Snacking State-by-State: West Virginia II - I know, it's odd - pepperoni is a land meat. But there it is!

When researching recipes for this post, I really had no idea what West Virginians ate, or what was particularly popular to eat there.  Apparently there is a savory treat that I had never even imagined would exist, particularly in Appalachia: the humble, spicy pepperoni roll.

Official Name: State of West Virginia
State Nickname: The Mountain State
Admission to the US: June 20, 1863 (#35)
Capital: Charleston (largest)
Other Important Cities: Huntington (2nd largest), Parkersburg (3rd largest), Morgantown (4th largest), Wheeling (5th largest)
Region: Appalachia, South, Northeast, Midwest; South Atlantic (US Census)
RAFT Nations: Chestnut; Maple Syrup
Bordered by: Pennsylvania (northeast), Maryland (east), Virginia (southeast), Kentucky (southwest), Ohio (northwest)
Official State Foods and Edible Things: black bear (animal, though these are generally no longer eaten); brook trout (fish), Golden Delicious apple (fruit), honeybee (insect, for the honey) sugar maple (tree, for the sap), timber rattlesnake (reptile, though again, not really eaten)
Some Famous and Typical Foods: typical foods of Appalachia; apple butter; pepperoni rolls; pickled ramps; spoon bread

According to Bob Heffner's Pepperoni Roll Page [2002; 2011] - yes, a page for everything and to everything a page - the pepperoni roll originated sometime between 1927 and the 1940's at the Country Club Bakery in Fairmont.  He sides with the latter date, though he does note guide book author Jeannie Mozier goes with the earlier one.  What nobody disputes is the location.  It likely was invented by Italian-American Giuseppe Argiro, who passed his recipe on to his son.  It was simply chunks of pepperoni baked into small loaves of bread, and was a handy lunch for the many miners in the area.

Heffner [2002; 2011] describes the pepperoni roll in much more luscious tones than have I:

A pepperoni roll is a few thin slices of pepperoni baked in a soft, golden oval of slightly sweet dough, smaller than a dinner roll. They aren't 'bready' and they aren't tough and hard like pizza crust. Pepperoni grease seeps out of the ends of the roll as it's baked, leaving an orangish-red soft spot at either end. [Heffner 2002; 2011]

He also has many recipes on his page.  The one I used is perhaps the easiest one: Fairmont resident JoAnn Corbin's pepperoni roll just uses a stick of pepperoni and thawed bread dough you buy in the freezer section of the supermarket [in Heffner 2002; 2011].  It was also the first one listed on the page.

The Recipe: Pepperoni Roll

For Corbin's pepperoni roll, you will just need two things:

* one stick of pepperoni (about $5 at Giant)
* one pound of pre-frozen, thawed bread dough (the package was about $4, also at Giant.  I only noticed after the fact that both the pepperoni and the bread dough were made by the folks at Chicago-based Bridgford. They also have their own, pre-made pepperoni roll, but I don't want to be that lazy)

Peel your stick of pepperoni.

Cut the pepperoni into chunks of about two to three inches.

Meanwhile, thaw your bread dough and let it rise for at least an hour (I left it in a recently warmed oven, which aided the rising process).  Punch it a few times, cut it into enough pieces that you have one for each chunk of pepperoni.

Wrap the dough around the pepperoni, pinch the ends and let the rolls rise again until about doubled in size.

Bake at 300° for half an hour.

Notice that the greases from the pepperoni seep into the bread dough while baking (for that matter, before baking, too)

This is a filling and convenient snack.  I noticed when I bit into it that the pepperoni easily came out, so perhaps I would cut the pepperoni into smaller chunks next time for easier biting.  Heffner says that some people love smothering these in tomato sauce and melted mozzarella cheese, but I find it good as is.

- - - - -

Onward from West Virginia to our final foray into the Midwest proper, where fried cheese curds and beer brats await.  We'll be kickin' it Wisco-style in our armchair visit to Wisconisn.

Sources:

Corbin, JoAnn. "Pepperoni Rolls".  Date unknown.  In Bob Heffner, "Pepperoni Roll and Pepperoni Bread Recipes".  The Pepperoni Roll Homepage, 2002, 2011.


