French Fry Diary 677: Carolina Blue Smokehouse and Taproom

Way off the beaten path, or at least my beaten path, is the Carolina Blue Smokehouse and Taproom, all the way in Pitman NJ. I went there for a surprise birthday party for good friend, author, and current president of the South Jersey Writers' Group, Amy Holiday, so it was worth it.

Despite the outside appearance of the restaurant as a barbeque place, the food's appearance has more of a very simple Californian cuisine vibe. I got my usual, a cute little burger that was delicious, moist, and incredibly filling. I felt so stuffed after this little morsel. As a side, and also as an appetizer for the whole table, were house cut chips. Very much like the crispy thin slices in an order of fried breakfast potatoes, these were chips with just the right crisp, very good. The appetizer came with melted blue cheese crumbles that everyone loved.

While I didn't have (I know, blasphemy) the regular fries, I did get a chance to try the sweet potato fries, stylized on their menu as "SWEET! Potato Fries," dusted with a cinnamon sugar and served with vanilla cheesecake dip. These were to die for, even cold. These quite possibly some of the best sweet potato fries I've had, and I'm really not all that fond of them.

All in all, it was a great night out with friends, good friends and good discussion, and Amy was surprised, so it was all good. Thumbs up for the Carolina Blue Smokehouse and Taproom.

The Power of Potatoes

Folks are always telling me how bad French fries are for me, and that potatoes are starches not vegetables. Well, ha, it turns out that they're not as bad for me (or you) as we all thought.

This article indicates that potatoes, especially sweet potatoes, are pretty fierce disease fighters. Check it out here.

Thanks to friend Lisa on the Facebook for hipping me to this.

Wild West Wedges with Cranberry Catsup

I found this one on the Just-Potatoes Yahoo! Group, but it's originally from the Ocean Spray website.

Ingredients: 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1-inch thick lengthwise wedges, 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided, 3 teaspoon sea salt, divided, 1 teaspoon chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon onion powder, 1/2 cup chopped red onion, 2 tablespoons chopped seeded jalapeno chiles, 2 teaspoons minced garlic, 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice, 1 cup Ocean Spray Fresh or Frozen Cranberries, 3 tablespoons Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice, 1 teaspoon chipotle flavored hot sauce, 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place sweet potatoes on large baking sheet with sides. Drizzle with 3 tablespoons of the olive oil; sprinkle with 2 teaspoons of the salt, the chili powder and onion powder. Toss to coat; spread on pan so potatoes aren’t touching. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until fork tender, turning once half way through cooking.

Meanwhile, in large skillet, heat remaining olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and jalapeno chiles; cook for 5 minutes. Add garlic, cumin, allspice and remaining 1 teaspoon salt; cook for 1 minute. Stir in cranberries, cranberry juice, hot sauce and maple syrup. Cook until cranberries start to pop. Pour mixture into food processor bowl with metal blade. Process until smooth. Serve with sweet potato wedges.

Makes 4 servings

French Fry Diary 611: b. good

The South Jersey area has been invaded in the last few years by upscale gourmet burger restaurants like Elevation Burger, Smashburger, Zinburger, and coming soon, Burger Fi. The trend continues with b. good, just opened in the Promenade in Marlton. At first glance it looks like a quick service burger place, but it's much more than that, and costlier.

You order, get your drink and have a seat. The pricing is a bit misleading if you're used to menus and meal deals at fast food restaurants. There are signs that say you can add drink and fries for $5.99, but the deal isn't $5.99, for an additional $5.99 you can get a drink and fries. Add that to the pricy burger and it adds up - this is not a typical quick service burger place though, the service is quick, and the burgers are really good.

The drinks are intriguing. No Coke or Pepsi here. They have cane cola, skinny cane cola, Italian lemon, and Pennsylvania red birch beer (yum), to name just a few. I know I'm a Coca-Cola guy, but I enjoyed trying the different soda flavors, much more than the Lay's potato chip flavors I've had to try of late at least. The cane cola is awesome.

The burger was very good. The meat was local, as is everything at b. good, dry-aged, and house-ground, and it's a loose ground, which makes for a juicy chewy burger. On a softer bun, this would've been an amazing burger, but as is, it was only great. And by great, I mean better than the burgers at most other places.

