French Fry Diary 709: Lay's Barbecue Potato Chips

This is regarding the newer and improved Barbecue Flavored Potato Chips, you know, the ones that are "bursting with more BBQ flavor." And I also have to say up front, in the spirit of full disclosure, that Lay's sent me a coupon in the mail to get these new chips for free.

In the past, I have always found Lay's chips to be too thin and a little bit greasy. Add to that, that I don't recall anything about their BBQ chips, especially when that's my fave chip flavor - that just doesn't bode well before I even open the package. Speaking of which, the only difference between these and the old ones I can see at first is the banner across the top of the bag saying it has more BBQ flavor.

Upon opening the bag there was a nice smokey aroma and the chips, while still thin, were heavily and evenly covered with the barbecue seasoning. The taste was heavy with tomato and molasses and a good afterburn kick. If they were thicker, they might be good for dipping in ice cream or a milkshake, something cold as a contrast, but alas they're too thin.

The new Lay's Barbecue Potato Chips aren't bad, and unlike the previous kind, quite memorable. I'd pick them up again.

McDonald's Gilroy Garlic Fries

Although still regional at the moment, McDonald's is test marketing a new fry item, something they don't do very often. Usually when there's a new Mickey D's product, it's a sandwich of some kind, but this time it's the fries.

Joining with the folks at Gilroy Garlic Fries from Gilroy California, the garlic capital of the world, McDonald's have introduced their new Gilroy Garlic Fries - their classic golden shoestring fries, tossed with a special mix of Parmesan cheese, parsley, olive oil, salt, and chopped Gilroy Garlic.

Gilroy Garlic Fries, sans McDonald's golden fries have been a favorite at ball parks in California for quite some time.

These fries proved so popular in the San Francisco and San Jose test areas that McDonald's restaurants ran out of the garlic mix. More on the story can be found here. I hope these new fries come to our area soon. How about you?

Special thanks to Peggy, Andrew, and the bro-in-law who were among the first to hip me to this ongoing fry situation.

French Fry Diary 672: Marlton 73 Pizzeria & Bar

For our usual Sunday take-out dinner, The Bride and I decided on Casa Carollo's because we enjoy their food and especially the portion sizes. We got a bit of a surprise when we called, and especially when delivery was made.

Casa Carollo's was no longer Casa Carollo's as they had new owners, a new menu, and new food. The new name is the Marlton 73 Pizzeria & Bar, featuring a new streamlined menu with steak and seafood eliminated. The place has always been pretty good to us, so we were willing to give the new version a chance.

The new food extends of course to the favorite fried food. Whereas lately we had been getting steak fries more often than the batter fries I talked about here, these batter-covered fries, much crunchier and less appetizing than usual, came with my steak sandwich.

The steak sandwich, it barely qualifies as a plain cheesesteak, because of the construction, was very different. The roll was different, with the ends cut off, and with considerably less meat. It was still very good, but nowhere near as good as it used to be. The Bride reported a similar difference in her chicken parm.

It's only one experience, and they're just starting up, but I have to say there's a marked difference. We may have to find a new Sunday night take out place.

Grilled Steak Potato Kebabs

Today's recipe comes from Best Recipestry, by way of Just-Potatoes, and you can see the whole thing here.

Grilled Steak Potato Kebabs

Ingredients:

FOR THE CHIMICHURRI, PURÉE: 2 cups fresh mint leaves, 1 cup fresh parsley leaves, 1 /2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, 2 cloves garlic, 2 Tbsp. each red wine vinegar and fresh lemon juice, 1 1/2 tsp. ground sumac or minced lemon zest, 1 shallot, 1 tsp. red pepper flakes, salt and black pepper to taste.

FOR THE KEBABS, TOSS: 6 red or yellow new potatoes, ends removed, cut into 24 (½-inch-thick) slices, 4 Tbsp. olive oil, divided, 11/4 lb. beef tenderloin or top sirloin, cut into 2-inch chunks.

Directions:

Preheat grill for two-zone grilling, heating one side to medium and the other to medium-high. Brush grill grate with oil.

For the chimichurri: purée mint, parsley, 1/2 cup oil, garlic, vinegar, lemon juice, sumac, shallot, and pepper flakes in a food processor; season with salt and black pepper.

For the kebabs, toss potatoes with 2 tbsp. oil; thread six potato slices onto each of four skewers so potatoes lay flat. Toss beef with 2 tbsp. oil. Evenly divide and thread beef onto each of four skewers. Season kebabs with salt and black pepper. Grill potatoes over medium heat, covered, until brown and soft, about 7 minutes per side.

Add beef kebabs to grill; cook over medium-high heat, covered, to desired doneness (about 3 minutes per side for medium-rare). Let kebabs rest 5 minutes. While resting, brush kebabs with chimichurri. Serve remaining chimichurri on the side.

Nutrition Information:

Per serving: 576 cal; 47g total fat (8g sat); 75mg chol; 86mg sodium; 15g carb; 3g fiber; 30g protein.

French Fry Diary 523: Burger King Satisfries

I have to be honest after the last few times Burger King changed their French fries, I was expecting the worst. But here's the thing, I think they may have actually gotten it right for once.

These are nice big standard crinkle cuts, mild crisp on the outside and soft, fluffy and hot inside. They have a baked quality rather than fried or deep-fried. You're getting more potato than Burger King's 'classic' fries, which they are being sold alongside. The portion size is also bigger but it should be noted, so is the price.

