Snacking State-by-State: Wisconsin II - Fried Cheese, Please (or "Reason #453 Why Americans Are Fat")

Wisconsin is Cheese Country, dontcha know?  The state's first cottage industry factory was set up in the 1840's by Anne Pickett - the first of now countless cheese factories in the Badger State.  Okay, not exactly countless: today, milk from 12,000 dairy farms and over 1 and a quarter million cows lead to an annual cheese supply of 2.6 billion pounds of cheese - over a quarter of all cheese produced in the United States [Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board 2012].  While the rest of us have definitely eaten Wisconsin cheese in our lifetimes, we probably haven't eaten straight-up cheese curds - not from Wisconsin, not from anywhere.  The folks in Wisconsin eat these things, apparently, with great frequency.

Official Name: State of Wisconsin
State Nickname: The Badger State
Admission to the US: May 29, 1848 (30th)
Capital: Madison (2nd largest)
Other Important Cities: Milwaukee (largest), Green Bay (3rd largest), Kenosha (4th largest), Racine (5th largest)
Region: Midwest, Upper Midwest, Great Lakes; East North Central (US Census)
RAFT Nations: Wild Rice
Bordered by: Minnesota (west); Lake Superior (northwest); Michigan (upper panhandle) (northeast); Lake Michigan (east); Illinois (south); Iowa (southwest)
Official State Foods and Edible Things: badger (animal, though these aren't typically eaten anymore); corn (grain); dairy cow (domesticated animal); honeybee (insect, for the honey); milk (beverage); muskellunge, or "muskie" (fish); sugar maple (tree, for the maple sap); white-tailed deer (wildlife animal)
Some Famous and Typical Foods: typical Midwestern cuisine; German, Central European and Scandinavian foods; dairy, especially cheese and fried cheese curds; Wisconsin-style fish boil (usually done on a massive scale for many people); beer brats (bratwurst cooked in beer and grilled, usually on a "Sheboygan roll", a typical bratwurst roll from Midwest); beer, beer and more beer

Since I've never been to Wisconsin, one would expect that I have never eaten this comfort food that is pretty much confined to Wisconsin and (likely) the states surrounding it.  You would, however, be wrong.  I have had these things once before, at the Museum of American History in Washington, DC.  Big surprise there: their cafeteria, for what it's worth, was serving stereotypical dishes from different parts of the country: North Carolina BBQ, New York cheesecake, and wouldn't you know it, Wisconsin fried cheese curds.  I had never heard of such a thing, so I had to order this.  A medium-sized steaming bowl for about $5 (these are museum cafeteria prices after all) was too much for me to finish.  Hell, it was too much for me to even make a dent into!  And it's nothing complicated or exotic: it's just breaded fried cheese.  

The curds are just the hard parts of the soured milk, often fried (in the Midwest) or eaten over poutine (in Canada) and is sometimes referred to as "squeaky cheese".  And until I started this project, I had no idea you could buy them in the store.  I've never really seen them.  Then again, I never saw pork roll here either but people swear it's been sold in Baltimore for a while (must be all those New Jerseyites).

Ex-pat Wisconsinites will be happy to know that you can indeed buy cheese curds in the larger supermarkets here.  I found mine at Wegman's.  What Wisconsinites will not be happy about is that our locally available squeaky cheese comes not from Wisconsin but from New York.

And a million Cheeseheads boo and hiss, dontcha know?

Seriously, I normally try to buy the ingredients for these posts from the actual states in question, or at least something from that part of the world.  For New York, I sought out actual u-bet chocolate syrup for a chocolate egg cream.  For Vermont, I got actual Vermont cheddar to make muffins.  Idaho?  Real Idaho huckleberries (too expensive for me to do that again).  Alaska?  Real Alaska salmon (frozen, inexpensively, through Trader Joe's).  Virginia?  Virginia peanuts and ham and Chincoteague oysters (not that these last few things are that difficult for someone in Maryland to obtain).  But cheese curds from Wisconsin just weren't happenin', sadly, so I had to go with the next best thing.

The Recipe: Fried Cheese Curds

The recipe I used comes from the EatCurds.com website [date unknown], which also has extensive links on where to find cheese curds in Wisconsin, a fascinating biography of the humble cheese curd, and even an entertaining FAQ about whether or not the squeaking of the curd means it hurts when you eat it.  (Huh?)  I'll say one thing: if biting it hurts. I can't imagine how much worse being dipped in egg batter and fried at 375°F must feel.

