French Fry Diary 736: The Garden Grill, EPCOT

Every time I've gone to The Land in EPCOT in Walt Disney World, I have always heard the same thing, that the food served in the restaurants at The Land is where possible grow and prepared right there at The Land. For those not in the know, The Land has an amazing horticultural, agricultural, aquacultural community. They grow everything there onsite.  And since I see potatoes on the Living with the Land omni-mover boat tour, one might assume, ya know? 

First things first, the Garden Grill is a revolving restaurant, set on a dais that turns ever so slowly as you eat over top the aforementioned Living with the Land.  The restaurant, like many in Walt Disney World, also features character meals, or more appropriately, a character breakfast.  Those in question here included Chip and Dale, Pluto, and Farmer Mickey.  For the uninitiated, a tip, Chip has a black nose and Dale has a brown one. 

What initially attracted me to the restaurant for breakfast, besides the promised "Hash Brown-style Potato Barrels" which I wrongly assumed to be fresh from the garden potatoes of The Land, was probably the ham, the bacon, the Mickey waffles, and cinnamon buns.  When we received our family style skillet full of breakfast, we were surprised, and not for the better.

Don't hit him, Jenn, it's probably not his fault...

The ham steaks had mysteriously vanished from the menu, and our skillet.  And while the warm and gooey cinnamon buns were to die for, not much else was.  The mini-Mickey waffles had done their time under a heat lamp and bacon was much too burnt and crispy for my taste, but that's okay as that's how The Bride likes it.  None for me though. 

And the hash brown-style potato barrels?  They were tater tots.  Frozen Ore-Ida or Ore-Ida knock off tater tots.  Disney had tricked me.  Not only were they really crappy heat lamp tater tots, they certainly were not grown in The Land.  At least Mickey, Pluto, and Chip and Dale were fun, but I don't think I'll be coming back. 

French Fry Diary 735: Fries on the Grill

The last week or so down here in Florida, besides being in the middle of a drought, the weather has been spectacular.  So, we've been grilling pretty much every day.  And if know me, or if you're a regular reader of this blog, you know there's going to be French fries in the mix. 

Now the brave among you will want to do them from scratch, that's not a problem. Cut the potatoes however you want, as fancy or as simple, with or without skin to your taste. Remember, small and thin will cook quicker, and also may fall between the slots of the grill, just as thicker might not, but will take longer to cook. I would advise coating the taters with a bit of oil and/or nuke them a little beforehand as I did here. They might take a bit longer, but they'll be delicious.

Even though Ore-Ida no longer makes its Grillers which were, as the name implies, perfect for the grill, and even if you don't make them from scratch, you can still have fries on the grill.  Any frozen fries, onion rings, or any potato product can go right on the grill.  And they cook faster than scratch, because they're already partially cooked when you buy them by the magic of par-fry.

Use a grill pan or basket if you're afraid they'll fall through.  A good one can be had for just a few bucks if you don't get fancy.  I use basically just a sturdy but disposable screen I got at the local Walgreens for a dollar.  If you choose, veggie baskets can get pricey, but it all depends on your needs.  I wouldn't use aluminum foil as some folks suggest, unless you like getting burned trying to retrieve those fries once they're done.

If your grill has a temperature gauge you can stay close to the instructions on the package, but remember with the lid closed, the grill is more like a convection oven than a traditional oven.  If no gauge, just keep an eye on them, but remember, the thinner the fry, the quicker the cook.  Golden brown is always good. 

Enjoy! 

French Fry Diary 683: The Tot Cart

While I'm very close to the city of Philadelphia, I don't get into the city all that much, so there's a whole world of food - specifically the favorite fried food - that I don't get to talk about all that often. I'm talking about food trucks and carts. Unfortunately for the most part they are a city thing, but every once in a while, one will amble over t this side of the bridge.

National Night Out is one of those times. As part of the event, the powers-that-be tried to get everyone to go to what's left of the Echelon Mall, or as they like to call it, Voorhees Town Center. Face-painting, an outside viewing of Cars, and a variety of food carts and trucks were part of the bait. The food cart in question was The Tot Cart. Their motto is "Gourmet Tots, Straight to You" Come on, how could I resist?

