Wednesday, June 2, 2010

My Hot Dog & Poutine Wannabe Dinner


I've never tried Poutine in my life...so, how weird of me to try "recreating" it at home. How was I supposed to know how it tasted like? Therefore, please excuse my beyond inauthentic poutine wannabe and just go along this yummy ride, will ya?

From what I heard, poutine is essentially french fries served with cheese curd and gravy.
They had me at cheese.
Heck, they had me at fries!

So, here we go...
My Poutine Wannabe
The Fries


I planned to use store bought french fries or frozen fries. But since I couldn't find any that day, I just sliced a couple of potatoes, rinse them until the water runs clear to get rid of the excess starch, pat 'em dry, and oven baked them with some butter and olive oil. I try to avoid deep frying whenever I can.

The cheese

In a sauce pan, I threw in 2 tsp butter, 1/2 cup of skim milk, plenty of grated cheddar cheese, a pinch of salt, white pepper, a dash of paprika (I just did it for the love of red dust) and a bit of corn starch dilluted in water to thicken. I added a few chunks of cheddar at the end.

The gravy

I despise store bought gravy, plus, I need to prepare my lunch for the next working day, so I used the gravy of this beef dish on my "poutine". Saute a clove of crushed garlic and a quarter of diced onion with a bit of butter and olive oil, add beef chunks, add mushrooms, drizzle some red wine, add some diced vegetables (I used peas, carrots and corn), add beef/chicken stock (optional) or just hot water, add mixed herbs (I used rosemary, oregano, and thyme), season with salt and black pepper, thicken with a bit of corn starch dilluted in water...and I got my version of gravy sorted.

The assembly

Two servings of "fries". Since they will get soaked in sauces anyway, don't worry too much about them being not as fluffy or crispy as normal french fries...and you don't need to season them.


I couldn't resist but adding a few chunks of beef before pouring some gravy over 'em.


Topped with the liquid gold...cheese sauce with chunks of cheddar cheese...
Yum. Amen.

I went even more inauthentic with the next serving...but I didn't regret it...

I added the whole beef, veggie, and mushrooms with the gravy altogether before pouring the cheese.
At least it is healthy---er, right?

...and while I prepared the hotdogs, I keep them in low oven to keep warm...

It's amazing how I could peel myself off them.

They were begging to be consumed right away.

Oh my~

The hotdogs

Johnsonsville's Turkey Cheddar hot dogs on lightly buttered and toasted hot dog buns, served with mayo, ketchup, relish, sambal ABC (Indonesian chilli sauce) and grated mixed cheese.

Nothing else I could say but yum!

PS. SC blamed me for the 2 lbs he gained after this meal :(

14 comments:

  1. It looks good!!! I think it is a good match! The fries and the hotdog bun!

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  2. I've never heard of poutine, and according to my waist it's probably a good thing. Because, I am afraid we would become fast friends.

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  3. OMG Poutine is GODLY. To make it even more authentic, you should use cheese curds, which are chewier than cheese chunks I think. What you've got looks amazing already tho

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  4. You're amazing. Been reading your blog for a while...and i think u should open a restaurant.

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  5. As long as they are yummy, no one cares whether they are authentic or not la, haha, and urs definitely look something to die for.

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  6. I've heard of poutine but never had it...it does have a reputation of being some kind of awesome! I love the gravy poutine fries. Amazing.

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  7. Hello Rita,
    I've been watching your blog from afar for a while now, and love it. Don't think I ever commented it before, but this post just called upon me leaving you a note.

    First, you're pretty close to the real thing let me tell you! Poutine being native to my region (Quebec-Canada) I know what I'm talking about! It has to be the strangest thing though... for me to think poutine is being eaten in Hong Kong! lol

    Great effort, you get many brownie points for that one!

    If you want, you can write back to me and if interested, we can make a package exchange, in which I could send you the real cheese curds, the real sauce and some other things from my place, you might find interesting.

    Let me know what you think... and again, bravo for the original recreation!!!

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  8. Amazing! Good effort at recreating poutine, but with a very distinct Rita-twist =) Looks YUM.

    Jax x

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  9. I am drooling at my desk as I read your blog. Thanks for the recipe, am heading to the kitchen right now for some cheesy goodness :)

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  10. fries with cheese! they are my weakness, I can have the whole plate to myself. I have the pink plate from daiso too ^_^

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  11. Your take on poutine looks good! The beef and mushroom gravy would be really tasty on it.

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  12. I've never had poutine either but this looks amaaazing! Who cares if it's authentic if it's delicious?

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