Assemble the following:

* cheese curds (otherwise you can't make fried cheese curds.  All I could find were Yancey's Fancy New York artisan cheddar cheese curds, for about $4.50 for the bag at Wegman's)
* eggs (had them)
* baking powder (same)
* flour (hat that too)
* milk (bought some fresh at Giant)
* salt (had this)
* oil for frying (peanut oil in this case, which has a fairly high smoke temperature.  I ran out of the rice bran oil from H Mart, which is comparable in smoke temp)

Put your dry ingredients in a bowl.

Whisk them together with your eggs and milk.

Meanwhile, heat your oil in a skillet or deep fat fryer to about 375°.

Now is the time to coat your cheese curds in your batter.  Make sure they are fully coated.

Drop t hem in the hot oil for a few minutes.  Some will leak if they are not completely covered. Not fun.

I left mine in for about three to four minutes.

Drain on a paper towel.

I can't say I am a "fried things" person.  I like fried foods but usually in the form of chicken or shrimp or other things you typically fry all over the country.  These cheese curds were hot and not nearly as gooey as I had assumed they would be (though I remember the ones at the museum not being gooey either).  If you need to reheat these, for the love of God do not do it in the microwave.  Reheat them in an oven set too about 200° - 250° for about 15 minutes.  They are crispy with a nice firm cheese center.  I'm not sure what to dip these in.  I used whole seed brown mustard.

Sources:

Beer Institute.  "State Per Capita Consumption 2003 to 2011" (PDF available).  Copyright 2012, All rights reserved.

Bostwick, William & Jessi Rymill.  Beer Craft: A Simple Guide to Making Great Beer.  Rodale: New York, 2011.

Bratwurst Pages.  "Classic Wisconsin Beer Brats".  Bratwurst Pages, 2003.  Copyright 2002, 2003 Bratwurst Pages, All rights reserved.

Croswell, Jonathan.  "How to Cook a Bratwurst in the Oven".  Livestrong, 2011.  Copyright 2011, 2012, All rights reserved.

Door County Today (YouTube channel: DoorCounty Today).  "History of the Door County Fish Boil".  Posted March 15, 2012.

Fisher, Joe and Dennis.  "Wild, Wild Rice!"  Brew Your Own, October 2000.

Fulton, April.  "Will Beer And Brats Break Through Wisconsin's Partisan Divide?"  The Salt: What's on Your Plate.  Posted June 12, 2012.  Copyright 2012 National Public Radio, All rights reserved.

Midwest Living.  "Wisconsin Fish Boil".  Midwest Living, 2012.  Copyright 2012 Meredith Corporation, All rights reserved.

Mr. Beer.  "Instructions, Premium/Deluxe Editions".  Copyright 2011 Catalina Products LLC, All rights reserved.

Spencer, James, and Steve Wilkes (YouTube channel: basicbrewing). "Basic Brewing Video - Doctoring Mr. Beer - January 7, 2012".  Posted January 7, 2012.

Splendid Table.  "Episode 487: The Japanese Grill", July 30, 2011, Segment 21:46 – 28:35 (William Bostwick talks home brewing).  Copyright 2011, 2012 American Public Media, All rights reserved.

Vics, Drew (YouTube channel: Cryptobrewology).  "Brewing Mr. Beer American Devil IPA".  Posted January 25, 2010.
Wisconsin Brewer's Guild.  "Wisconsin Brewer's Guild".  Copyright 2009-2012, All rights reserved.

Wisconsin Historical Society.  "Dictionary of Wisconsin History: Pabst Blue Ribbon beer advertisement, 1940 (WHi-56371)".  Copyright 1996-2012, All rights reserved.

Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board.  "Cookin' Up Wisconsin Curds".  Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, 2012.  Copyright 2012, All rights reserved.

Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board.  "History of Wisconsin Cheese".  Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, 2012.  Copyright 2012, All rights reserved.
Some information also obtained from Wikipedia's "Wisconsin" page and other pages, and the Food Timeline State Foods link to "Wisconsin".

Snacking State-by-State: Vermont II - My muffin top is all that, cheddar cheese and so fat...

When we think of Vermont and food in the rest of the country, we think of maple syrup (and of course there's the pie).  The next thing that pops up is Ben & Jerry's.  What comes next?  Probably Cabot Creamery, Vermont's most famous exporter of cheddar cheese to the nation.  It is, of course, not the only one - not by a long stretch.  But a cheese company so notable needs a place in this blog tour.

