Guy Fieri's Beer Battered Onion Rings

For Food Network Fridays this time we have one of my favorite Food Network folks, Guy Fieri with his recipe for Beer Battered Onion Rings. Check it out!



This comes from the "Boardwalk Weiners" episode of "Guy's Big Bite." Check out the recipe here.

Random Tater Pic of the Day #22

This is the legendary Nathan's Famous without fries at the Thomas Edison Service Plaza on the New Jersey Turnpike. If you want the favorite fried food here, you have to go to Burger King or Popeye's. That's just wrong.

French Fry Diary 292: Baked Lay's Potato Crisps

What is most interesting about this product is that it doesn't actually say potato chips on the bag. The front of the bag pretty much just reads "Baked!" and then under that the Lay's logo and below that "original" to indicate the flavor.

On the back of the bag we learn they are called Baked! Lay's Original Potato Crisps. Now while crisps in the UK would indicate potato chips, but here in the US it means made from dried potatoes, like Pringles. And that also explains the bland taste of these cardboard reasons I really don't care for baked potato chips.

For the healthy conscious folks out there (who I have no idea why you're reading this blog, but I thank you) these start with all natural ingredients, have 80% less fat, no transfats, no MSG, no preservatives, and are gluten free.

They might be good for dipping but not for flavor. Not recommended, unless you have nothing else to munch.

French Fry Diary 291: Ore-Ida Extra Crispy Fast Food Fries

I usually get the store brand of this variety of the favorite fried food as it's less expensive, but this was an impulse buy, so I gotta roll with the punches.

Surprisingly, on the package for Ore-Ida Extra Crispy Fast Food Fries, other than that name, there is nothing that describes the product or explains why they are called that. Oh, it says they're made from Grade A potatoes and that they have zero grams of transfat, but nothing about the product itself.

Curiously the baking instructions are for a half a bag, and three quarters of a bag. This bothered me. What about instructions on how to cook the quarter bag that's left after you make the three quarter bag serving? I mean, come on, if you're doing instructions for dummies, be complete. So, ignore the instructions, they won't do you any good. My suggestion - twenty minutes at 450 degrees, stopping once halfway to turn.

The fries come out a bit crisp, as they do have a slight batter covering, but not enough to be offensive. They are excellent for dipping or dripping. The accompanying pic has them with Chick-fil-A Polynesian barbecue sauce. Yum. Not fantastic, and not exactly a good semblance of actual fast food fries (other than being shoestrings), but still very good.

French Fry Diary 290: Brighton Hot Dog Shoppe

The Bride's work takes her all over the east coast, and sometimes to some pretty outrageous places - like Mars. No, not the planet Mars, but Mars, Pennsylvania, and that's where today's edition of Somebody Else's Fries comes from - the Brighton Hot Dog Shoppe.

The Bride says, "Dog was pretty good, the kraut was grilled. Fries were hot and fresh, good size but lacked seasoning." There you go. Thanks, Jenn!

French Fry Diary 289: Lamb Fries

I was watching "Chopped" on the Food Network recently and one of the mystery ingredients was 'lamb fries.' Immediately my eyes and ears perked up. They were going to do fries on "Chopped." And then I was shocked to find out that lamb fries have nothing remotely to do with fries. They're more like the quizzically named 'sweet breads,' in other words, they're lamb testicles. Yep, serious serious ick.

This video clip from 1988's Funny Farm sheds a bit more light on the subject:



Remember, folks, lamb fries are NOT fries. This has been a public service announcement from French Fry Diary.

French Fry Diary 288: Lay's Honey Barbecue Potato Chips

Some time ago I reviewed Lay's Tangy Carolina BBQ Potato Chips and while they were hot and sweet, one might find them a bit too hot. If that's the situation, then Lay's Honey Barbecue Potato Chips are for you.

The heat is subdued and the sweet is perfect on these regular chips, probably due to the brown sugar in the seasoning. Like the Tangy Carolinas, these are kinda hard to find in my area at least, which is a shame as these are probably my fave Lay's chips. But like most Lay's chips, they are a bit too thin, you can still dip them if you're careful.

I like these a lot, and just wish they were easier to find. Recommended.

French Fry Diary 287: China 1

If your local Chinese food place has fries, get them, and if it doesn't find one that does. Usually French fries from a Chinese restaurant is a rare find, and a rare treat. When The Bride and I were still dating we frequented a wonderful little hole in the wall Chinese place in Blackwood, sadly since burned down, that had phenomenal shoestring fries, as well as a near-perfect sweet and sour sauce.

The secret is that in Chinese wok cooking, the wok is simply wiped out rather than actually cleaned. The food retains the flavor of all the food previously cooked in it. I know it sounds gross, but it works. And if French fries are cooked in a wok, yummm. It is so worth it. That's the way it was done at the place in Blackwood.

When I saw that China 1, not our regular Chinese restaurant, but one just a little further away, but one that had French fries, I knew we had to try it. The fries came in a little Styrofoam container, more familiar to diner food than Chinese food, and were simple crinkle cuts, probably frozen grocer fries that were deep-fried.

They were clearly not superior as that place in Blackwood or had any care taken with them other than a quick deep fry and dump in the Styrofoam box. It's a shame as they could have been so much better. We'll stick with our regular Chinese place, even though they don't have fries.

Random Tater Pic of the Day #21

These are toys, including plastic French fries, offered by Disney in their parks and elsewhere. Remember, kids, don't eat these fries.

French Fry Diary 286: 365 Baked Potato Chips

On my latest trip to Whole Foods, I picked up a couple of their brand name, 365, baked style potato chips. I chose the Lightly Salted and Barbecue varieties.

The Lightly Salted Baked Potato Chips were kinda bland, with that same flat cardboard taste that I have always disliked about baked chips. Taste in baked chips is one department where Trader Joe's is the definite winner. It's almost as if these chips have no taste at all, close to, dare I say it, Communion wafers. They do have a cool uniform shape though - it's almost a Green Lantern symbol.

The Barbecue Baked Potato Chips do have some flavor, wholly due to seasoning, and also come in the weird Lantern shape. I wonder if it's a happy coincidence or a movie tie-in. The seasoning is not great barbecue seasoning but at least it is some flavor.

These are not great chips unless you are being health conscious and don't care about flavor. No transfats, and lots less fat than regular chips. Not for me, try at your own peril.