Food of The Week: Ice Cream

Mmm, ice cream it is a favorite desert for many and

around the world. There are many different kinds of ice cream some of the most popular are soft-serve, sundae, banana split, gelato, and regular ice cream. I love ice cream it is great and it is even better if it has better ingredients in it. Many brands of ice cream put many bad ingredients in their ice cream such as H.F.C.S, Corn Syrup, Propelene Glycol(used in car anti-freeze), antibiotics, and hormones. At some dairy farms they give their cows growth hormones and antibiotics. Both of which are not good for people when consumed in dairy products such as ice cream. I like to buy all natural or organic ice cream. But if you are a vegan(or not), there are many alternatives to regular dairy ice cream such as soy ice cream, rice ice cream, almond ice cream, and hemp ice cream. 



Freeze-dried astronaut ice cream sandwich. 



There's many different kinds of dairy ice cream as well such as organic, all natural, fair-trade, and local. You can also make your own homemade ice cream which is very fun to make and is usually more delicious. I remember the first time I made homemade ice cream it was vanilla; but it didn't turn out that well. It had a lot of ice crystals in it. There were a few reasons for that happening, first my fridge wasn't as good as the one that I have



Ew, spleen and artichoke ice cream. Andrew

Zimmern ate this in Italy.



now, and I think that I had my freezer too high. But with a little practice, I am now a pro at making ice cream. There are many delicious, decadent flavors of of ice cream, but what about the weird, unusual ones? Well here are some, squid ink, fish, chili pepper, garlic, spaghetti, chicken wing, cheese, caviar, salad, spleen & artichoke, octopus, and horse flesh. Yuk!

But then there are the basic flavors vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, mint, cookies & cream, cookie dough, peanut butter cup, moose tracks, neapolitan, mint chocolate chip, chocolate chip, and pistachio. There are many different ways to make ice cream you can make it in a regualar ice cream machine, flash freeze it with liquid nitrogen, or make regular ice cream and freeze-dry it just the astronauts have it. Of course most people probably do not have liquid nitrogen or a freeze-drying machine ready-to-use at their disposal.



Cookie dough "dippin dots".



There is also a dot shaped kind of ice cream called "Dippin Dots". Dippin Dots are small dot shaped balls of ice cream. They come in many flavors such as coockie dough(pictured below), cookies and cream, bubble gum, chocolate, and vanilla. Ice cream is very popular in the US and around the world. When manned spaceflight first started, astornauts wanted to be able to eat ice cream in space; and so they invented freeze-dried ice cream. Hence the common name, "Astronaut Ice Cream". Why couldn't they just eat regular ice cream in space; because it would expire quickly, and may be hazardous in space.

Historians estimate that ice cream was invented in the 4th century B.C. However King Tang of China had a method of making ice and milk concoctions. It was probably brought to Europe from China. English settlers brought ice cream to the US and it quickly became popular. Then the first ice cream parlor in the US opened in the 1776 in New York City. Then a while later the ice cream cone was invented and debuted at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.

Overall ice cream is a great dessert and many people in the US and around the world(and in space.) love it and enjoy it very much. Whether your have a organic soft serve or your have a soy ice cream sandwich; you are still having one of the best desserts available on Earth and beyond.





Buttermilk Fried Chicken



My buttermilk fried chicken recipe.

   Mmm, fried chicken. One of the best comfort foods around. Below is one of my favorite and most used recipes for fried chicken. This recipe was top secret and is the first time ever revealed.

Buttermilk Fried Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 - 2 lbs of boneless skinless chicken breast 
• Kosher salt, to taste, plus 2 tsp.
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste, plus 1 tsp.
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1 to 3 Tbs. Tabasco sauce (according to taste, if you like it mild have 1 or 2 Tbs, and if you like it spicier use 3 Tbs.) 
• 6 cups canola oil
• 4-5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. paprika
• 1 Tbs of cayenne powder

Directions:

Rinse the chicken with cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Then cut the fat off, and if the chicken is thick slice it to make it thinner. Place on a dish or cutting board while you make the buttermilk mixture.

In a bowl, combine the buttermilk, cayenne, and Tabasco and pour over the chicken, coating all the pieces. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Remove the chicken from the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking. Place the chicken in a colander and let the excess buttermilk drain off. Reserve the buttermilk, for dipping the chicken a second time.

In a deep cast-iron fry pan or deep fryer over medium-high heat, heat the oil to 350°F. Preheat an oven to 200°F. Line a baking sheet with paper towels.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, the 2 tsp. salt, the 1 tsp. pepper and the paprika. Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture, shaking off the excess. Then dip the chicken in the buttermilk mixture, then the flour mixture.

Place half of the chicken in the oil and fry, turning often and maintaining the oil temperature at 325°F, until the chicken is cooked through. Repeat with the remaining chicken. Serves 4.

Food of the Week: Fried Chicken



Red velvet fried chicken served with garlic cream cheese

mashed potatoes.



Buttermilk fried chicken frying in a pan.



