In honour of La Poutine Week being held in Quebec City, Montreal and Toronto, here is the classic recipe for the French-Canadian staple: poutine.
True Quebec poutine
Ingredients:
- 3 large sweet potatoes or russet potatoes
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 Tbsp flour
- 2 large shallots, sliced
- 1 ½ Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Pinch of sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- 2 cups of organic beef stock
- Handful of parsley, minced
- Pinch of thyme
- Pinch of brown sugar
- 1 L peanut oil
- 1 cup cheese curds
Instructions:
- Push potatoes through a french fry cutter or hand cut so that pieces are uniform in size. Soak in ice water for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Heat a pan on medium, melt butter then add flour and whisk vigorously for about 8 minutes until the roux is amber coloured. Remove from the heat.
- In another pan, lightly sauté shallots in olive oil over medium heat for about 1 minute. Add sea salt and pepper. Deglaze with organic beef stock, add thyme, brown sugar and bring to a simmer.
- Whisk in the roux and let reduce on medium low for 15 minutes. Stir in fresh, minced parsley.
- Strain chilled sweet potato fries and dry them in a salad spinner. It is important the fries be thoroughly dried before cooking.
- Heat peanut oil in a heavy pot on medium-high until oil thermometer reaches 375 degrees F. Fry the potatoes in small batches for 5 minutes, then lay them on a wire rack to drain.
- Place the fries on a plate, top with cheese curds and smother with gravy.