HIT: Recipes from the States (LONG)

[ELFR@AOL.COM]

Thanks to everyone who sent us recipes and information about foods from their
state.  As you can see, we are  still missing recipes from quite a few
states.  If you have a recipe to share, our fourth graders would appreciate
it.
Since there were so many requests for the recipes, I have included them all
in this message.
Betty

ALASKA
Greetings to Hillside Elementary School from Alaska State Representative
Gene Kubina.  The following recipe was my contibution to the "Alaska's
Seafood Cookbook" that was published by the Alaska Seafood Marketing
Institute.  The cookbook contains recipe favorites of all of Alaska's
Senators and Representatives.

Solomon Gulch Salmon
Ingredients:
1 large silver salmon. filleted or steaked
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
Heat honey in a saucepan until liquified. Remove from heat and stir in soy
sauce, lemon juice, olive oil and minced garlic.  Place salmon in a baking
dish and pour marinade mixture over the fish.  Marinate for at least 2 hours
or overnight.
Charcoal broil salmon on foil over hot coals or bake in a medium oven until
done.  It will be done when you can flake it off with a fork.

ARKANSAS

WONDERFUL PINTO BEANS
2 cups dried beans washed and bad ones discarded
Put them in a medium sized pot.  Pour boiling water over them.
Add 1 heaping tbs. of bacon drippings--more or less to taste.
Add 1 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. sugar.
Set heat to allow the beans to slow-boil.
Stir occasionally in order for the juice to be thick.
Cook for about 3 hours.
You will need to add extra water once or twice.
You will need to taste as they cook.  You might need extra salt.

Southern pinto bean supper requires good corn bread, relish, onion, sliced
tomatoes and fried potatoes.  Use leftovers in chili or soup.  Remember, the
juice has to be cooked "down" so that is not "clear" and runny.  The beans
should be very soft all the way through--not with a crusty broken shell.
We are Mrs. Brasher's 4th grade class at Parkview Elementary School in
VanBuren, Arkansas.  We chose this recipe because rice is an important
productfrom Arkansas. Enjoy!
Baked Mushroom Rice:
  1 cup uncooked rice
  1/2 cup sliced green onions, including tops
  1 TB butter
  1 can (2 1/2 oz. slice mushrooms with liquid
  1/4 cup chopped pimientos
  1 1/2 cups chicken broth
  1/4 cup dry sherry
  1 tsp salt
  1/2 tsp seasoned pepper
Sprinkle rice in a buttered baking dish.  Cook onions in butter until soft.
Add remaining ingredients.  Bring to a boil.  Pour over rice; stir.  Cover
with a tight-fitting lid or foil.  Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes or
until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed.  Fluff lightly with a fork.

FLORIDA

SMOKED MULLET DIP
1 lb. smoked fish, such as mullet, grouper or dolphin (may substitute 3-4 oz.
smoked clams, chopped)
8oz cream cheese softened
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup green onions, chopped fine
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tsp. Tabasco sauce
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
Lemon juice to taste
Remove bones and skin from fish and flake if using mullet.  Place cream
cheese in food processor and pulse until mixture is creamy.  Add sour cream,
mayonnaise, Tabasco, Worcestershire, lemon juice and pulse to mix
thorooughly.  Remove to bowl and add mullet and green onions.  If too thick,
add more sour cream or whipping cream.  Refrigeratae 2-3 hours before
serving.  Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve with saltine crackers.



FLORIDA KEY LIME PIE
Crust:
11 graham crackers
4 Tablespoons sugar
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 tsp vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place graham crackers in food processor and
process until they become fine crumbs.  Add sugar, butter and vanilla, and
pulse until incorporated.  Press mixture into 9" pie plate to form crust.
 Bake 8 minutes.
Key Lime Filling:
4 egg yolks, beaten
14 ounce can condensed milk
1/2 cup key lime juice
2 teaspoons grataed lime zest
3/4 cup whipping cream
1/3 cup powdered sugar
Lime slices for garnish
Combine egg yolks and condensed milk in a mixing bowl and mix well.  Add lime
juice and zest.  Mix until blended.  Pour into the crust and bake for 10
minutes, or until the center is firm.  Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.
 Whip cream with powdered sugar and spread over pie.  Garnish with fresh lime
slices and return to refrigerator until ready to serve.

