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This week: American State Dishes, Official and Favorite!

I’ve recently seen recipes for a Minnesota Wild Rice Soup, which I want to try; and I love both Manhattan and New England Clam Chowders. Do folks have favorite recipes for those?

(I’ve diverged slightly from my original plan to post this thread on Thursday or Friday, because my personal schedule has changed somewhat. Will get back to ‘later-in-the-week’ posting soon!)

If you would like to be on or off of this weekly cooking thread, please send me a private message.

-JT

I make Teaberry Ice Cream (It’s a PA thing). I don’t use heavy cream and instead use 4 cups half and half. Teaberry oil can be found online (don’t use much of any mint oil as it is usually VERY strong - 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon usually does it). Pink food coloring is needed if you want it pink.

Any flavoring can be used - just add it at the end when you put the custard in the machine. Very good with good vanilla beans!

1 cup heavy cream

3 cups half-and-half cream

8 egg yolks

1 cup white sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

Pour the heavy cream and half-and-half cream into a heavy saucepan, place over medium-low heat, and heat until barely simmering, stirring frequently. Turn the heat down to low. Whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, and salt in a large bowl until thoroughly combined.

Slowly pour about 1/2 cup of hot cream mixture into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Repeat three times more, whisking thoroughly before adding each additional 1/2 cup of hot cream to the egg yolk mixture. Pour the egg yolk mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining hot cream, and whisk constantly over medium-low heat until the mixture thickens and will coat the back of a spoon, 5 to 8 minutes. Do not let mixture boil.

Pour the ice cream base into a bowl and allow to cool for about 20 minutes; place in refrigerator and chill overnight. The next day, pour into an ice cream maker, and freeze according to the manufacturer’s directions. Remove the ice cream, pack into a covered container, and freeze for 2 hours or overnight before serving.

I'm not from Texas, but I get more requests for this recipe than any other when I take them to a pitch-in.

Texas Beans

3 cans (16 oz) Vegetarian Beans

1 can chili beans

1 can Great Northern beans

drain (all but Chili beans)

1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained (or Turkey sausage)

1 medium green pepper, chopped

1 med. onion, chopped

saute onion and green pepper in oil, drain and add to beans with the browned meat (we usually brown the green pepper, onion and meat together)

Combine:

1 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup honey 1/2 cup catsup 2 Tbls. mustard 1/2-1 tsp. salt

Mix and add to beans. Place all in large pan or casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

North Carolina Atlantic Beach Pie Atlantic Beach Pie For the crust: •1 ½ sleeves of saltine crackers •⅓ to ½ cup softened unsalted butter •3 tablespoons sugar For the filling: •1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk •4 egg yolks •½ cup lemon or lime juice, or a mix of the two •Fresh whipped cream and coarse sea salt for garnish Preheat oven to 350˚. Crush the crackers finely, but not to dust. You can use a food processor or your hands. Add the sugar, then knead in the butter until the crumbs hold together like dough. Press into an 8-inch pie pan. Chill for 15 minutes, then bake for 18 minutes or until the crust colors a little. While the crust is cooling (it doesn’t need to be cold), beat the egg yolks into the milk, then beat in the citrus juice. It is important to completely combine these ingredients. Pour into the shell and bake for 16 minutes until the filling has set. The pie needs to be completely cold to be sliced. Serve with fresh whipped cream and a sprinkling of sea salt. Yields one pie.