Heffner, Bob.  "What is a Pepperoni Roll?".  The Pepperoni Roll Homepage, 2002, 2011.

Heffner, Bob.  "The History of the Pepperoni Roll".  The Pepperoni Roll Homepage, 2002, 2011.

López-Alt, J. Kenji.  "Pickled Ramps."  Serious Eats, 2011.

Some information also obtained from Wikipedia's "West Virginia" page and other pages, and the Food Timeline State Foods link to "West Virginia".

Snacking State-by-State: West Virginia I - How to pickle ramps when there are no ramps to pickle? (Or, "Pickled Garlic and Onions")

I'm the first to admit that I know blesséd little about the food of West Virginia.  This heartily Appalachian state does have some specific foods that you find all over Appalachia, and a few unique ones.  Some seem to fit both categories.  Take ramps, for example.  While you find them all over the eastern United States and Canada, West Virginia seems to have embraced them to the point that when you think of food in the Mountain State, you have to think of ramps.

Official Name: State of West Virginia
State Nickname: The Mountain State
Admission to the US: June 20, 1863 (#35)
Capital: Charleston (largest)
Other Important Cities: Huntington (2nd largest), Parkersburg (3rd largest), Morgantown (4th largest), Wheeling (5th largest)
Region: Appalachia, South, Northeast, Midwest; South Atlantic (US Census)
RAFT Nations: Chestnut; Maple Syrup
Bordered by: Pennsylvania (northeast), Maryland (east), Virginia (southeast), Kentucky (southwest), Ohio (northwest)
Official State Foods and Edible Things: black bear (animal, though these are generally no longer eaten); brook trout (fish), Golden Delicious apple (fruit), honeybee (insect, for the honey) sugar maple (tree, for the sap), timber rattlesnake (reptile, though again, not really eaten)
Some Famous and Typical Foods: typical foods of Appalachia; apple butter; pepperoni rolls; pickled ramps; spoon bread

Ramps are in the onion family, a type of wild onion that grows in the spring.  Traditionally a part of spring recipes of the Upper South and of Québec, so Wikipedia notes, it is also known as wild leek or wild garlic.  Visually, I might describe it as the drag queen of wild onions: all green onion-like at the bottom with a dazzling green flare of garlicky leaves.  And West Virginia simply loves its ramps.  Sticking with the drag analogy for a bit, you find ramp festivals all over the state in the springtime, with ramp aficionados shantaying through a veritable party circuit of ramp kiki after ramp kiki. (Okay I promised myself I would never, ever use the word "kiki" in a sentence - pace, Scissor Sisters).

But as noted before, this wild onion, sadly, sashays away after spring.  Since I'm doing this post deep into the fall, obviously I'm not going to be finding any ramps for the next several months.

So this is a post about pickled onions and garlic instead.

Specifically, pickled onions I bought at the Waverly Farmers' Market, grown in the summer, picked in the fall and fresh waiting for me to immerse in a vinegar-sugar-salt solution.

There are lots of recipes for pickled ramps on the internet, for which I merely swapped out the long out-of-season ramps for the onions.  For good measure, I threw in some garlic, to help make the onions more garlicky, and to have some pickled garlic on hand to boot.  The recipe I used in the end: this recipe by J. Kenji López-Alt [2011] from the Serious Eats website.  I had to swap out red wine vinegar and white vinegar for the white wine vinegar, which I didn't bother to check that I had (I just assumed - remember what happens when you assume things).

The Recipe: Pickled Ramps, er, Onions and Garlic

For these pickled ramps-style pickled onions and garlic, gather the following:

* ramps - or since I didn't have access to ramps at this time of year, green onions (really any onion with small bulbs and green shoots still attached, but cleaned and trimmed; bought at the farmers' market for about $2.  I also added about four cloves of garlic, hopefully to make up for the lack of garlickiness from the lack of ramps)
* white wine vinegar (or since I did not have this, I combined white vinegar and red wine vinegar)
* sugar (had it)
* salt (I used pickling salt that I bought for those pickles from that Kansas post)
* red chile pepper flakes (from a dried chile I had)
* allspice berries (had this)
* bay leaves (had these too)
* whole mustard seeds (either yellow or black will do - had these too)

You should also have some clean jars to stuff them into.