Official Name: State of Vermont
State Nickname: The Green Mountain State
Admission to the US: March 4, 1791 (#14 - the first one they added after the thirteen original colonies)
Capital: Montpelier (5th largest city, though several unincorporated towns are larger)
Other Important Cities: Burlington (largest), North Burlington (2nd largest), Essex (largest town - if it were a city it would be the 3rd largest in Vermont)
Region: New England, Northeast; New England (US Census)
RAFT Nations: Maple Syrup
Bordered by: Québec (Canada) (north), New Hampshire (east), Massachusetts (south), New York (west), Lake Champlain (northwest)
Official State Foods and Edible Things: apple (fruit), apple pie (pie), brook trout (cold water fish), honeybee (insect - for the honey), maple (flavor), milk (beverage), sugar maple (tree - for the maple syrup), walleye pike (warm water fish) 
Some Famous and Typical Foods: pie, pie and more pie; maple syrup (there's a pie for that, by the way); cranberries, apples (in the official state pie); French Canadian foods (poutine, tourtière - again with the pie!?)

For all the information you will ever need on Vermont cheeses, look up the Vermont Cheese Council, which dedicates itself "to the production and advancement of Vermont cheese" [2012]. Of course.  In doing so they list so many of the Green Mountain State's cheese makers and the many varieties of cheese they put out.  Yes, among those is the Cabot Cheese Cooperative, which makes the hearty Vermont cheddars you find in the stores.  Started in 1919 by a group of Vermont farmers looking to use up excess milk, Cabot eventually evolved into a cooperative of 1,200 farms throughout New England and upstate New York, and today:

Our company blends state-of-the-art facilities and a savvy entrepreneurial spirit, with the timeless values a personal commitment to quality that comes from being 100% owned by our farm families. [Cabot Cheese Cooperative 2012]

Hence, the co-op.

Cabot, like the Vermont Cheese Council, has a Recipes section on its website (along with pairings, natch).  It is on Cabot's website that I found a tempting muffin recipe that utilizes not just one but three popular New England ingredients: Vermont cheddar, apples and cranberries.  Nope, no maple syrup this time.  This is the recipe I interpret below.

The Recipe: Apple Cranberry Cheddar Muffins

For Cabot Cheese Co-op's muffins you will need:

* flour (again, White Lily makes a lovely albeit less Yankeefied muffin.  Cabot suggests King Arthur brand flour, based, yes, in Vermont)
* sugar (had it)
* baking powder (same)
* egg (again, same)
* vegetable oil (had it)
* salt (hey, my pantry's better stocked than I thought!)
* cranberry juice (a bottle of the high fructose corn syrup-free variety cost about $3.50 at Harris Teeter)
* dried cranberries (again Ocean Spray brand, like the juice.  Fork out about $3 to $4)
* apples (two for about $1.50)
* Cheddar cheese (8 oz for about $4, and yes I opted for Cabot in sticking with the theme of this post and the source of the recipe.  Use a sharper variety)

First, save yourself some trouble in the cleanup department by shoving some muffin cups into your muffin tin.

Peel and core your apples.  You will need to chop them finely.  I got my auto-hand chopper out for this task.

Wishing I had a mini-food processor.

Set aside those apples and grate your cheese.  The "Surprisingly Sharp" variety of Cabot's gets particularly crumbly when you do this.

Whisk together your dry ingredients.

Next, add the cheese and set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine the egg and cranberry juice.

Stir the liquid into the dry + cheese bowl.

Next add your apples and cranberries.  I found that one apple would have been more than enough. The other apple is sitting in my freezer, finely chopped and frozen.

Stir until just blended but still lumpy.

Bake in a 400° oven for about 15 minutes.

I liked this muffin, a little dry but packed with sweet and tangy flavors I don't always imagine together.  A little butter and, dare I say it, maple syrup just sends this muffin over the top.  A muffin, top?  Yes, a muffin, top.

- - - - -

Now leaving New England for the last time on this State-by-State trip, we head back towards 95 and across the Mason-Dixon and the Potomac for one last foray into the South, the Mid-Atlantic and our glorious Chesapeake Bay.  It's finally time to showcase the seafood, pork and legume wonders of our immediate neighbor to the south, the Old Dominion State.  Now entering Virginia, only 25 minutes on the other side of I-495 (traffic permitting).

Sources:

Cabot Cheese Cooperative.  "Apple, Cranberry and Cheddar Muffins ".  Copyright 2012.

Cabot Cheese Cooperative.  "The History of the World's Best Cheddar".  Copyright 2012.

Nicole (blogger, Baking Bites). "Grade A Maple Syrup vs Grade B"  Posted February 13, 2009.  Copyright 2012 Baking Bites.  All rights reserved.

Stern, Jane & Michael.  500 Things to Eat Before It's Too Late.  Houghton Mifflin: New York, 2009.

