French Fry Diary 681: Funyuns Steakhouse Onion

I love the Bloomin' Onion from the Outback. I love the wannabe versions at other chains. So when I saw this new Funyuns flavor on the shelf at Wawa, I had to try them.

There's a big picture of the Bloomin' Onion on the bag, and while they can't actually call it that, you know that's what it is. The back of the package promises the zesty flavor of a steakhouse onion blossom and dip. Hmmm… dip? I'm not crazy about the dip. Maybe this was a mistake. Oh well, I guess there's only one way to find out...

Opening the bag, they kind of smell like the dip, but the immediate taste is definitely Funyon, with maybe a little bit of a smokey spicier kick, nice. The dip - a sour cream vibe, verified by the ingredients list - does come in as a cumulative aftertaste though, but not enough to discount these babies. I like them.

I would probably prefer the regular Funyuns over these, and definitely would rather have have a real Bloomin' Onion, but these Funyuns Steakhouse Onion Flavored Rings were really good.

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.

French Fry Diary 581: Lay's Kettle Cooked Lattice Cut Roasted Garlic & Sea Salt Flavored Potato Chips

Another entry in the longest potato chip name contest, this variety of Lay's caught my attention mostly because of the lattice cut. I've really dug the lattice cut chips from both Herr's and Cape Cod, so I figured I'd try these as well.

The lattice cut is similar to the other two types, although like most Lay's, not as thick, but still pretty good for dipping. When I first opened the bag, the heavy aroma of garlic hit me like a wall. These are very garlicky, definitely not a kissing snack.

I have to wonder what you would dip these chips into that would complement the garlic flavor. I'm not really a traditional dip guy so I asked friends and folks on Twitter. Suggestions included onion dip, marinara, and white bean hummus.

And you know what they always say about potato chips - you can't eat just one - the powerful garlic aroma will limit you with these. They're good, but be warned.

French Fry Diary 463: Ole Salty's Regular Salt

Next up from the Bag o' Chips, that The Bride got me for Christmas this year, a selection of rare potato chips from Anchor's Food Finds, we have the scariest bag of the bunch - Ole Salty's Regular Salt.

This is a silver bag of chips with just a label, almost as if it was astronaut food. Not even an expiration date. Folks, it does not even say 'potato chips' on the bag. The ingredients however assure me whatever it is, it's made of potatoes, soybean oil, and salt.

Ole Salty's of Rockford Illinois is a mail order only company, and this scary plain silver bag had no expiration date. Ole Salty also sells popcorn, dips, among other things, and also chips of lesser and more salt added. The packaging appears the same for that stuff. I guess it's a thing. Foil does keep sunlight out, which is not so good for chips in long exposures.

Only one thing to do. Open the bag. Not the easiest job in the world. So difficult, they could sell these things at Trader Joe's. Once open, this extra large snack-size bag yielded, as noted, a 1.25 ounce serving of chips, filling roughly the bottom third of the bag.

These chips are rather small but very crunchy, perhaps kettle cooked. Their taste is a bit of a cross between Munchos and Lays regular chips, a little greasy. Perhaps the Extra Salt might be better, because these are a little bland. For something called Ole Salty's, these chips needed salt.