First, clean and trim the onions.

Stuff the onions into your jars.

It doesn't have to be pretty.

Next, boil your vinegar...

...with your sugar, salt, chile flakes, allspice berries, mustard seeds and bay leaves.

Whisk and boil until the sugar and salt have dissolved into the vinegar.

Pour the solution into each jar, immersing the onions.  A canning funnel helps here.

Refrigerate for a few weeks.

These are nicely pungent onions that don't lose their crunch, and garlic that is still very sharp.  I'm already looking forward to spring, when I can get my hands on some actual ramps.  Now, sashay away.

Sources:

Corbin, JoAnn. "Pepperoni Rolls".  Date unknown.  In Bob Heffner, "Pepperoni Roll and Pepperoni Bread Recipes".  The Pepperoni Roll Homepage, 2002, 2011.


Heffner, Bob.  "What is a Pepperoni Roll?".  The Pepperoni Roll Homepage, 2002, 2011.

Heffner, Bob.  "The History of the Pepperoni Roll".  The Pepperoni Roll Homepage, 2002, 2011.

López-Alt, J. Kenji.  "Pickled Ramps."  Serious Eats, 2011.

Some information also obtained from Wikipedia's "West Virginia" page and other pages, and the Food Timeline State Foods link to "West Virginia".

Guy's All American Mess

Since I've been on hiatus, I didn't get to comment on Pete Wells' wonderfully awesome takedown of Rachael-Ray-on-crack-with-a-beard's Guy Fieri's new Manhattan restaurant, Guy's American Kitchen.  But if you have not read it before, you have to read it.  Favorite section:

Why is one of the few things on your menu that can be eaten without fear or regret — a lunch-only sandwich of chopped soy-glazed pork with coleslaw and cucumbers — called a Roasted Pork Bahn Mi, when it resembles that item about as much as you resemble Emily Dickinson? 

When you have a second, Mr. Fieri, would you see what happened to the black bean and roasted squash soup we ordered? 

Hey, did you try that blue drink, the one that glows like nuclear waste? The watermelon margarita? Any idea why it tastes like some combination of radiator fluid and formaldehyde? [Wells 2012]

Makes me want to stand by the window to watch, and then go somewhere much better to eat.  Assuming NYC is no longer underwater.

Thanksgiving Redux from 2008

My family and I had a fairly low-key Thanksgiving this year.  No orgy of cooking, no triple-figure totals at the supermarket having nothing to do with any one expensive item, no feelings of wanting to throw up afterwards because I'm too damn full.  No excess!  And it still feels like we had too much.

Just looking at my Thanksgiving posts from before the first Obama administration makes my stomach hurt.  It's a little embarrassing.  But there's still leftover dressing / stuffing.  What to do with it?  I tried to figure out some use four years ago with this stuffed mushroom recipe:

- - - - -

Stuffing-Dressed (or Dressing-Stuffed) Mushrooms (originally posted November 30, 2008)

I am the last person in my family to get through his or her Thanksgiving leftovers. The food was good, at least, and the turkey was delicious if I do say so myself. We didn't eat much, and we did not have all the leftovers we figured we would. Thank God for that!

It's quite easy to find recipes for leftover turkey, leftover vegetables, leftover cranberry sauce, etc. But one thing that is almost impossible to find recipes for is stuffing, aka dressing, which I will use interchangeably.* This staple of many a Thanksgiving meal reared its delicious head in two forms this year, as my grandmother's traditional dressing and my sister's father-in-law's sausage dressing with butter. But Google either "stuffing as ingredient" or "dressing as ingredient" and the only thing you get is 10,000 pages of recipes for dressing and stuffing.

So how the hell do you use it as anything other than stuffing!?!?