Here's a recipe from the Florida Keys.  It's really great!
Conch (pronounced konk) Fritters
Conch fritters are the mainstay of the Florida Keys - from Key Largo to Key
West.  Conch has a mild, sweet taste - like an ethereal scallop.  If conch is
unavailable in your area, you could use part scallops and part shrimp.
8 oz. conch cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 egg beaten
6-8 TBS. buttermilk or milk
1 pickled jalapeno chili, minced (optional)
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup minced celery
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups vegetable oil for frying

1.  Finely grind the conch in a food processor or meat grinder.
2.  Combine the flour, sugar, baking poder, and egg in a large bowl and beat
well, adding buttermilk as necessary to obtain a thick paste.  The misture
should be the consitency of muffin batter.  Stir in the conch, vegetables,
salt, and pepper.
3.  Just before serving, pour the oil to a depth of at least 1 inch in a
small frying pan or electric skillet, and heat to 350 degrees.  Using 2
spoons or a small ice cream scoop, drop 1-inch balls of batter into the oil.
 Fry, turning with a slotted spoon or wire skimmer, until golden brown, about
2 minutes.  Work in several batchers, so as not to crowd the pan.
4.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fritters to paper towels to drain.
 Arrange the fritters on a platter lined with a doily and serve at once.

How To Prepare Conch
     Conch has a reputation for being tough, and unless it's prepared
properly, it can be as chewy as proverbial shoe leather.  The first trick is
to tenderize it by pounding, much as you would a veal scallop.  The second is
to cook it hardly at all or in a pressure cooker for 40-60 minutes.  Conch
cooking is very much like squid cooking.  It's best served barely cooked or
cooked long enough to pass through the tough stage and back into a second
tender stage.
     When buying conch look for firm white meat tinged with pink, peach, or
orange.  Avoid conch that is grayish in color or smells fishy or ammoniated,
that means it's no good.  Figure on 1/3 to 1/2 pound per person.

GEORGIA

Thought that you might like to know the following . .the Northern
cornbread is made with yellow corn meal and has sugar as an ingredient.
The southern cornbread is usually (or was until we Yankees got down here
in large numbers) white corn meal and does not contain sugar.  When we
moved to Atlanta in 1973, I had to have yellow cornmeal sent to us from
my mother and mother-in-law in Ohio and Maryland.  Now, of course the
Kroger stores sell the yellow meal.  But it was a joke in our family that
Mom HAD to have yellow cornmeal or it didn't taste right.  ;-)

HAWAII

Island style corned beef with cabbage
      1/2 sm. round cabbage
      1/2 c canned corn beef
      1 sm. round onion
     GRAVY:
      1 t. cornstarch              2 t. soy sauce
      1 t. salt                    1/4 t. liquor (I use whiskey or omit)
      2 t. sugar                   1/4 c. water
    Pan fry onion, add corned beef, fry gently for 1 minute.  Add cabbage,
    and cook for 2 minutes.  Mix well and serve.

Aloha from the 50th state!  You would find the following foods at a
traditional Hawaiian luau (feast):  Kalua pork which is wrapped in ti
leaves and cooked in an underground pit with heated rocks, poi which is
made from pounded cooked taro, pipikaula which is a form of beek jerky,
lomi salmon which is salted salmon mixed with tomatoes and finely chopped
onions, laulau which is pork and butterfish wrapped in taro leaves
(tastes like cooked spinach), and haupia, coconut pudding, for dessert with
fresh pineapples.

Here is a recipe for Oven Kalua Pork:
3 lb. pork butt
2 cups water
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
1/4 cup Hawaiian salt (fine rock salt will do)
Place pork, fat side up, in a roasting pan or deep casserole.  Combine water
and liquid smoke; pour over meat.  Sprinkly with salt.  Cover and
roast in oven at 400 degrees for 3 hours.  Remove from pan and shred
pork.  Makes 6 servings.  Simply ono (delicious)!

 MARYLAND

The following recipe for stuffed ham originated in St Mary's County,
Maryland.  It's very delicious and eaten cold.  The greens in the ham have a
nice tangy taste!  We enjoy it at Christmas and Easter.  A local market has
it for sale in the deli counter.  When my mother visits from Seattle she
always takes back several pounds of it on the airplane to share with friends.
STUFFED HAM
3 lb. kale                        6 tbsp. salt
1 small head cabbage     1 small box red pepper
4 lb. onions                     pepper
1 bunch green celery       ham
Choose a plump, thick ham with little fat.  Chop celery, kale, cabbage and
onions and mix together.  Put in red pepper and salt seasoning to taste. Pour
about one gallon of hot water over stuffing mix and put aside.  Slit ham in
rows.  Stuff with dressing.  Turn ham and  put ham in cheese cloth and put
the rest of the stuffing on top of ham.  Pull the cheesecloth together
tightly and put in a large pot.  Pour the gallon of water reserved from
stuffing mix and pour it over the ham.  Cook for 6 hours or until done.
 After 4 hours cooking, turn ham and continue cooking until done.

