Snacking State-by-State: Texas III - Tex-Mex the meatless way (or "Yes, Texas, you've got a case of Vegans")

Back when I looked at New Mexico (and to some extent Arizona), I noted that not all Southwestern food was alike.  Instead, there are two distinct varieties, New Mexican and Tex-Mex.  Apparently, much of the Southwest sides with the "New Mexican" version of Southwestern cuisine.  But when much of the East Coast thinks about Southwestern food, it thinks about the variety from Texas.

Official Name: State of Texas
State Nickname: The Lone Star State, The Republic of Texas
Admission to the US: December 29, 1845 (#28)
Capital: Austin (4th largest)
Other Important Cities: Houston (largest), San Antonio (2nd largest), Dallas (3rd largest), El Paso (6th largest),
Region: South, Southwest; West South Central (US Census)
RAFT Nations: Cornbread & BBQ; Chile Pepper; Gumbo; Bison
Bordered by: Oklahoma (north), Arkansas (northeast), Louisiana (east), Gulf of Mexico (southeast), Tamaulipas, Nuevo León & Coahuila (Mexico) and the Río Grande (south), Chihuahua (Mexico) (southwest), New Mexico (west)
Official State Foods and Edible Things: cast iron dutch oven (cooking implement - not edible, of course, but used for cooking), chili (dish), chiltepín (native pepper), Guadalupe bass (fish), jalapeño (pepper), longhorn (large mammal), pan de campo (bread), pecan (tree and health nut), prickly pear cactus (plant - for the pads and the fruit), sopaipilla and strudel (pastries), sweet onion (vegetable), Texas purple sage (native shrub), Texas red grapefruit (fruit). tortilla chips and salsa (snack)
Some Famous and Typical Foods: Where to begin?  Texas-style barbecue (specifically beef and beef brisket), Texas chili, chicken fried steak, Mexican (specifically Northern Mexican) foods, Tex-Mex foods (including migas, chile con carne and sopaipilla)


So what is the difference?  Houston Chronicle blogger Patrise Shuttlesworth [2012] lays it out for us.  For starters, she notes that it isn't so much the ingredients - though the fabled New Mexico chile is a key component - as it is the cooking techniques that define New Mexican cuisine: roasted chiles and veggies, little frying, little meat and no cumin.  Tex-Mex, on the other hand, is noted for bigger portions, cheeses, cream gravies, combo plates and, yes, cumin:

Tex Mex tends to be comprised of a specific group of ingredients with a small allowance for regional variance. The ingredients you can count on are: large amounts of sour cream; copious amounts of cheese and meat; Jalapeños; Cumin/Comino; even olives; very large portions; very heavy dishes laden with chili con carne

As the unfortunate saying goes - "Everything is bigger in Texas!" That doesn't just refer to our hair. Our portion sizes, our plate sizes, our allotment of table tortilla chips and sadly, our people are bigger. Mexican food came from a culture of "only eat what's available because you grew or raised it." They did not know the Big Tex Taco plate or the Cowboy Bistek. We would be better off if we had never met them either. [Shuttlesworth 2012]

Sound familiar?  Yep, pretty much any Southwestern food we find on the East Coast sounds like this.  Delicious, but it makes you big.

Mind you, vegan cooking is not necessarily low fat cooking (try a good vegan mac & cheese, for example).  But it is meat and animal product free.  This is practically the opposite of Tex-Mex, and of Texan cooking in general.  But head to Austin and you can easily find vegan foods at the world's oldest and (to may eyes at least) Whole Foods.  I stopped in here twice on my visit to Austin earlier this year, and was blown away by the sheer size of the store and its offerings.  I guess everything is bigger in Texas.

Hopefully you can see how I'm tying Texas and veganism together.  But Tex-Mex?  Try out Austin Whole Foods' breakfast bar and you will find a healthy selection of vegan and vegetarian as well as meaty offerings.  One of my favorite ones was a vegan version of the popular Texan dish migas - a simple Southwestern dish composed of eggs scrambled with scraps of corn tortillas.  Migas is a counterpart to the Ashkenazi Jewish matzah brei (replace tortillas with matzah) or the hearty Midwestern hoppel poppel (replace tortillas with potatoes and salami).  But to veganize it you have to cut out the scrambled eggs. You could go the Whole Foods route and use egg substitute, or use what more innovative vegan chefs prefer: tofu, extra firm in this case.  This recipe from the Dallas Vegan blog [2009] is the one I used.