In what is already a flustercluck in parking at the best of times, the powers-that-be made parking into a nightmare by blocking off most of what is usually an empty lot. Is it any wonder the Echelon Mall no longer exists? Malls aren't passé, but inept mall management is. Enough about what used to be a viable mall, we're here for the favorite fried food, in this case, tater tots.

I was joined by friend, fellow South Jersey Writer, and sometimes FFD contributor, Sarah Hawkins-Miduski. She had visited The Tot Cart before at another location, and had been impressed. Sadly that was not the case this night.

The signboard in front of the truck offered such goodies as Boardwalk Tots, Drunk Tots, New Bay Tots, Half-Loaded Tots, and Cowgirl Tots, all under the banner of Gourmet Tater Tots. Lots of promise here, most including The Tot Cart's famous Drunk Cheese. I ordered the Just Tots with the Drunk Cheese on the side, while Sarah got an order of the Half-Loaded Tots. We were prepared for the best, but should have done the opposite.

I had asked if the tater tots were made from scratch, and although the woman in the cart seemed pretty well versed in the making of tots from scratch, she admitted that these were frozen Ore-Ida Tater Tots. I was shocked, and sadly, they tasted like the worst deep-fried frozen tater tots you could imagine. Add in that I suspected they had been cooked quite some time before our arrival, these were pretty bad tots, a solid disappointment.

I did like the Drunk Cheese however, a secret beer cheese, or so they say. The cheese had a thick deep flavor, very tasty and would have gone well with fresh tots, had they been available. This added frustration made me less happy. Sarah was not as unhappy but admitted her previous experience was much better, and she wished she'd had those tots. She also thought the bacon, which was a bit too salty, didn't add much to her tots. It wasn't all bad, we talked about upcoming Disney trips as Sarah is a regular listener of The Make Mine Magic Podcast

I was very excited about this outing, and wished the tots had been better. I hope to sample them again at another time, when circumstances might be different, but as for now, I really can't recommend The Tot Cart, sorry.

French Fry Diary 673: Ichiban Buffet

Recently some old friends and The Bride and I got together at a new buffet where the old Old Country Buffet in Cherry Hill used to be - the Ichiban Buffet. In Japanese, 'ichiban' means 'number one' or 'first,' but I think in this case, I think they're just being hopeful, as this was less than satisfying.

I'm not a big fan of buffets to begin with. I dislike the idea of not knowing who has been touching my food, maybe multiple times, for who knows how long, perhaps getting it on their plate, then changing their mind and putting it back. It's just not sanitary, no matter how many employees and cooks are watching to make sure that kind of shenanigans doesn't happen.

This buffet was $16.00 per person, and they seemed to have a good variety, as well as (boo) Pepsi products. One big highlight was the 'donuts,' or more accurately the little chunks of fried and sugared dough, but I was disappointed at there being no soft ice cream, usually a buffet staple. I was a bit irritated by this seemingly professional place in all other effects having the ingredients of the trays written on signs below in Magic Marker. Tacky.

But of course, I wasn't there for the signage, or the donuts, or even the ice cream, I was there for, among other things, the French fries. They were only warm, probably baked frozen seasoned fries, seasoned to the point of being as dark golden brown as the sweet and sour chicken, whose sauce was great on the fries. The mashed potatoes only okay, and I didn't see any onion rings.

There was one puzzle I couldn't figure out. Why won't they trust us with knives? We can cut our own meat at the serving station, dish our own hard ice cream, but they won't trust us with knives at our seats unless we flag someone down and ask for one? Weird. I probably won't be coming back, the company was excellent though.

French Fry Diary 618: Richman's Ice Cream

Richman's in the Echelon Mall was my first real job. When I say real, I mean I was paid above the table and I actually needed a Social Security number for it. I was at the mall, saw the 'help wanted' sign, and asked for an application. I remember the kid at the counter, Dave was his name, first guy I ever met with a rat tail (yes, I'm dating myself), said manning the ice cream counter out front let you see all the girls walk by in the mall. This would be an awesome job!

