Week Three - Idaho

Last Saturday, I took the family on a culinary trip to Idaho, the Gem State.  I know what you're thinking, that this was all we had to eat...

And yes, Idaho is famous for its spuds.  But I wanted do more than just serve baked potatoes and call it good.  The idea behind this year long project is to explore new cuisine, new recipes, and push me out of my cooking comfort zone.  So I dug a little deeper into the culture of Idaho, and here's what I came up with.

The Basques are an ethnic group that hails from the are Pyrenees mountains between Spain and France.  They have a distinct language tradition and culture, and their food takes influences of the countries that surround the region and mashes them up into something new. A people with a rich farming and animal husbandry history, the Basques came to the United States like so many other ethnic groups and set out to make a new life for themselves here.

Outside of California, the largest population of Basque descendants is in, you guessed it, Idaho.  So it was using that cultural influence that inspired my Idaho-themed dinner.


Basque Chicken and Chorizo Saute

Three chicken leg quarters, divided into thighs and drumsticks
10 oz. chorizo sausage
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into strips
1 orange bell pepper, cut into strips
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1 medium white onion, thinly sliced
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
2 large thyme sprigs
1 small jar artichoke hearts
1 cup red wine

First, I heated up the chorizo and tried to brown it.  It was very greasy...

Once it was "done," I transferred it to a large plate with a paper towel on it to drain. I then heated up the olive oil in the skillet and added the chicken pieces...

After the chicken was browned on both sides, I added the chicken to the chorizo plate. Next, I added the bell peppers, onions, garlic, and thyme to the skillet.  Once softened, I added the cherry tomatoes and red wine, scraping up any of the left over bits from the pan.

I added the chicken and chorizo back to the skillet, covering everything for about 25 minutes on low heat.  I then added the artichoke pieces and cooked for an additional 5 minutes.  At the end of this cooking time, I removed the chicken pieces and plated them.

Mashed Potatoes

6 waxy yellow potatoes, peeled
1 parsnip, peeled
1 or 2 dollops sour cream
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

I won't go into too much depth with the mashed preparation (you boil everything, you drain the water, then you mash in the sour cream and olive oil).  I've been adding parsnips to my mashed potatoes to get another vegetable into my kids, and it's worked to varying degrees of success.  I've also started replacing butter with olive oil, as I've found that it makes the mashed potatoes just as creamy but not as heavy tasting.

To plate everything, I put a piece of the chicken over a big scoop of the mashed potatoes, then poured the chorizo sauce over everything.  The result...

...tasted about as good as it looked...which was to say, it was kind of a mess.

I'm realizing that I should have used dried chorizo and chopped or sliced that up (more like kielbasa or smoked sausage), instead of using ground chorizo sausage.  The ground chorizo made everything way too greasy and over powered the flavor of everything else.  It tasted...fine?  I guess?  But it definitely didn't come out looking like this...

...nailed it?

It was bound to happen that some of the meals I cooked for this project would be duds.  52 weeks of recipes would eventually lead to left overs that would not be eaten again.  And while I feel like it was a valiant attempt, I didn't do Idaho justice this time around.  The "undefeated season" is now beyond my reach, which is actually kind of nice.  The pressure is off early now, which means I can refocus on my next stop on this culinary adventure.

Vaya con dios, Idaho.  See ya tater...




(Yikes...potato puns...)

Week Two - Alaska

Greetings from the Land of the Midnight Sun!  My second state-inspired dinner took place on Saturday the 12th, just squeaking in to make it for Week Two of the National Grub Year (I have a feeling that the lag in posting about my culinary adventures will be happening a lot this year...who knew life with two children was going to be so busy!).

Alaska is a state that I have always wanted to visit, and I really wanted to do it's meal justice.  I think I did pretty well...especially with the dessert.  We'll get to that, but first, dinner, which was kept simple in terms of the recipes I tried.

Broiled Alaskan Sockeye Salmon

1 1/2 lbs Alaskan Sockeye Salmon Fillets

1 tablespoon dried dill weed

1 lemon

This is actually a recipe that a friend gave to me years back and it's always been my go to when cooking salmon.  Very simple and very tasty.  Just sprinkle the dill all over the fillets, making sure they are well covered.  Slice the lemon and put the slices on to the salmon.  Broil on low for around 10 minutes (make sure it doesn't go light pink or white!)

Baked Snow Crab Legs

3 Alaskan Snow Crab Leg Clusters

1/4 cup melted butter

1/2 tablespoon garlic powder

2 tablespoons "Soul Food" seasoning (Food Lion brand)

Another easy recipe here (didn't want to over-power the crab legs!).  While Alaskan King Crab is the more famous of the crab species (thanks, of course, to Deadliest Catch), the Snow Crab was half the price.  And traveling around the country, even if it's a trip that never leaves my kitchen, can get expensive.  I went with the more affordable (and still delicious) option.

First, I melted the butter and mixed in the garlic powder and Soul Food seasoning.  Next, I put the crab legs on a tin foil-lined baking pan.