The signage around the restaurant insists they are 40% less fat and 30% less calories, but that's over McDonald's fries, not BK's own. After all, the Satisfries are cooked in the same oil as the classic fries, and the onion rings.

Bottom line, I like them, a lot. As I said, I think Burger King finally got it right. Until the next time they change their fries. Again.

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.

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?

Random Tater Pics of the Day #64 and 65

Here's a quick peek at Wendy's new logo, and a prototype of what the new restaurants will look like. Quite a difference, eh?

French Fry Diary 388: Long John Silver's 2012

Since seeing the latest television commercials for Long John Silver's, I had suspected that they had changed their fries. The ones in the ads were natural cuts as opposed to the lightly battered crispy shoestrings they used to have. New fries? So I had to try them.

So I went over to the Long John Silver's and Taco Bell combo that's the only place to get LJS in my area. It was lunch time but not really all that crowded, but yet my wait time was about fifteen minutes. It seemed as if the crew was more concerned with drive thru than the customers at the counter. The drive thru was moving at quite a clip while about a half a dozen of us waited inside.

I got my usual - the chicken and chips. The chicken planks, battered white chicken strips, we're as good as ever. There was the usual tasty deep fried crumbs at the bottom of the box, along with the prerequisite hush puppies. This time however the hush puppies were kinda greasy and had a different texture, but that wasn't the only thing that was different.

Long John Silver's did indeed have new fries, and bad ones, a definite step down in quality and uniqueness. They were natural cuts lightly peppered and barely warm. There's nothing wrong with natural cuts, but these were disappointing natural cuts, and a much smaller portion than previously.

This was not a pleasant visit to my local LJS. I'm not writing them off completely though. Thankfully I can still get chicken planks a la carte.

French Fry Diary 341: Wendy's Vs. McDonald's

Wendy's is very proud of their new (are they still new at this point?) sea salt natural cut fries. They are/were so proud that they reached out to the online food blogger community several times to have us try them, compare them, and write about them. On occasion they even sent gift cards so we wouldn't have to pay for the fries and got a free meal of it. For the record, I am not always so swayed by the promise of a free meal and stay honest in my reviews. If you recall, I am not so fond of Wendy's new fries.

Quite some time ago, Wendy's ran a promotion and again reached out, this time to have folks compare their fries to those at McDonald's. They also asked that we take several folks along for the ride and compare them too. Now I ran into a problem. Most of my friends are fairly health-conscious. Me, I do it for love and so you don't have to. So it was very hard to find enough people to not only have one order of the favorite fried food, let along two. The gift cards, and the pending blog entry sat undone for some time.

Recently I decided, in the spirit of "I do it, so you won't have to," I decided to do something about it and do the comparison. I used the cards and quickly found out they had expired - not a problem, I completely understand. Wendy's probably thought I was a deadbeat for not doing the review - it's cool, I would have done that to me too. But anyway, I got my butt in gear and did the comparison. As I thought, Wendy's did not do all that well.

Here are the results...

Staying hot - The Wendy's fries get cold when they get old, and by old I mean about ten to fifteen minutes. McDonald's fries stay hot for some time, and even taste good warm, or cold. Win McDonald's.

Crispiness - While a few limp fries sneak in to both, for the most part they are both crispy. Wendy's do have a more potatoey taste, probably just because they are wider in shape. It's a tie on this one.

Dipping - This where the new Wendy's fries fail miserably, and their old fries would have beaten McDonald's easily. The new fries break and bend when you try to dip them in a shake or Frosty. Mickey D's don't do either, even in the extra thick Frosty, but of course, Wendy's older fries, being bigger than either contender here, could hold more shake. McDonald's for the win.

Sandwiching - McDonald's fries are always good for this type of sandwich planking, but Wendy's fries being flat and steak fry-like are perfect for sandwiching. Win Wendy's.

Reheating - McDonald's fries will reheat once in the microwave, and also bake pretty well in the oven once you've gotten home, and they have gotten cold. As I've noted before the new Wendy's fries, unlike their old ones, and their competitor here, do neither. Win for McDonald's.

That's an overwhelming win for McDonald's French fries over Wendy's new sea salt natural cut fries. Sorry, folks. It would be a whole different story if you had not changed your fries...

French Fry Diary 332: Burger King's New Onion Rings

Much like the hype Burger King had going on for their new French fries, they are doing the same for their 'new' onion rings this Super Bowl weekend. All weekend BK is giving away their new onion rings. Properly enticed, I decided to treat The Bride and her parents to lunch today.

I ran over to the Marlton Burger King with my order for lunch. The place was packed, more so than I've ever seen it. The lady at the counter informed me that the free rings were one per customer, but seeing how I was obviously ordering for at least four people, she let me slide. That said, when I got home, we were missing a Jr. Whopper. This was kinda frustrating, and a two for two for this BK, as the last time we got from there they similarly messed up the order.

Now on to the main event, the 'new' onion rings. I didn't see much of a difference in appearance, or in taste really, so I wonder if I was even served the new ones. They were crispier, just slightly. My mom-in-law also thought they were crispier, and thought they lacked the usual aftertaste. Of course, that could be because of using a different oil. They are cooked in the same oil as the new French fries after all.

As far as 'new' onion rings I'm not impressed. But that said, the old ones are good, but if they are passing them off as new - not so great. Of course, the weekend is still young, you can get over to your local BK and give them a try yourself, a value size order of the new onion rings will be free, one per customer, for the rest of the weekend. Also, props to Marni, for always being on top of fry news for me.