French Fry Diary 742: Blue Apron

Now we had talked about Blue Apron before on The GAR! Podcast right here. My podcast partner Ray Cornwall had joined Blue Apron and gotten The Bride and me three free meals. As might be expected as I'm writing about it here, there were potatoes involved.

One of the dinners, the one we chose to make the first night, was Chile Butter Steaks with Parmesan Potatoes & Spinach. As a last-minute substitution, which happens sometimes to assure all the food is fresh, we got bok choy instead of spinach, and I was fiiine with that. Not a spinach fan, sorry, Popeye. As I mentioned, everything comes fresh, and everything you need -except the effort- comes in a box directly to your front door. To make the quartered potato chunks with Parmesan, in the box came three Yukon Gold potatoes, labeled and ready for action.

The potatoes get chunked, cut in half and then across into half-inch pieces, tossed in olive oil, notably not included, then put in the oven for about twenty minutes. Just before they were done, the instructions said to drizzle the Parmesan cheese over them then let them cook a few more minutes.

In the end, the steaks were good, the chile butter a little hot (and we didn't even use more than a third of the chile paste), the bok choy looked awful but tasted good, and the taters were pretty good too. I would have made some adjustments if we do this again. Not as much oil in the pan to cook the steaks, and I think I would have used some butter on the potatoes… but that's me.

We had a great meal, and decided to give Blue Apron another week. We'll see what happens, hey, maybe there'll be more potatoes…

A Potato to the Rescue

This one comes from my friend and frequent FFD contributor Dom:

"Not a quintessential French Fry Diary-esque storyline, but, one day, it could be the fries that save humanity, and not the Avengers. Click here. It's just a shame they can't 'salt' themselves."

Cool, thanks, Dom!

Fries - Deadly or Not?

Last week there was a bit of controversy, and several folks sent the articles my way, about how French fries can kill you. Can they? Apparently I'm still alive and kicking, but might I be gone by next week?

First there was this article from WSOCTV, a 'news' station in Charlotte, South Carolina. I put 'news' in quotes not because of any political 'fake news' nonsense, but because they got this article on fried foods killing us, with a title that includes key words like 'could' and 'suggest,' from a content farm, these sites are usually click bait and of low research quality and veracity. Just saying. The WSOCTV website also includes a 'news' story about people who believe chocolate milk comes from brown cows. I think that should say all we need to know about WSOCTV news and their audience. Again, just saying. Feel free to read the article (both!) and enjoy.

Then there's this article, almost a direct rebuttal to the first about how potatoes won't actually kill you. This one is from some magazine called Popular Science, for those unaware, it's a science and technology magazine/website/network that has been around in some form or another for about a century and a half. They don't say fries are great for you, but they explain how data can be manipulated as in the article they refute. Fries are delicious, and great in moderation, and in combination with healthy diet and exercise.

So don't panic, folks, science is still on our side, as long as the current administration allows it to be…

MoonDog Grill for Breakfast

Here's the new Breakfast Sandwich from site favorite, the MoonDog Grill, two eggs, cheese, and bacon - on sliced potatoes.  Check them out on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Random Tater Pic of the Day #271

Idaho Potatoes at Manny's Original Chophouse in Lakeland, Florida.

Fourteen Ways to Transform a Potato

This video was sent my way by friend and fellow author Gregg Feistman. Thanks, man!

Random Tater Pic of the Day #221

Today's pic comes from the World Potato Conference in Beijing. Bet these spuds could make some awesome fries, eh?

Random Tater Pic of the Day #217

It's harvest time, so friend and FFD contributor Robin Renee's garden, and she sent me this terrific pic of her newly dug potatoes. Awesome. Thank you, Robin!

Random Tater Pic of the Day #198

Today's image comes from the garden of my friend Robin, potatoes, planted by her housemate. The good stuff is underground, just like music.

Random Tater Pic of the Day #189

Friend and French Fry Diary contributor Robin Renee sent this one along from yesterday's St. Patrick's Day. In her words, "Potatoes and cabbage to celebrate the day. Erin go bragh!"

Thanks, Robin!

Random Tater Pic of the Day #183

Do not anger the Potato Clan. More Awesome Passive Aggressive Notes Left for Jerk Drivers can be found here. Thanks to Marni for hipping me to this on the Facebook.

Speaking of which, French Fry Diary can be found on Facebook here, and also on Pinterest here.

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.

Random Tater Pic of the Day #165

Today's Somebody Else's Fries is a bit different. My good friend, musician and writer Robin Renee, sent me her breakfast from a while back - potato tofu scramble w/ fresh garden herbs. Yum!

"I Ain't Got a Pot to Peel Potatoes In" by Louie Innis

Meet the Small Potatoes

Mickey Mouse in Potatoland

Oh boy! I wanna go to Potato-Land too!

Potato-Turnip Latkes Fried in Duck Fat

This one comes from Chow.com just in time for Hanukkah. You can check out the recipe right here.

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 532: Amora Moutarde

One of the things The Bride got involved in on this Disney Cruise is something involving a community of fish extender people. I know, sounds weird, but long story short, it's sort of like an onboard secret Santa - passengers give each other small gifts by hanging them on the fish ornaments outside their cabin doors. Sometimes the gifts are food, sometimes toys, and sometimes something from the giver's region of the world.

Today, we got a plastic bottle of mustard from fellow passengers who are either French or French-Canadian. There's not much on the bottle I can read short of the brand name Amora, and moutarde, which I'm relatively sure is mustard. What an interesting and generous gift.

What makes it relevant to French Fry Diary is the note they taped to back of the bottle. Their suggestion read thusly: "The Original French Mustard to eat with your meats, potatoes, hot dogs, burgers… and add a French flavor to your meals…" Now I'm not a mustard guy, but potatoes, really? Who puts mustard on potatoes?

Seriously, if anyone knows of any instances or recipes, hit me up, and maybe I'll feature it here on the blog. This is a new one on me, and I would like to learn more.

French Fry Diary 511: Nathan's Cheddar Cheese Crinkle Fries

These aren't the great French fries that Nathan's has at their restaurants (except for the one at the Moorestown Mall food court, which is inexplicably always staffed but never open when I've been there recently), these are corn meal snacks. I took a pic when I first saw them at Shop-Rite, and finally got around to buying a bag.

They also come in Honey Mustard and Chili Cheese, but I opted for the Cheddar Cheese Crunchy Crinkle Fries, mostly because those first two flavors really didn't grab me. The bag has both the great story and history of Nathan's as well as the ingredient list that verifies that potatoes had nothing to do with these fries.

Basically these are mediocre cheese curls but a lot of effort was put into making them look very close to how regular Nathan's French fries look. It works to a certain extent. The flavoring is uneven on the fries so you get a lot of cheesiness on some and hardly any on others. These are pretty good, but not great. If I want cheese curls, I think I might go for the real thing rather than these.