The natural cut fries, also local, were very good. They were excellent hot, a little soft but still managed to have the right amount of crisp too. There's a subtle seasoning that give them a little kick, nice. I think I got the tail end of a batch as they were many small pieces and stubs. It happens. I saw some awesome sized regular cut fries on the plates of others. I also got a few sweet potato fries with mine, which was a nice surprise. All in all the fries were very good. On a later visit the fires were even better. I guess they just needed to get their groove.

The French fries bags have a lot to say. "These fries are special. They're hand-cut and oven-finished." I like that. Additionally they have the calorie and fat counts of McDonald's, Wendy's, and Burger King as compared to b. good's. There's also another slogan, "Food made by people not factories." Nice. I really liked b. good a lot, and can't wait to go back, and bring friends and family. Recommended.

French Fry Diary 587: Iron Hill Brewery Sweet Potato Fries

Attending a social event at the Iron Hill Brewery with the South Jersey Writers (quick plug, membership is now open!), I finally had a chance to try the sweet potato fries.

On a previous trip, I was stunned by the amount of favorite fried foods that were served at this chain, and pledged to return and try some of the variations. It was a toss up between the onion rings and the sweet potato fries, and based on the opinions of the folks I was eating with - one a dedicated Iron Hill fan - I settled on the latter.

So while talking about writing techniques and other shop talk, I got my regular, a burger, plus a side of the sweet potato fries. The burger was big, juicy, and very filling, definitely something to come back for again. The fries were also big and thick, soft hot wedges of sweet sweet potato. They were very good while hot, but not as much as they cooled, but I would definitely get them again. Recommended.

Hungry Girl Recipe-a-Palooza

Here's a quick sampling of some of the French fry related recipes that have been presented on the Hungry Girl website, and suggested to me by friends and readers:


Sweet Cinnamon Fritter Fries

Hot Stuff Bacon Cheese Fries

Garlic-Parm Sweet Faux-tato Fries

Baked Potato 'n Turnip Fries

Special thanks to C.L., Mary, Tandy, and Robin who all pointed me toward these Hungry Girl selections. You gals rock!

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.

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.

Bobby Deen's Fish and Chips

"Not My Mama's Meals" is an intriguing concept for a Food Network/Cooking Channel program. It's got Bobby Deen, Paula Deen's son, turning out healthier spins on his mother's recipes. So, leaner, lighter, with all the flavor, and not sooo much butter.

In the second season episode, "Boys' Night," Bobby tries his hand at his momma's over 900 calorie fish and chips, bringing it down to roughly 300. Quite a challenge. His secret - he's using sweet potatoes, and he's baking them.

Check out the recipe here. Enjoy!

Random Tater Pic of the Day #87

These are oven roasted butternut squash fries, are they the new sweet potato fries?

French Fry Diary 449: Burger King Seasoned Sweet Potato Curly Fries

I know, insanity, but the very same day I blasted the customer service at a local Burger King, we decided on BK for dinner.

Upon arrival at my local Burger King, Marlton, not the infamous store #9865, my friend Jeff and I found ourselves in a non-moving line of one. The shift manager Tom was handling a very picky customer buying the last of the Cinnabon. The transaction was not the easiest, for either of them. But there was more to it than that.

Apparently we had just missed a verbally abusive exchange in the drive-thru. The customer came to straighten it out, and got in line behind the Cinnabon lady. Tom managed to handle the situation, not without drama, providing a bit of pre-dinner theater before my friend Jeff and I got to order.

We were there to try Burger King's new Seasoned Sweet Potato Curly Fries, and that we did. They were a bit thinner than most curly fries. I wasn't sure if it was because they had been overcooked or if it was something to do with them being made from sweet potatoes. They had lost a bit of their sweetness, and were not very good. I wouldn't get them again.

I also got the new Popcorn Chicken, and was similarly unimpressed. At least they still had the Coke Freestyle machine. I should have gotten a burger, or a chicken sandwich (which this store does have). I have to say, I was disappointed on almost all fronts on this trip, save the floorshow of course.

White Castle Thanksgiving?

Catching up here, I haven't said anything so far about White Castle's fairly new Sweet Potato Waffle Fries. Here's a pic, and I'll have a review up as soon as I try them.

Speaking of White Castle, I have to pick your brains out there. Does anyone have the recipe for White Castle cheeseburger stuffing? I have heard rumors there are also WC fries in there as well. Anyone got it?

