French Fry Diary 668: Chipos

There are holes in the Internet through which sometimes things slip through and vanish, except in our memories. I speak of things that not even Google can find. One we have previously talked about here at French Fry Diary is Tasti-Fries. I think I've found another - Chipos.

My recent affection for Herr's Lattice Cut potato chips brought this memory of my 1970s youth to light, as their very design is similar. Known as Chipos New Fashioned Potato Chips, they were, as described on the box, "fashioned from dried potato granules" and "flash fried." They had a criss-cross waffle pattern and texture and were relatively the same circular size.

If memory serves, this early seventies snack predated both the similar Munchos and the later Pringles, at least in my area, and memory. They came in a red and yellow box with a foil bag inside, just like Bugles do today. The back of the box detailed how they were made I recall, and I'm pretty sure they were made by Betty Crocker. Or was it General Mills? Or are they the same company?

Check out the video below for a TV commercial for Chipos, definitely from Betty Crocker.



They made a big deal of them having less grease than regular potato chips. Hmmm... So why aren't they still making them? The other thing I remember about them is that Chipos were delicious.

French Fry Diary 317: IHoP Breakfast

As I said the other day, Christmas breakfast was set for the International House of Pancakes, and we met the family there. I would rather have had a home cooked ham breakfast but everyone has gotten old and it's a hassle… so IHOP, being open on Christmas Day, has become the default meeting place for chat and gift exchange.

I spent a lot of the time talking with my big brother Warren because it's his birthday, and I kinda feel sorry for him cuz he's so old. That's not true. I mean, he is old, but I look up to him, he's a good guy, and he gave me a kidney as well. We talked about publishing, blogging, and how he thinks I never mention him on French Fry Diary. Hey, I talk about him on other blogs, but I guess he doesn't read those. ;-)

Now after last night's dinner, I was both a little full and also a bit sick to my stomach. So I wasn't very hungry and didn't order much, just hash browns (of course), and an English muffin. IHOP was hopping (pun unintended) being the only place open, and the service was pretty quick, but my food arrived last. Only my English muffin was hot. The hash browns not so much.

The hash browns were almost cold and they were a little burned, close to how they were last night when I made them for The Bride, burnwise, that is. They were of the shredded variety, and some were raw and greasy too. I only had a couple forkfuls and left the rest. That's how bad they were. These kind of hash browns are not my favorite, but as evidenced the other night, and at places like the Pop Shop, they can be quite good.

Still, the company was excellent, always good to hang out with the family. I really don't see them enough, especially my big brother, but then again, that's what Christmas is for after all - family. Happy belated birthday, Warren, hope you don't mind the ribbing. Still love ya, and you're still not getting your kidney back.

French Fry Diary 279: Columbia Harbour House, Magic Kingdom

Any port in a storm, that's what they say, and it was a stormy night in Disney's Magic Kingdom, so after hitting the Hall of Presidents, we went to the nautical and colonial themed Columbia Harbour House for dinner. I loved the Hall of Presidents this time, by the way. There's nothing new really, short of an animatronic President Obama, but the host in the lobby was very well read, and he and I got into a great conversation about posse comitatus. However, The Bride is not the history nut I am, plus we also wanted to stay out of the rain.

At the Columbia Harbour House, I got fries of course, and as always in the parks, they were the Disney standard natural cuts. Remember what I said a few days ago about it being who's doing the cooking not how they're cooked? Well, these were very limp and greasy, not good fries at all. Ick. The Bride enjoyed her salad quite a bit though.

Now it should be noted that these are not the only kind of fries you can get here. As I noticed on the Disney Food Blog after I got home from vacation, sometimes they will serve meatier, and better looking regular cuts with the Fried Fish Basket. I wonder if I could request them next time I go?

French Fry Diary 204: Red Robin Burger 2003

Here's a French Fry Diary flashback. Red Robin Burger was the first official French Fry Diary road trip. We were lured to the restaurant, quite a distance away at the Oxford Valley Mall, by their website that promised 'legendary bottomless steak fries.' There was a .gif of a moving image with constantly falling fries that said b.s.f. and nothing else. Bottomless Steak Fries? Oh, come on, you knew I had to investigate.

So we selected a night, and my friends Marni, Ken and Laurie came with on the trek to the closest Red Robin Burger location just outside the mall. It was a nice trip if a long one, but with friends, it goes by fast, and besides there were fries waiting at the end of this journey.

