Oh Canada! Home of moose, hockey, beer and poutine.

There are so many beautiful places and wonderful people in Canada. I haven’t traveled around my native country as much as I would like but I have seen a few stunning cities. On the west coast of Canada, you can snowboard on the terrifyingly beautiful Rocky Mountains in Banff, just outside of Calgary; stop to see the native Inuksuk’s while you drive along the Sea to Sky Highway from Vancouver to Whistler, where you can ski (and après ski) for days; and take in the natural wonder of Niagara Falls before walking along the edge of the CN Tower in the bustling city of Toronto. Next on the list for a Canadian adventure: the marvelous coves, lighthouses and fishing villages of Canada’s Atlantic coastline. There’s a reason why Canadians are known for being some of the nicest people – how could you not be in a good mood with all of that beautiful scenery around you? Even though I have lived in the US for a few years now, I will still always call Canada home. Sorry aboot it. Sorry for being sorry. Sorry, not sorry.

Remember when we thought a poutine crawl to six of NYC’s best known poutine places would be a good idea? Yeah, I don’t either.

Who knew finding cheese curds in a New York City supermarket would be so tough? I had to make several calls to get these bad boys, but thanks to a man named Prince (go figure), I got them! If you are having a hard time finding them, like myself, call your local supermarket cheese department because they are usually willing to sell you the cheese curds from that mornings freshly made mozzarella. I decided to switch it up a bit and make homemade chips instead of fries for this poutine recipe. Make sure you slice the potatoes thin so they crisp up nicely when fried. Did some of the crispness turn soft when I poured the delicious gravy on top of the chips? Of course! Can you use your fingers as you would for nachos? Absolutely! Should you keep a fork on hand to really get in there like you would for a French fry poutine? Most definitely! Is this poutine nacho dish every bit as delicious as an original poutine dish? You bet your bottom dollar it is!

Yield: Makes 2 large poutine or 4 normal size

Ingredients:

• 1¾ – 2 pounds bone in short ribs (6 pieces)
• 1 white onion, roughly sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, smashed and roughly chopped
• a few sprigs each of rosemary and thyme
• ½ cup chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 cup Guinness beer
• ½ tsp salt + 1-2 tsp for sprinkling on chips
• ½ tsp pepper
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1½ tbsp flour
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 large Idaho potatoes, thinly sliced (possibly 3 potatoes depending on actual size)
• ½ lbs mozzarella cheese curds, room temperature
• canola oil for frying

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Season the short ribs on each side with salt and pepper. Coat the bottom of a Dutch oven or a large, deep sauté pan with 2 tbsp of oil. On medium heat, brown short ribs in the pan on one side for 6 minutes. Flip the short ribs and add the onion, garlic, thyme and rosemary and brown for 6 minutes on this side. Add the broth and ½ cup of Guinness and cook for 3 minutes. Cover and braise in oven for 2 hours. At this point, I decided to refrigerate overnight so I could remove some fat from the short rib gravy. You don’t have to take this step if you are making this the day of because they are delicious just like this and ready to go, but I like to remove some fat so the gravy gets a little thicker and less greasy. You might need to add an extra ½ tbsp of flour if you are not making the short ribs a day ahead of time.

To reheat the short ribs, either braise in 325°F oven until warm (about 20 minutes) or in a deep sauté pan on the stove top. Once warm, remove short ribs from broth and shred into bite size pieces, discarding bones. Drain the broth into a bowl and discard leftover herbs and onions. In a sauté pan on medium low heat, add the butter and flour and whisk together for 1 minute. Add the gravy back into the pan and whisk together for 2 minutes. Add the remaining ½ cup of Guinness and Worcestershire sauce. Simmer on low-medium heat for 12-15 minutes, occasionally whisking, until thickened. Makes 1½ cups of gravy.

While the gravy is cooking, fry the potatoes for the chips. Fill the bottom of a deep pot with about 1 inch around of canola oil and heat on medium high heat for a few minutes before adding in the sliced potatoes. Fry the potatoes in batches so you don’t overcrowd them and flip them around every once in a while to make sure both sides are evenly cooked and golden brown. Each batch should take 3½ – 4 minutes. Drain them on a paper towel and immediately add a small sprinkling of salt to each chip. Repeat until all the potatoes are crisped.

Put a layer of the chips down first, add the shredded short ribs, rip cheese curds (make sure they are room temperature so they melt easier) into pieces and add on top and finish by pouring the hot gravy overtop. The gravy will melt the cheese curds into a delicious cheesy and saucy beautiful mess of a poutine. Enjoy with your favourite Canadian beer!