French Fry Diary 401: Wildfire BBQ Co.

The Wildfire BBQ Co. is built on the site of the old Stratford Friendly's on the White Horse Pike. I remember that I went to dinner for my sixth grade graduation there, and also one of my first dates as well, but it's not a Friendly's any more. The new restaurant has been there about eight months. Once I walked in I was struck by how much smaller it was than the old Friendly's but then, I just kinda fell in love with the place. I like the decor, it's very warm and cozy, a rocker biker vibe, all from the owner's home.

Our waitress Melanie was on skates and well beyond helpful and friendly. Her roller derby name is Rabbit. Coolness. She knew everything about the restaurant and the food. Before we even looked at the menu I was happy.

For our appetizer, we got the Wildfire Fries - French fries with melted cheese, smoked bacon, sliced cherry peppers (yikes!) and BBQ sauce. This had both regular fries and sweet potato fries in there, good combination. The bacon was perfect and the sauce sweet and hot. The banana peppers added a bit of a kick flavor-wise, and I was told by Melanie this was the regular BBQ sauce. Now I'm a bit worried, I ordered the hot for my meal.

The soda size (Coca-Cola products, so that's a plus) is terrific, and you'll need it to put out the fire of the Wildfire Fries. I went through several glasses of Coke fighting the heat of my buffalo sauce. Our friends got the Twice Baked Taters, very loaded, very cool. Quite a treat.

The fries are natural regular cuts, probably deep fried, well salted and quite good. The real thing here is the dipping sauces. The regular sauce I liked quite a bit. The hot was a bit hotter, but still good for me. The buffalo wing sauce is burning hot, and gets hotter over time. That's the one that was killing me. The Melt My Face BBQ sauce is like the wing sauce but made me sweat. Sooo good but sooo hot.

I really loved this place. The owner does everything onsite and all of the sauces are his formula. We have also heard that they do an awesome breakfast, so we will be back for that, and for more lunch and dinner as well.  This place rocks, highly recommended.

French Fry Diary 384: Burger King Sweet Potato Fries

I'm not sure if it's just for the summer or for good, but as part of Burger King new fancier fast food initiative, they have introduced, among many other new items (several barbeque sandwiches of beef, chicken and pork, and an already infamous bacon sundae), sweet potato fries.

These sweet potato fries are the same size as their regular fries, only flat, as if cut in half long-wise. Sort of like miniature steak fries and a little like Wendy's fries. I've already mentioned here about my distaste for BK's now not so new fries, but I have to say I wouldn't mind if they came in this sweet potato fry shape. That would be innovative, and probably more enticing and tasty.

They taste good. I was very impressed. I'm not a sweet potato fry guy most of the time, and I thought these were very good. Better than the regular BK fries, and it has to be said, best while hot. As they cooled they were sadly less appetizing. These sweet potato fries are a nice change of pace. I would get them again.

French Fry Diary 370: T.G.I.Fridays 2012

After a movie with The Bride and her parents recently we went over to the Marlton T.G.I.Fridays to get a late night meal. It wasn't in my mind at all to be writing a review as I had done Fridays at some point last year. I guess I could have ordered and written about the crispy green bean fries, I suppose, but honestly it slipped my mind.

Anyway, I was surprised by new fries on the menu. I've complained about Fridays' ever-changing menu before. I'm a firm believer that if you do something well, keep doing it. Don't change it or do something else. I still miss their steak on a stick. Among the new menu items were sweet potato fries and Parmesan steak fries.

Now as we learned on our last trip to Fridays, what they call steak fries are not actually steak fries but potato wedges. I know I know, semantics, but it's important fry semantics.

These new fries are simply the old potato wedges with Parmesan and parsley on them. Notably there's too much Parm and pars if you don't like that stuff, and not enough if you do. Weird. They were okay when hot, and very potato-ey, although The Bride thought they were kinda dry. They microwaved well when we got home.

I'll save the sweet potato fries, and the crispy green bean fries for a future visit.

French Fry Diary 343: Burger.Org

For various reasons, four games in, and The Bride has yet to make it to a Philadelphia Wings home game. She also hasn't gotten to see our friends Judy and Marc who are also season ticket holders. Actually Judy is an old friend, went to high school with The Bride, and some college with me. Her husband Marc and I have become quick new friends. Although I think he was puzzled the first time he saw me taking photos of fries.

