Poutine. If you’re American there is a good chance that you’ve never heard of it. I’ll fill you in. Poutine is a Canadian dish consisting of french fries, gravy and cheese curds. I found out about poutine years ago when I saw it being made on a Food Network show. It looked like something I would want to taste at least once in my life but since I wasn’t going to Canada anytime soon I figured I would never get the chance to try it.
That chance actually came last year and I didn’t have to go to Canada. I was able to try poutine for the very first time at the Food and Wine Conference. It was the featured dish for our lunch on the first day that was sponsored by Idaho Potato. There were different variations of poutine served and they even had a vegetarian one that I ate that had kale in it. It was so good and I couldn’t believe that these ingredients worked so well. I occasionally have poutine withdrawals and dream about the poutine I ate last year. When the opportunity to create an original poutine recipe for the Idaho Potato and National Sunday Supper Month Recipe Contest came up I just had to try to create my own.
This contest lets food bloggers get creative and create their own poutine interpretation. The recipe must be an original recipe using Idaho potatoes. Three winners will be chosen by the Idaho Potato Commission and each winner will receive a cash prize plus a ticket to this year’s Food and Wine Conference. The Food and Wine Conference is great opportunity to meet other food bloggers and learn the latest skills for running your blog. I know I will definitely be at this year’s conference. You can find out more about the Idaho Potato and National Sunday Supper Month contest here and more about this year’s Food and Wine Conference here. The deadline to enter this contest is January 31, 2016.
I decided to create a healthy and vegan variation of poutine consisting of baked yet crispy french fries made from Idaho russet potatoes with a coating of adobo seasoning. It’s a touch of Latin seasoning to this Canadian dish. The gravy is made from portobello mushrooms and contains lentils in it. Topping everything off is some melted vegan mozzarella cheese instead of cheese curds. Give this mushroom and lentil poutine a try and while you're at it check out the Sunday Supper Movement website and Idaho Potato on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.
Mushroom and Lentil Poutine
Get the printable recipe here.
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients:
French Fries:
3 russet potatoes
3 tablespoons whole wheat flour
3 teaspoons adobo seasoning
3 tablespoons coconut oil
Gravy:
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ onion minced
3 garlic cloves minced
1 cup portobello mushrooms chopped
3 tablespoons whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons arrowroot powder
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon liquid aminos
2 cups low sodium vegetable broth
1 cup cooked brown lentils
½ teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon sage
1 teaspoon rosemary
1 tablespoon white cooking wine
1 teaspoon no salt seasoning
1 cup non-dairy vegan shredded mozzarella cheese or cheese curds if making it vegetarian
Directions:
1. Leaving the skin on, cut the potatoes into French fry shapes.
2. Fill a large bowl with cold water and place all of the cut potatoes in the bowl. Soak the potatoes for 1-1 ½ hours to remove excess starch.
3. While the potatoes are soaking in the water, heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
4. Add the onions, garlic and mushrooms and cook until onions are translucent and the mushrooms have lost their water. About 5-8 minutes.
5. Add the flour, arrowroot powder, nutritional yeast and liquid aminos.
6. Gradually add the vegetable broth while stirring constantly.
7. Add the lentils, thyme, sage, rosemary, wine and no salt seasoning. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to low. Let the gravy simmer for about 10 minutes or until the gravy has thickened.
8. Drain and rinse the potatoes. Dry all of the pieces with a paper towel. Place the potatoes in another large bowl and add the whole wheat flour, adobo seasoning and coconut oil. Toss to coat all of the potatoes evenly.
9. Preheat oven to 400°F.
10. In a large perforated baking sheet, place the potatoes on the sheet in a single layer making sure they don't overlap. If you don't have a perforated baking sheet then you can use a regular baking sheet and put a cooling rack inside to allow the heat to cook the top and bottom of the potatoes at the same time. This will give you crispier fries.
11. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet and turn the fries over after 15 minutes.
12. Remove the fries and sprinkle some salt on top of them while they are still hot.
13. Put some of the vegan mozzarella cheese in a small bowl and microwave it for 15-20 seconds making sure it doesn't burn.
14. Top the fries with the mushroom and lentil gravy and melted vegan mozzarella cheese and serve.
