French Fry Diary 657: Villa Fresh Italian Kitchen

On our way to Florida for a much-deserved vacation, we arrived at Philadelphia International Airport early, and had enough time for a quick breakfast. Choices are limited, although places one wouldn’t expect to be open for breakfast were. Case in point – Villa Fresh Italian Kitchen.

They actually had a nice selection of breakfast foods, most of them in a sandwich, wrap, or omelet, so I ordered a la carte. I had a choice between plank-like hash browns (like McDonald’s, but as with the ones on the Disney Cruise, vastly inferior) and breakfast potato chunks. Because they looked good, I went with the chunks, and bacon, because, well, bacon.

These were heat lamp potatoes in the worst way. When I say ‘heat lamp,’ I mean like they were under a heat lamp for a while. Yuck. They had red peppers, which was a plus, but were also only warm, looked old, felt dry, tasted stale. They were just not good at all. The image may look good but I assure they were not.

Of course they also gave me a huge serving of bacon, which was perfect and awesome. It’s been a long time since I’ve had bacon this good. That’s four stars for the bacon, but none for the potatoes. Also on the good side, they had Orange Crush, which is always great, even for breakfast.

For the record, in its traditional menu, which is only lunch and dinner, they don’t seem to have the favorite fried food. Just sayin’.

Perfectly Baked Italian Herb French Fries

Perfectly Baked Italian Herb French Fries

Ingredients: 2 large Russet potatoes, with skin on, 1 1/2 teaspoon Italian Herb Seasoning, 2 teaspoons grapeseed oil (canola or vegetable oil will work fine), good pinch coarse salt and fresh ground pepper

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Take your washed and dried potatoes and slice longways about 1″ thick. Take those slices and cut into fries, keeping your size the same to ensure they cook up evenly.

Place cut fries into a pile on a large rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with oil and seasoning and toss. Spread potato fries evenly across baking sheet. Liberally sprinkle with coarse salt and pepper.

Bake in 425 degrees oven for 25-30 minutes. At 20 minutes check your fries and toss if starting to brown. Let cook for additional 5-10 minutes until they are browned and crisp.

I came across this by way of the Just-Potatoes group over at Aggie’s Kitchen. You can see the whole recipe with more delicious images and commentary here.

Random Tater Pic of the Day #163

These steak frites were the special at Toscana in Cherry Hill a few weeks back. The Bride and I were going to go but family stuff kept us otherwise busy. We will get there soon though.

Added bonus, Gigio Longo of Toscana Cherry Hill also has a very cool comic out called Adam 12 that you should all check out. Fries and comics, always a good match.

French Fry Diary 598: Casa Carollo Bar & Grille

We haven’t been to Casa Carollo Bar & Grille in quite some time outside of going to the Comedy Cabaret there. And I’m not sure if that counts because it includes a limited menu for those events. Looking for something different one night when we wanted something delivered, we checked them out.

There is definitely something to be said for portion size. They make ’em big at Casa Carollo. The Bride got chicken Parmesan that was at least three servings, maybe more. That would be lunch for a couple days that week, and the same for my steak sandwich. It was easily more full than any other local steak, and also easily at least two meals. Plus they gave us rolls and garlic knots. This was a haul at a very inexpensive price compared to other places locally for the same stuff.

And you guessed it, I also got fries, else I wouldn’t be writing about it here, right? Casa Carollo offers something called Italian Fries. On the menu, these are described as crispy thin fries with Italian herbs. What we got were seasoned regular cuts. I recognized Old Bay, maybe rosemary, but there was definitely more. They were neither crispy nor thin, actually they were kinda soggy, but they were perfection when heated up a bit in the oven.

All in all, we were very pleased with what we got and ordered again the next week. This time I got the onion rings, big thick panko breaded rings, equally good reheated later. I think we’ve definitely found a new place to go in the area.

The Fat Tomato Grill

Today’s “Somebody Else’s Fries” comes from my big sister Bobbie. This past week she and her husband Bruce visited the Fat Tomato Grill in Berlin NJ. Here were her thoughts:

Everything is made to order. The shoestring natural cut fries were crisp, hot and they had a smoky flavor that reminded us of the potato chips we had as kids. (Wise). The fries come tossed with balsamic vinegar but I ordered them dry. They were perfect. 

The burger was also very good. The restaurant is located on a strip mall but you would never know that from the cozy welcoming interior. Looking forward to a second trip.

I guess I’ll have to give this place a try.

French Fry Diary 557: O!Karto

These ‘Italian Potato Chips’ were part of my Christmas present from friends Dom and Cindy, a selection of rare and exotic chips.

They are not really chips, more a potato concoction like Munchos or Pringles. Made from dehydrated potato flakes, starch, and granules, they are square shaped tubes, looking like regular cut French fries at a distance. This is apparently ‘Italian style.’

The fact is they are not Italian at all. These Orion O!Karto Italian Potato Chips are Korean. They come in this flavor, Italian Gratin, and Chili Chili. The cartoon mascot on the bag, Mr. Karto, says, “O!Karto is unique and amazing type of potato snack. This Italian style snack ‘O!Karto’ is from high quality potato and fit for everyone.”

The bag says they’re cooked in sunflower oil, I guess that’s the fit part. Although it’s worth noting the ingredients also list vegetable oil, as well as palm and soybean oil. Your guess is as good as mine – much like the best by date, which is in Korean.

The Bride expressed interest in trying them, so I made her taste one first. She commented on how sweet they were. There’s that, they are sweet, but I wasn’t really getting the gratin. They could have used a bit more seasoning, even though I suspect the Chili Chili might have been too seasoned.

Because of their shape, these ‘chips’ might be interesting for dipping, especially in milkshakes or ice cream. They’re a bit thin so maybe not. Taste wise, not bad, I would definitely try these again. Thanks, Dom and Cindy!