Mmm, fried chicken; one of the best tasting comfort foods available. Fried chciken tastes great, it is usually crispy, with a thin crust. There are many different types of fried chicken such as southern fried, buttermilk, oven-fried, and even red velvet! There are many different types of fried chicken. Fried chicken is served in most countries all over the world. Suprisingly fried chicken did not originate in the US; it in fact orIginated in China; and was brought to the US by Scottish immigrants who settled in the southeastern US. In Scotland fried chicken was originally cooked in fat; not oil like most people do today. When fried chicken was brought to the US, African slaves made fried chicken with much more flavor and spices than the origian lversion. And that new version became the cbase for many fried chicken recipes we know today. Fried chicken is great; and there are many ways to get it, you can buy it from a store, make it yourself, eat it a resturant, and eat it at a fast food chain. One of those major fast food chains, KFC, has seen much conflixct there are many claims that they abuse and neglet their animals. PETA had a campaign against KFC becuase of the allegations. I would never eat KFC fried chicken; I have tried and did not like it at all. After I tried it for the first and last time, I felt sick and nauseous. And so I will never eat it again.



KFC buck of fried chicken(Ewww!)



Whenever I make fried chicken, I always buy free range, organic, local, and always humanly raised. Much chicken has antibiotics, and may not be humanly raised. I reccomend buying free range, or organic, or local, or humanely raised chicken. Overall fried chicken can be and is a great comfort food as long as you make it with good ingredients. And for a healthier option you can make it oven-fried. Over this week there will be many fried chicken recipes and more!





Food Review #15 Pepsi Throwback

This food review is on Pepsi Throwback. Oh Pepsi, don't you love the taste of it but not the ingredients.

Well regular Pepsi has bad ingredients such as H.F.C.S, artificial flavors, coloring, preservatives, and more. But Pepsi Throwback has no H.C.F.S, and instead is sweetened with natural sugar. And it has natural flavors. Pepsi Throwback also have a great taste; that tastes much better than regular Pepsi. Pepsi Throwback also has a interesting retro packaging which we liked. It has a full-bodied flavor; and is cola with integrity and tastes like cola should. Pepsi Throwback comes in 2-liter, 20 oz single serve bottle, and 12 pack cans.(may come in different sizes in different areas.) I love the taste of this soda and it is great over ice, as a cola float, and really any other way there is. And kids really love this soda too! Overall Pepsi Throwback gets a 10, because its sweetened with natural sugar, flavored with natural flavors, it tastes great any way you have it, and has great flavor and tastes like cola should.

Food Review #14 Nature's Path Cherry Pomergran Frosted Toaster Pastry

This food review is on Nature's Path Cherry Pomergran Frosted Toaster Pastry. Oh toaster pastries they are very easy to make: all you have to do is pop them in the toaster and eat them. Pop tarts are a popular brand of toaster pastries but are not good since they don't have good, wholesome, organic, or even natural ingredients. These toaster pastries are great! And they are all natural and organic. These toaster pastries also have a great fresh pomegranate taste, with the taste of cherry. These also have a great frosting which is speckled with sprinkles. These also have many antioxidants because of the pomegranate and cherry. These are great toasted and they are great not toasted too. Overall  Nature's Path Cherry Pomergran Frosted Toaster Pastry gets a 10, for great taste, great health benefit, and wholesome 100% organic ingredients.

Food Review #13 Whole Foods 365 Duplex Sandwich Creme Cookies

This food review is on Whole Foods 365 Duplex Sandwich Creme Cookies. Everyone knows Oreos but Oreos have bad ingredients; and are not all natural. These cookies are quite good. I always love chocolate chocolate sandwich cremes and I love vanilla sandwich cremes. So what's better than having both of those flavors together in 1 cookie! These cookies have a great, rich flavor. These cookies are also a great snack. They're great with milk, split in half, the normal way that they come in, and many other ways. These are great as a lunch snack, midnight snack, and much more. These cookies are great and kids love them too (and so do kids of all ages)! Overall Whole Foods 365 Duplex Sandwich Creme Cookies get a 10 for their great taste, the fact that they're all natural, all of the different ways to eat them, and kids of all ages love them too!

Food Review #12 Amy's Organic Gluten Free Non-Dairy (Vegan) Chocolate Cake

This is a review of Amy's Organic Gluten Free Dairy Free(Vegan) Chocolate Cake. I was very surprised by this cake; and pleasantly surprised at that. I thought that this cake would be so-so. But was I wrong! This cake was great; it has a rich, and very chocolaty flavor. It has a great texture and is not mushy or anything like that at all. It was not dry; but moist (which I love.) You can heat up the cake(like we did) on 200 degrees F or another very low temperate for about 4-5 minutes(may vary with different ovens or toaster oven; we used a gas oven.)

It heats up best in an oven or toaster oven. This is a great cake. And a great alternative to cake with dairy and gluten. This cake also is 100% organic! And kids love it! This cake was great; but the only thing which I would like added to it is frosting. But the frosting thing is not that bad; and if you really want frosting on this cake, you can make some. This cake did not have any other things that we did not like. It was really great and I highly recommend this cake. Overall Amy's Organic Gluten Free Dairy Free(Vegan) Chocolate Cake gets a 10 because of it's great taste, it's organic, all natural, gluten-free, and vegan, great texture, and kids love it.