Greetings yall! It is i Rob, from sunny Montreal, and i bear the gift of poutine! Well, sadly i can not hand some of this to you through my screen, but i can do the next best thing. I can describe it to you in a way that will allow you to make it, regardless of what ingredients may be available to you. No, it might not be the authentic thing. Perhaps you can't get your hands on any fresh cheese curds, or maybe the gravy might not be just right, or any number of nitpicks that a purist purveyor of poutine might have to say! Just forget about all that for now.
Now you might ask, but Rob, why would i want poutine? Is that even a thing that i even want?? YES. No more questions, just yes, trust me on this.
Step one, the fries: When it comes to fries, there are two basic types here around Mtl, soggy and crispy. Some love the slow fried, big cut, oil soaked fries, you know, the ones that droop like wilting flowers. Personally i hate that type of fries, opting instead for a more crispy shoestring cut variety. At the end of the day, it's really up to you. You can get them frozen, or cut them yourself, or get them pre-made and ready to go.
Step two, the cheese: Ideally the cheese should be fresh cheese curds, the squeakier the better. Since it might be rough to get your hands on those, any mild white cheese will do. If you must go this route, i recommend a high quality mozzarella, but a mild white cheddar can also be sufficient. Some places here shred the cheese, but it is usually pizza places that do that, and some would call it a culinary crime. To best emulate cheese curds, you should cut mozzarella into cubes.
Step three, the sauce: For your own sanity, just use a beef gravy. You can look up all sorts of recipes and fine tune it to get the exact right flavor, perhaps driving yourself mad in the process. Honestly it's not worth it, beef gravy will be perfect. I've had some great poutines here, and the sauces they use vary from one place to the next, but they are all shockingly close to beef gravy.
Assembly: You don't really cook a poutine, you assemble it from already cooked ingredients. Assuming that you have hot fries, and hot gravy. It is just a matter of creating a nest of crispy fries, topping it generously with cheese, and then applying hot gravy over the entire thing. The heat from the sauce and fries should melt the cheese slightly, but your goal is not a gooey mess. You actually don't want the cheese to melt completely. Poutine must be eaten fresh, i'm not kidding about this. When fresh it is a heavenly delight, but once it cools down, it looses it's texture.
http://robotlizzzrd.deviantart.com/art/Poutine-678733764