Poutine: The One Pounder

I didn't mean the size of the poutine was equivalent to 1lb, I meant eating it is equivalent to 1lb of butter. So, if you wanna butterball yourself up for a movie or for some reason unknown...eat poutine. I swear, Renee Zellweger did it for Bridget Jone's Diary. Okay, she ate a ton of donuts but what's the difference.

Poutine as I mentioned before is the "national" dish of Quebec. Everybody, everywhere sells poutine here in Quebec. 3pm and you're hungry? Poutine. Late midnight snack? The diner is still open, Poutine! This ridiculously unhealthy but justifiably delicious snack is not everyone's cup of tea, I can tell you that. I knew a guy from UK who told me that poutine sounded "beastly" and an American who thought it was "yuck"...Pfft, these Brits and Americans, they don't know what they're missing...:P

Fries slathered with rich brown sauce and squeaky cheese curds, that's what poutines are. What could go wrong? Except that it looks sloppy and a little unrefined. Anyway, I want to share this recipe with you, I exchanged cheese curds for orange cheddar because I dislike the squeaky sound the cheese curds make between my teeth when I chew (the squeak is a trademark that the cheese curds are fresh) and also because orange cheddar has a mild and smooth taste :)

Here goes:
2 Potatoes, cut into fingers and fried (you can use frozen fries too)
1/4 cup of orange cheddar, cubed (or cheese curds if you can find in your local supermarket. I heard they sell them in Wisconsin, Minnesota and sometimes Jersey with their version of poutine called "disco fries" pfft)
brown sauce (packet beef or chicken or you can make your own vegetarian one - recipe below), slather as much as you like but don't flood it.

Method:
1. Deep fry the fries until done.
2. Add the cubed cheese on top and dribble brown sauce on top.
3. Eat with a fork because your fingers can't hold up that melted cheese as well, trust me.
et voila!
:)
***
Vegetarian brown sauce:
1 onion, minced
2 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon oil
1.5 tablespoon of flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
pepper
1 cup of water or more, depending on how thick you want your sauce to be

Method:
1. Heat oil and butter in a pan, and add your garlic, onion, and sugar in. Saute in medium heat until caramelized and brown, approx 20-30 minutes. Add flour and stir until well combined.
2. Let the flour cook with the onions and garlic for about 3-4 more minutes before adding water slowly while stirring constantly. This prevents lumps.
3. Add salt and pepper to taste. You can also add more water if you want your sauce to be less thick.
p.s. you can keep the rest of unused sauce in the freezer for up to 3 months.