
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/8 teaspoon dried sage
- 1/4 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon grade A dark amber maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon whole peppercorns
- salt
- 2 1/2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 (20 oz) bag frozen fries
- 5 oz cheese curds
- dried parsley (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven according to the directions for the package of fries.
- First - the broth. Add beef broth, chicken broth, onion, oil, garlic, tomato paste, thyme, sage, worcestershire, vinegar, maple syrup, and peppercorns to a medium sized saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
- While broth is simmering, throw the fries in the oven on a foil covered sheet pan.
- Second - the gravy. When the fries are about 10 minutes from being done, strain the broth through a fine mesh sieve. Discard all of the solids and keep your flavored broth.
- Taste your broth. If you used canned broth, you probably don't need to add any salt. If you used low-sodium or homemade stock, you may want to add salt to taste.
- Melt butter in a medium-sized saucepan over medium-low heat. Once melted, slowly whisk flour into butter to form a light yellow paste. Cook over medium-low heat one minute, whisking constantly. (Making a roux.)
- Slowly whisk your reserved broth into the roux until fully incorporated. Cooking 3-5 additional minutes until the gravy thickens. (If your broth was no longer very warm, you may have to cook it an additional few minutes.)
- Third - the whole shebang. Pull the fries out of the oven. Sprinkle generously with cheese curds. Ladle HOT gravy over the fries and cheese curds and serve immediately. Sprinkle with parsley if desired.
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