The onion rings were crispy and tasty. The shakes were good as were the sundaes. The burgers were big and juicy. The main event - baskets of steak fries with the skin on, were not very hot, but at least warm, slightly greasy, and if you ask, the waitstaff will refill the basket.

It's no wonder they're bottomless, you can only eat so many of these sub-par fries.
Maybe we went on a bad day but I've a hunch not. I probably won't be going back.

Now the above was my impression of eight years ago. I have gone back, and I have been impressed, as you can see from subsequent reviews... to be featured this week...

French Fry Diary 203: Fries of the Philadelphia Wings

It's Philadelphia Wings Lacrosse season again, and that means semi-weekly trips to the sports complex in Philly named, for the moment, the Wells Fargo Center. This is the former First Union Center and the Wachovia Center and who knows what else. By the time I post this review, it may have changed its name yet again. And that's the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, to differentiate it from the other dozen WFCs across the country. Whatever happened to real names for stadiums?

There are two major choices for the favorite fried food at the stadium, at least in the poor seats, and they are Boardwalk Fries and Chickie's & Pete's.

Now Boardwalk Fries isn't so much an actual location as the fry of choice at many of the food stands at the stadium. This first visit I got mine at Grille Works. It was six dollars for a cup of these natural cuts. Sure, it was a fair serving portion but still, the price was enough to make me want to go to a movie theater. These were not happy fries, limp and greasy, and sitting under a heat lamp for who knows how long. The cheese is also different from last year and not as good.

The second game this season, also a loss, sigh, I went to Chickie's & Pete's, with two locations within the Wells Fargo Center. I've reviewed Chickie's & Pete's before, also in the context of within the stadium. Someday I'm going to get to one of their actual restaurants for a review, can't wait.

The price of these have gone up since my last review to $8.50 and you only get one tub of the white creamy cheese sauce any more. Perhaps they found out the extra cup was being used for soft pretzels and hot dogs. Now they charge two dollars for extra, but it's still worth it.

These Crabfries are some of the best around, pixie crinkles smothered in old bay seasoning that makes them hot, and you'll need something cold to wash them down. The cup is huge but you will eat them all, they're that good. And if you don't, they reheat well at home for a snack after the game. These babies are addictive, thumbs up.

That's two games and two losses for the Wings. Hopefully they will start playing better so I can watch the game instead of reviewing fries. And maybe then they can start doing something about the price of parking around here. Man, Wells Fargo must need money bad for what they charge for parking...

French Fry Diary 201: Lay's Kettle Cooked Original Potato Chips

My biggest complaint with Lay's Potato Chips is how thin they are. In my opinion, they are so thin, they are almost insubstantial. It's why I lean toward Herr's and other brands most of the time. When I saw Lay's Kettle Cooked Original on the shelf, I thought they might be different.

The process of kettle cooking potato chips requires a thicker chip most of the time, but it seems Lay's has kept with their thickness (or thinness) factor. While they taste just like Lay's (a bit greasy and also too salty for my taste) and have the funky cool dipping shapes that kettle cooking creates, they are still too thin for me. I imagine they might break while dipping just like regular Lay's.

These are good in a pinch, like any Lay's, if they are the only brand in a vending machine, and you need a potatoey snack, but not recommended.

French Fry Diary 200: Smashburger

Colorado-based Smashburger opened in 2007, not just French fries but also deep-fried green chilis, pickles, sweet potato fries, banana peppers and fried onions all frizzled up. That last one called haystack onions. They also have veggie frites – flash fried carrots, green beans, asparagus, with sea salt and black pepper. This is also probably why, along with Elevation Burger, and too far out of state contenders Whataburger and In-N-Out Burger, Smashburger is one of the places I get the most recommendations for. Several dozen folks have told me I have to check out the fries at Smashburger, so it's a serious contender.

So we were in the wilds of North Jersey (yeah, "Jersey Shore" land) for a New Year's Eve party, and knowing we were also in the land of Smashburger - I called to see if they were open, so we set out to the Riverside Square Mall for a New Year's Day lunch.

Once we were there (the GPS and the street signs had some real difficulty in determining where this mall actually was), the place reminded me a bit of Cheeburger Cheeburger in design, and similar to Gino's in ordering. You order at the counter, take a number with you and they bring the food to you.

