KFC Famous Bowls

[MarketStEl]

The only problem I see with this is in the presentation. It needs to be LaBanized. First the bowl has to go.  It needs an oversized handcrafted styrofoam plate. Centered on that is a dab or two of mashed heirloom potatoes topped by an uneven number (but not more than 7) of corn kernals from a cob flown in from a almost inaccessible Andean valley and carefully kept at the right temperature of _____ (fill in any temperature you want, no one will know the difference).  Then the gravy, based on the secret family recipe of the restaurant dishwasher who is an illegal immigrant but sends most of his wages back to the almost inaccessible valley where the corn is grown.Then the chicken which is from free range chickens,which themselves were hatched from eggs laid by free range hens  leading an idyllic existance in a chicken coop that makes your average McMansion look like a hovel.  Top that with the three cheeses being very very careful not to topple over the pile or you might just as well scrape it into a bowl and cut your profit margin in half. Then around the perimeter strew some scrapings from a windshield bug screen.

(emphasis added)

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Is The Inquirer's restaurant reviewer really that froufrou?

I mean, the guy did champion a cheesesteak--an ordinary one, not the $100 jobbie Barclay Prime sells--from a totally unpretentious place right where I-95 crosses over Oregon Avenue.

That said:

Mixing stuff together with your mashed potatoes is cool, but not everything was meant to be mixed with mashed potatoes. Leaving aside for the moment the apparently questionable quality of this bowl's components, I think the place where KFC went off the rails with this particular variation on shepherd's pie was when they decided to use fried, breaded chicken nuggets as the meat. Having made my share of turkey shepherd's pie from the Thanksgiving and Christmas leftovers, I know that this dish ought to work in theory, but how the meat is prepared and mixed in is key. Breaded, fried chicken nuggets just strike me as all wrong texture-wise, and how would you keep the breading from going soggy amidst all those moist veggies and potatoes? (Judging from the descriptions posted here so far, the nuggets must have absorbed whatever moisture had been left in the corn.)

And as for KFC's story of how this dish came to be:

KFC's new Famous Bowls, provides lunch-starved Americans with the perfect all-in-one, "made for one" remedy to their usual rushed and unsatisfying lunchtime routine.

...it sounds to me like it's an acceleration of, not a remedy to, lunch-starved Americans' usual rushed and unsatisfying lunchtime routine.

Besides, the remedy doesn't take the form of eating a particular dish instead of something else. It consists of actually being able to take an hour to sit down, relax and have lunch at some leisure. This usually requires an on-premises quick-service eatery or a brown bag and a nice place to sit outdoors.

[TrishCT]

The chicken was soggy from the lackluster gravy thrust on top of the contents of the bowl.....it just lacked any flavor at all.....as well as texture....it was all kind of "gloppy"...plus I now have a massive "saturated fat" headache...I can actually feel the fat particles swirlling around in my bloodstream....I have to go do a shooter of niacin now to try and regain the 3 days I just cut off my life by eating the Famous Bowl....

ugghh......

But, there were 3 "healthy" ladies who came in after me and they were so excited to eat the gravy bowl.....they loved it judging by the smiles....

I am a "Fat Guy" and am usually a big fan of anything fried and gravy

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Chris, and others...there's a special place in heaven for you for risking your life on this mission. Just hope those bowls don't send you to that destination sooner.

Saw the commercial for this treat tonight on tv for the first time. My husband said "Who would eat that, the potatoes aren't real mashed they're fake, the corn is probably canned, the chicken is McStrips, and KFC's gravy just tastes like pepper."

I had to laugh. We haven't had a KFC "dinner" in our home in about 10 years at least. (Have had the potpies on occasion) ... and yet those sensory memories will probably last with us a lifetime.

[RosalindD]

The more food commercials I see on TV, the more frightened I become. Americans are losing their battle with obesity. Everytime I see these fast food places trying to outdo each other with their outrageous dishes, I am just appalled. I think about these children growing up eating all that junk. When I saw KFC's latest marvel, it made me think of hog slop.

I live in Puerto Rico and so I get to see many tourists visiting Old San Juan, which is where I live. It's our colonial city. There are an incredible number of wonderful restaurants here in the old City. Chef Treviño, who was on the Food Networks Iron Chef program, has a number of really good restaurants here.

The saddest thing for me to see is the number of Americans who visit Old San Juan and go straight for the McDonalds, Pizza Hut or Sizzler's. Why come all the way over here only to eat a hamburger and not savor the local cuisine? It just boggles my mind. They can't seem to let go of the junk food. Where are we heading! And the portions seem to get bigger and bigger. It's just scary.