I got it, and after buying a couple pairs of white pants, white shirts, pinning a badge on and topping it off with a paper hat, I was ready to go. The first day I spent scooping ice cream, weighing and putting it back in the bucket. I had to get the weight right before I could scoop for the public. For the next week, I rocked the front counter, meeting girls, and getting digits. As I suspected, awesome job.

Then counter training ended, and busboy/dishwasher training began. Star in the front to troll in the back overnight. This job was not fun. It seemed like I would never get back to the front, and as the holidays approached, I scored the primo job at the top of the mall food chain, at a record store.

That wasn't the first time at the Echelon Mall Richman's however. My cool big sister took me there once years before. In a lesson of learning the value of money, I had to earn enough to go to this 'grown up expensive restaurant.' I also learned things later while I was employed there. The government takes a lot out of your paycheck, and always carefully examine your food - you never know when a fly will die unnoticed in the rum raisin ice cream. I have never had that flavor, ever, since then.

I've told the story of the other thing I learned on an early episode of The GAR! Podcast, but I'll tell it again here. My first day on my dinner break, I ordered the Basketburger, and the waitress and multiple cooks kept calling back in the kitchen "Basketburger" and "Employee meal." I would later learn it meant to do it right, not mess with it, and if it fell on the floor, to throw it out. Yeah. Glad I was an employee.

Not a Richman's Basketburger, but you get the idea...

The Basketburger was a bigger than McDonald's burger on a sesame seed bun, a pickle, cole slaw, and crinkle cut fries. I didn't know then, and believe it or not, I never saw into the kitchen, but I'm pretty sure the fries were frozen and deep fried even though they didn't taste that way. They were pretty good and didn't taste greasy.

Working at Richman's was an educational job, fun at times, and the fries were pretty good too. Well worth it for the short time I was there.

French Fry Diary 589: T.G.I. Friday's Loaded Fries

Now I love T.G.I. Fridays, so I know their menu fairly well, even though I don't get to go as often as I might like. And knowing their menu, I know that they don't really serve this item, T.G.I. Friday's Loaded Fries, in the restaurants. While they have a variety of French fry-like products, I don't think they even have crinkle cut French fries like these. Potato skins, yes, French fries, no. We'll forego that bit for now and review this frozen grocery treat as is.

These are very similar to the microwave fries I've reviewed before, the Ore-Ida Easy Fries. Same directions - cook 'em in the box, but then add the cheese and bacon. Other than having to melt the cheddar sauce in running warm water, this is a pretty easy prep.

The box comes with the same type of microwave box, and two packets, one with cheddar cheese sauce, and the other with shredded cheddar and American cheese, and bacon bits. There's a four minute plus fries cooking time then an additional minute with the toppings. The problem is you get a soggy box pan with the fries glued to the bottom with cheese.

Once you've pried the fries from the cheesy glue box, they're not bad. They don't have the crispness of the Ore-Ida Easy Fries, no matter how else they are close to them. I wonder if the size of the box (slightly bigger) or the additional cook time for the toppings has anything to do with that. These are not bad in a pinch, but I think it might be easier to do Easy Fries and apply your own toppings when they are hot from the microwave.

French Fry Diary 560: The Treehouse, Audubon NJ

I love The Treehouse in Audubon NJ. They have been very good to us at the South Jersey Writers' Group. It's where we hold our monthly Blogfests as well as many other functions. They are really nice to us, and besides that, it's a terrific coffeehouse, and Rob always makes a killer chocolate milkshake that is just awesome.

We got to talking one afternoon and he hipped me to Donkey's, which is now my favorite cheesesteak place. I had also promised that sooner or later I would try the potato-ey product that he served up at The Treehouse, their hash browns. I finally got around to it one Sunday I arrived extra early for one of the SJWG's Blogfests.

The hash brown is a pretty standard frozen square variety, but it was served hot and was quite tasty. But look close at the picture - yeah, baby, grill marks. Grill marks are decoration, frills, and basically proof that a food item sat on a grill. It's that extra touch of cool. But really, it's the difference between a mediocre steak or burger and a great steak or burger - and in this case, a hash brown. The grill marks make this hash brown. It rocked.

The Treehouse, come for the atmosphere, come for the coffee, the service, the Blogfests, the milkshakes, and come for the hash browns. Great stuff.

