Have you ever had poutine? It’s so delicious, and not hard at all to make. This braised rib poutine recipe comes from Two Rivers Brewing Company in Easton. The recipe includes short ribs, which you braise for a little while and requires you to search out cheese curds. Poutine is a Canadian dish, actually, and you want curds that melt just enough but retain their “squeak.”
Typically, for this Braised Short Rib Poutine recipe (or any poutine!) you’d make the fries from scratch. But we all live in the real world! So feel free to find some really good quality organic frozen French fries and use those instead. That’s what I did when I developed this recipe. It was published in my cookbook Tasting Pennsylvania (Farcountry Press) and reprinted with the publisher’s permission, along with this recipe for Amish-Style Soft Pretzels.
Incidentally, if you’re local to the Lehigh Valley or visiting, we also recommend the Flying V in Bethlehem. One of the owners is Canadian and the poutine is ON POINT!
Braised Short Rib Poutine
Ingredients
For the short ribs
- ¾ to 1 pound bone-in short ribs
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons canola or grapeseed oil
- 1 medium white onion roughly chopped
- 2 stalks celery roughly chopped
- 1 carrot roughly chopped
- 4 cloves garlic
- 5 sprigs fresh thyme
- ½ bunch fresh parsley
- 2 teaspoons black peppercorns
- ¼ cup tomato purée
- ¾ cup beef stock
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 2 cups brown ale porter, or lager
For the poutine
- 1 pound french fried potatoes tossed in sea salt and finely chopped fresh rosemary
- 2 tablespoons canola or other oil
- 1 small white onion sliced into half moons
- 6 ounces cheddar cheese curds or mozzarella
- 2 to 3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives or green parts of scallions
Instructions
For the short ribs
- Preheat the oven to 300°. Pat the beef dry and coat it with salt and pepper.
- Heat the oil over high heat in a large skillet. Brown the ribs on all sides, about 15 minutes total. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Reduce the heat to medium and add the onion, celery, carrot, garlic, thyme, parsley, and peppercorns. Cook the vegetables until caramelized, about 15 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook another 5 minutes.
- Whisk together the beef stock and cornstarch until combined. Add the beef back to the pan along with the beef stock and beer, and simmer until reduced by one-third. Cover the pan with foil or lid, and braise in the oven until fork tender, about 2 hours.
- Remove the lid and cook for another 20 minutes. Remove the beef. Strain the sauce, return it to the pan, and reduce by one-quarter. After the meat has cooled enough to handle, pull it apart, removing the large chunks of fat, but leaving a few for flavor and texture.
For the poutine
- Cook the french fries in the oven according to package directions or make them from scratch on your own.
- Meanwhile, heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat and add the onions. Cook until caramelized, 15 to 20 minutes. Set aside.
- Heat a cast-iron skillet in a 350° oven until hot. Remove carefully from the oven and add the fries. Place the short ribs, cheese curds, caramelized onions, and drippings from the onion pan into the skillet. Return it to the oven for about 5 minutes—you want the cheese to melt but not brown. Remove from the oven and top with a little more pan drippings, along with freshly cracked black pepper and the chives or scallions. Serve hot.
