International food blog: May 2014

Monday, May 26, 2014

ITALIAN: Iced coffee QUICK LINK!!

Italian iced coffee link

ITALIAN: Extra Virgin Stars on Cooking Channel have a fund raiser for Dogs!! QUICK LINK!!

ITALIAN: Extra Virgin Food Stars have a fund raiser for dogs!! with food!!

PRODUCT REVIEWS: Wendy's new Tuscan Chicken sandwich and Cookout's Spicy Chicken sandwich

1. Wendy's new Tuscan Chicken Sandwich ($10.00 plus for two)

Am very familiar with Tuscan spices (see my research and recipe link on the bottom of the page)
No Tuscan flavoring on the sandwich at all.
Tuscan cheeses have character and it appears that they may have used that white American processed cheese and it had no taste and only processed cheese comes in that thin. They say it is Asiago but I am very familiar with Asiago and it had no taste. I removed a piece from the sandwich and it had no taste. Should have just reduced the price of the sandwich. The cheese had no character and was sliced razor thin.
The chicken was moist inside and the breading was crispy. Cooked well.
The ciabetta bun was very good and firm.
We added fresh tomato from the store and fresh leaf lettuce from our garden.
Portion size was good.
We did not get the lettuce and tomato in the photo below because when restaurants put those on they are usually soggy. We slice our own tomatoes and use our home grown lettuce.
The aftertaste wasn't that great either.
We won't be buying again.

2. Cookout's Spicy Chicken ($7.00 plus for two)

Chicken cooked well also and was moist inside and spicy crispy on the outside.
The bun sucks. Plain old boring hamburger bun that no one ever eats and it wasn't toasted. It couldn't hold up to the sandwich and got mooshy inside (see photo below).
The next time we got it we threw away the bun and toasted our own Italian bread.
Portion size smaller than Wendy's.
We didn't get the fries or anything else.
Again we don't get the lettuce & tomato because we use our own.

***** My dream sandwich would be Wendy's bun and Cookout's Spicy chicken (with some Tuscan seasoning on it as well) and some grated Pecorino-Romano or Accasiato or a strong mozzarella or a cheese with a tang that will hold up to the spiciness AND A THICK SLICE.

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SEE MY LINK BELOW FOR MY TUSCAN SPICE RESEARCH AND THERE IS A LINK ON THAT PAGE FOR MAKING YOUR OWN. (RECIPE AND MY RESEARCH ON THREE COMMERCIAL TUSCAN SPICES. (If you don't like fennel you can leave it out or just use a tad.)

LINK TO MY TUSCAN RESEARCH AND RECIPE