TOP 4 MOST POPULAR AMERICAN FOODS AND THEIR RECIPES: PART 5

Mashed Potatoes

• Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm which is about 15 minutes, then drain.

• In a small saucepan heat, butter and milk over low heat until the butter is melted. Using a potato masher or electric beater, slowly blend the milk mixture into the potatoes until it is smooth and creamy. Season them with salt and pepper.

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Grilled Cheese

Step 1:

Preheat the skillet over medium heat. Generously butter one side of a slice of bread. Place bread butter-side-down onto skillet bottom and add 1 slice of cheese. Butter a second slice of bread on one side and place butter-side-up on the sandwich. Grill the sandwiches until they are lightly browned and flip over; continue grilling until cheese is melted. Repeat with the remaining 2 slices of bread, butter, and a slice of cheese.

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Hashbrowns

Step 1: Shred potatoes in a large bowl filled with cold water. Stir until the water is cloudy, drain, and cover potatoes again with fresh cold water. Stir again to dissolve excess starch. Drain potatoes well, pat dry with paper towels and squeeze out any excess moisture.

Step 2: Heat clarified butter in a large non-stick pan over medium heat. Sprinkle shredded potatoes into the hot butter and season with salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and paprika.

Step 3: Cook the potatoes until a brown crust forms on the bottom which is about 5 minutes. Continue to cook and stir until potatoes are browned all over about 5 more minutes.

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Apple Pie

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).

Step 2: Line a 9-inch pie dish with one pastry crust; set the second one aside.

Step 3: Combine 3/4 cup sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. You can add more sugar if your apples are too tart.

Step 4: Layer apple slices in the prepared pie dish, sprinkling each layer with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Dot the top layer with small pieces of butter. Cover it with top crust.

Step 5: Bake the pie on the lowest rack of the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius) and continue baking the pie until it is golden brown and filling with bubbles which are 30 to 35 minutes more. Serve warm or cold.

4 Most Popular Types of American food and their ingredients and FUN FACTS: Part 5

Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients you will need:

• 2 pounds of baking potatoes (Russett potatoes), peeled and quartered 
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1 cup of milk
• salt and pepper (if needed

FUN FACT: Even though mashed potatoes most likely came from England in the 1600s, it is also believed that the Incas in South America made the first mashed potatoes thousands of years ago.

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Grilled Cheese

You will need:

• 4 slices of white bread

• 3 tablespoons of butter which are divided

• 2 of slices Cheddar cheese

FUN FACT: One expensive grilled cheese was once sold for a jaw-dropping 28,000 dollars!

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Hashbrown

Hashbrown

You will need:

• 2 russet potatoes that need to be peeled 
• 3 tablespoons of clarified butter
• Salt and ground black pepper (if required)
• 1 pinch of cayenne pepper, (if required)
• 1 pinch paprika, or to taste (if required)

FUN FACT: When the first hashbrowns were invented, they weren’t called “hashbrowns” but were called “hash browned potatoes” instead. The name changed eventually in

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Apple Pie

You will need:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

4 teaspoons of sugar

1/4 of a teaspoon of salt

14 tablespoons of cold butter (diced)

1 large egg, lightly beaten with 2 tablespoons of cold water

For the Filling:

2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice

3 pounds of baking apples like Golden Delicious, Cortland, or Mutsu

2/3 cup of sugar, plus more for sprinkling on the pie

1/4 cup of unsalted butter

1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

Generous pinch of ground nutmeg

1 large egg, lightly beaten

FUN FACT: Apple pie is about 630 years old! (As of 2022). (Also mentioned in “4 Popular American Foods: Part 5)

4 Popular Popular American Foods: Part 5

Mashed Potatoes

Mashed Potatoes are a ubiquitous and delicious side dish. Usually, the mashed potatoes have a certain topping which is gravy. However, this dish is still being debated since it was invented. One source says that a French person named Antoine Parmentier invented it in 1771 and held a competition to make the most way to make potatoes. Others say that it was invented by the British somewhere in the 1600s. Since then people still loved this dish as we do now too.

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Grilled Cheese

The grilled cheese sandwich is one of the most popular and most accessible sandwiches in the United States and is also commonly eaten with tomato soup. But, have you wondered who made this dish? Well, it all started with a man named Otto Federick who invented this dish somewhere in the United States, although it is not known where. Otto Federick developed this cheesy goodness in the 1920s which was the time he was nicknamed “the father of sliced bread. Since then, people still love sandwiches to this day.

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Hashbrown

Hashbrowns are a portion of favored American breakfast food. This recipe for the golden fried potato was first invented by a food author named Maria Parloa who first called them “hash brown potatoes” in 1895. Then, the dish popped up on breakfast menus in the 1890s in New York City. Later, in 1911, the name “has brown potatoes” changed into the modern way of saying it, “hashbrowns”. So. next time you are eating a delicious hashbrown, thank Maria Parloa for inventing the dish.

