We love poutine. Like, luuuuve love. Of all the things that Canada has contributed to the Western world, it’s right up there near the top of the list. Given that, it pains us that the ingredients for it aren’t readily available in our neck of the woods. We’re lookin’ at you, cheese curds. You can imagine our delight when a recipe for “poutine-style” twice baked potatoes appeared in Food & Wine magazine utilizing more readily available ingredients. It was love at first sight, although it’s taken a while (two years?!?) to get around to attempting it. Embarrassing, but here we are finally.
Relying on our penchant for ingredient swaps, we opted for fresh mozzarella in place of the curds and pared down the original recipe to simplify it even more. There was also the issue of the gravy. How do you manage to make a gravy vegetarian AND gluten free without sacrificing the very things that make gravy so dreamy—deep flavor and a rich, smooth texture? There were frightful visions of torch-wielding villagers if we screwed it up.
Enter the Ridiculously Simple Mushroom Stock. This easy stock with the unbelievably complex flavor was actually the impetus for revisiting this recipe. Replacing the all-purpose flour with sweet rice flour (found in the Asian aisle of most markets) for making the roux provided the necessary thickening agent, lent a hint of sweetness and gave a lovely, silky texture to the finished gravy. Problem solved. Snap. There were so many other elements to the Food & Wine version that were intriguing—parmesan cheese, dijon mustard and cayenne—but our fondness for the traditional dish discouraged any temptation to veer too far from the basic components.
Our version is about as traditional as it can be given that we’re using twice-baked potatoes in place of the fries, mushroom gravy in place of the beef gravy, and fresh mozzarella in place of the cheese curds, but hey, it’s all about the flavors and trust us, they’re all there.
The original recipe also suggested frying up the cutout pieces of baked potato to make individual “frites” for garnishing the potatoes, and while absolutely adorable, they seemed a smidge too finicky and labor intensive, so laziness simplicity won out. Feel free to check out that step in the link below, but remember that it’s just one more step between you and stuffing your face.
Rather than using six standard sized potatoes, we opted for four larger, entrée-sized potatoes, because honestly, it wouldn’t be fair to serve this as a side dish to anything. They’re that fantastic. Serve them with a nice, simple side salad for a romantic, vegetarian dinner and your significant other will most definitely be “poutine” out afterwards. *teeheehee*
Inspired by Food & Wine.
- GRAVY
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 tablespoons sweet white rice flour
- 2 cups mushroom stock
- ¼ teaspoon dried sage
- ½ teaspoon finely chopped thyme
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- STUFFED POTATOES
- 3 pounds baked potatoes (Food and Wine recommends 6, but we used 4 extra large)
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ¾ cup milk
- ½ cup sour cream
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- ¾ cup cheese curds or fresh mozzarella cheese, torn into small pieces
- Thinly sliced scallions, for garnish
- MAKE THE GRAVY In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Add the sweet white rice flour and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until deep golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the mushroom stock, sage and thyme and cook until thickened to a gravy-like consistency, 15 to 20 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper. Keep warm.
- PREPARE THE STUFFED POTATOES Cut one ½-inch-wide strip off the top of each baked potato. Scoop the potato flesh into a large bowl. Place the potato shells on a baking sheet. In a small saucepan, heat butter and milk over medium-low heat until the butter is melted. Using a ricer or masher, mash the potato flesh with the butter and milk mixture into another large bowl. Stir in the sour cream and season with salt and pepper.
- Preheat the oven to 450º. Spoon about ⅔ cup of the mashed potato mixture into each potato shell and make a well in the center. Bake for about 20 minutes, until heated through and golden on top. Spoon some gravy into the well of each potato, then top with ½ cup of the torn cheese. Bake the potatoes for about 5 minutes, until the cheese is melted. Transfer the potatoes to a serving platter and top with the remaining cheese. Garnish with scallions and serve with extra gravy.
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