French Fry Diary 731: Idaho Spud

On a recent trip to Rocket Fizz, the amazing nostalgia soda and candy store, I picked up a candy bar called Idaho Spud, thinking it would make a good entry for French Fry Diary.  I got rather concerned shortly after purchasing the candy bar on the ride home.  It was squishy.  Not surprising in the hot Florida sun, but I was hesitant about opening it when I got home.

Having never heard of the Idaho Spud candy bar before, I did a little research before opening what might be a melted mess when finally revealed.  Idaho Spud has been around since 1918, one of the most successful candy bars produced by a small company, and as promised on the wrapper, "The Candy Bar That Makes Idaho Famous." 

The Idaho Spud is a coconut flavored marshmallow, covered in chocolate, then covered again with coconut flakes.  It's odd shape resembling a potato is where the name came from... but should it be squishy?  Before I tear away the wrapper, I should mention I was unable to find the meaning of the word Owyhee on the packaging other than it's a river in Idaho.

The candy was squishy, but more of a spongy to match the marshmallow center, but the chocolate and coconut flakes were definitely crumbling apart. Now I'm not much of a coconut guy, but this was all right, better than meh, but not great.  No potatoes, and not really looking like any potato I've seen, but worth trying out. 

National Onion Rings Day 2014

Sunday, June 22, 2014 is National Onion Rings Day, so how are you going to celebrate?

Maybe you could go out to dinner to your favorite restaurant, or better yet, your favorite restaurant that has your favorite onion rings.

Some of my favorite rings include those at Little Shanty, Raglan Road, Long John Silver's, or those great coconut onion rings at Bahama Breeze.

French Fry Diary 559: Writing and Onion Rings

It's been a couple years since I've been to Bahama Breeze. I've been there more than a few times, sometimes it's good and sometimes it's bad, but always, above it all, the Island Onion Rings are awesome. They are, with their coconut shavings and Panko bread covering among the best, period.

When my friend Marni got sick, she passed along the doorprize she won at Women 2 Women to The Bride and me, that doorprize? A free Happy Hour at Bahama Breeze, woo hoo! So we scrambled together and asked a whole buncha folks, but Tuesday being the middle of the week, and a blizzard looming, and a variety of other reasons, only a handful of folks showed up. Most of them were my writer friends.

Having just talked about inspiration and motivation over at the South Jersey Writers Blog this week, it was a topic heavy on my mind, and the company of writers is always a strong motivation to write and get work done. So amongst a barrage of appetizers, and those fabulous Island Onion Rings, we settled in for an evening of writing chat, made new friends, and just in general had a good time.

It was close company and good food. Fran Metzman, Terry Mergenthal, Maryliz Clark, her husband, Jim Knipp, his wife, and The Bride and I had a terrific time. And Jim, just for the record, those O-rings tasted just great after reheat in the oven at home. Trust me, you regret not taking them.

I have to say that Bahama Breeze in the Cherry Hill Mall went above and beyond to make us feel welcome, serve us perfectly, attend to our every need. The chef even came out and chatted with us, and we talked about how the onion rings were made.

Stuff like this goes a long way toward future visits. Our wait staff was perfection. It will be a very short time between visits to Bahama Breeze next time. Recommended.

Spice Goddess: Homemade Sweet Potato Fries

For today's Food Network Friday we turn to their sister network, the Cooking Channel for "Spice Goddess" with Bal Arneson. In the episode entitled "Craving Menu," she shows us her recipe for Homemade Sweet Potato Fries with Chili Coconut Dip.

TOTAL TIME: 35 minutes
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 20 minutes

YIELD:4 servings

Ingredients
• 2 liters vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 medium-size sweet potatoes, peeled
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• Chili Coconut Dip, recipe follows

CHILI COCONUT DIP:
· 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
· 1/4 cup dried curry leaves, crushed
· 3 tablespoons unsweetened coconut flakes
· 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
· 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
· 1/2 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
· Pinch of salt
· Pinch of pepper
· 1/2 cup mayonnaise

Directions

Heat the oil in a large pot with a heavy bottom, or in a deep fryer to 350 degrees F. Make sure the oil level is no more than one-third of the pot as it will rise during the frying process. Mix the cardamom, paprika and salt together in a small bowl. Cut the sweet potatoes into 1/4-inch-thick slices, and then cut the slices into 1/4-inch sticks. Put the cornstarch into a large bowl and add the sweet potatoes, tossing well using your hands to make sure they are well coated. Working in batches, fry in the hot oil until golden brown, 6 to 7 minutes. Drain on paper towels, and then sprinkle liberally with the spice mixture. Serve with Chili Coconut Dip.

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat and add the curry leaves, coconut, chili powder, ground coriander, mustard seeds, salt and pepper. Toast until the coconut is golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Place in a bowl with the mayonnaise and stir well to combine. Yield: 1 cup.

View the entire recipe here.

French Fry Diary 320: Bahama Breeze 2011

It's become tradition to meet up with friends from college and their families in the week after Christmas. Sometimes all of our schedules sync and we all get together, and sometimes it's just a few of us. This year, it was just The Bride and I with Dom and Cindy and their kids. You might remember they were on the last Disney Cruise with us. We got together again for dinner at Bahama Breeze in the Cherry Hill Mall.

They, like me, have a thing for the Island Onion Rings there. It was the first thing we ordered. It had been some time since I'd been to Bahama Breeze, so I'd forgotten how really big an order you get, so we made the major mistake of getting two, for the six of us. Yeah, we took a lot home. If you look at the image of the Island Onion Rings accompanying this blog entry, it's worth noting, that picture was taken after we had started eating - yeah, there were a lot more onion rings than you see there.

What makes Bahama Breeze's Island Onion Rings so good is the cocoanut shavings they mix in with the Panko bread crumb covering those gigantic slices of onion. The cocoanut adds an extra sweet kick that almost makes them addictive. I say almost because you can fill up on them rather quickly. And for the record, they reheat very well, baked in the oven later at home. Still the best reason to come to Bahama Breeze.

For my entrée, that I barely had room for, I got the Breeze Wood-Grilled Chicken Breast, replacing the regular veggie accompaniment with French fries of course. The chicken came soaked in a thick citrus butter sauce, that was at first cloying, but had a delicious aftertaste. I really enjoyed it, and it even tasted good on the pretty standard natural regular cut fries.

All in all, it was a great meal with old friends. Good food, good conversation, a terrific holiday get together. We should really do this more often.

French Fry Diary 215: Irish Potatoes

For St. Patrick's Day this year I figured I would talk about Irish Potatoes as someone contacted me about a week ago asking if I was going to. I said sure, even though I had no idea what an Irish potato was. I was delighted to find out however.

I was surprised that this candy treat was actually a Philadelphia tradition for the holiday. Coconut cream covered in cinnamon, this treat is simplicity itself, and really doesn't contain potato at all. Notably, it apparently isn't Irish either, although some folks will tell you it commemorates the Irish Potato Famine and shows up in stores around March, just in time for St. Pattie's Day.

While I have been told that Bayard's Chocolates makes the best Irish Potatoes, I managed to track these down at Wegman's. I only took a small bite as I have slight cinnamon allergy, but these are sweet and tasty, and I'm glad I know what these babies are now.