North Carolina Sweet Potato Sonker Serves 12 SONKER •2 (15-ounce) boxes Pillsbury Just Unroll! Pie Crust •1 large egg, beaten •2 cups apple cider •4 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled, quartered lengthwise, and sliced ¼ inch thick •1 cup (7 ounces) packed light brown sugar •4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened •2½ tablespoons all-purpose flour •2 tablespoons lemon juice •1 teaspoon vanilla extract •¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon •½ teaspoon ground allspice •¼ teaspoon salt •1 tablespoon granulated sugar CUSTARD DIP • 2 cups whole milk •¼ cup (1¾ ounces) sugar •2 teaspoons cornstarch •¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon •1/8 teaspoon salt •1½ teaspoons vanilla extract 1. For the sonker: Working on lightly floured counter, unroll 2 dough rounds. Brush half of 1 round with egg and overlap with second round. Roll out dough to 17 by 13-inch rectangle and fit into 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Repeat shaping and rolling with remaining 2 dough rounds; reserve beaten egg. Trim dough into rectangle and cut into ten 1-inch strips. Transfer dough strips to parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet, cover with plastic, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 2. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Bring cider to boil in Dutch oven. Place steamer basket in Dutch oven and fill with sweet potatoes. Reduce heat to medium and cook, covered, until potatoes are nearly tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove and reserve sweet potatoes, leaving cider in pot. 3. Cook cider over high heat until reduced to ½ cup, about 5 minutes. Combine drained sweet potatoes, brown sugar, reduced cider, butter, flour, lemon juice, vanilla, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, allspice, and salt in large bowl. Spread out sweet potato mixture on rimmed baking sheet and let cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes. 4. Scrape cooled sweet potato mixture into dough-lined dish and press into even layer. Brush edges of dough with reserved egg. With long side of dish facing you, lay 4 dough strips lengthwise over sweet potato mixture. Weave remaining 6 strips into lattice pattern. Press dough strips into bottom crust and trim excess. Fold dough sides inward under lip of baking dish and crimp with fork. 5. Combine granulated sugar and remaining ¼ teaspoon cinnamon in bowl. Brush dough with reserved egg and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake until deep golden brown, 55 to 60 minutes, rotating dish halfway through baking. Let sonker cool on wire rack for at least 1½ hours before serving. (Sonker can be refrigerated, covered, for up to 1 day. Bring to room temperature before serving.) 6. For the custard dip: Meanwhile, bring milk, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt to simmer in medium saucepan over medium heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, whisking frequently, until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes. Off heat, add vanilla. Transfer to bowl and let cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Serve with sonker.

We love this restaurant and this recipe from The Olde Pink House in Savannah Georgia. It is from Chef Vincent Burns

BLT Salad

“It’s all about Savannah — fried green tomatoes and bacon. It has that Southern twist.”

Salad

Ingredients:

2 fried green tomatoes - Soak tomatoes in buttermilk, coat in flour mixture (1/2 flour, 1/2 cornmeal, salt and pepper) and fry to golden brown.

2 pieces of applewood smoked bacon - cook with brown sugar, fold into a circle

Mixed field greens

Buttermilk thyme dressing (2 oz.)

Ingredients:

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup mayonnaise

4 ounces sour cream

1/4 teaspoon fresh thyme

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 clove chopped garlic

1/2 teaspoon honey

salt to taste

Mixed greens in dressing

Stack salad by layering greens with tomato and bacon

Garnish last tomato with a small amount of dressing, chopped red pepper and green onion.

Just wanted to tell my experience with the ‘leaf-shaped herb stripper’.

A couple of threads ago, ken5050 was concerned about an efficient way to strip woody herbs like thyme; and he bought the herb-stripper gizmo and pronounced it GOOD.

I said that I’d try the leaf one

http://www.amazon.com/Chefn-Chard-Collard-Greens-Stripper/dp/B00QWNRGS8

and let you know how well it strips kale from the stalk.

Today we’ve been experimenting with fermented dill pickles and other fermented things; and I used the leaf stripper on some kale that we wanted to use to top up the dill pickles and hold them down in the brine.

So far, this thing works really well! It’s a great solution to the time-consuming task of stripping kale from the stems. I’ve only used it on about 1/4 lb. of kale so far, but so far it works efficiently, without any waste.

(Ken: haven’t tried the kale chip recipe yet, but will soon.)

Watch this space late this week, for a thread on Fermented Things.

-JT