As expected, catastrophically picky eater I am, I got a plain hamburger, and The Bride got something more normal, for sides we got the Smashfries and Haystack Onions to share. The burger was a bit greasy, but very flavorful, and very filling. All things considered, it was the best part of the meal. Notably, the burger was even better with the Smashfries or the Haystack Onions sandwiched under the roll.

Now on to the main event, the favorite fried food at Smashburger - the Smashfries. At first sight, the fries themselves were nothing spectacular, just standard shoestrings deep-fried, as they would have been at any diner or pizza joint. Then the magic happens. They are tossed in olive oil, rosemary and garlic to give them that extra special kick. This is a great trick to trump up the taste of not so great fries and the flavor combination can't be beat. The problem is of course, the fries, tossed in oil after cooking, tend to be a bit greasy.

The Haystack Onions are thin sliced onion rings and onion straws that are positively addictive, much better than the fries, and definitely recommended. I am reminded a bit of the Onion Strings at Famous Dave's. Again, the problem is that they are also a bit greasy. Both these and the Smashfries come in ersatz baskets, and in good portions.

As mentioned above, the grease is the problem. The burger is a little greasy, the onions are a little greasy, and the fries are a lot greasy. Separately it might be forgivable, except maybe for the fries, but together it literally leaves a bad taste in your mouth and stomach.

I would definitely come back however. I would get the burger alone, and maybe the onions, and maybe the flash-fried veggies as well, and definitely one of those tasty looking shakes - but probably not the fries. The large variety of options here at Smashburger was why it was originally planned as a group French Fry Diary field trip. With three or four friends along, we could order and try all the different things on the menu. Not this time, but maybe next time.

French Fry Diary 199: Arby's Bait and Switch Onion Rings

What was advertised...

The new thing at Arby's is their Steakhouse Onion Rings. Now those last three words bring to mind a certain image - big thick panko battered onion rings, the kind that come next to, or on top of a big thick juicy steak. First and foremost I think of the ones that come with your steak at The Pub.

Luckily, so as to avoid confusion with the fantasy onion rings one's mind might conjure, Arby's new Steakhouse Onion Rings are accompanied by ads throughout the restaurant so you know what they look like. And they look darned good, perfectly shaped and tasty.

What we got... 

We got our order and left, as we were in a hurry to meet friends at our place, so it was a quick dinner on the go - real fast food. When we got home, I was in for quite a shock. I don't know what happened to my "Steakhouse Onion Rings" but I got crappy onion rings instead, and they certainly weren't anything like what was pictured at the restaurant. These were greasy, flimsy, falling apart, and not at all tasty. And five onion rings at $1.99, so not worth it…

Not cool, Arby's, so not cool. If you want to do something to make up for this fiasco, bring back your regular cut French fries or those delicious onion petals instead...

French Fry Diary 54: Comic Con Fries

I attended the Baltimore Comic Con this weekend and was surprised to see folks walking around on the con floor with cups of French fries.

Somehow a potentially greasy food is not something I would think would be sold at a convention dedicated to collectible pieces of paper of great value – especially considering what grease would do to them.

Nevertheless the snack bar was selling French fries. They were natural regular cuts and very greasy looking. Not surprisingly, I passed on these fries, for obvious reasons.

French Fry Diary 16: Bella Italia

One of my major missions as a French fries aficionado while visiting London a couple years ago was to have 'real' chips. It was a must.

The first excursion into the land where chip shops and chip carts and lorries abound was an eye opener. They weren’t all they were cracked up to be in legend, at least not to this American. I was reminded of Chinese take-out places when we arrived at our first official chip shop. It was not at all what I expected. We saw nothing when it came to the cooking of the chips, but they were delivered to us over the counter in wax paper, so that part of the legend held up.

The chips themselves were not all that great, larger than steak cut potatoes, natural cut and very greasy. The only thing sadly that differentiated them from anything special or extraordinary was simply the fact that we were in London when we ate them. To say I was disappointed is a serious understatement.

Later during the trip, after meeting friends at London’s famous comic book shop of the gods, Forbidden Planet, we all wanted to go to lunch together and decided on a franchise place called Bella Italia. I had never heard of it before our trip but on our time in London and the vicinity had seen many of these. It’s typical Italian fare, and from what I heard from the rest of our party, the food was pretty good.