I poured the melted butter mixture over the crab legs and put another layer of foil over the crab legs. I folded the edges, making a packet, and put the crab legs in the oven, preheated to 450.  I baked them for 10 minutes.

I served both of these seafood options with two vegetables that are major crops in Alaska, broccoli and beets.

The result...

...was delicious.  Elliot and Eleanor weren't a big fan of the beets (their loss), but they devoured everything else.  The salmon came out great, as did the crab legs. They were buttery and not too spicy, with the Soul Food seasoning giving them just enough of a kick.  Our dining room table was eventually covered in small, buttered hand prints and crab leg shells, but who cares, it was fun watching them get so excited to eat them.

With all of that said, dessert was the real winner here.  I did a lot of my prepping for this project over the holiday break, and as such a constant stream of Christmas movies were on at my house.  There's a scene in the Bill Murray film Scrooged where Bill's character sees a man on fire in a restaurant and starts pointing at him frantically.  The waiter, who doesn't see the man, mistakes what he's pointing at and says "That's a Baked Alaska, sir. A dessert."

I wonder what state I should use that dessert for...

Baked Alaska

1 1/2 Cartons Neapolitan Ice Cream

1 Pound Cake, Sliced

6 egg whites (at room temperature)

3/4 cup of sugar

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

According to legend, the name "Baked Alaska" came into being in New Orleans, where a chef there created this dessert to honor the recent acquisition by the United States of the territory of Alaska.

No matter where the name came from, this all day process was well worth the effort.  First, I lined a 3 quart metal mixing bowl with plastic wrap, and then fill it with the ice cream. I made sure as I was scooping it in to equally mix the strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla sections.  I didn't want it to have one side that was solely one flavor. I pressed this into the bowl so it was roughly flat on top.

When that was done scooping in the ice cream (I should have let it soften first, pro tip for next time!) I layered the pound cake on top, creating the base for the dessert.

I put this in the freezer and left if for four hours.  The recipe I found actually said you could leave it in there for much, much longer (two weeks was the upper limit...couldn't wait that long this go around).

Right before I was ready to take it out of the freezer, I made my first meringue. And because it was my first, I enlisted the help of a sous chef...

To make the meringue, I mixed the egg whites on high with a hand mixer until they were frothy. I added in the cream of tartar and the sugar slowly, mixing on high the whole time, until it began to harden up. Elliot was amazed by this, and frankly so was I (science, amirite?!). 

When stiff peaks began to form in the bowl, the meringue was done.  I pulled out the frozen ice cream/pound cake and inverted it on to a baking dish.  Elliot then got to work spreading the meringue out over it.

The now meringued ice cream/cake concoction was put back in the freezer for another hour.

I preheated an oven to 500, and when the time was right, I put the baking dish in for five minutes.  The result...

Was incredible. Super tasty and a great mix of textures and temperatures. The middle of the dessert remained frozen and hardened, while the crust of the meringue was crispy and warm.  It really was something else, and it's definitely something that I want to try again the next time we host a larger gathering.  There was wayyyy too much for just the four of us!

Week Two is in the books and so far it's been a great way to break up the monotony that can sometimes occur with home-cooking.  Hopefully we'll actually get to visit The Last Frontier at some point in our lives.  I just hope they serve Baked Alaska there too...

Week One - Florida

Greetings from the Sunshine State, and welcome to week one of the National Grub Year!

This first stop presented me with a challenge that I will face for many of the states that I'll visit throughout the year.  The challenge: which region or recipe should I try that would be emblematic of the state?  For Florida, which direction could I take?  Something with alligator?  Something Caribbean or inspired by the Keys?  Meth?

I decided that a Miami inspired, Cuban flavored meal would be best, especially since this week I wanted to honor New Years with a traditional dinner of pork, black-eyed peas (in this case black beans), and greens.  But I also wanted to honor another aspect of the state for dessert.  More on that later.  First, dinner...

Mojo Pork

Two pork tenderloins

1 yellow onion

1/2 cup olive oil

8 cloves of garlic, pressed

1 teaspoon ground cumin (eyeballed this one)

1 teaspoon dried oregano (eyeballed this one too)

1 cup lime juice

1 cup orange juice

1 teaspoon kosher salt (eyeba...you get the picture)

This was very similar to the recipe I made for Cuba back in the Global Grub Month.  This time around, however, I made the Mojo sauce from scratch instead of using the the Goya bottle brand.

First, I sauteed the dry ingredients until they were fragrant and the garlic was lightly browned.

I mixed the juices in a separate bowl, then mixed in the spices...

I sliced the onion and layered a crockpot with the slices.  I put the tenderloins on top of the onion, and then pour the mojo mixture over everything. I set it on low for 8 hours.

I assure you, it smelled better than it looked!