The Bride's first attend-able game was a day game so Judy and Marc planned a lunch get together beforehand. Knowing of my peculiar food fetish and catastrophic pickiness, they chose a burger place in Philly that also had, you guessed it, the favorite fried food. And that's how we got to Burger.Org.

Burger.Org has a healthy edge, serving all organic meats and offering a heavily vegan and gluten free menu. The meat had no artificial ingredients, antibiotics, or preservatives. 100% organic they claim, and that even includes stuff like the shakes and the fries. So basically everything you, ahem, I could possibly want, only healthier.

So what do you think I ordered? I got the burger, a Coke (yeah, I know, I was surprised too) and fries what else? The Bride was a bit disappointed that she couldn't get a cheeseburger, and we both were as they didn't offer shakes until summer. Notably the fries are considered Basary, which basically means meat. In other words, it's like the McDonald's beef tallow oil secret - fries cooked in the same oil as the meat.

I got the plain fries but they also had spicy, which I wish I'd gotten, and sweet potato. Marc got the sweet, and let me try one or two. Well, one, he didn't actually see me take the others. They were spiced with cinnamon, which was to die for. We have a new sweet potato fry champion.

The regular fries are fresh cut natural cuts and quite tasty but needed a little something something - a dipping sauce, some spices. And get them while they're hot, do much tastier hot, and excellent with malt vinegar.

The burger was awesome, one of the best I've had in a while. And the bun was homemade and terrific. The Bride enjoyed her sausages, and Judy and Marc enjoyed their wings. Really, there's not much that wasn't recommended, and the portions were huge. Cheese and shakes aside, this place rocked.

And the Wings? Yeah, they finally won. I guess The Bride is a good luck charm, and she'd better stop missing games...

French Fries for Dessert

We've seen dessert fries before here at French Fry Diary, but these sweet potato fries are just a little bit different. Hmmm... Elvis might like these...

This segment comes from "United Tastes of America," which airs on Food Network and Cooking Channel. Here host and food fanatic Jeffrey Saad checks out Peanut Buttercup Fries from the Fresh Fries food truck of Los Angeles.



Mmmm... enjoy!

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 331: Herr's Sweet Potato Chips

As I've mentioned before, I'm not a big fan of sweet potatoes. There are a few exceptions. I have really enjoyed the sweet potato fries at Cool Dog Café, for instance.

The Bride recently bought me a small snack bag of Herr's Sweet Potato Chips to try, and I was game. The bag says "Kettle Cooked," something that Herr's usually does quite well. In the spirit of full disclosure the bag also indicates they have sea salt, and no preservatives. These are all good things on the bag.

But it's the bag I'm finding fault with. The chips shown on the front of the bag sure look appetizing, but that's not what I found inside. The chips inside the bag were miniature shriveled up versions of the photograph. It reminded me of the orcs in "Lord of the Rings" - they were really elves who had been deformed and mutated.

Just by looks alone, I was turned off. I did not want these horrid orcish chips. Thumbs down, untasted. I'll pass.

French Fry Diary 330: Good To Go

This place, Good To Go, just opened recently in West Berlin on the site of an old McDonald's. The McDonald's formerly here moved up the road when the powers that be demolished the Berlin Circle. No circle, no traffic, no traffic, no business - and the new pattern made Good To Go fairly difficult to get to. The dead strip mall that surrounds it is evidence that McDonald's was right to move.

Good To Go promises great fast food and healthier choices. I have to admit, I had not heard good things about this place, but decided to give it a go anyway. The McDonald's was pretty much intact inside, and it was clean but fairly empty at lunchtime. The counter service was quick and friendly, and I was asked at least once how my meal was.

As far as the favorite fried food goes, they have pretty standard natural cuts. They were hot and just a little greasy but flavorful. They came in a paper bag a la McDonald's small fries, which is a nice touch. The fries also come in bay and cheese varieties as well as sweet potato fries.

The rest of the menu has burgers, sandwiches, chicken, tacos, salads, and the like. They also had Pennsylvania Dutch Birch Beer on tap, a big plus in my book. Not at all as bad as I'd heard or expected, but pretty good. I would definitely come back again. I hope the location doesn't kill them.