When I put together recipes for my blog, I always work on recipes that I really enjoy eating. Poutine is one of those dishes that is one of my favorites. What’s not to like when you combine a flavorful gravy, crispy fries, and cheese?

The best poutine in the Temecula Valley that I know of is at the Chef’s Grille in Murrieta. They call themselves a “Gourmet Casual” restaurant. This dish can always take care of my craving for fries for a good while. But when that craving comes back, sometimes you just have to make your own!

Today I am going to change things around a little bit and substitute a polenta fry for the normal French fry.

WHAT IS POLENTA?

Polenta is the Italian version of American Southern grits. You might ask, what’s the difference? Many chefs joke and say the difference is that in one of the Southern States, a shrimp and grits dish might cost you $9.95. A plate of shrimp and polenta in a nice Italian restaurant might cost you $32.95. I think there might be some truth to that. Perception is everything! Many people perceive polenta to be a much more expensive product. However, they are both stone-ground cornmeal. From my understanding and some taste tests, polenta seems to have a little more texture to its taste. Can you substitute one for the other? A lot of people would say, yes you can. If you can’t find polenta at your store use the grits and let me know what you think!

**My Polenta without any herbs or** **seasoning.**

IS POLENTA HARD TO COOK?

I have found that cooking polenta is not as difficult as most recipes/people make it sound. You do have to keep an eye on it to keep it from burning on the bottom, but you certainly do not have to stand at the pot continuously and stir for 45 minutes.

Also, I found it’s not necessary to heat your liquid first before adding the polenta. I added my polenta to cold water and chicken broth and then turned on my heat to medium-high. Do not boil. Once the polenta starts to pop and spit, reduce the heat to low. Be aware, a classic polenta dish really needs a minimum of 45 minutes to completely cook in order to achieve the ideal creamy texture. However, for my polenta fries, I’m not as much looking for a creamy polenta, but a polenta that has a strong texture and will not fall apart and turn into a puddle under a high heat.

Stirring in herbs and seasoning to my polenta

One of the basics that I found to work in making a classic polenta is that the ratio of liquid to polenta should be 5 to 1 if you are making a nice creamy side of polenta using lots of butter and cream. For example. 5 cups of liquid to 1 cup of polenta. Liquid being water or chicken broth. Check here for another polenta recipe!

However, since we are making polenta fries, our ratio needs to be closer to 3 to 1 in order for the fries to hold together better.

You need the perfect gravy for your poutine, so I had to make the perfect beef bone broth. Check here for my recipe for my homemade broth and gravy. And if you are in the mood to add some tri-tip to your poutine, check out my recipe here! As always, thanks for Spending Time in My Kitchen!

My Version of Poutine Using Polenta! It’s the Best!

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Recipe by David Frank – Spending Time In My Kitchen

Servings

2-4

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Ingredients

Ingredients for the Poutine Fries
1 1/4 cup 1 1/4 Polenta cornmeal
32 oz 32 Chicken broth
18 oz 18 Optional: Pre-made tube of Polenta
Other Poutine Ingredients
6 oz 6 Cheese curds
4 cups 4 Gravy
2 Tbl 2 Parsley, chopped
Optional: Tri-tip
6 oz 6 Tri-tip, thinly sliced

Directions

Making the Polenta
Add broth and polenta into a saucepan. The water does not need to be hot to start. Set heat to medium-high.
When polenta starts to pop and spit, turn heat to low.
The total time to cook the polenta should be about 30 – 45 minutes.
Optional: Purchase the pre-made polenta that you can find at your local grocery store.
Making the Fries
Pre-heat your oven to 450°
If you don’t feel comfortable with making polenta, you can buy the pre-made polenta and cut it in the shape of fries.
Take your fully cooked polenta and pour it into a small casserole dish. Place into your refrigerator to cool off and firm up for at least a couple of hours.
Once firmed up, you can cut the polenta into fries or tots. Put parchment paper on a baking tray and place your tots/fries on the tray.
Give your tots a little spray with some cooking spray. Place tray into the hot oven and cook until crisp.
Pull tray out of the oven to partially cool. They are ready to serve!
Plating your Poutine
Heat up your gravy over medium heat. Check here for my Poutine Gravy Recipe!
Place your hot fries on your plate; top fries with some cheese curds and tri-tip.
If you are like me, top everything off with lots of hot gravy. If I am in the mood for crispy fries, I will put the gravy on the side so I don’t end up with soggy fries.
Garnish with some chopped parsley. Eat fast before your poutine gets cold!
Enjoy!