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Apple Pie

An apple pie can be both a very rewarding and popular dessert since 1381. And yes, 1381 was the year the apple pie was invented in England by a man named Geoffery Chaucer. He first wrote the recipe on a paper which included the fruits, apples, figs, raisins, pears, and a pastry shell, however, no sugar was added. The French, Dutch, and the Ottoman Empire inherited this recipe from England in the 1390s. Ever since 1381, people still love this old recipe.

4 Popular American Foods and their Recipes.

Casserole

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Butter casserole dish. In a large pot, melt 3 tablespoons of butter and flour over medium heat until they are golden in color to make a quick roux. The roux should resemble the color of peanut butter. Add mushrooms, onion, garlic, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, heavy cream, and chicken stock. Add broccoli, 1 cup of cheese, and rice. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Pour into a buttered dish and top with remaining shredded Cheddar. Bake until cheese is melted and golden, about 20 minutes.

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Corn Dog

corndog

Step 1: In a medium bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, salt, pepper, sugar, and baking powder. Nextly, stir the eggs and milk in a different bowl.

Step 2: Preheat your oil in a deep saucepan over medium heat. Insert wooden skewers into the frankfurter sausages. Roll your frankfurters in the batter until they are well coated.

Step 3: Fry 2 or 3 corn dogs at a time until they are lightly brown, which is about 3 minutes. Drain your corndogs on paper towels when they are finished.

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Chocolate Chip Cookies

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees C).

Step 2: Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until it is smooth. Beat your eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add it to the batter along with salt. Stir in the flour, chocolate chips, and nuts. Drop it by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.

Step 3: Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.

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Ice Cream

Step 1: In a small pot, simmer heavy cream, milk, sugar, and salt until the sugar completely dissolves, which is about 5 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Whisking constantly, slowly whisk about a third of the hot cream into the yolks, then whisk the yolk mixture back into the pot with the cream. Return the pot to medium-low heat and gently cook until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (about 170 degrees on an instant-read thermometer).

Step 2: Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Cool mixture to room temperature. Cover and let it chill for at least 4 hours or overnight. Churn in an ice cream machine according to manufacturers’ instructions. Serve directly from the machine for soft serve, or store in the freezer until needed.

4 popular American Foods and their ingredients and FUN FACTS

Cheesy Mushroom and Broccoli casserole

You will need:

3 tablespoons butter, plus extra for a casserole dish

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 pound shiitake or baby Bella mushrooms, sliced

1/4 cup onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup chicken stock

1 (10-ounce) box frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and drained

2 cups shredded Cheddar-Monterey blend

3 cups cooked rice

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

FUN FACT: A casserole is a very versatile dish, meaning it can be made with different ingredients and different ways of cooking it. Sheperd’s pie, macaroni, and pork chops are known to be a member of the casserole family.

Corn Dog

corndog

Serving yields 16 servings

You will need:

• 1 cup of yellow cornmeal
• 1 cup of all-purpose flour 
• ¼ teaspoon of salt
• ⅛ teaspoons of black pepper
• ¼ cup of white sugar
• 4 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1 egg 
• 1 cup of milk
• 1-quart of vegetable oil (for frying)
• 2 (16 ounces) packages of beef frankfurters
• 16 wooden skewers

FUN FACT: The Texas State Fair sells a whopping 630,000 corn dogs every season which typically lasts 24 days.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

You will need:

• 1 cup butter (softened)
• 1 cup of white sugar
• 1 cup of packed brown sugar
• 2 whole eggs
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 2 teaspoons of hot water
• 1/2 teaspoons of salt
• 3 cups of all-purpose flour
• 2 cups of any chocolate chips
• 1 cup of sliced/chopped walnuts

FUN FACT: The biggest chocolate chip cookie ever to exist, is a jaw-dropping 40,000 pounds!

Ice Cream

You will need:

• 2 cups of heavy cream
• 1 cup of whole milk
• 2/3 cups of sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon of fine sea salt
• 6 large egg yolks
• Your favorite flavoring

FUN FACT: It takes 12 pounds of milk just to produce a gallon of ice cream!

Popular American foods: Part 4

Casserole

The classic casserole is a very versatile dish and is able to be eaten with different ingredients and can be eaten as soups, stews, pot roasts, sauces, and more! Casseroles first originated in 1866, by a Canadian-French immigrant who invented the precursor of the modern-day casserole, in Berlin, New Hampshire. Compared to other foods, the casserole is a particularly modern dish.

