French Fry Diary 308: The Original Burger King French Fries

When I was a kid, fast food was slow coming to my hometown. In fact, even today, Atco has no fast food restaurants in its city limits. The first to show up in the area was Gino's in Berlin, the next town over, which I've talked about before. We'd had McDonald's up in Lindenwold and down in Hammonton, but that was it as far as choices until the mid-seventies. That's when the McDonald's opened in Berlin, and everything changed.

Where there was McDonald's, there was Burger King, because the burger wars always escalate, and Burger King opened right across the White Horse Pike from the McDonald's. Taco Bell, Wendy's, Arby's, Roy Rogers, etc. all followed in Berlin, but when it comes right down to it, it's always about the big two.

Today, we're talking about Burger King however, the Burger King of my youth, and their original French fries. Burger King recently changed their fries, ending a reign of crappy fries they had had since the early nineties, but before that, they had really good fries, really good fries. When I first encountered BK, I fell in love with their charbroiled burgers, so much better than McDonald's. This is also where I started dipping my burger in my milkshake, BK being best for this practice, and notably best with a plain burger and a black and white shake. This remains the case to this day.

Burger King is also where I started stacking or planking. Those two words might mean something else these days, but to me, and in reference to French fries - stacking and planking, also known as sandwiching is the act of putting fries on your burger, creating a layer of potatoey goodness across your burger. In my years of doing this blog, I have happily found I'm not crazy, and I'm not the only one who does this, or shake dipping for that matter. BK's original fries were perfect for sandwiching.

About those original BK fries, they were shoestrings, similar to McDonald's, only less crispy and slightly more greasy. They were just short of a limp shoestring French fry, but unlike Wendy's new fries, BK's were substantial enough for dipping in shakes without breaking or bending. They were also delicious, and addictive. Whereas the old BK fries, I could barely eat one or two, the originals I would sometimes finish off two orders in a sitting. They were that good. They are still very much missed. I wish they'd bring them back.

Unfortunately, the original Burger King fries, being pre-internet, are extremely hard to get images of, so I have compensated with this blog entry. Find below a vintage BK commercial from the 1970s, plus above a glass featuring the old animated and much-less-creepy Burger King, as well as one of the BK ashtrays that everyone in my high school had snatched from the restaurant and had one in their bedrooms - smokers or not. Enjoy the nostalgia.

Sunny Anderson's Chicken-Stuf't Potato Puffs

For Food Network Friday this week, we have Sunny Anderson of "Cooking for Real" with her quick recipe for Chicken-Stuf't Potato Puffs. Watch.



You find the recipe here. Enjoy!

Bacon Potato Puff

Here's another great recipe from the [just-potatoes] Yahoo! Group, by way of Taste of Home:

If you're looking for ways to use up bacon, be sure to try this hearty and satisfying side dish. This company-worthy potato dish has down-home goodness.—DeEtta Rasmussen, Fort Madison, Iowa

6-8 Servings
Prep: 20 min.
Bake: 45 min.

Ingredients

1/2 pound sliced bacon, diced
4 eggs, separated
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 cups warm mashed potatoes (with added milk and butter)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley

Directions

In a skillet, cook bacon until crisp; remove to paper towels to drain. Discard drippings. In a bowl, beat egg yolks until light, about 2 minutes. Beat in onion, mustard and pepper. Place potatoes in a bowl; fold in egg yolk mixture. set aside 2 tablespoons bacon. Fold cheese, parsley and remaining bacon into potatoes. In a small bowl, beat egg whites until stiff; fold into potato mixture.

Transfer to a greased 1-qt. baking dish. Sprinkle with reserved bacon. Bake, uncovered, at 325° for 45-50 minutes or until set and edges are golden brown. Serve immediately. Yield: 6-8 servings.

Nutrition Facts: 1 serving (1 each) equals 175 calories, 11 g fat (5 g saturated fat), 128 mg cholesterol, 379 mg sodium, 10 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 9 g protein.

Bacon Potato Puff published in Taste of Home April/May 2002, p45

French Fry Diary 307: Mr. PotAto headZ

Here's a great video by PantyMython, check it out…



Here's what the creator has to say about the video: "Mr. Potato Head is like the funnest toy ever.

I spent a week on this. The music is from audionautix. The voice is mine, and the screams are MrCapo68 and I. I bent the pitch on everything, and I did all the sound effects.