Me, being me, and a catastrophically fussy eater, I got a hamburger and fries. Great burger actually, and lo and behold, the 'fries' that came were really 'chips,' and the kind of chips I had heard whispered in legend as coming from the UK. They were thick cuts, like steak fries but wide on all sides, golden brown, crisp on the outside and soft and hot within. I couldn’t get enough but one serving was more than filling. These were truly the fries of the gods.

All that and good friends and good conversation made the trip to Bella Italia in London one of the highlights of my time in London. Real chips... mmmm...


.

French Fry Grease Helps Nab Thief

French Fry Grease Helps Nab Thief

Teen tries to rob the wrong food stand at Wyalusing carnival, police and owner say.

August 16, 2007

By George Osgood
gosgood@stargazette.com
Star-Gazette Wellsboro Bureau


WYALUSING -- There are all kind of non-lethal, high-tech ways to apprehend suspected criminals these days: Tasers, shotgun-propelled beanbags, pepper spray, stun guns, flash-bang grenades, even ultra-quick-drying epoxy.

Now you can add another one, though perhaps not so high-tech: greasy french fries.

At least that was the weapon of choice when a 17-year-old from Lake Winola, near Clarks Summit, tried to run off with the cash box from the french fry concession at the Wyalusing Firemen's Carnival Tuesday night, police said.

Thanks to quick action and an "instinctive" heave by Marvin Meteer, a retired English teacher, the bold juvenile ended up in handcuffs instead of a getaway car. It's also a good example proving once again the adage that booze and fries don't mix.

Meteer tells it this way.

"Tuesday is the first night of our Firemen's Carnival," said Meteer, who, though he is not a firefighter, runs the fry booth with wife Maxine, daughter Melissa and several friends.

"This was close to 10 o'clock," he said. "We had been really busy for hours, but things had started to taper off. Normally, we sell a ton of french fries. But business was dwindling. A guy had come up to the stand and just kind of stood there," Meteer said. "Our helpers had gone, so it was just my wife and me and Melissa. She asked him if he wanted anything, and he said he was just thinking."

He left. Maxine was talking with the carnival manager, and the youth returned, accompanied by another boy this time.

"They didn't stand together, though," Meteer said. "The other guy just stood off to the side. And she asked him again if there was something she could get him, and he said, 'Yeah. I'll take an order of pierogis.' She said, 'Well, we don't have pierogis here. That's another booth.' The other guy said he would take an order of cheese fries.

"So she gets the cheese fries for him, and I'm looking at this other guy from the back of the tent, and I'm thinking, 'What does he want?'

"All of a sudden, quick as a flash, he ducks under the front counter and slams his hands down on the cash box and takes off to the side," Meteer said.

Melissa tried for a handful of shirt, but the youth was big and strong, "really rugged," Meteer said.

"I think he intended to go out an opening in the back of our booth, and I was headed around that way," Meteer said. "So instead of going out that way, he went to duck under the back counter and when he did that, I don't know, it was just an instinctive thing. I took one of the baskets we cook our fries in and I threw the fries at him, but not the basket.

"So anyway, he had the cash box at that point, and when he came up on the other side of the counter is when the fries rained down on him," Meteer said. "He hit those fries and they were just greasy enough that he started to slip and slide, and that gave me enough time to get around the end of the counter and a couple of guys who were there began wrestling him to the ground."

The youth threw the cash box. Maxine scooped it up. And began screaming.

"That was exactly the right thing to do," Meteer said. "That got the attention of many people. A lot of people came running, thinking that maybe one of the fryers had blown up and I had gotten burned. We all worked together and wrestled this guy to the ground and pinned him there. The first thing he said was, 'It wasn't me. I didn't do it.' I just said, 'Right.'"

Cheese-fry-guy had parked a car just behind the fry booth and waited there with the passenger door open, police said. When his buddy went down, he took off. A bystander got his license number, but no charges had been filed against him Wednesday.

The 17-year-old smelled of alcohol (and fries). The fire company president called state police.

"The guy said, 'My friend talked me into it, and I'm just a blankety-blank,'" Meteer said. "It was an interesting evening."

When State Trooper Brian W. Atherholt arrived, the crowd applauded. He handcuffed the youth and searched him, then took him away, embarrassed, in trouble and greasy. But it could have been worse.

He could have tried to rob the pierogi stand.