Making Poutine

Hi folks, this is a recipe for all you peeps out there who like the Quebecois favourite, poutine. Supposedly originated in Montreal. It's also for all those people out there who are curious about what happens to milk when you add acid, such as lemon juice or vinegar to it. Cheese curds! What are they? My own personal guess would be something somehow related to underdeveloped cheese. And I think the most important bit of poutine making.

Poutine is awesome. Especially at the end of a great night out with your buds. It can betransformed into many different works of art. Add some salami or hot sauce or peppers or onions. How about some mayonnaise and ketchup?

What you need:

• 2 Lemons
• 1l of Milk
• Bag o' Fries (or potatoes)
• Gravy
• Salt & Pepper
• Time (it's gonna take overnight)
• Recommended: Tabasco

Simple, right?

So first of all, you want to make the cheese curds:

1. Add lemon to lukewarm temperature milk in a sauce pan.

2. use a dishcloth or preferably cheesecloth to cover a sieve which you have placed on top of a large bowl, larger than the sieve. Stir the milk and lemon juice, then filter out all the curds that have collected, by pouring it in the cheesecloth lined sieve.

3. Add salt and stir with a spoon. Wrap up the cheesecloth with the curds. Discard the whey (in the bowl - supposedly you can use it for other stuff too if you wanna keep it). Place a plate (smaller than sieve) on top of the wrapped up cloth and add a weight, such as a large can.

4. So while you let that rest for a while (over night) you can go do something else. Like have a beer with friends or something, maybe catch some sleep. And then on the next day, get excited for some self-made poutine.

5. Follow the instructions of your fries (usually frozen). Or if you want to get really fancy with it, make your own, go cut some actual potatoes if you really want. Don't forget to add salt and pepper those fries!

6. Now for the gravy. The gravy is a little difficult if you're willing to spend the time actually making it from scratch. Involves fat from chicken or something.. Anyways, I used a simple product from the local supermarket, that you just add to hot water..

7. And now for the special part of the show. Putting it altogether. Here are some pictures:

8. It is absolutely essential that you experiment. Tabasco works wonders, and adding beef and fried onions and peppers is great, too. Get creative.