French Fry Diary 510: Olive Garden Parmesan Potato Chips

On a recent dinner outing to Olive Garden, I found something really cool on the menu. Parmesan Potato Chips. Called a favorite in Italy, these are thin potato slices, lightly seasoned, with a creamy Italian cheese dip. The Bride, my cheese expert, proclaimed it tangy, pretty good, and offset the chips well.

I liked them, very tasty. They were thin enough to be chips and thick enough to have some potato meatiness to them. Near perfect chips. And as much as I like Olive Garden bread sticks, these chips were nowhere near as, as in not at all, as greasy as the sticks.

If I had any complaint it would be there wasn’t enough. but this was a ‘small plate,’ they need to make it a large plate. These were really good, thumbs up.

French Fry Diary 464: Olive Garden

Olive Garden is the quintessential Italian restaurant chain in the United States. There’s very little on the menu that doesn’t come with some form of pasta. So as you might imagine, being a catastrophically picky eater who’s not really into pasta, there’s not much for me to get there. Surprisingly though, they do have one or two items I really like, so yeah, I do dig Olive Garden quite a bit.

We actually used to go frequently, it was our default anniversary dinner out for quite a few years. We recently made plans for dinner with a couple of friends we hadn’t seen in quite some time, and decided on Olive Garden, as we had not been in a while, and it fit one of the couple’s vegetarian needs. So I figured, what better time to review their potato product?

First though, like Red Lobster, one of Olive Garden’s best features is their bread, in this case, the Breadsticks. About eight inches long and an inch wide each, baked and buttered garlic bread sticks, these are a terrific start to ant visit to the restaurant.

Besides the Breadsticks, I normally get the mixed grill, steak and chicken grilled on a kabob with vegetables, including onions and peppers, all marinated in a rosemary glaze. Since Olive Garden doesn’t have French fries (not even on the kids menu!) the mixed grill comes with Tuscan potatoes.

The Tuscan potatoes are lightly seasoned, sometimes peeled, and chunked potatoes which seem to be deep-fried crispy but not greasy. Perhaps they are baked, but baked to the point where one might think they were deep-fried. If they are, it certainly begs the question, why couldn’t Olive Garden have French fries?

Either way, these potato chunks are very good, and worth the trip to Olive Garden for fans of the favorite fried food. A great night with good friends and good food. And don’t forget the Breadsticks!

French Fry Diary 459: Steamables

While looking for the regular Simply Potatoes I usually get for Christmas breakfast I saw these. Also from Crystal Farms Simply Potatoes, here comes Steamables – this particular variety is Rustic Italian Seasoned Russet Wedges. The best part? They steam right in the bag in your microwave.

I was all over this. A quick and easy side is always welcome. But steamed in the microwave, obviously crispy is out of the question, so these would be like baked potatoes. I could live with that. I popped them in the nuke.

While in the nuke I was a bit worried as the bag was plumped up like a balloon about to burst, more extreme than I had ever seen in a cook-in-a-bag food before. Like I said I was a bit concerned, however the aroma coming from the nuke was wonderful. Lotsa garlic.

The inside of the microwave was wet when they were done, and the bag was wrinkled and wet. When coming out of the bag, they clumped into the plate in an unappetizing lump. This didn’t look good and it didn’t bode well.

I added some salt and some butter to taste. The seasonings are a good Italian mix, the garlic however was overpowering. Over and above that, these are good as baked potatoes. Soft and hot perfection as a baked potato should be, with a pleasant aftertaste.

These Steamables don’t look great, but they taste good, and with a bit of work on presentation, can make a great side for your meal. I think I would definitely try these again.

French Fries Are Good for You!

According to this great article from La Stampa, French fries are good for you!

Great News From Mediterranean Diet Experts: French Fries Are Good For You!

NAPLES – Great news for all connoisseurs of French fries – that is, practically everyone: if it’s done correctly, frying is not bad for your health.

Researchers at the Federico II University of Naples and from the nearby “Dolce & Salato” professional cooking school, have conducted a study that shows that frying isn’t bad, if certain measures are followed.

“Frying is bad for us? Absolutely not!” declares Professor Vincenzo Fogliano, who oversaw the study with Italian chef Giuseppe Daddio, who runs the cooking school. “If it’s fried in the correct way, a potato chip or a montanara (Neapolitan fried pizza) can be an excellent nutritional product.”

The study was conducted in two phases: During the first, the capacity of absorption of the oil by different foods was measured during the frying, where it was found that zucchini and eggplant absorbed 30% of the oil, whereas potatoes or pizzas only absorbed 5% — the same amount as found in a bowl of spaghetti with oil and garlic.

“A fundamental rule,” explains Fogliano, “is that starch plays an important part in sealing the food being fried, and reducing the oil absorption. The starch in potatoes with large grains and rich in amylopectin is particularly effective. Attention must be paid to frozen, pre-fried products or to becoming accustomed to finishing off foods by frying them, when they have already been pre-fried. In these cases, the quantity of oil absorbed increases significantly.”

In the second phase, the experiments carried out in the kitchen proved the theory: to avoid the absorption of the frying oil in foods, products should not be pre-fried, frozen or re-fried. By avoiding these procedures, in fact, fries and pizzas would only absorb small amounts of oil.

“I have to say that the evidence, in fact, demonstrates the theories. Molecular gastronomy is a fascinating world that allows us to not only know more about the primary materials, but to deepen our knowlegde of cooking methods and chemical reactions, in the pot, on the plate and in our bodies,” adds Daddio.

Got a craving for fries now? Well, you have the green light along with the recipe to eat without guilt.

Special thanks go to my very cool Twitter friend Alesia Matson for hipping me to this, and you can read the original article here.