The Recipe: Vegan Migas

For this simple vegan version of migas you will only need the following:

* extra firm tofu (Dallas Vegan suggests Mori-Nu brand tofu.  I got the only "extra firm tofu" I could find at H-Mart for about $3)
* turmeric (this gives the tofu that scrambled egg-like color.  I had it on hand)
* corn tortillas (These were in the refrigerator case in H-Mart for about $2.50.  Please use corn and not flour tortillas, though I guess this would work with flour ones)
* olive oil (had it)
* cumin (had it too)
* garlic (had this too)
* salt and pepper (yup)

Start by cutting your tortillas into squares.

Toast the tortillas squares in a skillet with some olive oil.  When slightly crispy, remove and set aside.

Take your tofu and turmeric and add them to the olive oil. Mush up the tofu with a spoon.

Add your other spices - cumin, garlic, salt and pepper.

Stir for a few minutes until it is warm and looks like scrambled eggs.

Add your tortilla squares and cook for a few minutes more.

I don't typically eat vegan.  Plus, I have eggs.  But this is a good and I daresay hearty way to use up some tofu (again, extra firm.  Don't use the soft stuff).  I also have to admit that, while it didn't exactly taste like eggs, I didn't really notice that it didn't.  Add a few sprigs of cilantro on the side and maybe some tomatoes and you have a mighty fine breakfast dish.

Sources:

DallasVegan.com.  "Simple Vegan Migas…Brownsville Style".  DallasVegan.com, posted January 19, 2009.  Copyright 2010 DallasVegan.com.  All rights reserved.

Dr. Dan (blogger).  "Spicy 3 Chilies Texas Chili a la Crock Pot".  101 Cooking for Two, posted February 25, 2012.

Fain, Lisa.  "My Oven-Baked Brisket".  Homesick Texan, posted December 16, 2008.  Copyright Homesick Texan.  All rights reserved. 

Goldwyn, Craig "Meathead".  "Barbecue Beef Brisket Texas Style".  Amazing Ribs updated March 2, 2012.  Copyright Amazing Ribs.  All rights reserved.

Guía de Tacos (Guiadetacos.com).  "Enchiladas norteñas".  Date unknown.

Johnson Miller, Ruthie.  "Banh mi, oh my! The top five Vietnamese sandwich shops in Houston".  Culture Map Houston, posted February 26, 2011.  Copyright 2009-2012 Culture Map, LLC.  All rights reserved.

Nguyen, Andrea.  "Daikon and Carrot Pickle Recipe (Do Chua)".  Viet World Kitchen, posted May 17, 2009.  Copyright 2002-2012 Andrea Nguyen.  All rights reserved.

Nguyen, Andrea.  "Master Banh Mi Sandwich Recipe".  Viet World Kitchen, posted June 17, 2009.  Copyright 2002-2012 Andrea Nguyen.  All rights reserved.

Shuttlesworth, Patrise.  "Tex-Mex vs. New Mex: Not Just About Jalapeños or Green Chiles".  On the Road, a Houston Press Blog, posted March 26, 2012.  Copyright Houston Press.  All rights reserved.

Sliter Satterwhite, Shannon. "Make a Batch of Texas Chili".  Southern Living Magazine, October 2005.

von der Mehden, Fred R. "Vietnamese".  Handbook of Texas Online.  Date unknown.  Published by the Texas State Historical Association.  Copyright 2012 Texas State Historical Association, published by the Texas State Historical Association, and distributed in partnership with the University of North Texas Sponsors.  All rights reserved.

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

Snacking State-by-State: Texas II - Beans? We don't need no stinkin' beans!

Texas chili is quite distinct from other chilis in that it is missing one big thing: beans.  Ask any Texan if they put beans in their chili, and they might shake their heads or just laugh.  So my question: if you're a vegetarian in Texas, do you just not eat chili at all?