CRAB CAKES
1 lb. crab meat
1 tsp. OLD BAY Seasoning (must use OLD BAY!!)
1/4 tsp. salt1 tsp. mayonnaise
1 T worcestershire sauce1 T. chopped parsley
1 T baking powder1 egg beaten
2 slices bread with crusts removed

Break bread in small pieces and moisten with milk.  Mix ingredients.
Shape into cakes.  Fry quickly 'til brown.  Enjoy.
Anyone who doesn't enjoy these may not go South of the Mason-Dixon Line!!

I can't find my Maryland's Way Cookbook, but this recipe is from Treasured
Recipes of Old St. Mary's. It was published by the alumni of St. Mary's
Academy.

St. Mary's Pumpkin Pie
2 eggs, slightly beaten
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 3/4 cups canned punpkin
1 tsp cinnamon
1 2/3 cups evaporated milk, or light cream
1 pie shell

Mix ingredients in the order given. Pour into the pastry shell. Bake in 425
degree oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue to bake
for about 45 minutes or until a knife blade inserted into the filling comes
out clean.
What I really wanted to send was the recipe for Maryland Beaten Bisquits
(round and hard as nails, only a Marylander could eat), but cannot find it.

MISSOURI

Here is one of my favorite, easy recipes:
1-2-3 Biscuits
2 cups all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
4 t. baking powder
Mix together in bowl, then stir in
1/3 c. vegetable oil
2/3 c. milk
Knead ten times.  Press out slightly on counter and cut.  Bake at 450 til
slightly brown.

NORTH CAROLINA

Hello from Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  Down here we eat lots of sweet
potatoes.
SWEET-POTATO BISCUITS
1 SMALL SWEET POTATO, BAKED
2 TABLESPOONS SHORTING
1 CUP SIFTED ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR
1 TEASPOON BAKING POWDER
1/4 TEASPOON SALT
2 TO 3 TABLESPOONS MILK
Peel and dice sweet potato.  Cut potato and shortening into flour sifted with
baking powder and salt; add milk and stir until mixed.  Turn onto
floured board and knead gently.  Roll to 1/2-inch thickness and cut.
Bake on greased cookie sheet in preheated hot oven (400 degrees F.)  for
about 12 minutes.  Makes ten to twelve biscuits.

SWEET-POTATO PIE (THEY SELL THESE AT OUR LOCAL FARMER'S MARKET EVERY SAT.)
1 PIE CRUST (UNBAKED)  You could just use a frozen one--maybe not authentic
but a lot easier
2 MEDIUM-SIZED SWEET POTATOES, BOILED IN THEIR SKINS UNTIL FORK TENDER
1/4 CUP BUTTER
1 CUP SUGAR
1/2 CUP MILK
1 EGG
1 TEASPOON VANILLA
1/8 TEASPOON GROUND NUTMEG
PINCH OF SALT
Peel sweet potatoes, then mash with butter until smooth and creamy.  MIx
in sugar and milk, add egg and beat briskly with a fork to blend.  Stir in
vanilla, nutmeg and salt.  Pour into pie shell.
Bake in a hot-oven (400 degrees) for 30 to 35 minutes, until pastry is nicely
browned and filling seems set around the edges.  Cool to room
temperture before serving.
This is getting me in the mood to fix some grits for breakfast.  Good
eating ya'll.

NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA

Having grown up in SC and lived in NC for the last 20 yrs or so, I am
sending you a recipe that I feel is typical or special to each state.
Hope these are useful to your fourth graders.
From SC, circa 1900:Hoppin' John - a traditional New Year's dish and family
favorite.
Take leftover cold boiled rice and mix with cold boiled black-eyed peas.
Fry with sweet butter in a hot skillet.
My 1990's adaptation: Cook 1 cup Uncle Ben's long grain rice according to
pkg. directions.  Let cool.  Drain two lb. cans seasoned, dry-soaked
black-eyed peas. Melt 4 tbsp. butter in lge. hot skillet, add rice and peas,
heat through.