Black Beans and Yellow Rice

1 16oz bag dried black beans

Water to cover beans

4 bay leaves

1 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon paprika

Adobo to taste

1 cup wild rice

3 cups water

One big pinch dried saffron

Adobo to taste

A must have in our kitchen

For these sides, I got to use my new pots and pans that Santa brought for Christmas.  Nothing too fancy here, just set everything on low and let them simmer until they were both at the consistency that I wanted.

Fried Plantains

2 plantains

1/3 cup canola oil

Salt to taste

I'd found a microwavable box of these that had actually come out tasting pretty great.  However, this go around, I wanted to try it from scratch.

First, I cut each of the plantains into pieces.  I poured the canola oil into an electric griddle and put the plantains in to fry...

Once the were a golden brown, set them on a plate to cool...

After adding some greens to the mix, this is what I came up with for dinner...

Dinner was fantastic.  The pork was great, and if I do say so myself the mojo sauce was even better than the kind from the bottle that I had previously used. The beans and rice tasted great together, and the fried plantains came out even better than I had hoped.  All in all, it was great meal.  But it wasn't over yet.

As I said, I wanted to honor another part of Florida with this week's meal.  When thinking about what to make for Florida, my mind kept going back to Seinfeld's parents in Del Boca Vista, so I decided to highlight that section of the state.  There has been a thriving population of Jewish people in Southern Florida since the early 1800s and they have had a significant cultural impact there.  And one of the classic Jewish desserts is rugelach.

Rugelach

Dough

2 sticks unsalted butter

8oz cream cheese

1/4 cup sour cream

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp kosher salt

2 tbsp sugar

Filling

1 1/2 cups walnuts

1 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup strawberry preserves

1/4 cup brown sugar

Egg wash

1 large egg

1 tsp water

Dash of cinnamon

First, I started with the dough.  I chopped the butter and cream cheese into smaller pieces and put them into a food processor with the sour cream, flour, salt, and sugar.

I pulsed the mix until it created a sticky dough...

I took this dough out and formed it into a rough ball on a well-floured board...

I cut the ball up into four smaller balls...

I let these sit in the fridge for an hour while I made the filling.  For this, I added all filling ingredients back into my (cleaned) food processor and mixed well...

Next, I took the firm dough balls out of the fridge and rolled each one out until they were about an 1/8 of an inch thick.  I used a small cake pan to cut out a circle in the dough...

In each circle I added a large spoonful of the filling mixture and spread it out...

I cut each circle into eight pieces...

I then rolled each of the pieces up and brushed them with egg wash...

I set them in an oven at 375 and let them cook for 15 minutes.  The result...

...was delicious.  I can't stop eating these things.  Seriously...send help.

For the first stop on my National Grub Year, Florida did not disappoint. It brought with it difference takes on familiar recipes, and completely new cooking challenges.  I'm hopeful that every state I visit this year will do the same.  And I'm hopeful the rest of the states will bring with them recipes and dishes that are just as tasty as those we tried this week.

Happy 2019 everyone, and happy eating!

Welcome to the National Grub Year!

Aloha and welcome to 2019! 

If you're just tuning in, I've done a different project and blogged about it each January for the last 7 years. In 2012, I celebrated a different holiday each day in January, according to when they took place throughout the year. Those exploits can be found here.  In 2013, I did something that I had never done before each day, details of which can be found here.  In 2014, I had someone teach me how to do something new each day. Those lessons can be found here. In 2015, I did something every day to prepare for the birth of my son. Those stories can be found here.  In 2016, I cooked a meal from a different country each day. You can get the recipes and results here. In 2017, I interviewed someone new each day to try to get a better understanding of the different perspectives that surround our daily lives. Those chats can be found here.  And in 2018, last year, I did something each day to help me become a better parent. Those activities and interviews can be found here.

Each of these projects has taught me something, and each of them have been enjoyable in their own special way. For example, the first one, the Holiday Month, took place during the second month of my relationship with Elizabeth.  I'd like to think she enjoyed celebrating with me so much that month that she became my wife so we could continue the celebration for the rest of our lives.

My favorite project so far was when I cooked a different meal from a different country each day. I've developed a love of cooking over the years, and I have only gotten better in the subsequent years since the Global Grub Month.  So this year, I wanted to stretch my cooking talents again and do a cooking themed project. And instead of exploring different countries, I wanted to look at cuisine inspired from each of the 50 states here in the USA.  

This year, I'm changing things up a bit.  I'm enrolled in a doctoral program now, and that, coupled with being a full time husband and father (in addition to that pesky work thing), means that a daily blog was simply too much to handle (many thanks to Elizabeth for pointing that out).  So for 2019, I won't be doing a project contained within the month of January.  Instead, I'm branching out into the entire year.

Each week, I'll be cooking a meal inspired by a different state (plus a week for D.C. and a week for the Territories).  While these meals will by no means encompass all of what each state has to offer, they'll exemplify at least some aspect of their history and cultural traditions. We live in a big, diverse, messy melting pot of a nation, and there's so much out there to try and explore. I'm excited to see where this will take me!

Check back in throughout the year as I attempt to cook my way around the country.  Welcome to the National Grub Year!