One commenter on one Thanksgiving website had a solution. She noted that she uses hers to stuff mushrooms. It's so simple! Just take mushroom caps, stuff them with dressing, and bake them. I baked mine at 350°F for half an hour and that was all. The stuffing is crispier on the top, even if you stick a little piece of cheese in the middle. Fried onions on top are also a good addition. And unless it's a rather big mushroom cap, you need to pop the whole thing in your mouth. Just make sure it cools down a little bit first.

* I'm sorry I keep going back and forth between "stuffing" and "dressing". I have always called it both and used them interchangeably. Technically, it's my Nana's dressing, because it never goes into a turkey - in fact, that is anathema to my family, stuffing a bird with anything. But we also ate so much Stove Top growing up that I've become used to calling it stuffing. I'm not even sure what we call it locally - dressing is more traditionally Southern, and stuffing is more traditionally Northern. And of course, Maryland, being smack dab in the middle, seems to call it both. Native Marylanders specifically, what do you call your dressing/stuffing?

- - - - -

I still call it both, natch.  And I didn't even make any this year (Mom did that).  Fortunately while shopping this year I didn't run into any of the irritation at Wegman's or Giant or (had it been here in 2008) Harris Teeter that I did four years ago.  I still hhhhaaaatttteeee shopping on the day before Thanksgiving - the Black Wednesday of supermarket shopping, so to speak.

- - - - -

I should not be allowed into Wegman's, like, ever (originally published November 25, 2008)

I just got my inner geek on with that Doctor Who thing [NB: link added November 23, 2012, which is Doctor Who's 49th birthday, I might add]. Now my inner bitch wants some time, too.

Wegman's is wonderful - absolutely wonderful. Except during the week of Thanksgiving. Then it's a zoo. I was reminded of that the hard way when I went there Sunday to buy the last few things I needed for Thanksgiving. Some cilantro here, some oranges there, a bit of lemon juice (Emeril's Funky Turkey again - the family loves it, only I double the recipe and replace Emeril's Essence with Old Bay). And no, I found out there are no Jellybabies at Wegman's (hat tip Meg) [NB: Wegman's of Hunt Valley now sells Jelly Babies.  Don't know about Abingdon or Columbia yet].

My GOD, those people are so SLOW to move! There seems to be two types of people who go shopping at Wegman's the fourth week of November: the ones who cannot be bothered to move very fast, and the ones who cannot be bothered to move at all. Perhaps many of those in the former category (as I found myself in) would move were it not for those people in the latter category who just stand there deciding whether or not they really need the $4 a pound navel oranges, or the $3.19 a pound navel oranges (really, what's the difference?). JESUS, PEOPLE, MOVE!!!

Coincidentally, this is also why I should not be allowed to drive, as I find myself cutting people off in the aisles at Wegman's, muttering under my breath about how some people don't know that I cannot walk through them! Actually, you would be surprised that I'm not an aggressive driver, despite my six years and seven months in California and my propensity to speed up when those people who race toward the end of merge lanes in order to cut everybody off try to get in front of me. (Only one has gotten over in the last year, ha!, and I've been around the Beltway a lot this year, as you've read.)

Now I am mindful when I'm shopping. I try my best to move my cart and my butt out of everybody's way when I'm shopping. If I have to stop in a high-traffic area, I pull over so others can get by me. I don't just stand there blocking everybody. Just imagine if someone did that on 695. "Uh, dude, stop the car right here in the middle of the lane. I need to look at the map again. Dude, is this Parkville or Pikesville?" AAAAAAAAAARGH! Just f*cking pull over or move, people! Gawd, this isn't rocket science!!!

Shopping really does bring out the worst in me. I guess the recession is good in that it has forced me to limit my supermarket visits to once a week. Otherwise I'd have a stroke right there in the produce section. Really, I need to take up yoga or something.

End of rant :)

- - - - -

Well, almost.  At least she's not eatin' like this anymore.

- - - - -

Anything can be fried if you put your mind to it. (originally published November 26, 2008)

Commenter Joshua C just reminded me of the disturbing joys of fried stuffing, as he found my site while searching for a post about it. With that in mind, here's one of my favorite pics of the holiday (Thanksgiving, not Chrismukkwanzakah) season.

