by So I have been searching the DC metro area for cheese curds for a couple of weeks. The other night I went out to dinner with my friends Ryan and Melissa and they informed me that you can purchase cheese curds at Trader Joes. This is awesome as it is right down the street. So yes, Trader Joes carries cheese curds in the DC metro area, if you were looking. Once I had my hands on the magnificent curds I only had one thought in my head, Poutine. What is Poutine you ask? It is a dish that is popular in Canada that contains cheese curds, french fries, and beef gravy. Well our Neighbors to the North (Canada) know how to pile on the calories in a single meal (roughly 1000 calories in a single serving). Sounds a little overkill, but it is completely amazing.
- It is so tasty that you don’t need to count the calories. – It’s a free pass!!
The standard is white cheddar curds but all I could find were yellow curds. Tastes the same, just looks a bit different.
Poutine
- 2 large russet potatoes
- 6 oz fresh cheese curds (white or yellow) – The squeakier the better…
- 16 oz beef broth or stock (2 cups)
- 1 oz butter (2 tbs)
- 1 oz flour (1/4 cup)
- salt and pepper
Start off by making your gravy. It will take about 25 minutes. Place the butter and flour into a sauce pan and stir for 6-8 minutes until you make a brown roux.
Then add the beef broth/stock and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper. Once the gravy reaches a boil, turn down the heat to a simmer. Simmer for 20-25 minutes.
While the gravy is simmering, peel and cut the potatoes. I like mine cut into thick strips. Once cut, place the potatoes into cold water.
Heat up oil in your deep fryer or on a stovetop dutch oven. Heat it to 320 degrees. We are going to blanche the potatoes in the cooler oil.  This will allow the centers to cook. Blanche the fries for 3 minutes, 4 minutes if you made them thick cut.
When cooked, remove them from the oil and let them drain on a paper towel. Now crank the oil up to 375 degrees. When it is heated fry the potatoes until crisp. Should take 4-5 minutes.
Drain the potatoes, season with salt and pepper and place on a serving dish. Cover the fries with the cheese curds.
Now ladle the gravy over the fries and the curds.
The perfect appetizer for any meal.
this is so funny, because I grew up in upstate new york and my mother would go play bingo on the indian reservation by our town and they served this in the concession stand… and it was my absolute favorite thing in the world when i was little. you just brought back childhood memories!! lol
Peggy, I hear you about it bringing back memories. The bar next to my house while I was in college had poutine on the menu. It was my favorite Brunch item.
Rex, that is just not nice, posting food porn like that and taunting me with a Trader Joe’s. Alexis just saw those and exclaimed “Oh, yum!”
I’ll have to see if I can get curds at Fresh Market or Earth Fare.
Sorry about taunting you with the Trader Joes, Chris. If you find fresh cheese curds you have to try this. It is awesome!!!
Wow, that looks awesome. Glad Melissa and I could help. Bacon may be your poison, but cheese is mine. 🙂
Btw can something that has 1,000 calories in it still qualify as an appetizer?
What would you eat after eating that?
Something that is 1000 calories can totally be an appetizer. It could be an appetizer for a nice small salad or even dessert.
They also have cheese curds at the Wegman’s in Fairfax. As if I needed another reason to make the haul to Wegman’s. It’s so far, but it’s so worth it.