Enjoy Poutine at Home without the hassle of deep frying! Use gourmet bite-size salt potatoes and top them with cheese curd and gravy!
I used Dynamic Duo potatoes from The Little Potato Company. They make it so simple since they are already scrubbed and ready to use! Boiling them up is infinitely simpler than deep frying!
Salt potatoes are a treat that dates back to the 1800s in Syracuse, New York when the Irish workers at the salt springs would boil their lunch potatoes in the salty brine. (Note you can just boil the potatoes the way you normally do if sodium consumption is an issue for you ).
Eventually their popularity became wide-spread and are now staples at Central New York fairs and BBQs.
The traditional ratio is 1 cup of table salt to 6 cups of water. I used 1 cup of salt to 10 cups of water because the recipe I was following suggested even more water but my pot would only hold 10 cups! It turned out to be happy variation since I was pleased with the way they turned out.
Boiling the potatoes in salt water forms a film so the potatoes don't absorb as much water as a traditional boiled potato and the higher boiling point means the starches in the potatoes cook more uniformly - making them even creamier!
Cheese curds are salty and gravy can be as well so a little less salt crust on the potato is not amiss.
You could make this with just plain boiled gourmet potatoes but the salt factor is more reminiscent of french fries. And of course, you could use these Salt and Vinegar French Fries too!
I often have left over beef gravy frozen in my freezer so I used that but you can also use a canned gravy. I like Franco American beef gravy.
Making this comfort food at home allows you to enjoy the flavours and control the quantities!
Ingredients
- 24 gourmet bite size potatoes I used Dynamic Duo from The Little Potato Company
- 1 cup table salt
- 10 cups water
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 1 lb cheese curds
- 9 ½ oz can beef gravy or about 1 cup homemade if possible
Instructions
- Add salt and water to a large cooking pot. Add potatoes. Bring water to a boil over high heat. Once water has boiled reduce heat and allow potatoes to simmer about 20 minutes until they are fork tender.
- When potatoes are almost done microwave gravy until it is thin enough to pour.
- Drain potatoes and divide equally into 4 microwave-proof serving dishes.
- Melt butter in the microwave and drizzle over potatoes.
- Sprinkle curd evenly over the potatoes in the serving dishes. Drizzle gravy over the potatoes and curd to taste.
- Microwave serving dishes for about 1 minute on high so curd is warmed through and may start to melt.
- Serve immediately.
Leave a Reply