Rock on, Miss Paula. Rock on.

In Mourning

Tonight my cat, my little one died very unexpectedly.  I will be holding off on publishing anything new until the end of the month. He gave me so much happiness and joy for 13 years.  I will miss him.

Snacking State-by-State: Washington IV - WE ARE THE STARBORG. YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.

I've never been a coffee person.  Yes, I know: many of you are looking at your computer/RSS feed/mobile device thinking “WHAT!? What kind of human being doesn't love the rich, mellow, caffeinated goodness of coffee!?” This kind, that’s who. It’s just not something I really enjoyed.  Give me tea, hot chocolate or – gasp – soda for any caffeine fix I might need.  And though I can and do appreciate bitterness in my food, I just don’t care for it in coffee format.

Official Name: State of Washington
State Nickname: The Evergreen State
Admission to the US: November 11, 1889 (#42)
Capital: Olympia (21st largest)
Other Important Cities: Seattle (largest), Spokane (2nd largest), Tacoma (3rd largest) 
Region: Northwest, Pacific, Pacific Rim; Pacific (US Census)
RAFT Nations: Salmon
Bordered by: Pacific Ocean (west), Oregon (south), Idaho (east), British Columbia (Canada) (north)
Official State Foods and Edible Things: apple (fruit); bluebunch wheatgrass (grass); steelhead trout (fish); Walla Walla sweet onion (vegetable)
Some Famous and Typical Foods: Pacific coast seafood, including but not limited to: Dungeness crab, salmon, trout, scallops of many varieties, Geoduck clam, mussels, oysters, halibut, cod; blackberries, apples, huckleberries, cranberries, cherries; hazelnuts; coffee

And yet, a survey of Washington would be completely remiss without a nod to that most world-famous Seattle export, coffee.  Hold up, I know you’re thinking: coffee doesn't come from Seattle!  Well no, that's absurd.  Coffee was first cultivated thousands of years ago in Ethiopia.  Only in the last few centuries did it spread to Europe and the Americas.

When I talk about coffee and Seattle, I’m talking about that most famous of Seattle-area food businesses, Starbucks (you can debate if Nordstrom or Amazon are more famous, but you don't find a Nordstrom on every other corner, now do you?).  Yes, one of the Evil Empires that has now taken over the world and (in this case) much of its coffee market, a business that doesn't mind out-competing even itself – so I saw in grad school back in Riverside, California, several years ago, when there was a dining-slash-theater complex net to the university with not one but two separate Starbucks facilities in it.  I think they’re back down to one now but you get the picture.  And even though you see the resurgence of local, community, Mom & Pop (or even Mom & Ma) coffee shops all over big and small town America, the groundwork is laid: Starbucks has taken over America, much like those creepy androids built by enterprising engineering grad students will soon take over the world and enslave us all.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.

While Starbucks is by no means the only coffee business in Seattle, it is the most successful.  According to the Coffee.org website, Jerry Baldwin, Gordon Bowker and Zev Siegl started Starbucks in 1971 in Seattle, first selling coffee beans and coffee making equipment before graduating to selling actual cups of coffee in the 1980's.  Since then it has expanded across the United States, North America and around the world, spreading its Cyberman-like influence into other coffee corporations, including fellow Seattle-based company Seattle's Best.  There are now about 17.000 of these places in 55 countries, with well over half of these in the US [Coffee.org, date unknown]

