The past few days, I’ve been thinking a lot about poutine. And corned beef. Is that different from any other day? To be honest, not really.

Anyway, one reason poutine and corned beef have been on my mind so much lately is because St. Patrick’s Day is approaching. I’ve been looking forward to having the poutine with corned beef that one of our favorite bars served last year. At first, I’ll admit, I was skeptical of this dish, which you may be as well. Poutine, which is french fries and cheese curd covered in a brown gravy, doesn’t seem like it would need corned beef. But don’t knock it till you try it. Salty, savory corned beef is the perfect addition to salty, savory, cheesy poutine.

So, as St Patrick’s Day approached again this year, poutine and corned beef invaded my thoughts, even more than usual. Until we discovered that this magical dish was no longer on the menu at our bar.

We had been talking about it and anticipating it so much, that really the only option was to make it ourselves. Now, if we were like most people, we would have some leftover homemade corned beef on hand from St. Patrick’s Day feasts. This would be a perfect use for leftovers! However, we were completely unprepared. After striking out at a few grocery stores (“You waited until St. Patrick’s Day to buy your corned beef?!” “Yes, deli guy, we’re idiots, we know.”) we headed home with our ingredients and ended up whipping up a delicious batch of our own Irish Canadian Nachos (a much catchier name for this dish) complete with a delicious homemade Guinness gravy. I actually think these may be better than the ones I’ve been thinking about all year.

Irish Canadian Nachos

1 lb bag frozen french fries (crinkle cut)

3/4 cup cheese curd (or do you say cheese curds? Cheese curd? I don’t know)

⅔ lb of thick sliced deli corned beef, cubed

1 small onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

2 Tablespoons butter

2 T flour

12 oz bottle Guinness

¼ c chicken broth

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

1 green onion, chopped

salt and pepper

First, cook your french fries according to the package directions. When they are finished, adjust oven temperature to 350.

Pour french fries into a casserole dish and lightly salt (go light on the salt in this recipe, the corned beef and cheese curd add a lot of saltiness themselves).

Evenly distribute cheese curd over the french fries.

To make the gravy, spray a large non-stick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium low heat. Add onions and saute until soft and translucent, about 5-10 minutes. Add garlic, corned beef, and a few dashes of pepper and saute for an additional 2-3 minutes.

Add butter and stir until melted. Add flour and stir to incorporate. Stir in beer, chicken broth, and mustard. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil.

Continue stirring and simmering until gravy thickens, about 10 minutes more.

To make sure your corned beef mixture doesn’t end up all in one spot on your dish, use a slotted spoon to evenly distribute the little bits and pieces over your fries. Then pour the gravy over.

Pop in the oven to heat through and melt the cheese a bit for about 5-7 minutes. Add chopped green onions and you’re done!

Now, my husband and I are of two different schools of thought. His vote was to pour the gravy over the fries after melting the cheese in the oven. My thought was that since the fries were already cooked, they wouldn’t get too soggy, so we should pour the gravy over before putting it in the oven. And also, gravy-laden fries that you have to eat with a fork are part of what I love about poutine. To make a long story short, I won this particular battle. The dish was delicious, although maybe we’ll try it his way next time.

So, what do you think? Gravy before oven or after oven? Gravy-full fries or crispy fries? Either way, we’re all winners.

Cheers!