Poutine night!

Last spring I did a dinner and a movie night at our place. I figured it should be a casual dinner since the movie was anything but sophisticated. We watched Black Dynamite which I highly recommend to anyone with a decent sense of humour. It had some of the best and most absurd dialog I've ever heard.

"Your knowledge of scientific biological transmogrification is only outmatched by your zest for kung-fu treachery!"

To compliment this campy feature, I wanted to do something casual that I know most people would enjoy. So I decided to have a poutine night. I couldn't resist having a touch of sophistication though, so I threw in a shrimp bisque for starters.

The shrimp bisque recipe is from Tyler Florence, better know Food Network host of Tyler's Ultimate. The original recipe calls for 4 cups of heavy cream, but the soup is already rich enough as is. I substituted 3 of the cups for chicken broth. He has a great recipe book by the way.

For 4 to 6 portions you'll need:

• 1 1/2 lbs of shrimps, shelled and deveined
• Your shrimps' shells (do not throw them out)
• 1/2 cup of butter + 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 1eeks, trimmed, halved lengthwise, and rinsed well
• 3 stalks celery, cut into big chunks
• 2 carrots, cut into big chunks
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme (do not substitute for dry thyme, the flavours are completely different and sometimes it's actually dried savory instead)
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 strips orange zest (optional)
• 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 1/4 cup brandy 
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 
• 1 cup of heavy cream 
• 3 cups of chicken broth (home-made or boxed, never use the powder stuff, trust me I know what goes in there!)
• Salt and pepper
• Finely chopped fresh chives, for garnish

Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large pot over medium heat and melt the butter into it. Then add the shrimp shells, the leeks, celery, carrots, 3 sprigs thyme, the bay leaf, orange zest, and tomato paste. Cook, stirring every now and then, until the shells are red and the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes.



Take the pot off the heat and carefully pour in the brandy. Ignite the brandy with a long kitchen match and let burn until the flame subsides. (Ok, so everytime I've done this nothing ignited, but the soup still turned out good so don't worry about it if it happens to you).

Return the pot to the heat, sprinkle in the flour, give it a stir, and cook for another 2 minutes. Now add water to cover and deglaze, scraping up all the browned bits on the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Add the cream and broth and bring to a boil. Immediately turn the heat down to low and gently simmer until the soup is reduced and thickened, 30 to 45 minutes. Strain into a clean pot and season with salt and pepper.


Return the bisque to a simmer, add the shrimp and cook 2 to 3 minutes just to cook the shrimp through. Give the bisque a final taste for seasoning, pour it into warmed soup bowls (never did this, soup still tasted fine) and serve garnished with the chives.

So that was the soup, onwards with the poutine. Basically the concept was to prepare all the individual ingredients and have people create their own poutine. So I had:

• Cooked sausage meat
• Sautéed green bell pepper
• Sautéed portabello mushrooms
• Cooked chicken
• Sautéed onions
• Quebec cheese curds (absolutely essential, do not, I repeat, do not even think of substituting this!)
• Cavendish crispy spicy fries
• Poutine sauce (I like Cordon Bleu)
• Home-made curry sauce (recipe follows)

For those who were a bit more adventurous, I offered them a curry sauce for their poutine instead of the usual gravy. It's easy to make a curry sauce, you need:

• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 1 tablespoon of flour
• 1 cup of chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons of red curry paste (Indian curry paste, not Thai)
• Salt and pepper

You start by melting the butter at medium heat in a small saucepan. Add the flour and whisk for a 2-3 minutes. Add the broth and curry paste and continuously whisk until the liquid comes to a boil and thickens. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Black Dynamite knows this recipe is so rightchous!