Official Name: State of Texas
State Nickname: The Lone Star State, The Republic of Texas
Admission to the US: December 29, 1845 (#28)
Capital: Austin (4th largest)
Other Important Cities: Houston (largest), San Antonio (2nd largest), Dallas (3rd largest), El Paso (6th largest),
Region: South, Southwest; West South Central (US Census)
RAFT Nations: Cornbread & BBQ; Chile Pepper; Gumbo; Bison
Bordered by: Oklahoma (north), Arkansas (northeast), Louisiana (east), Gulf of Mexico (southeast), Tamaulipas, Nuevo León & Coahuila (Mexico) and the Río Grande (south), Chihuahua (Mexico) (southwest), New Mexico (west)
Official State Foods and Edible Things: cast iron dutch oven (cooking implement - not edible, of course, but used for cooking), chili (dish), chiltepín (native pepper), Guadalupe bass (fish), jalapeño (pepper), longhorn (large mammal), pan de campo (bread), pecan (tree and health nut), prickly pear cactus (plant - for the pads and the fruit), sopaipilla and strudel (pastries), sweet onion (vegetable), Texas purple sage (native shrub), Texas red grapefruit (fruit). tortilla chips and salsa (snack)
Some Famous and Typical Foods: Where to begin?  Texas-style barbecue (specifically beef and beef brisket), Texas chili, chicken fried steak, Mexican (specifically Northern Mexican) foods, Tex-Mex foods (including migas, chile con carne and sopaipilla)

The one common thread running through all Texas chilis is the lack of beans.  Note: you do not put beans in a Texas chili.  If you do, it ain't Texas chili.  Oh sure, it may be some kind of chili (check out Cincinnati's chili, for example, which I made a while back when I looked at Ohio.  Sure the beans aren't cooked into the chili, but it winds up on the plate eventually).  Non-Texan Shannon Sliter Satterwhite writes for Southern Living Magazine [2005] about how she grew up yearning for a delicious chili that just didn't have so many beans, and found it in Texas with its "well-seasoned stew with chunks of tender beef in every bite - a style of chili that Texans have been making for generations" [Sliter Satterwhite 2005].  She further talks about the history of Texas chili, which has its origins in northern Mexico's chile con carne:

The granddaddy of this Tex-Mex dish, chili con carne, is thought to have originated in the 1800s along the Texas cattle trails. Range cooks would commonly prepare a pot of fresh beef and wild-grown seasonings for the cowhands. Before long, the popularity of this spicy stew spread like cheese on a hot burrito throughout the trail towns. It's even said that Frank and Jesse James would stop to eat a bowl before pulling their next bank job.  [Sliter Satterwhite 2005]

I also opted for chunks of beef over ground beef, which I thought would turn out much nicer.  The recipe I used comes to us from "Dr. Dan" who writes the 101 Cooking for Two blog.  As he notes, this is "a spiced up version" [Dan 2012] of his previous Texas chili - as he puts it, a 7 out of 10 on the spiciness scale.  It was a good level of spicy for me.

The Recipe: Texas Chili

Dr. Dan's Texas chili consists of the following:

* chuck roast (I bought this on sale at Wegman's for about $4 per lb, and cut it up myself)
* canned tomatoes (the recipe specifically calls for the canned stuff, which is probably better than most of the tomatoes you'll find in the produce department anyway)
* two each serrano, poblano & jalapeño chile peppers (Dr. Dan calls for three different types of chile which will give this chili a nice heat and complexity.  None of these should cost more than a few dimes at most)
* beef broth (about $1.49 a can)
* onion (picked one up at Wegman's cheap)
* garlic (had it)
* chili powder (of course, just as Texas chili must not have beans, it probably must have chili powder.  I'm not just about out of the stuff)
* cumin, oregano, salt & pepper (had it all)
I also added hot sauce, since I wanted a hotter chili than Dr. Dan was prescribing.

Just for the hell of it, I roasted the poblanos.  Yes, I have to clean my oven top.

Chop (and if you don't like them, seed) your chiles.

The finer you chop those chiles, onions and garlic cloves the better, I think.

Probably best not to chop the beef too fine though.  Just chunk it.

Mix your meat, chiles and vegetables together in a crock pot.

Add the broth...

...and the spices.

Yes, I added extra heat.

Turn on the slow cooker and let your chili slow cook on low for eight hours.

My chili turned out a little on the liquidy side, which wasn't much of a problem.  I merely strained out the liquid from the chili.  It was a chili whose beef fell apart in my mouth because it was so tender and spicy hot.  And true, the different chiles give a depth to this chili that make this one I will have to come back for over again.

Sources:

DallasVegan.com.  "Simple Vegan Migas…Brownsville Style".  DallasVegan.com, posted January 19, 2009.  Copyright 2010 DallasVegan.com.  All rights reserved.

Dr. Dan (blogger).  "Spicy 3 Chilies Texas Chili a la Crock Pot".  101 Cooking for Two, posted February 25, 2012.

