Poutine (fries and cheese curds covered with hot brown gravy) wasn’t something I grew up with in Edmonton. In fact, I don’t think I’d ever heard of poutine until I was in grad school. Maybe I didn’t get out enough to see it on menus, but poutine was never a thing at any of the places I did go to.
Now when I go back to Edmonton, it’s everywhere. Even Pizza Hut.
Fries and gravy, on the other hand, was everywhere. A plate of hot fries covered with a generous ladle or two of thick brown peppery gravy, or maybe on the side for dipping.
This is a recipe for a Korean bulgogi marinade that comes from Korean Cooking: Explore One of the Orient’s Greatest Culinary Secrets by Hilaire Walden. It’s a cookbook that’s been on my shelf for quite a while now, and has several dishes that I’ve enjoyed making. Not sure how easy it is to get now, but you might get lucky and find one at your favourite used book store. It’s got some great recipes that don’t require special or hard to get ingredients.
4 scallions coarsely chopped (I usually leave these out…not a big fan of onion-y things)
3 garlic cloves, chopped (fresh is best, but the pre-chopped stuff in a jar will do in a pinch)
1 tablespoon crushed toasted sesame seeds (mortar and pestle are great for the crushing part)
3 tablespoons soy sauce (I usually use the low salt version…turns out fine)
2 teaspoons rice wine/dry sherry (I never have any on hand so usually leave it out)
1 tablespoon sesame oil (if you can find toasted sesame seed oil, go with that)
2 tablespoons sugar (I like to use brown sugar)
freshly ground pepper (I always forget this)
This should make enough to marinate about a pound or so of your preferred meat/protein product.
Newish location of Marco’s Pizza opened up next door to the Publix on James Island so we gave it a try.
We had a sausage and meatball pizza. Pretty decent, lots of meat.
Big chunks of sausage and whole meatballs cut in half, not slices like you might expect from chains or takeout places.
Nice place. Not fancy, not a whole lot of seating (3 booths, a few seats by the window and a couple of 2-top tables) but reasonably comfy. Most of the customers we saw while eating were coming in for pick-up/take out orders.
We made a stop at Swig & Swine for lunch today. Between the two of us, the 2-meat platters let us sample almost all of their smoked meat offerings. If you can, sit toward the back at their “meat counter” where you can watch the guys pulling and slicing slabs of meat to fill orders. Fun place to sit and watch.
While we were waiting, the guy slicing meats was nice enough to give us a sample of the pork belly. So delicious.
Soon after came our platters: Pulled pork/house made sausage with cheddar grits and pickled vegetables, and smoked turkey/brisket with brunswick stew and beans with brisket.
For dessert, we split a chocolate pecan pie.
Be hungry when you go. You’ll probably leave with leftovers.
A little while ago, I learned that Trader Joe’s sells poutine in their freezer section. I was somewhat skeptical about the product, but it got a favourable reaction from the website I saw it on, and from one of my friends that tried it out. On a recent trip out to the Trader Joe’s around here, Connie picked up a package, and we tried it out this evening.
Disclaimer: I grew up in Western Canada, and as far as I knew at the time, poutine was never a thing in Edmonton. I’d heard of it, but never saw it anywhere. Fries and gravy was easy to find (and was a lunch time staple during high school), but not poutine. I have very little experience with poutine.
Trader Joe’s poutine is a bag of frozen french fries, a pouch of cheese curds, and a pouch of gravy (they call it beef sauce).
Trader Joe’s poutine
Frozen french fries ready for baking
Pouch of cheese curds, and a pouch of gravy
The instructions are pretty simple. Bake the fries at 425°F (about 220°C) for 20-25 minutes, and put the pouches of curds and gravy into a pot of just barely simmering water to thaw them out. You’ll want to keep an eye on the pouches, especially the cheese curds. If you leave them in the water too long, or let the water get too hot, you end up with a mass of molten cheese rather than individual curds. My pouch of curds ended up a bit on the melty side, but the individual curds were still mostly separable.
When the fries are baked golden brown and delicious, put them all on a plate, cut open the pouch of curds, and sprinkle them over the fries.
Fries and curds
Cut open the pouch of gravy (not sauce) and spread over the fries and curds (careful not to burn yourself).
Poutine!
Serve right away while everything is still hot.
I dug in and was pleasantly surprised. The gravy, although thinner than I prefer, was actually pretty tasty and sort of reminded me of the fries and gravy I used to eat for lunch at the mall. The curds were pretty good, squeaky as they should be. The package is easily enough to serve 3-4 people, although one hungry person wouldn’t have a problem finishing the whole thing off.
I don’t know if I really get the whole poutine thing, but that’s probably because I never grew up with it. I can’t say how good Trader Joe’s poutine is compared to any other poutine, but I’d totally buy another package just to do fries and gravy with. As fries and gravy, Trader Joe’s has a pretty decent product here. I might reduce the gravy down a little bit, or do something else to thicken it up a little more, but otherwise it’s pretty good.
Ahh, comfort food.