For this post, it wasn't my goal to make a recipe that uses Starbucks coffee in it: I actually wanted to replicate a Starbucks beverage in my own kitchen.  For this I first turned to the Top Secret Recipes series by Todd Wilbur.  I figured I would easily find a recipe in there.  But surprisingly, TSR was silent about replicating Starbucks, at least in the books I looked in.  (NB: A search online yielded several replicated top secret Starbucks recipes, which I failed to even consider, for some odd reason.  Note that if you do try his website you may need to pay for some of these recipes - as with his caramel macchiato recipe). Undaunted, I searched elsewhere.  After muddling through a few websites from Starbucks talking about how to use their products (I think these were meant specifically to be used in-house.  I’m surprised they were that easy to find), I eventually stumbled upon a small handful of “Make your own Starbucks” websites.  The one that intrigued me the most, from the Squidoo website, by user "kiwisoutback"[2008], featured a few recipes for Starbucks-like drinks - and this one I did not have to pay for.  Notably, the recipe that jumped out at me the most was one for Iced Latte, utilizing two to three shots of espresso, recommendably from Starbucks itself if possible (CAFFEINE OVERLOAD WOW WWWWOOOOOOOWWWWW!!!!!).  With all this caffeine, is this wild amount of espresso, um, safe?  

The Recipe: Iced Latte

To be your own barista right at home, assemble the following:

* milk (preferably whole - I had some in the fridge)
* espresso (two shots, which I found to be somewhat stronger than I am used to.  I did use Starbucks brand for about $2.50.  Did they only charge me for one shot?)
* simple syrup (I've had this in the fridge since I made that mint julep a while back)
* ice (preferably crushed or small cubes; again, these I had on hand)

Pour the simple syrup in a cup.

Next add the espresso to the cup.

Add your ice.

And finally, add the milk.

Shake well to combine it all.

How can I describe this drink?  It was tasty.  It was also strong.  Very, very strong.  In fact so strong it aggravated some reflux mighty bad.  This drink is way too strong for me, but for those who like these iced lattes, it sure will wake you up.

- - - - -

It's time to say a final goodbye to the Pacific Northwest, as we head for one last time to Appalachia and the place where South, Northeast and Midwest all meet together.  It's time for pepperoni rolls!  Yes, we are hitting West Virginia.

Sources:

Douglas, Tom.  Tom Douglas' Seattle Kitchen.  William Morrow: New York, 2001.

"kiwisoutback" (Squidoo.com user).  "How to Make a Starbucks Iced Latte."  In "Starbucks Coffee Drink Recipes", Copyright 2008, Squidoo.com.  All rights reserved.

Washington Apple Commission.  "Crop facts."  Copyright 2010 Washington Apple Commission.  All rights reserved. 


Washington Apple Commission.  "Golden Apples and Yams."  Copyright 2010 Washington Apple Commission.  All rights reserved.

Coffee.org.  "History of Starbucks."  Date unknown.

Some information also obtained from Wikipedia's "Washington" page and other pages, and the Food Timeline State Foods link to "Washington".

Snacking State-by-State: Washington III - So Much To Do With Apples...

The State of Washington is notable for having a massive apple industry.  In one year, Washington apple orchards produce over 10 to 12 million apples, each picked by hand.  That's 100 million boxes of apples, each weighing in at about 40 lbs [Washington Apple Commission 2010]. If Washington doesn't have the largest apple industry in the Pacific Northwest, it certainly is a leading contender.  And oh the things you can do with those apples.  You can even find them this far east, mixed in with all the apples from Pennsylvania and Virginia and those produced in our my home state.

Official Name: State of Washington
State Nickname: The Evergreen State
Admission to the US: November 11, 1889 (#42)
Capital: Olympia (21st largest)
Other Important Cities: Seattle (largest), Spokane (2nd largest), Tacoma (3rd largest) 
Region: Northwest, Pacific, Pacific Rim; Pacific (US Census)
RAFT Nations: Salmon
Bordered by: Pacific Ocean (west), Oregon (south), Idaho (east), British Columbia (Canada) (north)
Official State Foods and Edible Things: apple (fruit); bluebunch wheatgrass (grass); steelhead trout (fish); Walla Walla sweet onion (vegetable)
Some Famous and Typical Foods: Pacific coast seafood, including but not limited to: Dungeness crab, salmon, trout, scallops of many varieties, Geoduck clam, mussels, oysters, halibut, cod; blackberries, apples, huckleberries, cranberries, cherries; hazelnuts; coffee

The Washington Apple Commission website [2010] has a mind-boggling array of apple recipes.  It was pretty difficult to hone it down and find just one.  I explored chutneys, beverages, soups, stews, desserts, main dishes and so on.  I finally settled on a side dish that seems to promise a blend of Southern and Pacific Northwestern deliciousness..  Of course, in reading the article I had never even considered the idea of blending apples and yams, but in a way they certainly seem to go together.

