I'm all for a salad, fries (and dirty martini) Girl Dinner, but the fries go ON THE SIDE! I'm also glad I'm learning something new here every Friday - - because I've never heard of this before (never been to Pittsburgh)!
fries on a salad for me is a yes. i'm the kind of person who needs lots of delicious things in a salad for me to want to eat it. a caesar salad is especially good with fries!
I like salad. I like fries. I would eat them if served in the same bowl, but I want to orchestrate my bites (control issues?) so I'd PREFER them to be served separately. Would still smash.
On an unrelated note, I want to THANK YOU for last week’s newsletter with the bear cam info. I am obsessed… it is my new happy place. When I’m reading the news and get to the “Nope, nope, nope, gotta stop!” place, bear cam is my oasis. It is a total delight and I am glad to have found it.
Okay, so, I went to France once and had a salad that was mixed greens, French vinaigrette, goat cheese, lardons (juicy bacon bits), and fried potatoes and it was amazing. I was desperately craving it when I got home and I re-created it and it has become a staple of my mental recipe box. It’s so easy!!
The main tricks are: using good crisp lettuce, the right fries (crinkle cuts or skinnies don’t work well, no herby ones) & breaking the longer ones into bite-size pieces, making sure your goat cheese crumbles are added direct from the fridge, and your bacon should be on the fatty side.
Also, I read the novel, Bear, on your recommendation and was enthralled. Ripped through it in like 2 days. I wanted to be their social worker and knew from the Grimm inclusion in the beginning that someone was gonna meet their end in a grizzly way.
Salad is the perfect base for a lot of toppings and variations. Cobb, chef, spinach, etc. etc.
Fries are the perfect base for a lot of toppings and variations. Chili cheese fries, loaded fries, carne asada fries, etc. etc.
Mixing these two is just sheer chaos and anarchy. Fries ON salad takes away from the greatness of the other. If you want both, have a salad and order fries on the side. Win-win, plus no soggy fries and you can still scoop up some of that mid to bottom salad goodness with the side fries.
Pittsburgh is known for inappropriate fry placement although the reputation exceeds the actual practice. That said, I genetically have to support most things Pittsburgh
But what kind of dressing goes on a salad like this? And does it go under the fries or over the fries? Clearly I have questions and I really can’t decide how I feel about this, as a lover of fries and salad.
Cheese fries next to your salad is a balanced meal. Cheese fries on top of your salad? The hot fries will wilt the lettuce, making the salad gross. The dressing won't taste as good on the fries as ketchup, lame. The combination of lettuce with fries improves neither. Tl;dr: Lettuce is a cold food, fries are a hot food, don't mix them.
Somehow the melted cheese is what pushed this from delight to burden for me. Crispy fries could be like a more delicious crouton. Fries with melted cheese are just a totally different thing from a salad!
I'm all for a salad, fries (and dirty martini) Girl Dinner, but the fries go ON THE SIDE! I'm also glad I'm learning something new here every Friday - - because I've never heard of this before (never been to Pittsburgh)!
It’s complicated… this is a VERY Pittsburgh thing so I have to support it out of yinzer pride… (but also… I don’t like it)
fries on a salad for me is a yes. i'm the kind of person who needs lots of delicious things in a salad for me to want to eat it. a caesar salad is especially good with fries!
I like salad. I like fries. I would eat them if served in the same bowl, but I want to orchestrate my bites (control issues?) so I'd PREFER them to be served separately. Would still smash.
On an unrelated note, I want to THANK YOU for last week’s newsletter with the bear cam info. I am obsessed… it is my new happy place. When I’m reading the news and get to the “Nope, nope, nope, gotta stop!” place, bear cam is my oasis. It is a total delight and I am glad to have found it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1YoGAxmZtE&list=PLAnuZBl2BUgvxfxkpnuBrwxqVlvyKoWWZ
Same!
It’s a no for me re fries on salad. Fries are too perfect on their own, why take away from their greatness!
Okay, so, I went to France once and had a salad that was mixed greens, French vinaigrette, goat cheese, lardons (juicy bacon bits), and fried potatoes and it was amazing. I was desperately craving it when I got home and I re-created it and it has become a staple of my mental recipe box. It’s so easy!!
The main tricks are: using good crisp lettuce, the right fries (crinkle cuts or skinnies don’t work well, no herby ones) & breaking the longer ones into bite-size pieces, making sure your goat cheese crumbles are added direct from the fridge, and your bacon should be on the fatty side.
I would trust the french with this more than the pittsburgoisie for SURE
Yeah the one above just looks like a hot, squishy/slimy? mess. 😆
It’s complicated! It doesn’t look too heavy in this picture, but in the wrong hands…disaster!!
I feel like this would make the fries get cold and soggy? I once had surprise French fries in a gyro, though, and that was delightful. :-)
Poutine - yes!
Tot-chos - yes!
Falafel on salad - yes!
But combo of fries on salad - ick!
They will bring out the worst of each other in that marriage; fries will get cold and soggy, salad will get warm and limp. No. Hard pass.
Also, I read the novel, Bear, on your recommendation and was enthralled. Ripped through it in like 2 days. I wanted to be their social worker and knew from the Grimm inclusion in the beginning that someone was gonna meet their end in a grizzly way.
oh I'm so glad you liked it!!
Salad is the perfect base for a lot of toppings and variations. Cobb, chef, spinach, etc. etc.
Fries are the perfect base for a lot of toppings and variations. Chili cheese fries, loaded fries, carne asada fries, etc. etc.
Mixing these two is just sheer chaos and anarchy. Fries ON salad takes away from the greatness of the other. If you want both, have a salad and order fries on the side. Win-win, plus no soggy fries and you can still scoop up some of that mid to bottom salad goodness with the side fries.
Pittsburgh is known for inappropriate fry placement although the reputation exceeds the actual practice. That said, I genetically have to support most things Pittsburgh
Fries and salad are my favorite combo, there was a place in DC that offered something like this minus the cheese and it was fab.
But what kind of dressing goes on a salad like this? And does it go under the fries or over the fries? Clearly I have questions and I really can’t decide how I feel about this, as a lover of fries and salad.
I showed this pic to a friend and they said "oh I can tell that's the good ranch"
Cheese fries next to your salad is a balanced meal. Cheese fries on top of your salad? The hot fries will wilt the lettuce, making the salad gross. The dressing won't taste as good on the fries as ketchup, lame. The combination of lettuce with fries improves neither. Tl;dr: Lettuce is a cold food, fries are a hot food, don't mix them.
Somehow the melted cheese is what pushed this from delight to burden for me. Crispy fries could be like a more delicious crouton. Fries with melted cheese are just a totally different thing from a salad!
I agree! I think it would work if it was like a bunch of roasted veggies with melted cheese though.