Tour of Fifty States: Arizona's meal

This week’s meal was from Arizona.  A couple of weeks ago, we had our state meal from New Mexico, but as I’ve learned, the cuisines are pretty distinct.   New Mexican cuisine is known for its dedication to the chile (the official "state question" is "Red or green?" which refers to the preferred color of chiles) and plentiful corn tortillas.   Arizona's style of cuisine is often called Sonoran after the Mexican state of Sonora that Arizona borders to the south.   During the Mexican Revolution in 1910, thousands of Sonorans fled to Arizona. Because of this, a lot of “Mexican” cooking in Arizona reflects Sonoran cuisine. For instance, in Sonora wheat is a common grain, so wheat tortillas are eaten more frequently in Arizona than corn tortillas. The state’s cuisine also includes Native American customs, such as harvesting fruits from cacti like the saguaro and prickly pear.  These fruits are eaten raw or dried, as well as being turned into syrups, wines, and jams. 

Source:  http://arizona-guide.info/food/

Menu:  Beef Chimichangas, Arroz Rojo, Refried Black Beans, Flan

Outcome:  The Chimichangas were quite good.  I didn’t make them the way the recipe I had originally found – due to Bill and I both being sick for the majority of the week, neither of us were up to preparing a roast and shredding it.  Instead, I used some eye of round quick-sautéed in the skillet and to be a little healthier, I baked the Chimichangas instead of deep-frying as is traditional.  Directions are given for the version I made.  The Arroz Rojo (Red Rice) was Knorr “Spanish Rice.”  Again, we weren’t up to 100% yet and the 7-minute side dish worked out perfectly. (And the refried black beans were canned.) The next day we enjoyed the flan – as you can see in the photo, I cooked the sugar/caramel a little longer to get it nice and dark (although flan is usually much lighter in color.)

Next up:  Ben’s turn! He chose Missouri!

Arizona's meal

Tour of Fifty States: North Carolina's meal

This week’s meal was from North Carolina.  The state is known for two distinct types of barbecue – Lexington style and Eastern style; they differ in the cuts of pork used and the sauces they are served with.  Lexington style barbecue uses a red sauce made of ketchup, vinegar, and pepper.  It is most common in the Piedmont (central) and western areas of the state. This style uses only the pork shoulder section of the pig.  Eastern-style barbecue is a whole-hog style of barbecue, often said to use "every part of the hog except the squeal".  Eastern-style sauce is vinegar- and pepper-based, with no tomato. 

I chose to make the Lexington/Western NC style of pulled pork using a pork shoulder, with a red sauce.  Number one, I didn’t want to make a whole hog, and number two, I like it best!  Of course, a staple with pulled pork is creamy macaroni and cheese and some peach cobbler. 

Menu:  Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Macaroni and Cheese, Peach Cobbler

Outcome:  Well, to be honest, we all prefer other pulled pork that we’ve had – we live in South Carolina (home of the best barbecue you can EVER find) and the vinegar was a bit too much for us.   The sauce was very thin and soaked right through the buns, making us either eat our sandwiches very quickly or give up and use a fork.  I think that we shouldn’t give up entirely on the North Carolina style – when we travel through the state we’ll have to try some from a restaurant and see if it’s different.  The macaroni and cheese was very good, as was the peach cobbler.

Next up:  Bridget’s turn! She chose Arizona!

North Carolina's meal (I added pimento cheese and bread & butter pickles to mine!

Tour of Fifty States: Montana's meal

This week’s meal was from Montana. I’ve never been there, and Bill doesn’t remember much about it when he traveled through the state many years ago.  It’s definitely on our list of places to visit!  When I first thought of what to serve, I thought of cowboys on the frontier and their meal of choice, most likely meat and potatoes.  Instead of regular beef, I opted to get some ground bison (Costco sells it in a 2 pound package.)  For dessert, I went with something that I thought would be relatively easy to find on the prairie -- berries that could be made into a simple cobbler. 

Menu:  Bison Burgers, Home Fries, Berry Cobbler

Outcome:  The bison was extremely tender and juicy, even at 93% lean. I thought it wouldn’t be so juicy with such a low fat content.  It has a good, mild and somewhat “grassy” flavor.  We grilled the burger to a nice medium rare and served them on buns with cheese and the traditional condiments.  The home fries recipe is one I’ve made for years and years, and is one of my favorite ways to cook potatoes.  They are excellent with mayonnaise on the side!  The cobbler was served with some of our goat milk cinnamon ice cream, which complemented the tart berries perfectly.  By the way, leftover cobbler was wonderful on our French toast the next morning!

Next up:  Bill’s turn! He chose North Carolina!