The Recipe: Golden Apples and Yams

I halved the apple and yam recipe I got from the Washington Apple Commission's "Best Apples" website, and had to improvise just a bit, with pleasing results.

* Golden Delicious apple (not much at the farmer's market, though I forget the price per pound.  About $2.75 I think?)
* yam (bought at Wegman's for about 75 cents)
* packed brown sugar (the recipe does not specify dark or light.  I grabbed the dark)
* orange juice (Oops!  I thought I had this, but when I could not find it, I improvised with some lemon juice and a lime - not pictured - that I juiced on the spot)
* cloves (had them; you will need to grind them)
* cornstarch (had it)
* pecans (they don't cost that much if you buy a little bit of them in bulk at Wegman's - this way I only paid about 50 cents for them, if that; in the spirit of the Pacific Northwest I also added hazelnuts, again in bulk and again I didn't spend too much)

Either bake your yam in the oven at about 400° for 50 minutes or, if you have other things to do, poke it with a fork several times (I also scored it a few more times with a knife) and microwave it for about eight minutes.  Guess which one I did.

Peel and core your apple.  You are not making a pie here, so if you only have one of those coring-slash-wedging mechanisms you will have a little extra knife work to do.  You need apple rings here.

No, they're not perfect.

Likewise, when your yam is cool enough to handle, slice it as well.

Mix the brown sugar, cloves and cornstarch with your citrus juice over heat (it doesn't say low, medium or high heat.  Just guesstimating I went with low) until thickened.

Layer your apple and yam slices in an oven-safe dish, and pour the liquid over it.

Sprinkle chopped (or in this case, er, ground) nuts on top.  Bake in a 350° oven for about 20 minutes, or until the apples are tender.

This is a simple and delicious side dish, and marries together several ingredients I had never even thought to put together: apples and yams, plus pecans and hazelnuts.  Even though I did not have orange juice on hand, the citrus juices I did have worked beautifully, and next time I may just use those instead.

Sources:

Douglas, Tom.  Tom Douglas' Seattle Kitchen.  William Morrow: New York, 2001.

"kiwisoutback" (Squidoo.com user).  "How to Make a Starbucks Iced Latte."  In "Starbucks Coffee Drink Recipes", Copyright 2008, Squidoo.com.  All rights reserved.

Washington Apple Commission.  "Crop facts."  Copyright 2010 Washington Apple Commission.  All rights reserved. 


Washington Apple Commission.  "Golden Apples and Yams."  Copyright 2010 Washington Apple Commission.  All rights reserved.

Coffee.org.  "History of Starbucks."  Date unknown.

Some information also obtained from Wikipedia's "Washington" page and other pages, and the Food Timeline State Foods link to "Washington".

Celebration!

The President is re-elected, the DREAM Act is passed, and I can now legally marry in my own home state!  I will celebrate on Wednesday.

Snacking State-by-State: Washington II - See Sea Scallops! See Pink Scallops? Sing, Pink Scallops, Sing!

When I think of seafood in the Pacific Northwest, I think of two things: salmon and Dungeness crab.  I did not realize, however, the importance of the delicate, toothsome scallop.

Official Name: State of Washington
State Nickname: The Evergreen State
Admission to the US: November 11, 1889 (#42)
Capital: Olympia (21st largest)
Other Important Cities: Seattle (largest), Spokane (2nd largest), Tacoma (3rd largest) 
Region: Northwest, Pacific, Pacific Rim; Pacific (US Census)
RAFT Nations: Salmon
Bordered by: Pacific Ocean (west), Oregon (south), Idaho (east), British Columbia (Canada) (north)
Official State Foods and Edible Things: apple (fruit); bluebunch wheatgrass (grass); steelhead trout (fish); Walla Walla sweet onion (vegetable)
Some Famous and Typical Foods: Pacific coast seafood, including but not limited to: Dungeness crab, salmon, trout, scallops of many varieties, Geoduck clam, mussels, oysters, halibut, cod; blackberries, apples, huckleberries, cranberries, cherries; hazelnuts; coffee

I love scallops, but they are an occasional treat for me.  I don't get to eat too many of them because they're pricey (try $17 per pound locally).  The lucky people in Washington get to eat these things more often (are they cheaper there?) and more readily when in season.

