Topic: Sauced and loaded fries.

[8ullfrog]

Jack in the box did cholula fries in garlic butter sauce, which was fantastic, until the garlic butter sauce cooled. Then it was nasty. But trash food is meant to be devoured quickly, right?

Anyway, they're now promoting "sauced and loaded" fries, which are fries in guacamole and cheddar, with a choice of Carne Asada, Chorizo (pork), or Chee-kan.

For three bucks. Decent Carne Asada fries are now in the Ten Dollar range (They should always be six dollars, so say we all)

I am looking forward to trying this budget version.

[6pairsofshoes]

I frequently will order a baked potato at Wendy's and load it with butter and sour cream.   That's my fast food potato thing.  I like my fries simple with a little ketchup for dipping.

In Brazil, they have raised french fries to an art form.  You can go to their local palaces of meat (churrascurias) and they'll have 4 different kinds of french fries on the menu, depending on how  you like them cut.   That, plus the hearts of palm salad, makes for tasty sides to the grilled meat.  And how cool is it to have someone bring your hot grilled chicken to the table on a sword?

Incidentally, I recently saw somebody getting their panties in a bunch on FB because McDonald's had come out with Rainbow Fries in honor of Pride month.  The packaging has a rainbow on it, otherwise they're just the regular fries.  Some people need to get a life, really.

[Alfonz]

Check out some of the creations at this place;

http://smokespoutinerie.com/menu/

[8ullfrog]

I dunno, bleu cheese doesn't do poo for me, so cheese curds just seem gross.

Didn't really care for cotija, it sucked and had no flavor.

I think a cross between a sharp jack and melted swiss would probably be my ideal cheese.

I do not care for cold swiss, it's like plastic.

I've got a lot of fat relations, so I've never had a chance to try a bloomin' onion, but I understand Outback has more to do with New Jersey than Australia. And honestly, the closest I ever want to be to New Jersey is damn' sopranos reruns. You have to pay to leave NJ, mutant damn' state.

[6pairsofshoes]

I used to take Amtrak from NYC to Baltimore and I remember thinking, "are we out of New Jersey, yet?" every 30 seconds for what seemed like an eternity.

Poutine sounds like something that escaped New Orleans and snuck up north only to become the stuff of nightmares.  I've had cheese curds in the midwest.  They are delicious fresh, making squeaky noises against the teeth.   They should be enjoyed alone with the appropriate reverence.  Only a degenerate would place them on top of fried potatoes with gravy.  That, alone, is enough to give me the willies.  The vinegar, placed on diner tables throughout Canada to sprinkle on fries, I get.  Salt and vinegar is fine, in place of ketchup.  You want gravy with potatoes?  Mash 'em.  Don't fry them, too.  It's overkill.  Why, in the name of all that is holy, do you need to deep fry everything?

Blooming onion also sounds like a crime against culinary standards.  Do they slice it open like a flower, batter and deep fry it? It sounds like something they should serve in Scotland or the north of England, or even the midwestern U.S. where they've been known to commit the violation of such deep fried items as cheese and mushrooms.  Mushrooms, I tell you!  Shudders...

[8ullfrog]

From what I understand, they use a bladed contraption simliar to hell raiser to cut the onion, then yeah, into the frier.

The posters are up, so I'm guessing participation is local, in that whole "prices and participation may vary" thing.

Like Mitch Hedberg said, he wouldn't participate in poo! His McDonald's would have sphagetti and blankets!

But yeah, I'll try it.

[smokester]

Chips (fries) have become a bit of an adventure over here too. Gone are the days when I could just ask for a pint and a bowl of chips. Now I am faced with: skin on, chunky, skinny, sweet potato and, occasionally, beetroot.

I always opt for chunky in the hope that they'll be as normal to a British chip as possible.

Here, the only real "sauce" they are eaten with is curry. There is ketchup and mayo of course, but I consider those more of a condiment.

[mishca09]

lol what an interesting thread

[dandrummerman]

Check out some of the creations at this place;

http://smokespoutinerie.com/menu/

My wife is Canadian (I'm in Michigan near Detroit), and she got all excited that they opened up a Smokes in Ann Arbor, MI (about 30 miles west of the D) They do have pretty good poutines (not as good, and certainly not as cheap as the little restaurant in her hometown! but still good).

With Detroit being so close to Canada, you'd think we'd have a lot of poutine's around here, but we don't. Most people have never heard of it.

You go across the bridge to Windsor, every fast food place has it on their menu. And in all honesty, they usually aren't too bad. I like Canada Wendy's poutines for a quick bite. With the exchange rate, their food is actually a tad cheaper there anyhow.


A&W just added a "poutine" to their menu, we were all excited to try it. It was terrible, because they didn't use regular cheese curds, they used their deepfried breaded cheese curds that they already had on their menu, put it on top of a small fry, then used what tasted like chicken gravy on it. It was pretty terrible and rather pricey for what it was. Never again.

I dunno, bleu cheese doesn't do poo for me, so cheese curds just seem gross.

They are cheddar cheese curds, kinda hard, they (should) squeak a little when you bite into them. Its really just that, bites of cheddar that they didn't go bless'ed around with, forming it into a block.

Poutine sounds like something that escaped New Orleans and snuck up north only to become the stuff of nightmares.  I've had cheese curds in the midwest.  They are delicious fresh, making squeaky noises against the teeth.   They should be enjoyed alone with the appropriate reverence.  Only a degenerate would place them on top of fried potatoes with gravy. 

I'll take my degenerate food with extra curds thanks!

[6pairsofshoes]

I had a fabulous Indian meal at the Himalayas restaurant in Windsor many years ago.  It was enhanced by a little pot appetizer, but I'd go back in a heartbeat if I knew the same guy was running the place.

[Alfonz]

Hi Dan.

I used to frequent Montréal, and the best poutine was always from a roadside diner. It looked like the fries were cooked in used engine oil, but tasted magnificent.

How long ago was that? I imagine some of the independents would still serve a tasty authentic dish but the chains have kinda spoiled the good name of poutine and turned it into a mushy slop.

[8ullfrog]

Well, I finally got to try them, and it's certainly a mixed bag.

First, the packaging. They don't call them carne asada fries, there is a sticker on top that says steak.

The fries are served in a carton, which is new. The cholula fries came in a small package that resembled a coffin, These come in a carton reminiscent of old Chinese food boxes.

It's Chinese food grade steak, nothing fancy, but not bad either.
The fries are your standard jack in the box fries, which are far superior to say, Mc d's or BK. Sadly, BK fries went to poo many years ago. My guess is some ingredient got banned or the calorie police stepped in. I hate those people.

Anyway, aside from being overpriced, Jack fries are pretty good.

The guacamole is fantastic. I know they poured it out of an industrial bottle, but they did a fine job on the formula. A lot of cheap Mexican food places use a product called "avocado sauce" instead of guac, and it's lousy. This was much better.

Next, and certainly least, the cheese. Advertisements say these fries come with cheddar cheese, and that's a straight up lie. This is liquid cheese, the type of liquid cheese a lousy bar would pour over tortilla chips and call nachos. I probably won't be ordering these again simply because of the shitty cheese.

They also pull the cowpoo sales trick of top loading everything but the fries, and skimping. So that's a downside.

It's worth the three bucks to try once, but I don't see them staying. They will likely roll off the menu like most Jack promotional foods.

I'll miss the cholula burger, that was decent.

Oh, I paired this with a sourdough jack, but the fries are enough of a meal on their own.

Then again, if you're calorie counting, why the golly would you eat at a burger chain?