French Fry Diary 678: Smashburger 2015

I must confess I have not been impressed with Smashburger the last few times I'd been there, and although several have opened in my area recently, I have not really checked them out.

As our usual Sunday night take out dinner has been disrupted by Casa Carollo's becoming the much inferior Marlton 73, so we're taking suggestions and shopping around. Smashburger just opened up within throwing distance right around the corner, so it was in the running. Since we could order online and pick it up, we gave it a shot.

What a surprise! First the order was perfect and on time. We'd always eaten in so I've never seen their packaging. The fries and haystack onions came in cup-like holders that actually stand up on a flat surface, something most fry containers can't do, so props for that. Now the shake and burger were terrific, and I of course sandwiched the onions and fries. Mmmm... good stuff.

Now I have to mention the Smashfries were different. Rather than the usual frozen shoestrings, these were natural cuts smaller than shoestrings but not quite as thin as matchsticks. Quite good. Recommended, will definitely be going back more. Looks like I got my wish.

French Fry Diary 528: Steak 'n Shake

I was more than curious about Steak 'n Shake. Over the years, I had gotten a few recommendations to try them. And when I asked you folks where I should try in the Orlando area, even more recs flooded in, twenty total. So many recommendations, but all of a certain type - you have to go, you have to try these fries, they will be great to write about. Eerily no one said they were good. No one until someone The Bride was doing charity work with on the day of our adventure, who said they were good. That's one out of twenty. Hmmm…

As we planned our vacation, and set our schedule, it was getting harder and harder to get to S'nS before we went to Port Canaveral, we might have to postpone that FFD road trip in definitely. The Bride however noticed that not only was there a Steak 'n Shake near our hotel, but they were open 24/7, maybe we could do it after all. So we snuck out in the middle of the night for a late night snack. Yep, an adventure.

I was very surprised that this was a sit down place, although they also have take out. What I expected was more in line with a Sonic Drive-In type place, but got something quite different. I was reminded of Johnny Rockets in atmosphere, very bright, but without the singing and dancing. We were greeted as we entered and had to wait to be seated - like I said, not what I expected at all. The clientele at two in the morning was a young, happy, and lively late night crowd.

I came for the fries, but they also had new seasoned fries - Parmesan cheese 'n herbs, salt 'n vinegar, and sea salt 'n cracked pepper. Yeah, S'nS is really enamored of the apostrophe and letter N thing. We went purist and just got the fries, and onion rings. As we had just had Hamburger Mary's just a few hours before, we decided on trying one of the famous steakburgers 'next time.' On the table was Steak 'n Shake's Fry 'n Steakburger Seasoning, a mixture of salt, onion, garlic, paprika, and sugar. A good peppery paprika kick when we put then on the fries.

The fries were smaller shoestrings, not quite matchstick fries, and a little overdone, so maybe a bit too crunchy. They were still pretty good. And they were even better with the above-mentioned seasoning. They were a bit addictive after that. I just wish they weren't overcooked. And the seasoning was so good we bought some to go home. Can't wait to try it at home, and not just on fries. I think it could really jazz up chicken.

When we had discussed S'nS earlier with friend Terry at Hamburger Mary's, he expressed a preference toward steak fries and their thicker cousins, which I tend to agree with. He wasn't fond of S'nS, they just weren't 'his thing.' However, I think if these fries were cooked better they could be pretty good too, thick or not. I would like to give them a second chance.

The onion rings were okay deep fried beer batter ones, that The Bride liked, but I wasn't thrilled by. To wash it all down she got a Salted Caramel Pretzel shake and I got a chocolate one. The shakes were awwwesome. They alone would worth the trip back down to Florida. Steak 'n Shake was not what I expected at all, but it was a pleasant surprise. I'd come back. Thank you all, for the unique recommendations.

Random Tater Pic of the Day #88

My friend Deb sent me this one. They are so decadently good I can feel the weight gain and extra cholesterol just by looking at them … these are Bacon Wrapped Sweet Potato French fries... Mmmm... fries...

Find the recipe here.