Fain, Lisa.  "My Oven-Baked Brisket".  Homesick Texan, posted December 16, 2008.  Copyright Homesick Texan.  All rights reserved. 

Goldwyn, Craig "Meathead".  "Barbecue Beef Brisket Texas Style".  Amazing Ribs updated March 2, 2012.  Copyright Amazing Ribs.  All rights reserved.

Guía de Tacos (Guiadetacos.com).  "Enchiladas norteñas".  Date unknown.

Johnson Miller, Ruthie.  "Banh mi, oh my! The top five Vietnamese sandwich shops in Houston".  Culture Map Houston, posted February 26, 2011.  Copyright 2009-2012 Culture Map, LLC.  All rights reserved.

Nguyen, Andrea.  "Daikon and Carrot Pickle Recipe (Do Chua)".  Viet World Kitchen, posted May 17, 2009.  Copyright 2002-2012 Andrea Nguyen.  All rights reserved.

Nguyen, Andrea.  "Master Banh Mi Sandwich Recipe".  Viet World Kitchen, posted June 17, 2009.  Copyright 2002-2012 Andrea Nguyen.  All rights reserved.

Shuttlesworth, Patrise.  "Tex-Mex vs. New Mex: Not Just About Jalapeños or Green Chiles".  On the Road, a Houston Press Blog, posted March 26, 2012.  Copyright Houston Press.  All rights reserved.

Sliter Satterwhite, Shannon. "Make a Batch of Texas Chili".  Southern Living Magazine, October 2005.

von der Mehden, Fred R. "Vietnamese".  Handbook of Texas Online.  Date unknown.  Published by the Texas State Historical Association.  Copyright 2012 Texas State Historical Association, published by the Texas State Historical Association, and distributed in partnership with the University of North Texas Sponsors.  All rights reserved.

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

Austin City, Unlimited Part I - Of Barbecue and Barbacoa

Recently I had the opportunity to go to Austin, Texas.  It wasn't a vacation, mind you - this was for work - but the time I did get to explore was pretty much spent eating.  Not a bad way to spend a trip to Austin, which, like our own, is a food city.  And even though it was a solid 90 degrees pretty much the whole time I was there, I did do a lot of walking.  So in the end, despite all the food I ate (all the food I ate), with all the heat, sweating and walking around I actually think I lost a pound by the end of the trip.

There is much to mention about the food in the Live Music Capital of the World, and I'm not sure where to begin.

The cuisine of Texas is varied, in this biggest state in the South and Southwest (note: California is, technically, in the Southwest, but isn't "Southwestern").  Mexican, Tex-Mex (the most common version of Southwestern) and of course barbecue abound.  It's easy to find it all in the capital of the Lone Star State.  I had a chance to eat it all, and what's more I got some use out of my Urbanspoon Android application.  I was able to avoid anything with less than an 80% user rating once I downloaded it.

Not taken with Instagram.  I accidentally used the Puddin' Camera app I downloaded onto my phone.

I started off with Mexican, a few blocks from my hotel.  La Condesa with its blocky modern decor has a 76% rating on Urbanspoon, but the hotel clerk recommended it so I tried it out.

Overall I found the tortilla soup satisfying if a bit creamier than I'm used to.   

For the main part of the meal, I had cochinita pibil tacos with beans and rice.  I've eaten cochinita pibil a few times in my life - in the US, in Mexico, and out of my own slow cooker.  It all tasted different from this cochinita pibil, which I didn't quite recognize.  It wasn't bad, but it seemed to have a more Tex-Mex flavor to it.  Cochinita pibil should be citrusy, and this just wasn't.  Even the pickled onions didn't really jump out.  Again, it wasn't bad, but it didn't seem like cochinita pibil to me.  Truthfully my favorite part of this meal was the rice.  I could eat a plateful of this stuff and be happy.

I had a more satisfying taco at La Casa del Fuego food truck.  For a little over $3 I got a somewhat dry pork taco that worked better than it sounds.  

This was not a taco al pastor but a taco with chunks of (it seemed) dry-rubbed pork, smothered with cilantro and juicy onions, and a slightly spicy sauce (I asked for spicy - either they didn't give it to me or they just don't do "spicy").