From NC, the most standout food associated with NC according to several
NC natives queried:
NC Bar-B-Q (a simple version)
1 lb. stew beef1 1/2 c. ketchup
1 lb. lean pork1/2 c. worchestershire sauce
1 c. water1/2 tsp. mustard
3 med. onions,thinly sliced1/8 c. cider vinegar
Cook beef and pork in water until done enough to break into shreds.  Brown
onions in skillet.  Add other ingredients. Add meat which has been shredded.
Simmer 30 min.  Serve on hamburger buns.

NEW YORK

WHITE HOTS
White hots are literally white hot dogs.  They're made from pork instead of
beef and are yummy.  This is about the only area of the country that has
them, I guess.  Whenever Ivisit friends who have moved away I have to pack
some frozen white hots in my suitcase.  (g)

I'm sure you also know about Buffalo chicken wings?  That's
one local dish that made it to nationwide fame.

CONCORD GRAPE PIE
4 cups of Concord grapes
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 - 9-inch unbaked pie shell
crumb topping
Slip skins from grapes; set skins aside.  Bring pulp to boiling point; reduce
heat, and simmer for five minutes.  Press through sieve to remove seeds.  Add
skins.  Combine sugar, flour, salt.  Add lemon juice, butter, and grape pulp.
 Pour into pastry shell.  Top with crumb topping.
Crumb topping:
Sift 1/2 cup flour with 1/4 cup sugar.  Cut in 1/3 cup butter until crumbly.
 Sprinkle over the pie.
Bake at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes.  Enjoy...

OHIO

"Cincinnati Chili" is known to be different.  Probably the most famous brand
is Skyline.
Chili (very similar to Skyline)
2 lbs. lean ground beef
1 qt. tomato juice
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. gr. cumin
1 whole onion
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. vinegar
dash worcestershire
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
4 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. red pepper
5 bay leaves
Combine meat & tomato juice.  Mash together.  Add remaining ingredients.
 (The onion should be peeled and placed in pot - remove when chili is
finished.) Bring to a boil - reduce to simmer - 1 1/2 hours.  Remove the 5
bay leaves.
Cincinnati Chili is served over spaghetti and can be ordered as a "3-way,
4-way or 5-way" with the addition of onions, cheese, and/or beans.  It is
also accompanied with oyster crackers on the side.
The actual recipe is a closely guarded secret of the family who started the
Skyline restaurants.

RHODE ISLAND

Old-Fashioned Rhode Island Johnnycakes
1 tsp. salt
1Tbsp. butter
1 cup yellow corn meal
1 cup boiling water
1/4 cup milk
2 tbsps. melted fat (bacon preferred!)
1.  Add salt and butter to corn meal.
2.  Boil the water, then pour over corn meal.  Stir well.
3.  Add milk and continue boiling until well mixed.
4.  Melt fat in pan which you are going to bake in.  (I like a cast iron
pan for these).  Pour batter into pan.  Place pan over heat until batter
begins to bubble around the edges.
5.  Place in hot oven.  After 10 minutes (when the top has crusted over),
drop some dabs of butter on the top.  Then bake at 475 degrees for about 30
minutes.

TEXAS

 ROASTED SIRLOIN WITH RED PEPPER SAUCE
     3 lb. boneless Beef Top Sirloin Steak, cut 2 inches thick
     * 1x tsp. dried or fresh rosemary leaves, crushed
   Red Pepper Sauce:
     * 2 medium red bell peppers (a 7 oz. jar of roasted red peppers may
       be substituted)
     * 1 tsp. red wine vinegar
     * 1/4 tsp. salt
   Prepare peppers by broiling 3-4 inches from heat on a baking sheet,
   turning frequently, until evenly charred. Transfer to a sealable
   plastic bag; close and set aside until peppers cool. Peel charred skin
   from peppers. Remove seeds.
   To make sauce, blend peppers, vinegar and salt in blender using pulse
   switch until coarsely chopped. Press rosemary into both sides of
   sirloin steak. Roast on rack in a shallow roasting pan in a 350x oven
   for 50-60 min. or 16-20 min. per pound. Remove roast when a meat
   thermometer inserted in center reaches 135xF for med-rare or 150xF
     for medium doneness. Let roast stand 10 min. before carving into thin
   slices. Serve sliced beef with red pepper sauce. Sauce may be served
   at room temperature or heated.
   Serve with Crusty Sourdough Bread and Salad. Sauce yields 1 cup.
   Serves 8 to 10.

In Texas, many people drink HOT DR. PEPPER!!!  Pour some Dr. Pepper into
a mug, place in the microwave for 2 minutes on HIGH.

