Vegetize It: Poutine

This summer, Carnivore Bob and I shipped our kids off to camp, which meant we paid someone a fortune to simulate unsupervised play in someone else’s backyard. It also meant we could party like rock stars, constrained only by work schedules and a desire to watch the evening news in our pajamas. Our quest for hedonism led us to Small Batch in Midtown, where we tossed back flights of whiskey and gorged on vegetarian poutine. Traditional poutine is a Canadian comfort food, made by smothering French fries with fresh cheese curds, a peppery veal or poultry gravy and, in some fine establishments, a pile of meat. Describing poutine as cheese fries is a serious understatement, like calling Wayne Gretzky an ice skater or TMZ the evening news. Poutine is an over-the-top carb and dairy snugglefest that tastes so rich and cheesy I needed to add it to my home-cooking repertoire.

I started by asking another Great One, Baileys’ Restaurants executive chef Stephen Trouvere, how Small Batch – one in the handful of Baileys’ eateries – makes its poutine. Although he was too discrete to say it outright, the gist of his answer was fat. Small Batch’s russet potatoes are twice-fried, which makes them firm on the outside and fluffy on the inside. I don’t have a fryer, so I tried baking my own hand-cut potatoes. First, I sliced the spuds into thin sticks. (I cut mine to ¼-inch thickness, which is a lot thinner than you think; measure before you cut.) I then soaked them in cold water to remove some starch; low-starch potatoes make for fries with a crunchy crust. I blanched the fries to soften them and baked them to brown the edges. After all of that work, my results were a disappointing, mushy, burned mess.

To make perfect potatoes, I was going to have to fry without a fryer. I added a few inches of high-smoke-point peanut oil to my large Dutch oven. With the aid of a deep-fry thermometer, I softened the tubers at 300 degrees, then cranked the heat to 400 degrees to crisp them. After the second frying, I had my own haystack of golden, not-gritty, fries. The potatoes browned surprisingly quickly, so if you’ve never fried before, cook a few fries at a time until you get the hang of it.

Trouvere described the Small Batch poutine sauce as a classic country gravy with lots of freshly cracked black pepper. I started with a butter roux and added savory mushroom broth for umami. If you’ve got homemade mushroom broth hanging around your kitchen, fantastic. If not, I’m partial to the flavorful and ridiculously convenient Better Than Bouillon line of bases, available in the soup aisle of most grocery stores. I finished my gravy with ground pepper and a few tablespoons of half-and-half, which was just enough to make it creamy and luminous.

Nestled between the hot fries and gravy of traditional poutine is a layer of fresh cheese curds. I used plain curds from local treasure Marcoot Jersey Creamery; you could add a flavor boost with Marcoot’s garlic and herb curds. Cheese curds have a polarizing squishy texture. If you’re not a fan, take a page from the Small Batch recipe book and use shredded fontina for all of the melt with none of the squeak. Regardless of the cheese you use, Trouvere suggested bringing it to room temperature before adding it to the poutine so that the heat from the fries and gravy soften it into ooey gooey goodness.

Unlike my usual Vegetize It projects, this is not a healthier version of a traditional dish. This recipe celebrates poutine in its full caloric glory. On nights when the back-to-school grind is too much, I will toss our usual nutritionally balanced dinner to the wind and indulge in this rich reminder of a carefree summer – while wearing pajamas, of course.

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Living-the-Dream Vegetarian Poutine

2 servings

2 lbs. russet potatoes, cut into ¼-inch sticks
6 cups peanut oil, for frying
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
3 Tbsp. flour
2 cups mushroom broth
2 Tbsp. half-and-half
1 tsp. kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 oz. fresh cheese curds (or shredded fontina) at room temperature*
2 Tbsp. chopped chives

• Place the potatoes in a large, nonreactive bowl and cover with cold water. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.
• Drain the potatoes and blot with paper towels until completely dry. Line a rimmed baking sheet with paper towels and set aside.
• Add the peanut oil to a Dutch oven. Over medium heat, warm the oil to 300 degrees. Using long-handled tongs and working in batches, carefully add the potatoes to the hot oil and fry until the potatoes are soft but still white, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the fries from the oil and drain on the baking sheet.
• Increase the oil temperature to 400 degrees and repeat the frying process, this time cooking the fries until they are golden brown and crispy, 2 to 3 minutes. Line the baking sheet with clean paper towels. Remove the fries from the oil and drain on the baking sheet. Set the fries aside and keep warm.
• Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Whisk in the flour. Cook and stir the mixture until the flour browns lightly, about 2 minutes. Increase the heat to medium-high and gradually whisk in the mushroom broth. Bring the gravy to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the gravy is thick and no lumps remain, about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and whisk in the half-and-half. Add the salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning.
• To serve: Place the fries in a large bowl. Sprinkle with the cheese curds, top with the hot gravy and garnish with chives.

* Marcoot Jersey Creamery cheese curds are available at Dierbergs, various locations, dierbergs.com.