Discussions

We had a discussion about poutine a year back, what is your favourite poutine? Where can you find a great poutine in Manitoba. Any poutine recipes to share?  
 
First off, recipe.. I made a decent poutine a while back. What I did was buy a 5LB bag of Russett Potatos (Yukon Golds or almost any other kind will do well.. Red potatos I don't recommend.. they take forever to cook and they don't turn out well as fries).  
I cut them into strips, kept the skin on, to give it a nice NY fries-like taste, put them in a bowl of boiling hot water for about 5 minutes, dry them off. Then baked them in the oven for a while, i drizzeled a table spoon of vegetable oil over the fries, but that's not necessary, if you want fries like a restaurant you can deep fry them.  
 
For the gravy, I recommend your favourite gravy (or else a chicken based gravy), I used McCormick's poutine gravy mix. It was alright but was a bit too spicy/soupy for me, but I didn't have any beef/chicken stock with me to make a real gravy.  
 
For the cheese, I highly suggest Bothwell's White Cheddar cheese curds (or any other cheese curds you can find), you can find the white cheddar cheese curds at Sobeys and Safeway, or order it online at the Bothwell Cheese website. Shredded cheese does not give the poutine justice.  
 
It should take about 15-30 minutes to cook the fries (if youre baking), depending on how you want the fries to be cooked (ie crispy or not), sometimes it may take longer. As soon as the fries are out of the oven, and your gravy is ready, get a bowl or a small pie plate, put as much fries as you want in the bowl/plate for yourself, put some cheese curds over top the fries, again, put as much as you want over them. then pour the gravy over the fries and curds, let it cool for a minute so it lets the curds melt a little bit. Next, enjoy! Bon appétit!  
 
If you have too much curds left over, theyre a great snack food, or you can batter them and fry them into fried cheese curds (just like mozzarella cheese sticks)  
 
 
 
As for best poutine, here in Manitoba, the best poutine I have ever had is at New York Fries, their poutine is not even great, the fries are amazing, but the curds are always too warm and as if they have been sitting out for a few days (losing its fresh squeaky texture). I've also tried poutines at various diners around Manitoba, as well as Burger King, A&W, KFC, and nothing in Manitoba is great for poutine. For a province known for great potatos, great cheese, and great beef/poultry, its impossible to find a great poutine!  
 
What is your favourite poutine?