In his eponymous Seattle Kitchen cookbook [2001], Tom Douglas discusses the different kinds of scallops, especially the much-prized but so rare "singing scallops"

Weathervane or Pacific scallops are the large and meaty scallops that are featured as "sea scallops" on local menus.  They are sold shucked and trimmed and are often grilled or sautéed.  Pink or singing scallops are native to Puget Sound and are hand-harvested by divers. Their season is short and sporadic, so whenever we get singing scallops, we put them right on the menus as specials...  They are very fragile, so we make sure to serve them the day we get them.  [Douglas 2001:61-62]

Douglas has a recipe for singing scallops - you can use sea or even bay scallops instead, since singing scallops are so difficult to come by, especially outside the Northwest.  I interpreted this recipe, on pages 68 and 69 of his Tom Douglas' Seattle Kitchen, with a few small changes: as he suggests for those with no easy access to singing scallops, I went ahead and used sea scallops, shucked fresh at Wegman's, and trying to stay close to his recommendations I swapped out the Muscat wine for a somewhat cheaper Muscatel recommended by the nice people at the Wine Source in Hampden.

The Recipe: Singing Sea Scallops in Muscat Muscatel Sabayon

* sea scallops (I now know why I don't buy many scallops - even these were $17 per lb!!! Ouchie!)
* Muscatel (Botani Moscatel, from the Sierra de Málaga.  This bottle was about $10)
* tarragon (I really need to start growing this, since this puny amount of this delicious herb set me back $2)
* red onion (about 50 to 75 cents)
* lemon (one lemon: about 67 cents)
* orange rind (I forget how much the orange was)
* egg yolks (you need two, and I had the eggs in the fridge)
* kosher salt (had it)
* butter (same)

Peel the orange rind (set this aside), slice the lemon and cut the onion into pieces.

You will cook the lemon and onion with some of the tarragon in the Muscatel

Next, poach the sea scallops in the boiling wine mixture for a few minutes...

...until barely cooked.

Next, spoon out the scallops and set aside.

Get a strainer ready.

Strain the wine mixture into a saucepan, and discard the things that were just boiling in it.

And reduce until syrupy.

Meanwhile, arrange the scallops on a baking sheet.

Pour your reduced wine mixture into a metal bowl, add the egg yolks and whisk for several minutes over a pot of boiling water.  You will add the orange rind and some more tarragon after whisking the egg yolks.  I got impatient and figured I had done something wrong...

...but lo and behold, I did get a lovely sauce!

Spoon a little of the sauce over each scallop.

Place the scallops under the broiler for just a few short minutes.

And this is what you get.

So much work goes into such pricey (for me they're pricey) ingredients, but what a decadent thing to eat in the end!  The firm scallops covered in this delicate, tangy and sweet sauce is wonderful either as an appetizer (per Tom Douglas' suggestion), or as a small main dish.  I had some with white rice, which complements it nicely.

Sources:

Douglas, Tom.  Tom Douglas' Seattle Kitchen.  William Morrow: New York, 2001.

"kiwisoutback" (Squidoo.com user).  "How to Make a Starbucks Iced Latte."  In "Starbucks Coffee Drink Recipes", Copyright 2008, Squidoo.com.  All rights reserved.

Washington Apple Commission.  "Crop facts."  Copyright 2010 Washington Apple Commission.  All rights reserved. 


Washington Apple Commission.  "Golden Apples and Yams."  Copyright 2010 Washington Apple Commission.  All rights reserved.

Coffee.org.  "History of Starbucks."  Date unknown.

Some information also obtained from Wikipedia's "Washington" page and other pages, and the Food Timeline State Foods link to "Washington".