Tour of the Fifty States: Maine's Meal

Well, our first state is Maine.  I know it was selected first, but I wanted to have the lobster be as fresh as possible, so we made the Lobster Rolls on Friday and we had already prebaked the Whoopie Pies on Thursday evening. Here we go:
NOTE:  none of us like celery, so I took Executive Power and changed it to finely minced onion.

Menu: Lobster rolls, potato chips, and Whoopie Pies

Outcome:  they loved the lobster rolls!  I ended up with Cape Cod potato chips since I couldn't find any made in Maine.  Everyone is looking forward to whenever Connecticut is chosen, since that state’s Lobster Roll is just warm lobster and butter on the roll.

Assemble the ingredients (lobster in the pot!)

Maine Lobster Rolls

For dessert, we had Whoopie Pies.  Seems that when workers long ago opened their lunch pails, they would see these little cakes and say, “Whoopie!”

Assemble your ingredients

Just before mixing the wet and dry ingredients

And the baked Whoopie Pies!  Now, the directions said to put them into 4 inch circles that are spaced 2 inches apart.  I did. But they spread into about 6 to 7 inch circles!

Whoopie Pies right out of the oven

That being said, I made 12 pies total…but only served 6.  The other 6 were wrapped in plastic and frozen for another day.  I’m thinking they would be great warmed and topped with a scoop of ice cream.

And...I cheated a little bit.  Instead of making the marshmallow Whoopie Pie filling, I used jarred marshmallow creme...it worked!  The recipe for the traditional filling is below.

Next up:  I selected North Dakota! 

Lobster Rolls

Ingredients

• 6 top sliced hot dog buns
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
• 3 cups coarsely chopped lobsters (from about 3 1 ¼ lb. lobsters, cool but not cold)
• 4 Tbsp. mayonnaise, mixed with 2 Tbsp. minced celery
• salt and pepper

Directions:
1.  Spread softened butter on outsides of buns and heat on griddle or heavy skillet over mod/high heat until toasted.
2.  Divide lobster meat among buns and put a dollop of mayonnaise mixture on top.

RECIPE NOTE: Top slice hot dog buns are buns that have had the sides sliced off. These can be found at Wal-Mart or Harris Teeter.  Serves 6.

Whoopie Pies

Ingredients

• ½ cup solid vegetable shortening
• 1 cup firmly-packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk
• Whoopie Pie Filling (see recipe below)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 º F. Lightly grease baking sheets.
2. In a large bowl, cream together shortening, sugar, and egg. In another bowl, combine cocoa, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a small bowl, stir the vanilla extract into the milk. Add the dry ingredients to the shortening mixture, alternating with the milk mixture; beating until smooth.
4. Drop batter by the ¼ cup (to make 18 cakes) onto prepared baking sheets. With the back of a spoon spread batter into 4″ circles, leaving approximately 2″ between each cake.
5. Bake 15 minutes or until they are firm to the touch. Remove from oven and let cool completely on a wire rack.
6. Make Whoopie Pie Filling. When the cakes are completely cool, spread the flat side (bottom) of one chocolate cake with a generous amount of filling. Top with another cake, pressing down gently to distribute the filling evenly. Repeat with all cookies to make 9 pies. Let finished Whoopie pies completely cool before wrapping.
7. Wrap Whoopie pies individually in plastic wrap, or place them in a single layer on a platter (do not stack them, as they tend to stick).
8. To freeze, wrap each Whoopie pie in plastic wrap. Loosely pack them in a plastic freezer container and cover. To serve, defrost the wrapped Whoopie pies in the refrigerator.

Makes 12 large Whoopie pies.

Whoopie Pie Filling:

Ingredients

• 3 egg whites, room temperature
• 2 cups light corn syrup
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 cups sifted powdered sugar
• 1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. In large bowl of an electric mixer, add egg whites, corn syrup, and salt. Using electric mixer on high speed, mix for approximately 5 minutes or until the mixture is thick and volume has almost doubled.
2. On low speed, add powdered sugar and mix until well blended. Add vanilla extract just until well blended.
3. Your homemade marshmallow fluff/cream is now ready to use on your Whoopie Pies or other recipes. Use immediately, or refrigerate in a covered container for up to 2 weeks.
4. Makes a large quantity.