Homemade Ice Cream And Fried Chicken

The combination of fried chicken and ice cream as a meal don't appeal to a lot of folks, but if you ever tried it, you'd love it!

Jeff Wilson, a friend of mine from Texas, visited me recently and introduced my wife and me to a recipe and process handed down to him; from his grandmother to his mom.  

Here's an old '60s photo of Jeff's mom and dad cranking out some homemade ice cream for their chicken supper!

 

Jeff even brought his 4-quart Rival ice cream mixer!  It wasn't the one he uses at home, he forgot that one when he packed for the road-trip, but Wal-Mart saved the day for us, and his girlfriend's family in Kentucky.  The $25 little number did the job right in my sink on one bag of ice!

Anyway, he left Texas with the intention of treating both families with sweet peach ice cream and fried chicken, so he didn't let a little thing like forgetting the primary tool stop him.  I may end up with one of the little jewels myself!

Jeff and Denice arrived the night before the great feast. We visited until late, and before they left for the evening, he put chicken breast strips and skinless bone-in chicken thighs into a baggy and added his marinate ingredients:

- half a beer (he drank the rest)

- salt and pepper

- A couple of good shakes of Uncle Chris' Gourmet Steak Seasoning

- A generous amount of teriyaki sauce

- (You can experiment with other seasonings, BBQ, hot sauce, Italian dressing, etc.)

He left the chicken in our refrigerator overnight and right up until we began to cook the following evening; so a good 24 hours.  We were then ready to cook!

Like all good cooking events, it begins with the "prep", and prepping peaches involved both Jeff, Denice, and my wife Judy.  After all, someone had to do the documentation!

As instructed, they pealed and cut up 8 fresh peaches and placed the fruit in a bowl.  Now, if you don't particularly like fruit in your ice cream, like me, just skip that part and continue.

 

Over the peaches he sprinkled 1 cup of sugar and let it sit until he filled the blender with following:

- 2 boxes of Peach Jell-O

- 1 box of Jell-O Vanilla Pudding

- 2 cans of Eagle Brand Milk

- 5 to 6 eggs (depending on the size)

- 1 pint of Half & Half (as needed to fill the cream maker bucket to the proper level)

 

He then added about half of the peaches (and sugar) and blended until mixed, and then added the rest of the peaches and blended again.  If the blender isn't full, then add extra milk (half & half) to fill to the top.

 

Jeff then poured the mixture into the ice cream maker bucket and sealed the top and covered it with the motor.  It's important that you not fill the bucket above the marked "fill line".  The mixture will expand to the top during the freezing process, and will overflow if you don't stop at the fill line.

He put ice cream salt in the bottom, added ice half way up, added more salt, then filled it up with ice, put on more salt, and turned the unit on.  It was all over in about 30 minutes.  Thick rich peach ice cream ready to be enjoyed!

During the 30 minutes, I watched the ice cream maker, like I used to do with my father, adding ice and salt as needed.  It used to be my job to sit on a folded towel, on top of the hand-cranked machine, to hold it down while dad turned until he couldn't turn it anymore.  I sneaked the iced salt and ate until he caught me!  I also kept the drain hole unplugged!

Anyway, this thing didn't need holding or cranking, just occasional ice.

 

In the meantime, Jeff was busy prepping the chicken.  He put all-purpose flour on a paper plate, added salt and pepper to the mixture.  He turned on a deep frier to 11!  The hotter the better!

 

He first dipped the chicken in Carnation Milk, then into the flour mixture, and again into the milk, and back into the flour.  After waiting for the vegetable oil (his granny used lard) to super heat, he gently dropped each piece into the hot oil.

When the down side was golden brown, the turned the pieces over and cooked the other side to a matching brown.  Once both sides reach the right color, they were done.  He placed them on paper towel to rest.

By this time the ice cream maker was making a laboring sound, indicating the cream was done.

At the table, my wife and I enjoyed our first fried chicken and peach ice cream.  It was fantastic!  Look at her go; a bite of chicken, then a bite of ice cream!

I had seen Jeff's photos, on his blog and on Facebook, of the chicken feasts at his mom's, but never really knew what it tasted like.  Now I know and I'm sure my wife will insist on me making it again, very soon!

I think the only alterations I will make to his recipe will be a bit more salt and pepper in the flour, and I will leave off the peaches.  I think, to my taste, vanilla cream would be a little tastier.