[Elrushbo]

Hmmm...bucket O' lunch!

[LikestoEatout]

I live in Puerto Rico and so I get to see many tourists visiting Old San Juan, which is where I live.  It's our colonial city.  There are an incredible number of wonderful restaurants here in the old City.  Chef Treviño, who was on the Food Networks Iron Chef program, has a number of really good restaurants here. 

The saddest thing for me to see is the number of Americans who visit Old San Juan and go straight for the McDonalds, Pizza Hut or Sizzler's.  Why come all the way over here only to eat a hamburger and not savor the local cuisine?  It just boggles my mind.  They can't seem to let go of the junk food.  Where are we heading!  And the portions seem to get bigger and bigger.  It's just scary.

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This reminds me of a friend's former husband who was thrilled to find KFC and Pizza Hut near the Pyramids in Egypt. They traveled the world but he always brought his own food or ate in American FF outlets. That's why he is an ex.

[Pouncy]

The real question is, is anyone going to "take one for the team" and try it?

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I tried it, and I kinda liked it, but in a very middle school way, and I'm very glad I hadn't had breakfast that day. I also like silly amounts of salt on my food (low blood pressure).

I might get it again when my husband is out of town and I watch 80's cartoons on DVD. My inner white trash adolescent adored the mixture.

[robb]

I'm feeling queasy just thinking about this.

[H. du Bois]

Just saw one of their commercials and got queasy. We grow ever closer to the trough, don't we?

[pam claughton]

I can't do cheese, but other than that, I didn't think it sounded so bad, sort of like a shepherd's pie, which noone has an issue with. I rarely eat fried chicken, but I'd try this just to try it, minus the cheese. I love shepherd's pie and I love fried chicken, so it sounds kind of good to me.

Pam

[Radio7]

Megan, you don't like cheese???? Really?  Any cheese or just pre-grated fake cheddar cheese? 

Okay...we went to Bellingham yesterday and we picked one up to poke at and it was a bit grizzly.  The gravy is different in the US than it is here in Canada and it's not as good.  The corn is tough...the cheese adds nothing but fat...and the chicken nuggets were not good.  In spite of harbouring a secret love of instant mashed potatoes it was just not something we wanted to eat.  Plus I can't eat mashed potatoes without orange salt, so that put a damper on things as my car stash of the stuff was empty.

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"Orange salt"? I've never heard of such a thing - is it actually orange flavoured?

~Radio7

[carpetbagger, esq.]

I can't do cheese, but other than that, I didn't think it sounded so bad, sort of like a shepherd's pie, which noone has an issue with. I rarely eat fried chicken, but I'd try this just to try it, minus the cheese. I love shepherd's pie and I love fried chicken, so it sounds kind of good to me.

Pam

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It seems like the disgust is more about it being from KFC than the fact that it's layered food. Hell, seems like plenty of things are layered - so the hate must be coming from somewhere else. I truly think KFC missed the boat by not including biscuits somewhere in the layering.

In fact, I plan on making a thanksgiving bowl filled turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, stuffing, etc this year. What's so objectionable about that?

[MarketStEl]

I can't do cheese, but other than that, I didn't think it sounded so bad, sort of like a shepherd's pie, which noone has an issue with. I rarely eat fried chicken, but I'd try this just to try it, minus the cheese. I love shepherd's pie and I love fried chicken, so it sounds kind of good to me.

Pam

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It seems like the disgust is more about it being from KFC than the fact that it's layered food. Hell, seems like plenty of things are layered - so the hate must be coming from somewhere else. I truly think KFC missed the boat by not including biscuits somewhere in the layering.

In fact, I plan on making a thanksgiving bowl filled turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, stuffing, etc this year. What's so objectionable about that?

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I think part of the problem can be found by asking the following question:

How many of you out there have ever made shepherd's pie with leftover fried chicken and grated cheese?

IOW, it's not the concept per se, it's the ingredients.

As for "orange salt": I'll wager that the poster was referring to seasoned salt. The combination of spices found in most seasoned salt produces an orange, or more accurately reddish-orange, mix.

[gfron1]

I saw the commercial for the first time last night (we don't watch TV but we saw it on a tape of a show someone sent us). We were so disgusted by the concept, and burst out laughing that someone came up with the idea.

Now, truth be told, there was a time in my life that I loved "gloppy" (and occassionally still do), but I don't think I could stomach a Famous Bowl.

Clearly this will be a huge success for KFC.

