Bacon Poutine Melt
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The story goes that some time in the late 1950's a regular at a restaurant in Warwick, Quebec by the name of Eddy Lainesse asked the staff to add cheese curds on top of his fries, to which the owner, one Fernand Lachance, exclaimed: 'ça va faire une maudite poutine', or 'it will make a damn mess'. Whether this is a true story or not is debatable, but one thing not up for debate is that poutine is one of Canada's most recognizable dishes, and rather than being a damn fine mess, I'd happily argue that it is instead a thing of absolute beauty.
So why poutine as an inspiration then? Well quite simply, yesterday was Canada Day. Yeah, I get that I probably should have put this together yesterday, but quite frankly I was too busy enjoying the other festivities. I figure that you can consider this a continuation of the celebration, or at minimum, a fantastic way to combat your Canada Day hangover.
Poutine is pretty straight forward; it's just fries, cheese curds and gravy. The trick is just making sure that each aspect is of good quality, adding in just slight tweaks and variations as necessary. Personally I've made two deviations from the most common recipes you'll find: the first is to use Yukon Gold potatoes rather than the more traditional Kennebec fries; and the second is use of a peppered bacon gravy. This latter change is driven by necessity; I didn't want to use a simple gravy mix, and bacon seemed like a great way to bring in flavour without needing to cook a whole joint of meat. Of course, it helps that everyone loves bacon.
Anyway, it may be a day late, but happy Canada Day everyone. :)
Bacon Poutine Melt
Serves: 2 People
Bacon poutine melt with Yukon Gold potatoes, cheese curds and a peppered bacon gravy.
Ingredients
- 4 Slices Whole Wheat Bread
- 1 Large Yukon Gold Potato
- 6 Strips Thick Peppered Bacon
- 60g Cheese Curds
- 150ml Milk
- 1 Tablespoon Flour
- Sea Salt
- Black Pepper
- A Knob of Butter
Instructions
- Wash the Yukon Gold Potato, then slice along two directions to make square ended strips or fries.
- Rinse the fries in cold water, then set in a sieve or colander until fully drained.
- Bring a skillet to a medium to high temperature, add oil and place the fries in carefully.
- Dice the bacon strips, then place in a second skillet at a medium termperature, adding just a small touch of oil.
- Fry both both the potato and bacon, turning each frequently to avoid burning.
- The bacon should finish cooking first. Tilt the skillet to one side such that the bacon and fat separate, then carefully remove the bacon.
- Drain off all bout about a tablespoon or two of the bacon fat, then mix in the flour and milk.
- Add a few twists of sea salt and cracked black pepper, then continue to cook the milk, flour and bacon fat mixture until it starts to thicken. Mix the previously removed bacon back in, then remove from the heat to avoid burning the gravy.
- Bring a skillet to a low to medium temperature, and melt in the knob of butter.
- Place all 4 slices of bread into the buttered skillet, and cook until nicely bronzed.
- Finally, layer up each sandwich as follows: one slice of bread on the bottom; a layer of fries; cheese curds; a generous covering of bacon gravy; then finally a second bread slice on top.
Notes & Tips
There's quite a few components here that cook at different speeds and all need to come together at the end, so don't be afrain to remove things from the heat if they look finished; you can always give the completed sandwich a minute or two under a grill to bring everything back up to temperature and ensure everything is melted.