Sweet Potato Matchsticks

Since we've been talking lately here about matchstick fries, for Food Network Friday today, here's a video of Tyler Florence making sweet potato matchstick fries:



Enjoy!

French Fry Diary 319: Trader Joe's Shredded Hash Browns Two Ways

The last time I reviewed Trader Joe's Shredded Hash Browns I theorized that they could also be damned good matchstick fries (pretty much self-explanatory, or if you insist, very very thin shoestrings), if deep fried or baked. Well, on my most recent trip to TJ's, I picked some up, and had the opportunity to give it a try.

For deep frying, it's got to be quick, and you've got to keep your eyes on them. They are so thin, they cook fast. Get the oil hot, drop the taters, and as soon as they all float, get 'em outta there - they're done. Now I was surprised at how they shrank but don't worry.

They're not fries in the traditional sense or even how I imagined they would be, but they are damned good potato sticks, just like French's or Herr's, only without the salt (albeit with more oil). They are tasty, very crispy, and worth giving this cooking method a try.

I also tried to bake Trader Joe's Shredded Hash Browns. The first attempt was on a greased pan in the oven for ten minutes at 425 degrees - all completely arbitrary guess work. All it did was thaw them. No browning, but they smelled good. I gave them another ten minutes, watching them carefully, because I wasn't really looking to make another batch of potato sticks.

Twenty minutes seemed just enough time. These were mini-fries, what are called in the industry matchstick fries, and more in the line of what I was expecting. Whereas the deep fried version was strictly a finger food, these could be eaten with a fork.

All in all this was a good experiment in cooking potatoes two ways they weren't strictly meant to be. If you try it at home, I hope you enjoy!

What Are Your Favorite Kind of French Fries? Poll Results

First off, thank you to all the folks who voted in this poll, and put forth their 121 votes for their favorite fries. It means a lot, I mean, I know there are not many folks who are as passionate and enthusiastic about the favorite fried food as I am.

Here are the results, from least favorite kind of fries to most favorite:

The favorites with 39 votes are Steak Fries, followed by the 27 vote tie of Shoestrings and Waffle Fries.

Regular Cuts came in with 24 votes, followed by Curly Fries with 22 votes. Then we have a three-way tie for fifth place with Crinkle Cuts, Tater Tots, and Fries with the Skins on with 16 votes each.

11 votes went to Potato Wedges, while there were 7 votes for the mysterious Other, and no one sent me any emails to let me know what their other choice was. Perhaps they were matchstick fries or shaped fries or non-potato fries or pixie crinkles - we'll never know.

Maybe we'll have another poll in a few days. Any thoughts on the topic, drop me a line here.

French Fry Diary 316: Trader Joe's Shredded Hash Browns

This year The Bride and I decided to do something different on Christmas Eve. Not just running around last minute shopping and gift wrapping, that is. As our meals for Christmas Day had been all planned out already, and our traditional Christmas morning breakfast had been traded out for IHOP, we decided we'd have the regular Christmas morning breakfast for dinner Christmas Eve night.

So along with the traditional ham, there was also -who would have thought it- breakfast potatoes. Not wanting to do a lot of work, I got frozen, and wanting to make The Bride happy, I got shredded as it's her favorite kind. I myself prefer diced, or especially sliced, but I kinda like her and all, ya know?

In this case I got Trader Joe's Shredded Hash Browns. I cut the bag open at the side, but should have looked closer. They have a handy zip lock opening for resealing and later use. Great innovation. Now why doesn't Trader Joe's have those for their notoriously unopenable potato chips?

I have to give Trader Joe's props on these potatoes. They were individual shreddings, almost matchstick fries. Usually this kind of breakfast potatoes when come in chunks that have to be broken up, but not these. I'm tempted to try to deep fry them or bake them as matchstick fries next time.

They fried up rather quickly. I recommend frying a few slices of bacon in the pan first to give the potatoes that flavor, but using cooking oil works too. Flipping and patting the potatoes a few times is all that's needed for perfect breakfast potatoes. I did burn the second batch a little but that's okay, The Bride likes them like that. It was a good meal, and a good Christmas Eve.

