A delicious plate of fries, gravy, corned beef & cheese and a chat on luck in the real estate market.
If you thought this red head was going to miss sharing a recipe to highlight the fantastic holiday of St. Patrick’s Day, you have another thing coming. This recipe is a variation of a scrumptious dish called Poutine. I was introduced to Poutine on Food Network (surprise surprise) by the one and only Guy Fieri. Poutine is traditionally made with fries, brown gravy and cheese curds, and it hails from Canada. I’ve made several variations, with one of my favorites being sweet potato fries, chorizo gravy, and cheese curds. Oh. My. Yum!
Before we get to the recipe, lets chat a minute about this out of control Real Estate Market! I’ve been speaking for months about the low inventory and interest rates with climbing average sales prices in the Metro Atlanta area, but lets talk about what happens when that type of climate persists.
First, when we’re talking “low inventory”, this just means that there are less homes for sale than there are buyers to buy them. Creating a hyper competitive market for buyers and lending to multiple offers on each property. Inventory levels are quantified by the months available, when there are less than 6 months of inventory you’re looking at a sellers market. When there are more than 6 months you are looking at a buyers market. Around 6 months is balanced. We are at less than 1 month right now!! In some areas in Forsyth County we’re down to 15 days on the market.
Let me give you an example of a recent deal I worked for a buyer, to really quantify this for you. We went after a house in a sought after neighborhood in Cobb county, however, the house needed a full makeover and didn’t even have a venting dryer. We submitted a very reasonable offer with great terms and at the end of the day, we were out bid by $30,000 and there were 44 additional offers on that one home. Fast forward a couple of weeks with a different buyer and we were out bid by $50,000 and there were 17 additional offers on a home twice the price as the first.
These crazy high offers are only forcing the average sales price higher and higher, great for sellers, but terrible for affordability for buyers. The only thing that’s changing a bit to create a more balanced market is that interest rates have begun to rise. They are still incredibly good and significantly lower than they were this time last year, but it may just be what it takes to get some buyers out of the market. The luck of the Irish is absolutely needed in this tough buyers market- though the sellers have certainly found their pot of gold!
Now that you feel as stressed as I do, lets take a gander at this hilarious video circa 2006 for a little relief. Anybody else see that Leprachaun?!
You’re welcome for that. Now lets eat our feelings…
You can either cook your corned beef ahead of time and serve these for your St. Patrick’s Day feast, or eat them as a next day delight. Either way, you will not regret it! Once your corned beef is cooked and cooled, go ahead and break it up into bite sized pieces.
If you are cool like me and have an air fryer, I suggest you use it to cook the fries, but could easily do it in the oven going by the package directions.
Chop up your cabbage and onion. You’ll only need about a 1/4 of the head of cabbage and 1/2 of the onion.
Saute the cabbage and onion in olive oil, about two turns of the pan, and cook until softened, about 8 minutes. Set aside.
Meanwhile, make the gravy by melting the butter and whisking in the flour. Let cook about 2 minutes and then add your beer of choice. Go ahead, drink the rest, I’m not judging, plus aren’t we Irish today? Whisk in the chicken stock, stir and cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. My gravy was a bit loose for my liking so I ended up adding a cornstarch slurry (1-2 Tbsp cornstarch mixed in cold liquid) until it thickened up.
Add the cabbage and onion back into the gravy. By the way, I’ve been asked to make this again for my family and with my veggie averse brother, I’m going to skip the cabbage. You too have the power to skip the cabbage, if you want to. However, if you like veggies, I think the added texture is fantastic and I’m confident you will too!
Time to layer these babies up! Go ahead and turn your broiler on; then layer your fries, followed by the corned beef, then smothered in the cabbage and onion gravy, and then break up the cheese curds and evenly distribute them over the whole shebang. You could always go with a different kind of cheese if you can’t find the curds, but they melt into the most divine chewy gooey cheese pockets and really you can’t substitute. If you’ve never had cheese curds, think of mozzarella with a cheddar flavor.
Broil them for 4 to 5 minutes, watching them closely and being sure to set a timer! They can go from perfectly browned and delicious like you see here, to scorched and burnt, ruining St. Patrick’s Day for everyone, real quick.
St. Paddy’s Poutine
Ingredients:
2 cups cooked corned beef (broken into bite sized pieces)
1 bag steak fries
1/4 head of cabbage
1/2 white onion
2 1/2 Tbsp butter
2 1/2 Tbsp flour
1/4 cup beer
1 (14 oz) can chicken stock
1 (16 oz) bag cheese curds
2 Tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper
Directions:
Start by baking or air frying your fries using the package directions. Next, chop up your cabbage and onion; saute in olive oil and season with salt and pepper until softened and lightly browned, about 8 minutes; set aside. Meanwhile, make the gravy by melting the butter and whisking in the flour; let cook about 2 minutes and then add your beer of choice; whisk in the chicken stock, stir and cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. Add the cabbage and onion back into the gravy. Turn your broiler on; then layer your fries, followed by the corned beef, then smothered in the cabbage and onion gravy, and then break up the cheese curds and evenly distribute them over the whole shebang. Broil them for 4 to 5 minutes, watching them closely and being sure to set a timer! Enjoy.
As always, I hope you enjoy and please comment below if you make them! You can also check out my Instagram account, "stacypatrick_thisrealtorcooks" to see my quick cooking videos of this dish, and many others!
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