Corn Dog

corndog

Corndogs is a dish that contains cornbread with a hot dog inside. Corn dogs are a very popular circus or amusement park food. The very first version of the corn dog was most likely made in The Texas State Fair in 1942 by Neil and Carl Fletcher. So, next time when you eat corndogs, you can thank Neil And Carl Fletcher.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies are a nice treat to eat for dessert. You can eat them with a variety of foods, such as ice cream. Compared to other foods or desserts, Chocolate Chip cookies are relatively a new dessert-only dating back to 1938. Ruth Graves Wakefield and Sue Brides were American chefs and invented this dessert in a period where they owned a restaurant called the Toll House Inn, in Whitman, Massachusetts. The Toll House Inn was a popular restaurant featuring home cooked meals back in the 1930s. So, next time you eat Chocolate Chip Cookies, ake sure you thank Ruth Graves Wakefield an Sue Brides for this delicious dessert.

Ice Cream

Have you had a brain freeze, on a big scoop of ice cream an wondered how old it actually is? Well ice cream is actually extremely old, in fact, it is so old that no one really knows who the actually invented ice cream, due to how old this dessert can actually is! The earliest version of Ice Cream dates back to Ancient Greece at about 500 B.C.E. Athenians would buy fruit, honey, and ice from markets called agoras. But, another possible origin of ice cream can date back to Ancient China at around 200 B.C.E where ice cream was usually for the wealthy. The king of China, T’ang Of Shang at that time had 94 men to get snow just for him daily. This type of ice cream is koumiss. Another possiblity was in Ancient Rome around 60 CE, ice cream was a luxury and the Emporer of Rome, Nero, at the time, mixed with nectar, fruit pulp and honey. Later in 1630, in the reign of King Charles l of England his ice cream maker made an ice cream dessert so delicious that he payed the ice cream maker and kept it a royal secret. A cookbook from 1718 had the earliest known recipie of ice cream. Once, British Sailors sailed to the United States, they spread around ice cream. George Washington loved the dessert so much, that he spent over $200 just on ice cream, which is about $5000 in today’s money! So, ice cream evolved over time until there was a perfect recipe for it.

Top 4 most popular foods in American Recipes: Part 3

French Fry Recipe

• Step 1: In a medium bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water. Soak our potatoes in the water mixture for 15 minutes. Next, remove it from the water, and dry thoroughly on some paper towels.

• Step 2: Heat the oil in a deep-fryer to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celsius). Add the potatoes, and cook them until they are golden, which is about 5 to 6 minutes. Take your fries out after 5-6 minutes and drain them on paper towels. Season your fries with salt if you want.

Potato Chips

• Step 1: Place your potato slices into a large bowl of cold water as you slice. Drain, and rinse, then refill the bowl with water, and add the salt. Let the potatoes soak in the salty water for at least 30 minutes. Drain, then rinse and drain again.

• Step 2: Heat the oil in a deep-fryer to 365 degrees Fahrenheit (185 degrees Celsius). Fry potato slices in small batches. Once they start turning golden, remove the chips and drain them on paper towels. Keep on going until all of the slices are fried. You can season with additional salt for your taste.

Deep Fried Oreos

• Step 1: Heat your oil in a deep-fryer to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celsius)

• Step 2: Whisk together the egg, milk, and 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil in one bowl until the mixture is smooth. Stir your pancake mix until no dry lumps remain. Dip the Oreos into the batter one at a time, and carefully place them into the hot frying oil. Fry only 4 or 5 at a time to avoid overcrowding the deep fryer. Cook them until the cookies are golden-brown, which takes about 2 minutes. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate before serving.

Chicken Tenders

• Step 1: Heat the oven to 425°F. Line the cookie sheet with the foil; spray with cooking spray.

• Step 2: In a shallow dish, pour flour. In another shallow dish, beat an egg and water. In the third shallow dish, mix bread crumbs and cheese. Coat the chicken with flour; dip into egg mixture, then coat with bread crumb mixture. Then, place it on a cookie sheet.

• Step 3: Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, turning once until the chicken is no longer pink in the center and the coating is golden brown. Serve with dipping sauce.

4 Popular American Foods and their ingredients: Part 3

French Fry

Ingredients for french fries:

• 1/3 cups of sugar
• 2 cups of warm water
• 2 russet potatoes that are peeled and sliced into 1/4 inch strips
• 6 cups of vegetable oil for deep frying
• salt (not required)

FUN FACT: There are many ways to call the modern fry. In the United States they are simply called “fries” in England they are called “chips” and the French call them “Frites”.

Potato Chips

Ingredients for Potato Chips:

• 2 potatoes
• Oil: Vegetable Oil Canola, Corn, Soybean, or Sunflower Oil.
• Salt

FUN FACTS: 1: The largest bag of chips that ever existed weighed more than a small car. 2: In the UK, the name “chips” is already taken and referred to as fries in the UK. Therefore, they call them “chippies”, or, “crisps”.