Most of my food time was spent eating barbecue.  Yes, Texas is one of the centers of the American barbecue landscape, and Texans boast about it.  The one guy driving me from the airport, for goodness sake, launched into a tirade against Kansas City and North Carolina barbecue in the course of three minutes when I started asking.  It was a good natured tirade, but a tirade none the less.  He recommended a few good barbecue places downtown, and a family friend from the city recommended one more.  Austinites will have their favorite, and I have mine.

The first I visited, Iron Works, was by the massive and flashy convention center.  It was the only one that had a line out the door (for lunch).  As with any Austin barbecue place, they give you a healthy choice of barbecued meats: beef brisket, chopped (not chipped) beef, pork, sausage, chicken, ham and so on.  I ordered the beef brisket, which came with the standard accompaniments: white bread (here just one slice), onions & pickles.  You get to choose sides (in this case potato salad and beans).  The barbecue brisket plate was all of $9, and since I could use a card I added a small bottle of Coke and a small thing of banana pudding - not as good as my mother's, of course, but don't we all think that?

The grand total was a massive $13.  They don't automatically provide sauce, but have various different squeeze bottles of sauce in their seating area.

I liked Iron Works beef brisket, though I found a more flavorful (and just as cheap) one at Rudy's Barbecue on the north side of UT Austin.  This is the barbecue place that our family friend, who is from Austin, recommended to me.  For this beef brisket I got two slices of bread and chose, again, potato salad and beans to go along.  Brisket is not meant to be juicy, and this wasn't at all, but the flavor was just a little more intense than Iron Works'.  The little cup of sauce they gave me along with it was just enough to last me through the three slices of beef.

The kind of barbecue that makes you wanna smack someone it's so good

The last barbecue place I tried was the legendary Stubb's, which I got the impression from travel guides was this big, flashy place that hosts musicians and has lots of tourists come to visit.  Instead, from the outside it looks like a very unassuming, even slightly ramshackle edifice.  Inside it is dark and cozy with the shutters drawn, with an outdoor area that was fully packed when I visited.

This time I ordered the pork barbecue - the nightly special - for $11.  With its streaks of fat (probably not the most normal thing to find in Texas barbecue) it was juicier than the beef I had elsewhere.  The other sides were the same - this time Texas thick cut bread, onions, pickles.  I did have to spit a little of the fat out because it was unchewable.  Overall Stubb's was a lovely barbecue, but out of the three places I visited - and I would readily go back to any of them again - I have to give the nod to Ruby's.

Coming up in the next post: the other stuff I got to sample in Austin.  Oh no, it's not all barbecue, Mexican and Tex-Mex.

Please come to Austin for the springtime...

A head's up: I am heading to Austin, Texas, for a few days next week, and will be reporting back on some of the delicious things I eat there.  Look for a post sometime around early June!  It will be a nice though brief change of pace from the state-by-state recipes I have been feverishly posting as of late.

Snacking State-by-State: Oklahoma III - Get out the skillet, it's time to make cornbread!

In my last post, I mentioned that Oklahoma has an official state meal (see the state info below for exactly what that is).  But because I don't have the time, money or dietary needs to make or write about such a meal, I'm cherry-picking specific recipes.  Last time I did fried okra by Georgia transplant Trisha Yearwood.  For this next post, I turn to a California girl who like Yearwood also now calls both Oklahoma and the Food Network home.

Official Name: State of Oklahoma
State Nicknames: The Sooner State
Admission to the US: November 16, 1907 (#46)
Capital: Oklahoma City (largest)
Other Important Cities: Tulsa (2nd largest), Norman (3rd largest), Broken Arrow (4th largest)
Region: Southwest, South, West; West South Central (US Census)
RAFT Nations: Corn Bread & BBQ; Bison
Bordered by: Kansas (north), Missouri (northeast), Arkansas (east), Texas & the Red River (south), New Mexico (west), Colorado (northwest)
Official State Foods and Edible Things: buffalo (animal), milk (beverage), white bass (fish), raccoon (furbearer animal), strawberry (fruit), white-tail deer (game animal), wild turkey (game bird), honeybee (insect - for the honey), watermelon (vegetable); "Fried okra, squash, cornbread, barbecue pork, biscuits, sausage and gravy, grits, corn, strawberries, chicken fried steak, pecan pie, and black-eyed peas" (meal - quoted from Netstate.com)
Some Famous and Typical Foods: Southern foods (qv, Official State Meal), sometimes with a Western or Southwestern flavor; Native American (specifically Cherokee) foods

Ree Drummond, star of The Pioneer Woman TV show, is originally from Oklahoma.  However, she spent many years traveling and living in Los Angeles (and meeting her husband in Chicago).  Now back in Oklahoma, she has turned out not just a TV show but a cookbook, The Pioneer Woman Cooks - all from a blog (yes, a blogger hits it big!), The Pioneer Woman.  The blog wasn't originally about food but ranch life and homeschooling.  But one recipe must have led to another...

