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Poutine, beautiful Poutine.  Why must you live so far away? I spent a short amount of time in Montreal back in May of 2013. It was there that I fell in love with the Quebecois favorite drunk food, poutine. I must have had poutine every single late night I spent in Montreal, soaking up all the beer I had consumed earlier in the night. But I am not the only one who loves poutine, It has held such heavy culinary weight in the region that even the Canadian Supreme Court designated Poutine as “ ‘distinct’, as well as distinctive, historical source of sustenance for Quebecois”. (Barsh and  Henderson)

Origins are debated in Quebec, various towns and chefs have claimed ownership to Poutine. However, the actual history is more of a happy accident than a calculated brilliant dish. “And in 1957, the course of this province’s history was dramatically altered by a casse-croute joint in Warwick called Lutin Qui Rit (Laughing Imp). Owner Fernand Lachance claimed to have invented poutine by filling a bag with French fries, cheese curds, ketchup and vinegar and shaking it up. When the bag exploded all over his counter, Lachance called the heaping eyesore a “maudite poutine” (translatable as “cursed mess,” the term poutine being Acadian slang).” (Gollner)  

The origin of poutine was a humble mistake. However, the dish has evolved to include many unique variations and ingredients in kitchens throughout eastern Canada. Purists, if such a thing truly exists might argue that the fries must be cooked in lard or other animal fat renderings, but we’re a long ways away from Quebec and my goal was to make a poutine that is completely vegetarian but delicious in it’s own right. The fries are triple cooked and the gravy is made with a mushroom base and topped with local cheese curds.  I’m not going to lie, this poutine is awesome.

I also want to note, my method is time consuming. There are plenty of other ways to go about frying a potato, but my method creates an ultra crisp exterior with a semi-hollow soft interior. It’s an incredibly pleasurable texture. Most importantly though, please make sure to crack open a delicious beer or two when you enjoy this dish.

Triple Cooked Poutine with Mushroom Gravy

Triple cooked French Fries

One russet potato per dish

Enough canola oil to submerge

1. Peel potatoes, cut into thick Julienne shape. 2.Blanch in 200 degree water for 4 minutes. Transfer to ice water bath, let dry on a wire rack, and freeze for one hour.

3. Fry in 275 oil. Wait until lightly browned about 6-8 minutes.

4. bring out and dry immediately on a wire rack over a pan with a paper towel.

5. Briefly fry a 2^nd time at 325 until perfectly browned. About 1-2 Minutes.

6. Repeat the process and clean oil off with fresh towel.

Mushroom Gravy

2 T Butter

2 T All Purpose Flower

2 C of Vegetable Stock. Feel free to substitute stocks

½ White Onion

2 Cloves of Garlic

1 C small diced Mushroom

Parsley, Thyme, Rosemary, Salt, and Pepper, to taste

1. Lightly brown Onions and mushrooms for 5-7 minutes on medium heat.

2. Add minced garlic and lightly brown on medium heat. 2-3 minutes.

3. Deglaze pan with stock.

4. Transfer to blender or food processor and blend mixture to make smooth.

5. Put back in Pot over medium heat.

6. Make roux(1 part flour 1 part butter) by slowly stirring in the 2T of flour into lightly melted butter. Melt and stir over medium-low heat in a separate small pan until paste consistency.

7. Mix in roux into the stock mixture over medium heat and stir until gravy consistency.

8. Take pot off the heat and mix in Fresh Parsley, Thyme, Rosemary, salt and black pepper to taste.

Plating

Spoon over warm gravy, add cheese curds, and season with salt and pepper.

Yield: 1 dish per potato
Total Time: 1 hour

Citations and Further Readings:

• Barsh, Russel L., and James Y. Henderson. "The Supreme Court's Van der Peet Trilogy: Naïve Imperialism and Ropes of Sand." McGill Law Journal (1997). Print.
• Gollner, Adam L. "The Cheeses of Warwick." Maclean's Canda's Weekly Newsmagazine 12 July 2004. Print.
• López-Alt, J. Kenji. "The Burger Lab: Why Double Fry French Fries?." Serious Eats. Serious Eats, n.d. Web. 15 June 2014. Path: http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/01/the-burger-lab-why-double-fry-french-fries.html. 

Photos by Jordan Henline

8:57 PM

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Grilling out is a favorite summer past time of mine, The smells, sounds, beer, and music are all some of my favorite aspects of the summer. This recipe combines two of my favorite Outdoor grilled foods and merges them into one.

I really fell in love with bratwurst during a month stay I had in Germany of December 2013. I learned that there is a variance and tradition to Bratwurst all over Germany. Everything from the type of meat to spices are subject to change from region to region. A beautiful mixed meat Bratwurst comes out of Coburger in the Bavaria region.

“There is a long standing dispute over the exact origin of the Coburger Bratwurst. One story dates the bratwurst to "Fat Tuesday" (Fastnacht) in the year 1498, in which two bratwurst were given to the poor and children of Coburg. Another story says that the bratwurst was first created in the year 1530, when it was prepared for Martin Luther and various elected officials, who were journeying through the city of Coburg. In 1827, the bratwurst was mentioned in a letter from the composer Karl Friedrich Zelter to his friend Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: "Since 6:00am, I have watched from my hotel window bratwurst being grilled over 10 different fires, so if this letter smells like grilled bratwurst, you know where it comes from. I've been told that over 10,000 bratwurst are grilled in the two market days every week here - that means every soul in Coburg gets one bratwurst per week." (German Food Guide)

Coburg Germany’s version of the bratwurst is made with at least 15% beef or veal, and uses lemon zest, nutmeg, salt, pepper and egg as a binder. Also “In Germany, the Coburger Bratwurst is grilled over a pine-cone fire.” (German Food Guide) Our version of the Coburger Bratwurst Burger is % 66 ground pork and %33 80/20 beef. We do away with the egg, because the salt helps the proteins bond “When you salt meat and knead it, proteins in the meat become soluble. That soluble protein gels when the meatball is cooked, binding it firmly together.” (Arnold) In addition, we replace pine cones with mesquite wood chip smoke for a Backyard grill smoked flavor.

Coburger Bratwurst Burgers

½ pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork
1 T nutmeg
1 T salt
1 T pepper
2 t lemon zest
Mesquite wood chips

1. Mix beef, pork and seasonings in a large bowl, then let sit for 1 hr in refridgerator

2. Weight out patties into 6 quarter pound patties

3. Set up wood chips in aluminum foil, place over direct heat of the grill and wait until it starts to smoke.

4. Place patties on a grill above the smoke packet and cook until internal temperature is 165.

Yield: 6 burgers
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Citations and Further Readings: 

•  "Coburger Bratwurst ." German Food Guide, n.d. Web. 14 Aug. 2014. <http://www.germanfoodguide.com/wurstdetail.cfm?wurst_number=7>. 
• Arnold, Dave. "Dave Arnold on Meat Glue-Meatballs and Gluten-Free Cooking." Eater. Eater, 3 June 2011. Web. 14 Aug. 2014. <http://eater.com/archives/2011/06/03/ask-dave-arnold.php>.

Photo's by Jordan Henline 

6:43 PM