[dockhl]

"Orange salt"? I've never heard of such a thing - is it actually orange flavoured?

~Radio7

I think orange (flavored) salt sounds really good!

[robert40]

I can't do cheese, but other than that, I didn't think it sounded so bad, sort of like a shepherd's pie, which noone has an issue with. I rarely eat fried chicken, but I'd try this just to try it, minus the cheese. I love shepherd's pie and I love fried chicken, so it sounds kind of good to me.

Pam

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It seems like the disgust is more about it being from KFC than the fact that it's layered food. Hell, seems like plenty of things are layered - so the hate must be coming from somewhere else. I truly think KFC missed the boat by not including biscuits somewhere in the layering.

In fact, I plan on making a thanksgiving bowl filled turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, stuffing, etc this year. What's so objectionable about that?

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This may sound trivial but its my belief that good cooking comes from the heart and attention to detail. Which very likely sets your Thanksgiving bowl apart from a mass produced soggy chicken cheap cheese imitation.

[ludja]

I can't do cheese, but other than that, I didn't think it sounded so bad, sort of like a shepherd's pie, which noone has an issue with. I rarely eat fried chicken, but I'd try this just to try it, minus the cheese. I love shepherd's pie and I love fried chicken, so it sounds kind of good to me.

Pam

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It seems like the disgust is more about it being from KFC than the fact that it's layered food. Hell, seems like plenty of things are layered - so the hate must be coming from somewhere else. I truly think KFC missed the boat by not including biscuits somewhere in the layering.

In fact, I plan on making a thanksgiving bowl filled turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, stuffing, etc this year. What's so objectionable about that?

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This may sound trivial but its my belief that good cooking comes from the heart and attention to detail. Which very likely sets your Thanksgiving bowl apart from a mass produced soggy chicken cheap cheese imitation.

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and don't forget the mass produced "gravy" and "mashed potatoes". I have to admit, like some others, when I saw this ad on tv I thought it was another spoof along the lines of the "Taco Town" skit on SNL. To me the offensiveness stems from both the conception of the dish (i.e. the combination of ingredients that includes fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy and cheese) and also the known lack of quality of the ingredient components.

I love "cheap eats", homey dishes and classic diner food including items like chicken fried steak. I see a huge difference between those and this offering at KFC though.

That reminds me, did that pizza ever persist, the one that has a filling of cheese product squirted into the pizza crust rim?

Edited June 1, 2006 by ludja (log)

[carpetbagger, esq.]

yes, pizza hut made the stuffed crust pizza.

[zilla369]

I love cheese, even faux-cheese, but, yes - the cheese is the deal killer in the Famous Bowl. It just seems so wrong.

I actually dig the Taco Bell Border Bowl, though.

Obviously I have no shame or taste.

[Peter B Wolf]

someone said it's representing the fifties.

I don't know when 'Beaver' was born, but he never ate like this.

[Badiane]

As for "orange salt": I'll wager that the poster was referring to seasoned salt. The combination of spices found in most seasoned salt produces an orange, or more accurately reddish-orange, mix.

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Yup...that's what I meant...we just call it that and I forget that it has an actual name. Lowry's is the only one for me

Childhood throwback...kind of like those Kraft Pizza in a Box things

[handmc]

Chris:

I am concerned that you missed an important step in the testing protocol. Did you first mix the bowl to a homogenous slurry? If not you left the "flavor molecules" trapped in thier natural state which, in point of fact, defeats the purpose of bowlage.

Another test may be in order. Are you up for it?

[MarketStEl]

As for "orange salt":  I'll wager that the poster was referring to seasoned salt.  The combination of spices found in most seasoned salt produces an orange, or more accurately reddish-orange, mix.

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Yup...that's what I meant...we just call it that and I forget that it has an actual name. Lowry's is the only one for me

Childhood throwback...kind of like those Kraft Pizza in a Box things

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I'm partial to McCormick Season-All and Spicy Season-All myself--they're not as sweet (check the ingredients list on each)--but that's why we have variety!

I never did cotton to those pizza kits-in-a-box, though I did try making one once. Now I enjoy occasionally making a pizza from scratch.

[HarryB3]

Perhaps next they will toss the contents into a blender and make a chicken smoothie. Or put the puree into a tube and have retro astronaut food circa 1967.

[christine007]

I'm with zilla, this thing is doable, except for the cheese. I love cheese too, but on my chicken gravy ? I think not.

[Sheb]

I want to know who decided this is a "famous bowl".... I mean, it has been on the market for all of a couple of weeks. How is it famous already? Sounds to me like it is going to be infamous.