French Fry Diary 521: The New New Burger King French Fries

Yes. Again. Burger King is changing their fries again.

This is actually more of an addition rather than a change though. Burger King's newest addition to their fry family, which also includes their standard new fries from a couple years back, their onion rings, their curly fries (still only available at select outlets), and their sweet potato fries (generally a summer item), are called Satisfries. Yeah, I'm not sure about the name either.

Satisfries are bigger crinkle cut fries, similar to the frozen microwave fries BK sold for a while in grocery stores, and have less fat and fewer calories. While they will be included at no charge in the kids meals, adults will be paying extra if they want them. Hopefully that means they'll be that much better than BK's regular fries, maybe. Time will tell.

Special thanks to Allison for hipping me to this announcement.

French Fry Diary 484: The Wawa Hash Brown 2013

Little has changed about the Wawa breakfast hash brown since the last time I reviewed it, one of my first actual reviews for this blog. While Wawa breakfast has expanded quite a bit and their ordering system for both breakfast and the entire deli area has become computerized and cutting edge, their hash brown remains pretty bad.

The Wawa hash brown is probably frozen and heated via toaster oven then heat lamp for the better part of the day. And yeah, it tastes as good as that sounds. They are worse than the similar planks of processed potato I dislike in Disney and on their Cruise, but also nowhere near the quality of McDonald's Hash Browns. Also note in the image that sometimes, it's not even a perfect rectangle.

It's bland for the most part but it has a bit of a kick more than McD's, possibly it's the onion powder. There is still an awful aftertaste from them. I had one in 2009, I guess one every three years is enough for me.

Pizza Tot Cassarole

Pizza Tot Casserole Recipe

Prep: 10 min. Bake: 30 min., Yield: 6-8 Servings

Ingredients: 1 pound ground beef, 1 medium green pepper, chopped, 1 medium onion, chopped, 1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed tomato soup, undiluted, 1 jar (4-1/2 ounces) sliced mushrooms, drained, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, 1 package (32 ounces) frozen Tater Tots

Directions: In a large skillet, cook the beef, pepper and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add the soup, mushrooms and Italian seasoning. Transfer to a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Top with cheese and potatoes. Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Yield: 6-8 servings.

This recipe and photo courtesy of Taste of Home.

French Fry Diary 412: Ian's Alphatots

Now I've talked about Ian's Natural Foods before, specifically their wonderful Panko Onion Rings. This time I'm looking at another of their products - Alphatots.

Alphatots are one of those potato products that are shaped, sort of a hybrid of extruded or formed potato mash, but with a crisp shell. In the case of the Alphatots from Ian's, they are formed into small letters.

Allergen free alphabet shaped Potato Fries. No wheat or gluten, no milk or casein, no eggs, nuts or soy. Ian's has no artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives... ever. And yeah, that's their trademark after that snazzy but true slogan.

This is a fun way to eat your fries, and maybe a fun way to teach young kids their letters, but much like alphabet soup or Alpha-Bits cereal, it's almost impossible to find enough, or the right, letters to spell anything specific for a cute effect. I'm sure it would have taken several bags to spell out 'French Fry Diary' if I wanted to.

They cook at a very high heat, 475 degrees, the highest I've ever seen for a frozen fries product, and they actually cooked quite quickly, some overdone by the time suggested in the directions. Crispy on the outside and soft and hot on the inside, they were very good. Eat 'em while they're hot though, they're not so great when cold or reheated.

Like Ian's Onion Rings they definitely required seasoning and were good for dipping. As usual I did barbecue sauce. They are a nice change of pace for fries from a quality company.

French Fry Diary 411: Ore-Ida Grillers

These new for the summer frozen fries from the fine folks at Ore-Ida - Grillers, Golden Thick Cut Potatoes - not only promise to give you that right off the barbecue grill flavor, but can actually be cooked on the grill. While this is no easy trick, it is a tricky statement.

There are directions on the bag for cooking these extra thick crinkle cut natural cut potato slices on the grill, but it's a gas grill, where you can control the temperature. As I have no gas grill, I had to skip this attempt.