For the other recipe I tackled from the Official State Meal of Oklahoma™, I use Drummond's cast-iron skillet cornbread recipe, on page 102 of her cookbook.  I didn't make the pinto beans that she pairs them with - no time.  But I did zhuzh up her cornbread, following her recommendations no less: just Southwestern-ize it with chopped jalapeños!

The Recipe: Skillet Cornbread

For Drummond's cornbread you will need the following, most of which I had on hand:

* yellow corn meal (I used up just about all of what I had left with this recipe. Note to self: buy more)
* all-purpose flour
* baking powder
* salt
* baking soda
* milk (had run out of this so needed to pick some up)
* buttermilk (this I did have on hand, but in this case I had the powdered kind that you mix up with water.  My sister bought some of this over Christmas when she was visiting and had to leave it behind because it must be refrigerated.  At least I don't have to buy more buttermilk now)
* egg
* shortening
* jalapeños (I bought a few at the H Mart for less than 50¢)

Though Drummond doesn't make this suggestion, I did shred a little leftover cheddar cheese and throw that in.

Throw together the cornmeal, salt, flour and baking powder in a large bowl.

Mix it all together.

In a separate bowl (or a large measuring cup), put in the buttermilk.  In this case, I put a four tablespoons of the buttermilk powder...

...and then added a cup of water, to reconstitute a cup of buttermilk.

Yes it is frustratingly lumpy, so you must smoosh them apart.

Next add the milk.

And then add an egg and mix.

Mix in some baking soda with the buttermilk mixture.

Next add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients...

...and mix with a fork until just blended.

Don't overmix this stuff.

Next, melt some shortening in the microwave...

...and mix into the batter, again just until blended.

Time to chop up the jalapeños and add them to the batter.  I added two though Drummond suggests chopping one up and adding it.

I would've added the chiles, seeds and all, but most people will probably want to seed them first.

Mince the chiles and add to the batter.

Again, yes I added cheddar cheese, about a handful.

Melt a few more tablespoons of shortening in a cast-iron skillet, moving around until coated.

Pour the batter into the skillet, spread around and let cook on top of the stove for one minute.

Then put the skillet into a preheated 450° oven for about 25 minutes

Cut and serve, preferably while still hot or only a little cooled.

The cornbread I typically find comes in two categories: savory and crumbly (Southern style) and sweet, moist and cake-like (Northern, or Yankee style.  I personally have never really enjoyed this kind).  This is a third kind: savory and soft.  In retrospect, I haven't really eaten Southwestern style cornbread all that much before.  I'm thinking I like this one more than either of our "Back East" style cornbreads, Southern or Northern.  The flavor of the jalapeños jump out amid the soft cornbread, and it all is just delicious.  Definitely another keeper of a recipe.

- - - - -

Westward ho!  This cornbread was our Oklahoma finale (last musical joke, I promise).  We continue from the Southwest to the Pacific Northwest for our next state, exploring hazelnuts, salmon and all - okay just a smidgen - that Portland's food trucks have to offer in Oregon.

Sources:

Cherokee Nation.  "More About Cherokee Cooking".  The Official Site of the Cherokee Nation, 2011.  Copyright 2011 the Cherokee Nation, All Rights Reserved.

Cherokee Nation.  "Wild Onions and Scrambled Eggs".   The Official Site of the Cherokee Nation, 2011.  Copyright 2011 the Cherokee Nation, All Rights Reserved.

Drummond, Ree.  The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl.  Willliam Morrow: New York, 2009.

Lee, Hilde Gabriel.  Taste of the States: A Food History of America.  Howell Press: Charlottesville, VA, 1992.  Quoted on the Food Timeline State Foods website.

Netstate.com.  "Oklahoma State Symbols, Songs and Emblems".  Copyright 2012 Netstate.com, All Rights Reserved.

Yearwood, Trisha, with Gwen Yearwood and Beth Yearwood Bernard. Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen: Recipes from My Family to Yours. Clarkson Potter: New York, 2008.

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