Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Poutine – You'll Ruin French Fries and Like It

As the old joke goes, it takes a lot of time and effort to make poutine, but at least when you’re finally done you get to eat soggy fries. And, what incredibly delicious, soggy fries they are. 

Once you get past the fact that this is how they’re supposed to be, you can focus on the overall awesomeness of the dish, especially the rich, freshly made beef gravy featured herein.

I realize most you won’t actually use this gravy to make poutine, which is totally fine by me, since this is so good, on so many other things. While I don’t have any problem with you buying the cheese curds, or using frozen fries, I really do hope you make the sauce from scratch, as it is profoundly better than anything from the store.

I should mention that none of the “authentic” poutines I’ve had included chunks of beef in the gravy, but I really enjoy the extra meatiness, and this way everyone knows we made it from scratch. By the way, if you’re of the vegetarian persuasion, some severely caramelized mushrooms, and a decent vegetable stock (which I still need to do a video for), will produce a perfectly fine version. Either way, I really do hope you give this a try soon…at least the beef gravy. Enjoy!


For the Beef Gravy:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil or lard
1 to 1 1/2 pounds boneless beef short rib, chuck, or brisket, chopped
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup diced onions (you can also add some garlic if you want)
salt, freshly ground black pepper, and cayenne to taste
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups homemade beef broth, or a low-sodium, all-natural prepared broth
fresh chives to garnish

For the Fries: click here for video

For the Cheese Curds: click here for video

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bless your heart Chef John! This is the poutine we needed, even if it isn't the poutine we deserved!

Mulligan said...

Right on Chef John! First it was Tortière, and now poutine! You're only missing Cipaille and you'll have covered the Québec trio. Awesome stuff Chef John!

CUISINED said...

I wish there was a saying by you about which new mic you've got, I could help.

I've Been a long long time subscriber to your channel and I'm loving every new work that you produce. As a kitchen savvy myself, I know how difficult it is and yet, so amazing to come up with these pristine videos that you upload. It's way more difficult to cook and film than to just cook. All the cooking and cleaning, getting the right looking groceries, sunlight, daylight, weather conditions, mic level, other nuances like phone calls, need to do before, need to do after, then there ism the post processing process. WHAT A JOURNEY! And then... to turn this all out...And have the outcome look like one BIG YUMMY VIDEO>its quite hard!!

Totally respect you and your work. (I mean it)
-cuisined

Alec006 said...

I made'em like an hour ago amazing! I did some changes I used concentrated tomato low sodium veggie stock (powder) and red wine and some water!!

Anonymous said...

This sauce was amazing. Served it to the crew in my firehall today with a full on poutine. They loved it!

Neen said...

I know you're trying to help me grow by making me figure out how long the gravy needs to cook & I thank you but can you share approximately how long you let yours go for? I don't know if I can trust my judgement & I want the meat to be tender. Thanks!!!

Unknown said...

That gravy is the stuff dreams are made of, can't wait to try it. Been looking for a great beef gravy recipe for awhile now, thanks!

George said...

Chef john this looks great cant wait to make it. .. I was wondering if you have a homemade pierogie video or are planning to ever do a video on pierogies. .thank you love what you do it had made me such a better cook

Unknown said...

Thank you Chef! I read yet another totally wacko article about Pres. Don and needed a bit of cheer, so I turned to you. Not only did you provide me with a replacement for antidepressants, but I also found a recipe that would be fun to try out. Thank you!

Unknown said...

Good stuff Chef John. I will keep my thoughts on shredded vs curds, english vs french canadian to myself (nobody cares, right? 😏). My (Canadian) bastardized version of "poutine" is a fuzion with newfoundland "fries, dressing (stuffing), and gravy" - Thanksgiving leftover poutine! Fries, dressing (stuffing), cheese curds and turkey gravy. Maybe even throw in some chunks of turkey. Now there's some quintessential hangover food. and frozen fries are just fine. Keep up the great work as always Chef!

Foodie Fun Fair said...

This looks so good! I've been curious to try this style of french fries. I will try this recipe soon.

Unknown said...

I tried this out and the family loved it. As I live in Australia I substituted small blocks of Mozzarella as you can't get curds here and I don't have time to make them. I did make the mistake of not buying salt reduced beef stock so it was a touch too salty but even so there were calls for it to be made again.

Bombotsbrothers said...


First time I saw this was in Canada. I couldn't believe people where killing their hearts!

Years later in the U.S.A. I was in a restaurant that was serving poutine. Very good, but I would not eat it on a regular basis. I am a foodie I healthy foodie. Love to cook. I was brought up in the kitchen. A Sicilian one

Vito Cipponeri

Unknown said...

You're insane, in the best of ways. Love your posts and creations. I now have a serious backlog of dishes I need to try. Despite my dilemma, keep them coming. Thank you.

Príscila Ribeiro said...

Querido chef, conheci suas receitas a pouco através de uma Quiche Lourraine que o seu fez( que por sinal tem uma história fantástica de como a conheci).Quero agradecer por postar essas delícias na internet onde varias pessoas do mundo têm acesso! Sou do Brasil e estou amando fazer suas delícias. Obrigada!