Tour of Fifty States: Nevada's meal

Nevada's meal had been postponed over and over but we finally got to have it on February 2, 2014.  NO I did not take pictures.  Why?  Good question!  We got up that lovely Sunday morning, read the paper and had breakfast.  Then we decided to watch "The Great Escape," a very good classic WWII movie.  We all enjoyed it, but I think the kids didn't enjoy the ending very much (I won't give it away)...it was a bit of a let down for them.

So here we are, sitting on the couch watching this 3 hour movie ... not remembering that we had a meal to make before the kids were picked up!  Ack!  I didn't even think about turning on the oven or defrosting anything.  So we went into a whirlwind of  activity and got the meal on the table. 

When I was researching Nevada, I couldn't find any traditional or ethnic recipes, nor could I find a major group of settlers that made Nevada its home.  Native American recipes are hard to come by.  Yes, the mining operations brought many Chinese to Nevada, but I didn't feel that Chinese recipes would best represent the state. FYI:  most of Nevada today is US Government-owned (86% of the state.)

My first thought was to make a Las Vegas-style buffet. Within reason, of course, nothing too fancy, just to symbolize a buffet you might visit when you go to Las Vegas.

Menu:  Buffalo Wings, Caramelized Chicken Wings, Baked Ham and Swiss Sandwiches, assorted pickles, assorted cheeses and crackers, and chips (with leftover Whoopie Pies from Maine for dessert topped with ice cream)

Outcome:  For a quickly put together meal, everyone really liked it!  My favorite was the Caramelized Wings but the Buffalo Wings were a huge hit.  They liked the little sandwiches and asked to have them again another day when we need easy hors d'oeuvres.

Next up: Ben selected Rhode Island!


Baked Ham and Swiss Sandwiches
Prep time:  10 min.  Cook time:  10 min.

Ingredients:

•  1 cup butter, softened
•  3 Tbsp. poppy seeds
•  1 onion, grated
•  1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
•   2 Tbsp. prepared Dijon-style mustard
  
•  2 (12 oz.) packages Hawaiian rolls
•  1 lb. shaved ham
• 1 lb. sliced Swiss cheese

Directions:

1.      Preheat oven to 350 º F (175 º C).

2.      In a medium bowl, mix together butter, poppy seeds, onion, Worcestershire sauce and prepared Dijon-style mustard.

3.      Slice rolls in half horizontally and set aside tops. Spread bottoms with the butter mixture. Top with ham and Swiss cheese. Replace tops.

4.      Arrange rolls in a single layer in a medium baking dish. Bake in the preheated oven 10 to 12 minutes, until rolls are lightly browned and cheese is melted. Makes 24 sandwiches.

RECIPE NOTE:  Many websites instruct you to melt the butter and mix in the other ingredients, then pour it over the completed sandwiches.  I personally felt that this would make the sandwiches hard to eat and slippery, so I opted to spread it on the inside of the bread.   

Buffalo Wings

Prep time:  10 min.  Cook time:  20 min.
Ingredients

• 2 lb. chicken wings (about 12 wings) 
• 3 Tbsp. butter, melted 
•  4 Tbsp. bottled hot pepper sauce (like Crystal or Frank's Original)  
•  1 Tbsp. paprika 
•  ½ tsp. salt 
•  ½ tsp. cayenne pepper 
•  ¼ tsp. black pepper

Directions

1.      Cut off wing tips. Cut wings at the joint. Put chicken wing pieces in a plastic bag. Set aside.

2.      Create a marinade by stirring together the melted butter, hot pepper sauce, paprika, salt, cayenne pepper and black pepper. Pour all but 2 Tbsp. of the marinade over the chicken pieces in the plastic bag. (Reserve those 2 Tbsp. of marinade for coating after the pieces come out of the oven.) Seal bag and let marinate at room temperature for half an hour. When marinating is finished, drain marinade and discard bag.

3.      Place wing pieces on the rack of a broiler pan. Broil 4 to 5 inches from the heat for about 10 minutes on each side, until chicken is tender and no longer pink. Remove from oven and baste with the 2 Tbsp. of reserved marinade (not the marinade that was in contact with the raw chicken).

4.      Serve with Blue Cheese Dip and celery sticks. 

Caramelized Chicken Wings

Prep time:  5 min.  Cook time:  60 min. 
Ingredients

• 3 lb. chicken drumettes/wings
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• ½ cup soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp. ketchup
• 1 cup honey
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1.      Preheat oven to 375.  Line a 9x13 pan with foil.

2.      Lay chicken drumettes in a single layer in the bottom of the pan.

3.      Mix oil, soy sauce, ketchup, honey, garlic, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper together in a bowl.  Pour sauce over wings.  Turn the wings over in the sauce to coat all sides of the wings.

4.      Bake for one hour (or until wings are caramelized), flipping the wings half an hour into cooking.
Makes about 36 wings.