As tempting as grill marks on a potato slice are, I baked them instead. The directions were pretty standard, 450 degrees for 14-16 minutes, so I was worried they might not cook through. As I said, these Grillers are very thick, almost a half inch thick. Time will tell, I guess.

I do like one of the two topping suggestions made on the bag. The Jack Daniels BBQ sauce I'm down with, the shredded cheese, bacon bits and sour cream for a loaded baked potato taste, not so much. But that's me, I'm sure it would work for those that dig that. I did get my BBQ sauce out however.

Once done, the slices look very crisp almost crunchy. But that is just on the outside, inside they are soft, hot, and almost mashed potato-like. Most of them are very good but some of the bigger slices have the same problem as a medium rare steak, the middle is raw. But as I said, most of them are well cooked and very good. And the BBQ sauce definitely helped. Good stuff.

French Fry Diary 407: Cascadian Farm French Fries

I'm usually not a fan of organic frozen French fries. Because they're organic they have limited keep time, and I tend to forget stuff in the freezer sometimes - not a good combination. They also tend to be tasteless and easily freezer burned. Still, I do dip my toe into the water from time to time. Such is the case with Cascadian Farm Crinkle Cut French Fries.

As promised on the bag, these are indeed "tender, delicious french fries that bake up crisp and golden." Be careful though, and follow the directions closely, they can burn pretty easily too as I found out the hard way with my first batch. The second batch was quite tasty, if needing a bit of seasoning. I added salt and barbecue sauce, my usual weapons of choice.

Healthy as heck, and unlike the standard organic fries, these were very good. No transfats, no cholesterol, and low salt, these are recommended.

Random Tater Pic of the Day #49

I recently re-visited Luigi's Pizza Fresca in Marlton. I had been there once before for the blog. Other than a just okay cheesesteak (I have been spoiled for life by Outta Philly), I got an order of onion rings to split between our party. These are two of the grocer's freezer deep fried rings we were served. A disappointment.

French Fry Diary 379: Alexia Onion Rings

I've mentioned these dozens of times but I don't think I've ever actually reviewed them. Other than Mrs. Paul's Onion Rings, which I don't think they make any more, Alexia Onion Rings are my favorite grocer's freezer rings.

Now I've talked about Alexia's beer battered rings, but these are the real deal - 'Crispy Golden Onions with Sea Salt' and the Panko bread crumb covering. Alexia does it best. No cholesterol and no transfats either, so how can you lose?

There are deep frying instructions, in small print, probably because they are not great done that way. Of course if you like extra crispy and crunchy, go for it. It's not my preference, especially when baking them is healthier, and tastier. Unlike a lot of frozen grocer side snacks I talk about here, Alexia's directions are perfect as far as timing and temperature.

I sometimes open the bag, add various seasonings, then coat them Shake N Bake style in their own bag. But that's just me. I love these rings and dip them in barbeque sauce, or you can even make your own dipping sauce from the recipe on the side of the bag.

Alexia Onion Rings rock, period, recommended.

French Fry Diary 340: ShopRite Panko Breaded Onion Rings

When I saw these in the freezer section of my local ShopRite, I was really excited. Panko bread crumbs are the gold standard for onion rings, and being a store brand meant they were cheap. Also being frozen, it meant easy prep. I immediately snagged two bags of these babies.

First impressions were not great when I opened the bag. They looked pretty average, not covered in big crunchy Panko bread crumbs or made from giant whole onions as I had come expect from places like Red Robin and Bahama Breeze. And now I'm aware that 'Panko' is a way of cooking bread but it still bothered me a bit that word appeared nowhere in the ingredients.

I still couldn't wait to try them out and I was thrilled to see directions for both deep frying and baking. Feeling both industrious and hungry, I decided to do both.

I only did five rings of varying sizes in the deep fryer. They cooked very quickly and came out with a very crunchy outside and a hot juicy oniony inside. They were a bit greasy, but they were cooked in oil. Again, not what I expect in a Panko, but pretty good.

The baked batch, on the other hand, were like Baby Bear's bed, just right. Still crunchy, but tender as well, and not one bit greasy - ah, the wonder of baking. I put some seasoning on them, dipped them in BBQ sauce and they were great. Easy and great.