One afternoon when I wasn’t feeling particularly inspired about making dinner, I stumbled upon a picture of poutine (rhymes with routine) on social media. I have never tasted it, but it looked delicious: French fries topped with gravy and cheese curds, whatever those are. The only curds I am familiar with are cottage cheese, but I don’t think that’s what they use in Canada, the home of this dish.
In any case, I had found my inspiration for the question of what to make for dinner tonight…easy! I had some ground beef and some lamb/chicken stock that I had prepared previously. So, I decided to make what would be a hybrid of chili cheese fries and poutine. Just call it delicious.
I didn’t have a lot of fresh stuff in the house, but I had in the freezer: frozen french fries and green beans. I decided to plate the browned ground beef underneath the baked fries and serve the gravy on the side for dipping because I don’t like soggy fries.
In some olive oil, I sauteed some chopped garlic and then added the frozen green beans and chopped tomato.
Thickened up my stock by simmering with a little cornstarch. Melted some cheese on top of my oven baked french fries and called it a day. Comfort food with very little cooking involved.
Did I distract you by mentioning chili fries? You can Ban the Chill With Wicked Quick Pantry Chili too. It’s another idea for what to make for dinner tonight that’s easy.
Poutine is a staple comfort food around here!
Tell us about the real thing. What are the curds exactly?