The animation is 350 still shots.
Every potato is moving something in every single shot.

It's chroma-keyed (green screen, this is the reason I didn't use any green parts in the video - the hats are exactly the same color as my screen), with a background I made in sony vegas.

My neighbor let me borrow her Potato Head collection for this. thx Monica!

I think the whole thing is pretty explanatory, but for the person who doesn't get it and puts "wtf?" as a comment, this is what this video is about....

One by one, each Potato head brings in a new potato body to put together. Each time they work together to complete the Potato person. But, the last Potato Head is kind of different, he doesn't really have the standard Potato Head parts. Instead of returning to the group with a Potato Body, he returns with the remains of a Potato Body - French Fries. He asks if anyone wants a fry, declares that he has enough for everyone, and that he has them in his compartment. The other Potato Headz are very alarmed at this, realizing that they have a cannibalistic, murderous Potato Head in their midst."

French Fry Diary 306: Burger King Onion Rings

When Burger King changed their French fries for the worse several years ago, that left me in a quandary. I loved Burger King, loved their burgers and their chicken sandwiches and especially their shakes, and sadly their introduction of Coca-Cola products over Pepsi coincided with the crappy fries. So much to enjoy, but no sides to enjoy them with.

Fear not, unlike many of its major competitors, Burger King also has onion rings, and they're not bad. These aren't traditional onion rings however as they're composed of diced onion and shaped into rings approximately the size of a half-dollar and deep fried with a crunchy breaded coating. Over the years the size has varied, getting smaller at times and now the sizes go from dime to half-dollar size in one offering.

As a bonus, because they are cooked at the same station, sometimes a fry will find its way into an order of rings and vice-versa. This is known as a 'ringer.' Once again, like the FryPod, much thanks to Burger King for adding to the lexicon and vocabulary of the mythology of the favorite fried food.

It should be noted that the BK onion ring is also excellent for dipping in milkshakes (although fries and burgers are preferred), and also for stacking in sandwiches. Great stuff. I would rather have had the old original BK fries but their onion rings are a great substitute. Thumbs up.

What Are Your Favorite Kind of French Fries?

If you look to the left, you'll see our current poll here at French Fry Diary - What are your favorite kind of French fries?

The choices are steak fries, shoestrings, crinkle cuts, potato wedges, regular cuts, with the skin on, tater tots, curly fries, waffle fries and the nebulous other. If you want to know the differences between these various types of fries, please check out this early FFD entry.

So far, in the voting, it looks like steak fries and shoestrings have lock tie on first place, with waffle fries and regular cuts trying for a second tie. There's a little less than a month to vote, and you can vote for more than one, so if you haven't already, vote for your favorite kind of fries. And if your answer is 'other,' please drop me a line here and let me know which other.

So what are your favorite kind of French fries?

French Fry Diary 305: The Old Burger King French Fries

A couple days ago I talked about Burger King's new French fries, today I take a look at the previous version that was so bad it kept me from eating their fries for years.

In 1990, about the same time Burger King changed from Pepsi to Coca-Cola products, they also changed their French fries. First they changed the oil they used, changing the taste slightly, and then changed the fries completely. This reformulation of what I thought was a terrific product caused me to stop eating Burger King fries. Yeah, they were that bad. The fry guy wouldn't even eat them, that's saying something. Maybe that's why this month BK is changing their fries again.

Where they were once wonderful if slightly more greasy versions of McDonald's golden French fries, BK went to a crunchier, healthier shoestring variety. These were battered with Invisicoat which not only makes them crispier but also acts as a preservative and makes them last longer. Cost cutting and arguably healthier, these fries were not tastier in my opinion, and put me off of Burger King.

I eventually went back, fast food junkie that I am, but I went back for the burgers, the shakes, the chicken sandwiches, the onion rings, even the Cokes - but not for the fries. Over the years BK has tweaked the fries, or tried stunts to garner new interest. There was the brilliant invention of the FryPod that lets your fries rest comfortably in your car's cup holder, but that's just the tip of the iceberg.

BK also tried Shake Em Up fries, also a brilliant idea, one still used in Europe and Asia. The idea is similar to Shake and Bake, with fries instead of chicken, and the powder being anything from cheddar cheese to BBQ to just about any variety of spices. You shake it up and you get spice-covered fries, you could even do it with onion rings. I never fell for it, because it still wouldn't make BK's crappy fries taste better but filed the idea away for home use.