French Fry Diary 249: Iron Hill Brewery, Maple Shade NJ

The Bride and I are always looking for new places to go to dinner with the in-laws, and if they have fries, it's a bonus for me, and indirectly for you folks too. After trying to get over there for the two years the Iron Hill Brewery had been open in the Moorestown/Maple Shade area, I was finally able to convince them to go. This restaurant is a very big place, and as advertised has a working brewery on site. All the beers and even root beers are brewed there, and it was also promised, the food was made to order from scratch as well. I was looking forward to this.

First off, the customer service was excellent, and our waitress Jessica was just wonderful, friendly and accurate. Her care and attention actually reminded the four of us of the Disney Cruise. I decided to live dangerously as a catastrophically picky eater and get the burger. With an upcoming return cruise already on our minds, I can't help but compare this delicious burger to the ones I got at lunch on board.

The presentation of all of meals brought on a further comparison to the Disney Cruise. The Iron Hill Brewery knows what they are doing, as far as making the food look great. Mom-in-law got baked fingerling potatoes with her steak, and The Bride had an egg roll sampler that came with a salad splash that included little matchstick fries. The fries that came with my burger however, not so great. They were deep fried natural cut regular cuts that were nothing spectacular, and quite frankly probably not made to order, unless it was some time ago.

That said, it was a delicious meal and we would definitely come back. It was topped off with a fantastic root beer float for dessert. Maybe next time I will give the onion rings and the sweet potato fries a try. While the fries were only okay, the restaurant is definitely recommended.

French Fry Diary 140: More Shake Dipping

Something a bit different this week for Food Network Friday, I'm going to talk about something I saw on "Chopped Champions" last week.

"Chopped Champions" is the a trumped version of "Chopped" for the new season. In this reality television competition series, four chefs go up against each other in three rounds - appetizer, entree and dessert - using four mystery ingredients they find out about just seconds before they start. Sometimes the ingredients make sense, and sometimes they are as twisted as say - celery root, chicken wings, salt water taffy and a pickle. The chefs have to produce something amazing, creative and tasty in a limited time using all four ingredients. Hilarity ensues.

In "Chopped Champions," the competitors are all chefs who have won on the show before and are going for a bigger cash prize and more difficult challenges. The first round of this new competition aired last week and featured in the dessert round two specific mystery ingredients - fingerling potatoes and some type of chocolate. So guess what one chef made? Yeah, you got it. Matchstick fries, and some sort of chilled chocolatey sauce in which to dip them in.

Nope. I'm not crazy. Mmmm... fries... and shake...

Oprah's Un-Fried French Fries

Oprah Winfrey likes French fries. I know she does. And there is no malice or sarcasm involved in that statement. We all know Oprah likes French fries. Come on, look at that smile. She’s thinking about French fries right now.

To make up for her (an myself as well) luring folks to try that nasty Kentucky Grilled Chicken (with beef seasoning! thank you, El Pollo Loco), here’s one of Oprah’s recipes for fries:

Ingredients

* 5 lg Baking potatoes (about 2 3/4
* Light vegetable oil
* Cooking spray
* 2 lg Egg whites
* 1 tb Cajun spice

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Slice each potato into 1/4 inch ovals, then slice each oval lengthwise into matchsticks. Coat a baking sheet with 3 sprays of the vegetable oil.
Combine the egg whites and Cajun spice in a bowl.
Add the matchstick potatoes and mix to coat.
Pour the coated potatoes onto the prepared baking sheet and spread them out into a single layer, leaving a little space in between.
Place the baking sheet on the bottom shelf of the oven.
Bake for 40-45 minutes, until the fries are crispy, turning them every 6 to 8 minutes with a spatula so that they brown evenly.

Rumor has it that Oprah also likes honey on her fries, whether it’s for dipping or poured right on, I don’t know, but I can’t say that I disagree. Honey is an intriguing condiment, not every time, but once in a while it’s great. I hear it’s extra great when the fries are a side for honey dipped chicken.

Brandy also likes Oprah and digs the whole honey and fries thing, read her blog entry about that here.


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