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Potato Champion (Portland, OR)
E Hawthorne Blvd & SE 12th AveThe Potato Champion makes one of THE BEST Poutine platters I’ve ever had! What’s Poutine you might ask? It’s a huge plate of Belgian frites, topped with cheddar cheese curds, and drenched in brown gravy! Delicious in that guilty “There go my arteries” sort of way.
Not only did we feast on all of owner Mike McKinnon’s tasty fries, but we had a Poutine eating contest between two girls, one dog, and me. Watch the video to see who won!
You can learn more about The Potato Champion on their website, and be sure to follow them on twitter.
T-Shirt Giveaway
We’re giving away two Potato Champion t-shirts to the Cartivores answer this question in the comments: What is the best french fry topper?
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Here in the UK, it's gotta be curry sauce over the “fries” with mushy peas on top! Num…num….num
Good episode!! VendrTV is what makes my Wednesdays!
Up until recently I thought my favorite fry topping was that of a nacho dish but with fries instead of chips! But my some friends of mine recently came home with fries and frosty's from Wendys. Here in Michigan we like to dip our fries in our Frosty's! Well they made a French Fry, Frosty Sundae! Complete with whip cream, chocolate syrup, and a cherry! Don't knock it 'till you've tried because man! It was tasty!!
Keep on, Eatin' on!
Ken
Diced jalapenos and cilantro mixed with sour cream over fries splashed with vinegar. Big fan of the segments. Keep up the good work.
Nothing beats some good Old Bay fries.
Sweet potato fries are amazing coated with some brown sugar and drizzled with a simple syrup.
Salt, lime juice and tabasco (with a touch of ketchup) sitting on a beach in Mexico.
Best french fry topper is a rich, creamy cheese sauce, with real bacon bits on top
DD: Thanks for the shout out! As for frys, for me it's freshly ground black pepper and freshly made ranch dressing; Hidden Valley in the bottle can work in a pinch but the fresher the better; that's my “regular condiment”; I prefer to dip the fries in the ranch so they stay crisp.
As good as that may seem the infrequent indulgence is chilli cheese fries at any Detroit-area coney island. The coney chili in the Detroit area has no beans and is AMAZING; put a coating of cheese on top of that and then add some freshly chopped onions and you've got a plate of goodness that can truly compete with poutine. I'll concur that the Frosty dipped fry is good too.
I can remember the first time I had pouetine in Quebec City, CN….soooooo yummy, who knew mayo (yes they add mayo to the mix in Quebec), gravy and cheese curds on top of french fries could get one an immediate appointment with a cardiac specialist for an angioplasty within the hour? Your contest was LOL funny; although you did beat up on some girls….
There are so many that make me happy but what I'd like to have right now, would be fries topped with finely grated garlic, romano cheese, minced Italian parsley, fresh ground black pepper and even a mist of truffle oil.
Thanks for the shout to Poutine! We LOVE the poutine at Duck Fat in Portland ME (is there a Portland/poutine thing here?) and find excuses to make a 3 hr detour into Maine, just because… the poutine is amazing! potatoes fried in duck fat, with fresh local curds and home made gravy. I bought the t-shirt, and wear it proudly! Duck Fat also serves their great fries with truffle ketchup, sweet and sours mustard, or horseradish. garlic, curry or thai chili mayonnaise. Thai chili mayonnaise is my favorite – next to the poutine.
When we were iin Montreal this summer, we went looking for poutine in the downtown area. We found that the place we were heading for was being redeveloped (in a upgrading the combat zone sort of move), so a stripper from a nearby club sent us to her favorite place: meh: canned gravy and stale oil showed us what poutine purists we had become!
Thanks for another great segment. Satay sauce sounds fantastic!
Woa YES!!! This one's an instant favorite!
I'll have my 'tatoes with sautéed bacon and jalapeño bits, marine salt, topped off with a real garlic sauce.
ok…don't knock it till you've tried it: really crispy hot off the press french fries with a sprinkling of chocolate chips and chopped bacon. YUM!
Really, really loved this episode! It looked delicious as well as being hysterical! Keep up the good work Dan
salt+mayo
you should go to montreal to try a real poutine, I can tell by looking at it that what you were served wasnt the real deal. real cheese curds dont melt the way the cheese did in your poutine and you would hear a distinctive squeek when you bite through a curd.
my fav fry setup is:
chipolte pulled pork-double smoked bacon-italian sausage-curds-gravey over fresh hand cut fries.
The fries you got were fresh cut weren't they?
Can't go wrong with ketchup…but cheese and chili is awesome.
Good episode !
Oh man, I've put so many things on potatoes and fries I wouldn't know what to say is my favorite really, I experiment a lot; I mean I have put grasshoppers (Oaxacan fried chapulines), malted vanilla shake (tastes better than you might think, must use vanilla ice cream, cane juice, mineral water and malt though), homemade fig marmalades (I like to make marmalades), ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, fondue cheese, beer, red wine, pickle juice, tartar sauce, curry sauce, chili, Ben and Jerry's Cherry García, I've stuffed them in a cupcake, put them inside burgers, made hash browns out of them, smothered them in thousand island dressing, put wasabe on them, balsamic vinegar, Olive oil, I've used them as pizza toppings, made French fry sandwiches and tortas (with scrambled eggs)… seriously I can't think of a specific favorite, sometimes I just fry them and eat them right out of the frying pan, it's a very versatile meal.
