Chef-Instructor Chris Arturo elevates his poutine with duck confit, homemade cheese curds and a circulated duck egg.
When it comes to poutine, you’d be hard-pressed to find a chef — or anyone, really — who doesn’t like the hefty bar snack. Hailing from Québec, poutine is a combination of French fries tossed with cheese curds and gravy, a sinfully satisfying combination curing hangovers every day.
On the latest episode of , Culinary Arts Chef-Instructor dials up his poutine with shredded truffled fries, homemade cheese curds and a duck demi-glace, all to be topped with a circulated duck egg that’s reached fudge-like consistency.
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While the aforementioned accoutrements are indeed indulgent, first timers needn’t be daunted: homemade cheese curds are super simple to make, by letting vegetable rennet and whole milk steep together until the curds separate from the whey. Plus, rennet — both vegetable and animal — can be found at a health food store near you. “I have cheese purveyors I get mine from,” says Chef Chris. “There’s also a website called modernistpantry.com. They have everything you could ever want regarding food-safe chemicals, rennet included.”
And if you don’t have a circulator in your kitchen pantry, not to worry — a soft-boiled egg is a fine substitute.
Ingredients
For the Fries:
- 6 Russet potatoes, peeled and soaked in water
- Truffle oil
- Truffle salt
For the Gravy:
- 20 grams duck fat
- 20 grams all-purpose flour
- 500 milliliters duck stock
- 5 grams Worcestershire sauce
- 5 grams Sriracha
- Salt and pepper, to taste
For the Duck Confit:
- 6 duck legs
- 100 grams salt
- 100 grams sugar
- 8 garlic cloves, peeled
- 10 pieces juniper berry
- 10 pieces whole black peppercorns
- 3 bay leaves, crushed
- 6 cups duck fat
For the Cheese Curds:
- 2 gallons whole milk
- 100 milliliters vegetable rennet
For the Duck Egg:
- 6 duck eggs
For Assembly:
- Chives, chopped
- Sea salt
Directions
For the Fries:
- Fill two fryers with canola oil; heat one to 300˚F and the other to 380˚F. Reserve.
- Cut potatoes into long batons. Run batons through cold water until water runs clear. Drain and dry the potatoes.
- Fry potatoes in first fryer set at 300˚F until potatoes bend, but don’t break. Remove from oil and dry on a sheet tray lined with paper towels and chill.
- Transfer chilled fries to second fryer set at 380˚F and fry until golden brown. Remove from oil and place in a bowl; toss with truffle oil and truffle salt and reserve.
For the Gravy:
- Melt duck fat in a saucepan set over medium heat. Whisk in flour; cook until roux is brown. Whisk in stock 1/3 at a time to ensure there are no lumps. Bring to a boil and allow starch to swell and thicken and reach nappant consistency. Add Worcestershire and sriracha. Season to taste and reserve.
For the Duck Confit:
- Mix together salt, sugar and garlic.
- Toast spices until perfumed and add to salt mixture; allow to sit for 5 minutes.
- Clean duck legs of excess fat and coat in cure mix. Allow to sit in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
- Rinse duck under cold water, washing off cure. Place duck legs in sautoir and cover in duck fat; simmer until fork tender, about 3 hours.
- Remove from sautoir, cool and shred meat. Reserve.
For the Cheese Curds:
- Heat milk and rennet in a heavy-bottomed stockpot over medium heat until separated; strain and press curds.
- Let curds sit overnight in the refrigerator.
- Chunk out cooled curds into desired size.
For the Duck Eggs:
- Place duck eggs in immersion circulator and circulate at 64˚C for 1 hour; reserve.
For Assembly:
- Heat duck demi-glace.
- Place fries in a large metal bowl; pour demi-glace over fries. Add cheese curds and toss. Plate fries on desired serving vessel and top with duck confit, egg, chives and sea salt.
