Top Chef Canada

It looks like the competition will get sticky this Monday, May 16, when the Top Chefs compete over making the best poutine. Food Network Canada, 9 p.m. Stay tuned...

Au Pied de Cochon

Martin Picard, from Au Pied de Cochon, was the invited chef to La Festival de la Poutine this year.


His booth offered regular poutine, along with squid poutine (with squid ink gravy) and lobster poutine. (Salad was sold in each booth too but I didn't see anyone actually eating any!)


From time-to-time, Martin could be seen inside his mini-kitchen.


We ordered the lobster poutine and it was amazing. Just look at all that lobster!


And at $9.75 (compared to a regular poutine at $5.50), it was a real deal.
We gave it top marks, a 5 out of 5 curds. The fries had their skins left on them, making them very tasty. The gravy didn't have the tomato flavouring that the other poutines had and instead tasted of lobster. And the curds were plentiful and squeaky.


It was good to the last drop.


And best of all, I got to meet the man himself. What a fun guy!

Au Pied de Cochon, 536 ave Duluth est, Montréal, QC H2L 1A9
Phone: 514-281-1114

Bonnie Stern's Poutine

From the pages of Reader's Digest, here's Toronto chef Bonnie Stern's version of a healthier poutine. Click to enlarge.

La Poutine Jenga

Chef Martin Juneau is one clever fellow. He created a poutine in the shape of a Jenga game. Jenga is a game where you stack blocks into a tower and then each person takes a turn removing a block until the tower eventually falls. The person who removes the last block loses.

This poutine tower is made of the three standard ingredients in poutine: potatoes cut into a block, cheddar cheese cut into the same shape (alas, Chef Juneau couldn't use curds because they are unstable and irregularly shaped), and gravy made solid by using gelatin, again in the same shape as the other two ingredients.

To see a video of Chef Juneau making his Poutine Jenga, click here.

Thanks to my friend Dave for sending me this link!

Dessert Poutine

Ricardo Larrivée – or simply Ricardo to his fans – is Canada’s most successful bilingual celebrity chef. He studied hotel management in Montreal, but never actually trained as a chef or even worked in a kitchen for that matter.
Ricardo has been called, "Quebec's answer to Jamie Oliver.” He hosts two television shows, Ricardo in French and Ricardo and Friends in English. He has just published his second cookbook and also has his own magazine also called Ricardo.

His recipe for a dessert that looks like poutine is somewhat like my "faux poutine cake" but is much more complicated to make. Still, it makes me think that I could make this but omit his deep-fried "churros" that look like fries (I hate deep frying) and replace it with toasted pound cake (like I did on top of the cake). Read on. I think it's pretty cool.



Caramel Sauce:
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tbsp corn syrup
1 cup 35% cream
3/4 cup semi-salted butter, cut into cubes

In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the water, sugar and corn syrup to a boil. Using a wet pastry brush, wash down any sugar crystals from the sides of the pan. Move the sauce pan around with the handle, while cooking, to keep the colour even until the mixture turns golden.

Remove from the heat and add the cream gradually while stirring. Continue cooking over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is smooth.
Whisk in the butter until the sauce is smooth. Let cool.

Fries (churros):
3/4 cup milk
1 cup semi-salted butter, cut into cubes
1 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
5 eggs
Vegetable oil for deep-frying
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp ground cinnamon

Directions: Preheat the oil in the deep fryer to 190°C (375°F). Line a baking sheet with paper towels or set a cooling rack on it.

In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the milk to a boil with the butter. Remove from the heat. Add the flour all at once and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the dough forms a smooth ball.

Return the saucepan to the burner over low heat and stir until the dough pulls away from the sides of the saucepan, about 2 minutes.

Remove from the heat and let cool for a few minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating vigorously after each addition with a wooden spoon or electric mixer. Beat until the dough is smooth.

Using a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-cm (1/4-inch) star tip, pipe 15-cm (6-inch) ribbons one at a time into the deep fryer. Fry about 8 churros at a time, turning them halfway through cooking, until golden, about 3 minutes. Drain on the baking sheet.

In a deep stainless steel mixing bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon.

Drop the hot churros into the sugar mixture. Shake the bowl to coat well and shake off the excess sugar. Set the churros aside on a baking sheet in an oven preheated to 100°C (212°F).

Repeat with the remaining dough.

Pile the churros in 8 bowls, drizzle with sauce and scatter marshmallow pieces on top. Serve warm.

For a less sweet version you can replace the marshmallows with small spoonfuls of ricotta cheese.

Emeril Lagasse's Poutine

Emeril Legasse's recipe for poutine from an episode of Emeril Live about French Canadian Cuisine.


2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups beef stock
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds Idaho white potatoes, peeled and cut
1/2 pound fresh cheese curd

In a saucepan, over medium heat, combine the butter and flour. Stir until incorporated. Cook for 12 to 15 minutes for a dark roux. Stir in the stock. Season with salt and pepper. Bring the liquid to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and continue cooking for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and keep warm. Peel the potatoes and cut fries, 4 inches by 1/2-inch. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the potatoes and blanch for 4 minutes. Remove, drain and cool completely. Fry the potatoes until golden brown. Remove and drain on paper towels. Season with salt and pepper. To serve, mound the fries into the individual (16-ounce) disposable cups. Spoon the gravy over the fries and crumble the cheese. Serve immediately.
Yield: 4 to 6 servings

A Day of Poutine!

Chef Pierre Robillard, a native Montrealer who migrated to Toronto two years ago to open his popular Québecois restaurant, Café du Lac, specializes in a gourmet poutine made with Perron cheese curds, a foie gras and brie cream sauce which is sprinkled throughout with maple syrup drizzled pulled beef and topped with seared foie gras.




Pierre will be showcasing his specialty poutine at the Cheese Boutique in Toronto’s west end on Saturday, February 27th from noon to 4pm.






Too bad I live so far away. Can someone go and "cover" the event for Poutine Chronicles and report back to me? That'd be fantastic!
The Cheese Boutique is at 45 Ripley Avenue, Toronto. Phone: 416-762-6292. To read more about the cheese boutique, click here.