Can't beat good old fashioned salt with loads of vinegar.
Wouldn't say no to some garlic, cheese and bacon chips though
Poj, Dublin.
While working the night shift at Kodak we would get fries with a beef gravy and pepper in the lunch room but management closed it down because it cost too much to staff it at night, the day cooks could not duplicate the flavour the the night guy made for us.
Haha! Yes – I had that when I was in London. So delicious. Though the 'chips' are usually much thicker, right?
Aw Ken – Thanks – That means a lot to me.
I won't knock it because I HAVE TRIED IT, and it's nutty good! The smooth cool chocolatyness mixed with the greasy salt of the fry is awesome. Good one!
Hmm Izzulli – Haven't heard of that one. I like the idea. I feel it'd be fairly clean and bright on the pallet with the cilantro and vinegar. Good idea!
This is true. Old Bay seasoning makes everything amazing.
Wow! Sweet potato fries + brown sugar + simple syrup sounds like a great dessert! Hahaha.
Oh man Loren – Take me there now! That's sounds great. Maybe add a little Cerveza to the picture. Golden!
I can feel the arteries closing. That sounds nutty good. Maybe you make it from scratch, a basic bechamel sauce with your favorite cheese (I'm thinking cheddar to be classic) plus the fatty bacon bits.
In a way, we're talking a reconstructed potato skin…
I like!
GOOD MORNING! Wow!
Thegauz! That's nutty. Nutty good.
So basically, you want a full breakfast with each side of fries. I'm down with that. Haha! Good one.
True story – I always add a ranch dipping sauce when out at fast food places. I love it! It's funny how so many people are polarized against it though. I think it's the best. I dip everything in it! Burgers, nuggets, you name it! (Sometimes I'll even use my finger to squeegee out the rest… nom nom)
Didn't know they put Mayo on it! That sounds nutty. I guess that's what happens when you don't have to worry about healthcare.
Man – those girls should have pushed! They so could have had that.
Damn Marc! Getting all fancy on me! I like it, hits of sharp rustic italian flavors with what is most certainly, at it's core, peasant fare. Good thinking!
I'm sad to say I have yet to try poutine that's been fried in duck fat, but oh how I want to! I'm down with that chili mayo. Sounds awesome. But your right on with the variety – I think that's what make fries such gems!
Bum deal about the the crap poutine! I lived in Philly, and it was the same thing… most places didn't do the cheesesteak justice. Oh well!
Thanks for watching the show.
MMM! Yes – I can imagine licking the garlicky grease off my fingers…. So dirty… so delicious!
Won't knock it Jess! That sounds great. You get a mix of sweet, butter, and salty. Sounds perfect!
Thanks! But you didn't let us know what your favorite french fry topping is!?
Classic Bryan! Mayo makes everything better. I always wanted a Hellman's tattoo.
Ah – good to know clumaster! Real deal or not, they were real delicious! But that squeak sounds nasty good!
The fries were fresh cut, yes.
WOW! Chipotle pulled pork double smoked bacon italian sausage curds gravy – um – WANT! hahah. That's nuts. So basically meat lovers pizza! Those poor fries. My poor body!
How true is that! Mustn't forget the classics.
So true. And wow – talk about a fry master! I think I'm most excited by the Oaxacan grasshoppers. Crunch on crunch! d-licious!
Greetings Poj! Figure an Irishman wants salt and vinegar on his chips! Haha.
But I'm with you – the flavors are great and really allow for the potato to shine through. Good call.
So are you saying your fry eating habits were too much for Kodak's budgets?! AMAZING. Sad, but impressive.
Ah yes – a classic aioli! Good call – Am I right in saying you're talking about a traditional eggless aioli?
Kristina! Will you marry me? OMG! I just got weak in the knees. BONE MARROW AIOLI FOR THE WIN!
So true April. So true. Especially when it's a little more spicy then sweet. Yummm!
yes! mmm salty salty goodness.
Best topping for fries? Milkshake. More like a dunking liquid than a topping, but delicious nonetheless.
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[...] gathered from my interview with Dan. In the meantime, watch this incredible and semi-pornographic Portland Potato Champion video on [...]
Growing up on the west coast of Newfoundland we would go to a small store at the end of the lane for chips, hamburger meat and gravy. On the rest of the island the mainstay was chips, dressing and gravy(and still is!!!)
This is quite true! I used to dunk at Wendy's…
What kind of dressing / gravy is it?
Usually beef or turkey gravy and a standard dressing of bread crumb, savory, s and p, and sometimes for the more adventurous cooks celery and onion. Pretty basic stuff–we also use to go next doors to a store with the old diner style stools and have loose meat hamburgers on steamed buns……I watched all the episodes of Vendr tv last night in my bunk at sea…boy a sailor could really use some bacon jam around now…keep up the good work….
Usually beef or turkey gravy and a standard dressing of bread crumb, savory, s and p, and sometimes for the more adventurous cooks celery and onion. Pretty basic stuff–we also use to go next doors to a store with the old diner style stools and have loose meat hamburgers on steamed buns……I watched all the episodes of Vendr tv last night in my bunk at sea…boy a sailor could really use some bacon jam around now…keep up the good work….