UTAH

Hello from Utah!  I picked up a book a few months ago at a thrift store and
found it very interesting.  It is Jane and Michael Stern's _Goodfood: The
Adventurous Eater's Guide to Restaurants Serving America's Best Regional
Specialties.  This is what it said under the restaurants listed for Utah. "We
always thought of scones as baked tea biscuits, powdery rolls that rich
people eat in lieu of English muffins.  Not in Utah.  A Utah Scone is a
six-by-two rectangle of dough that gets cooked by immersion in boiling oil.
 It turns all gold and puffy, and is then cut open and filled, like a hero
roll. "We'd like to know how on earth the Scottish scone evolved into this
grubby pastry, and why it took root in, of all places, Utah." "The Mormon
symbol is a beehive, and Mormon cookery is known for its use of honey. . .
"Let us not pretend otherwise: scones are junk food.  BUT with personality,
Unique to Utah."
I am a native Floridian who lived in Connecticut, Illinois, Arkansas,
Tennessee and Florida before moving to Utah.  I never have seen scones like
this elsewhere, so I guess it is a regional food.  Of course, our Hispanic
population will tell you that we just "stole" the recipe for sopapillas and
called it scones!  So, after 26 years of living in Utah and being married to
a Utah native, I have learned how to make scones. . as good as mother made.
Really scone dough is usually just white or wheat bread dough that has been
allowed to raise for about 20 minutes, then is rolled out a little at a time
on a greased surface to a thickness of about 1/3 of an inch.  It is cut in a
rectangular shape and fried in oil heated to medium heat (I do my scones on
an electric stove, but could be done in an electric fry pan.  They should
turn a golden brown and then are turned over to fry on the other side.  Drain
on a section of newspaper, butter and drizzle honey over them.  Great for
breakfast!

VIRGINIA

Some traditional favorites in Virginia are country-styleham, grits and
hominy, and peanut soup.  here's a recipe for peanut soup which I haven't
tried, but I have tasted the soup before!

Peanut Soup
1/2 lb. beef stew meat,Dash ground cloves
cut in small cubesDash paprika
1 Tbsp. shorteningDash ground ginger
1 1/2 c. water1 5 1/3 oz. can evap.
1 c. chopped onionmilk (2/3 c.)
1 tsp. salt1tsp. cornstarch
1/8 tsp. pepper1 8-oz. can tomatoes
Dash garlic powder1/2 c. finely chopped
Dash ground nutmegpeanuts
In a 3-quart saucepan brown meat in hot shortening.  Stir in water, onion,
salt, pepper, garlic popwder, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and paprika.  Simmer,
covered, till meat is tender, about 1 hour.  Slowly blend milk into
cornstarch.  Stir into soup and cook till slightly thickened and bubbly.
 Gradually add undrained tomatoes, stirring constantly; stir in peanuts.
Serves 4.
-from the better Homes & Gardens Heritage Cookbook, 1975.

Here are two Virginia recipes from the historic Evans Farm Inn in McLain,
Virginia)
Cream of Peanut Soup
1/4 cup butter                1 c milk
2 stalks celery, chopped      1 c light cream
1 small onion, chopped        1 c peanut butter (natural is best)
2 T flour                     salt and pepper to taste
2 c chicken broth             paprika - pinch
Brown celery and onions in butter.  Add flour and chicken broth and bring to
a boil.  Add peanut butter, cream and milk and simmer for 5 minutes.  Season
to taste.  Yield: 8 cups or 6 servings.

Spoon Bread
2 cups whole milk        1 T butter
1 cup con meal (white)   1 t salt
2 eggs (separated)
Heat milk until bubbling around the edges, and add corn meal. Add egg yolks,
butter and salt.  Continue to cook until smoothand thick.  Remove from heat
and stir in beaten egg whites.
Bake in a well-greased casserole for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.
Makes 6-8 servings.

WYOMING

Hi from Wonderful Wyoming! Here is a recipe from my state:
        ELK STROGANOFF
          1/2 c. olive oil
           3 lbs. elk, cut into thin strips
           1 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced
           1 small onion, chopped
           2 cloves garlic, chopped
           1 c. bouillon
           1 c. red wine
           2 c. light or low-fat sour cream
           1/2 tsp. salt and pepper
   Saute meat, then vegetables in olive oil until browned. Add bouillon and
wine and simmer.  Mix in sour cream last and serve over pasta. This recipe
appeared in a local newspaper and came from Meredith T. in Dubois, WY.