Deep Fried Oreos

Deep Fried Oreos Ingredients:

• Batter

• Powdered Sugar

• Vegetable Oil

• Egg

• Milk

• Pancake Mix

• Oreos

FUN FACT. Charlie Boghosian, the creater of the deep-fried Oreo, has many different nicknames such as “Chicken Charlie’s” or “The Man Who Fries Everything…”.

Chicken Tenders

Chicken Tender with Fries Ingredients:

• Peanut oil, for frying

• 2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts

• 3 eggs

• 1 cup of all-purpose flour

• 2 cups panko of bread crumbs

• 1 teaspoon of garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon of lemon-pepper

• 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne

• 1/2 teaspoon of salt

• 1/2 teaspoons of pepper

FRIES:

• 1/3 cups of sugar
• 2 cups of warm water
• 2 russet potatoes that are peeled and sliced into 1/4 inch strips
• 6 cups of vegetable oil for deep frying
• salt (not required)

FUN FACT: Even though people think the chicken tender was made in Manchester, New Hampshire, other restaurants in Savannah, Georgia and Baton Rouge, Louisiana still claim that they made the first chicken tender.

Top 4 most popular foods and their History: Part 3

French Fries

French Fries

The French Fries probably make you think that these delicious fried snacks are from France, but it is still debated between France and Belgium. However, no one knows when fries were actually invented. According to Belgians, they thought that poor villagers in Belgium created fries in the 1800s. Usually, the villagers often caught small fish, however, when it was Winter, lakes, and rivers would be frozen. Therefore, the villagers sliced the potatoes to about the same length as the fish and fry them up. Eventually, during World War 1, soldiers that were stationed in Belgium tried the snack and absolutely LOVED it and eventually became popular, all around the world.

Potato Chips

Another very popular snack in the United States is potato chips. This fried food are thinly sliced potatoes and fried up making them very crunchy! This recipe was first born in 1853 by an African American named, George Crum. Crum was a chef at Moon Lake Lodge resort in Saratoga Springs in New York. At the restaurant, french fries were very popular but one diner complained that the fries were too thick. Therefore, Crum made the same thing as fries, but a lot more thinly sliced. And voila, the first potato chips were made!

Deep-Fried Oreos

Deep Fried Oreos are a popular fair food/amusement park food. Compared to the other fried foods above, this recipe was a recent one only dating back to 2001 by Charlie Boghosian or “The Man Who Fries Everything” who was 16 years old and invented this dish at the L. A County Fair.

Chicken Strips

Chicken tenders are very popular at an MLB baseball game in an arena. However, fried chicken tenders have a pretty long history. The first version of a chicken tender probably dates back to 1917 at a restaurant called The Puritan diner in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Top 4 Popular American Foods and their Recipes: Part 2

Baked Mac and Cheese

Macs and Cheese

1st Step: Boil your Macaroni noodles in a pot and then put a 2-inch stick of butter in the noodles which stops the bloating.

2nd Step: Add another 2-inch stick of butter in a pan and pour a small bowl of flour into the pan.

3rd Step: Pour a jar of milk into the pan.

4th Step: Add 2 small bowls of Gruyere and Mozzarella cheese into the mixture.

5th step: Pour all of the liquid into the noodles.

6th Step: Put the dish onto a baking tray and add the crunchy toppings on the top

7th Step: Bake the Mac and Cheese for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

8th Step: You’re mac and cheese is done!

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Microwave S’Mores

1st Step- Break your Graham and Hershey chocolates in half

2nd Step- Put the marshmallows onto a piece of paper towel and put it in the microwave and put it at medium (50%) in 10-second intervals until the marshmallows puff up.

3rd Step- Stack the S’more by putting a graham cracker on the bottom and then putting the chocolate and marshmallow on and putting the last graham cracker on top.

4th step- (OPTIONAL) Let the S’more sit for 1 minute/60 seconds to soften the chocolate

5th step- The S’more is complete and is now ready to be eaten!

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Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich

Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich

Step 1- Spread your jam on 1 side of the bread.

Step 2- Spread your peanut butter and the other slice of bread

Step 3- Combine both of the sides on top of each other

Step 4- The sandwich is complete!

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Fried Chicken

Step 1- In a shallow dish put 2-2/3 cups flour, garlic salt, paprika, 2-1/2 teaspoons pepper, poultry seasoning. In a different shallow dish, beat eggs and 1-1/2 cups water and add 1 teaspoon of salt and the remaining 1-1/3 cups of flour and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.

Step 2- Dip and roll the raw chicken into the beaten egg mixture, and do the same with the chicken in flour mixture, a few pieces at a time.

Step 3- In a fryer, set the temperature to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and fry the chicken several pieces at a time, until the coat is golden brown and a thermometer inserted into the chicken reads 165°, about 7-8 minutes on each side.