They also tried Chicken Fries, strips of breaded chicken in the shape of fries, packaged in a FryPod. Overseas, BK offers curly fries as well as potato wedges at some locations. The recipe was even tampered with again in 1998, with little noticeable change. None of these variations have made me turn back to the dark side to try BK's crappy fries, until this most current change. I'm still not impressed. I wish they'd bring back the originals.

Random Tater Pic of the Day #28

Yeah, I know. I'm drooling too.

It's a French Fries vending machine.

Anyone know where I might be able to find one of these babies?

Puh-leeeze?

French Fry Diary 304: The New Burger King Fries

New Burger King French Fries are coming, or perhaps I should say they are already here.

I guess they didn't want anyone to compare and contrast the old and the new fries like Wendy's did when they switched fries last year. The new fries were already in most restaurants even though they weren't supposed be introduced until December 5th.

My good friend Marni hipped me to the change so I made arrangements to check out the new fries. This was a weird experience as I haven't ordered all that many fries at BK since they changed to the Invisicoat battered shoestrings that I hate so much.

Again I was surprised to find the change had already gone through, and that no one had the old fries any more. Other than one poster advertising a free fry day later in the month, there was no promotion or fanfare about the new fries. Quite honestly I didn't even think the employees were aware of it. When I asked about it at the counter, the clerk had to get a manager and ask her. No old fries left, good riddance, on to the new ones.

The new BK French fries resemble Roy Rogers regular cut fries actually, only they still have that crappy Invisicoat coating although not as much of it. I have to say they do taste a little better, as long as they are hot. Notably once I got some of them home, they did not nuke or reheat in the oven well at all. They are good for dipping but too thick for stacking in a sandwich.

Now, according to Burger King, these new fries are low sodium (despite how salty they appear to be and taste as well), and there's nothing wrong with that, if it's true. The problem is they also claim that the coating makes them not only crisper, but also stay hotter longer, and I know for a fact that that is just not true. Things like that make me wonder how much else is true or not. But then again, it's been so long since I've had BK fries, perhaps the old ones were even worse at staying hot.

It is an improvement over the old ones, but not much of one. I am glad they didn't go the route of Wendy's and go natural cut. Everyone is doing that these days and there are just not enough regular cut fries out there. If BK was going to change their fries though, why not go back to their original shoestrings though? They are sorely missed. Well, at least if I go to Burger King now, fries are at least a possible option now.

If you want to try out the new fries for yourself, BK is offering folks a free taste on December 16th. I've told you what I think, let me know what you think.

French Fry Diary 303: P.J. Whelihan's, Medford Lakes NJ

I had only been here once before, years ago, when this particular P.J. Whelihan's was South Jersey landmark, the Settler's Inn, for a wedding reception I was late for because I got lost. But that's just how Medford Lakes is - it's easy to get lost. It's fun, and easy, and a nice drive. However this is one of those times I wished I'd gotten lost.

The P.J. Whelihan's in Medford Lakes is like a TARDIS, much bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside. The décor makes it look like a pub, bordering on a T.G.I.Friday's. There's a bar, big screen TVs blaring sports, decades old album flats on the walls - you get the idea.

Once I saw the menu, I was entranced. There were at least four varieties of French fries. They had Famous - old bay seasoned crinkle cuts with melted American cheese, Original - classic golden regular cuts, P.J.'s Spicy - Originals dusted with their special seasoning, Sweet Potato Fries with horseradish dipping sauce, and also Onion Rings with a Creole dipping sauce. And some of the burgers also had onion strings as a topping so they must have them as well, even though not mentioned on the menu.

I determined that I would have to come back to try the others and just get one type of the favorite fried food on this trip. I got the Originals, which turned out to be, as promised, natural cut regular cuts with salt and pepper. They looked crispy but that was just the bad dim lighting. They were in fact soggy and just barely warm. They were soft and mashed potato-ey inside, with a baked quality and while they were probably deep-fried.

On the good side, there were a variety of sauces available for the chicken wings, one of which I snagged for dipping my fries in. The Drunken BBQ sauce was infused with Guinness, and mild and interesting. Everything was great until I pulled the hair out of my basket of fries. Ick. Double ick. Triple ick. I guess I won't be coming back to try anything else on the menu... ever...

I might try a different one someday, but not this P.J.'s.