I am so pleased with myself. Today, I made something absolutely amazing.
My friend recently visited Toronto, and seeing his food pictures reminded me of when I went to Toronto a few years ago for a race. There was a poutine food truck at the venue, and I had at least one order of poutine each day. For those of you who have never had the pleasure, poutine is a heaping pile of french fries with gravy and cheese curds. Unfortunately, poutine is rarely found on menus around these parts. And even if I did find poutine, a plate of fried potatoes is a big no-no for a low(er) carb diet.
I really wanted poutine. Being a genius at making shit up in the kitchen, I thought about the stuffed kabocha squash I tried a few weeks ago. It had a sweet flavor and starchy texture that reminded me of a sweet potato. I decided to deep fry a kabocha and make kabocha poutine. It was a win. My husband doesn’t even like squash or gravy, and he shoveled a big plateful of poutine into his face. Now, if you are expecting this to taste exactly like the traditional poutine using french fries…well, HELLO?! It’s a squash poutine. It will not taste like potato. But it will taste amazingly good, and satisfy that deep hungry craving for crispy fries drowned in gravy and cheese curds. Oh, and bacon. Of course I added bacon. You can also try a whole myriad of meats and seafood with your poutine such as sausage, duck, lobster, shrimp, a combination of it all…
First up is the gravy. Sure, you can buy a jar of pre-made gravy….but, come on. You know me. I found a beef gravy recipe of Emeril’s that I adapted for my poutine. I first made a roux out of bacon fat, butter, and flour. You heat up the fats on medium heat, then add the flour and keep stirring. Cook and stir for a few minutes until it turns into a nice golden brown/dark brown color.
Once the roux was ready, I added some shallots, garlic, dried parsley and dried thyme. I stirred that for a minute or so until it became really fragrant. Then I added a little Worchestershire sauce and cooked for another minute or so.
I added store bought beef stock, let it boil, then lowered the heat. I let it simmer for about 20 minutes until it reduced and thickened. I gave it a stir every now and then. Give it a taste to see if you want any additional salt and pepper. I thought it was fine without, but up to you.
My rich and savory gravy is ready for dousing!
Here is my cute little green pumpkin looking kabocha squash. I gave it a good scrub because the skin is edible, and a pain in the ass to peel off, so obviously, just leave it on.
I sliced the squash into 1/4 inch pieces. Be careful, for the squash is a bit hard to cut. With my crappy knife skills, I am amazed I did not slice a finger up.
I dusted the squash pieces with a light coating of corn starch. Just a very light dusting.
I wanted a squash fry that is crispy outside and fluffy inside. I’ve double fried chicken before, so I wanted to try double frying my squash. I didn’t find too much on deep frying kabocha squash, other than as tempura, which would have been awesome too, but…low carb and tempura batter… I looked up double fried french fries, and there were many tutorials.
I poured enough corn oil to fill the bottom inch or so of my French oven. It was a little less than a quart of oil. I don’t have a candy thermometer to read the temperature of the oil, but I do have meat thermometers. It probably wasn’t very accurate, but it was better than nothing. So I heated the oil to about 300°F and put a layer of squash in. Don’t overcrowd the pot, or your squash will not fry properly. I let the squash cook for about 4-5 minutes, and flipped the squash halfway. Then I fished them out and let them drain on a wire cooling rack. Notice how the squash are not really golden brown and crisp looking yet. The first fry is just to cook and soften them up.
After I finished giving all my squash the first fry treatment. I cranked the heat up so the oil was between 350°F and 400°F. Then all the squash got their second fry on for that golden brown and delicious crunchy coat. Once you fish the pieces out, hit them with a liberal sprinkling of salt while the oil is still glistening and hot. I used sea salt.
You should have seen the damage done to this plate of poutine the second I finished plating it and taking pictures. This is kabocha poutine. Crispy and fluffy kabocha fries, coated with a rich beef gravy, with a generous sprinkling of thick cut bacon, cheese curds, and green onion.
Kabocha Poutine
Ingredients
– kabocha fries
– beef gravy
– cheese curds
– thick cut bacon pieces
– green onion
Beef Gravy
Ingredients
– 2 tbs butter
– 2 tbs bacon fat
– 4 tbs flour
– 1-2 tbs finely minced shallot
– 1-1.5 tbs finely minced garlic
– 1 tsp dried parsley
– 1/2 tsp dried thyme
– 1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
– 3 cups beef stock
– salt and pepper to taste
Directions
– Melt the bacon fat and butter on medium heat. Add the flour and stir continuously for a few minutes until the roux turns into a golden dark brown.
– Add the shallots, garlic, dried parsley, and dried thyme. Cook for a minute until fragrant. Add the Worcestershire sauce and cook for another minute.
– Add the beef stock and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the gravy reduces and thickens. Add salt and pepper if you want.
Kabocha Fries
Ingredients
– 1 kabocha squash
– 3 tbs corn starch
– 1 quart of corn oil or other oil suitable for deep frying
– salt
Directions
– Scrub and de-seed the kabocha. Slice the squash into 1/4 inch slices.
– Lightly coat the squash with corn starch and brush off the excess.
– Heat the oil in a heavy pot to 300°F. Fry the squash for 4-5 minutes and flip them half way. Fry in batches if necessary. Let the squash drain on a wire rack.
– Once the first fry is done, turn the heat up so the oil is between 350°F-400°F. Fry the squash for 2-3 minutes and flip them half way. Let the squash drain on a wire rack.
To Assemble
Sprinkle bacon pieces and cheese curds on top of a pile of kabocha fries. Pour gravy over everything. Top with green onion, and more cheese curds and bacon.