Traditional.  "An Old Yankee Poem".  Date unknown.  Reprinted from The Heart of New England: Celebrating the unique character & culture of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont website.  Date unknown.

Vermont Cheese Council.  "Home page".  Copyright 1996-2011 Vermont Cheese Council.  All rights reserved.

Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund.  "Analysis of Vermont's Food System - 3.3 Food Production: Maple Syrup".  Prepared by Scott Sawyer, Ellen Kahler, and Kit Perkins.  Copyright 2012 Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund.  All rights reserved.

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

Snacking State-by-State: North Carolina III - It's the (Pimento) Cheesiest

Pimento cheese is one of those specifically Southern foods you see throughout the "proper South".  While Maryland has its ties to Southern cuisine - in terms of seafood, fried chicken, hams, familiarity with Moon Pies as opposed to whoopies, which are only newly popular here, etc - we are clearly above the culinary Mason-Dixon Line in terms of pimento cheese.  But like the sweet Yankee whoopie pie, the decidedly Southern pimento cheese has started to make itself very much known in Maryland and throughout the nation, busting waistlines all over.

Official Name: State of North Carolina
State Nicknames: The Tar Heel State, The Old North State
Admission to the US: November 21, 1789 (#12)
Capital: Raleigh (2nd largest)
Other Important Cities: Charlotte (largest), Greensboro (3rd largest), Winston-Salem (4th largest)
Region: South, Southeast, Upper South; South Atlantic (US Census)
RAFT Nations: Crabcake; Chestnut
Bordered by: Virginia (north); Tennessee (west); Georgia (southwest); South Carolina (south); Atlantic Ocean (east)
Official State Foods and Edible Things: blueberry & strawberry (berries), milk (beverage), channel bass (fish), Southern Appalachian brook trout (freshwater trout), Scuppernong grape (fruit), honey bee (insect - again, for the honey), gray squirrel (mammal), sweet potato (vegetable)
Some Famous and Typical Foods: two - count 'em: two famous styles of BBQ (Eastern and Western or "Lexington-style"); other standard Southern foods, including (typically eaten with said BBQ's) cole slaw, hush puppies, sweet tea; pimiento cheese (the nation's leading producer); also the birthplace of Pepsi-Cola

Emily Wallace, a native of the Piedmont North Carolina, writes for the Durham-based Independent Weekly about the history of what I might easily assume is a food she enjoyed as a child.  Pimento cheese, as she puts it, is "parading around as the nation's new It Girl" [Wallace 2011].  She points out that the hearty mix of cheddar cheese, pimentos and mayo (among other things) is a food that is both proletarian and bourgeois, appearing in lunch pails and tea rooms since the early 20th century:

Many people in the Piedmont, including my mother, briefly, worked in a textile mill. There, formalized meal breaks were largely disregarded by the 1920s, and workers were encouraged to eat on the job as they found time. To facilitate this process, sandwiches and crackers were sold at worker's stations by way of dope carts—wagons named for the caffeinated "dopes," or sodas they stocked. Of the sandwiches, which included other salad spreads like ham, chicken and egg, pimento cheese became the most iconic. Tasty, affordable and convenient, it nonetheless retained its status as a delicacy in certain circles. [Wallace 2011]

And wouldn't you know it, Charlotte, according to Wallace, is the nation's pimento cheese capital, and North Carolina the nation's leading producer of the stuff.  Also the home of one of my favorite supermarket chains (yes, those words actually came out of my brain) Harris Teeter, you will find a good selection of pimento cheeses there - notably Augusta's Creations, also out of Charlotte (they make regular and jalapeño pimento cheeses).

Pimento cheese is one of those foods for which every family has its own recipe, like crab cakes or chili.  The recipe I used - originally from Nan Davis - comes from the Southern Foodways Alliance Community Cookbook, edited by Sara Roahen and John T. Edge.  It speaks to the popularity of pimento cheese that the very first recipe in the collection is a pimento cheese recipe.  Forgive me, Charlotte, but this recipe comes to us from Edge's home state of Mississippi - not exactly North Carolina, but a good recipe nonetheless.

The Recipe: Pimento Cheese

For Nan Davis' Blue Ribbon Pimento Cheese (recipe on page 5 of the SFA Community Cookbook) you will need the following:

* cheddar cheese (different recipes I saw also added some Monterey Jack, but every recipe I saw had at the least cheddar cheese, as bright yellow as you can get.  A 16 oz block set me back about $3 on sale at, yes, Harris Teeter)
* pimentos (you absolutely need these - a 4 oz jar is $3)
* mayonnaise (while the recipe calls for a homemade mayo, the recipe for which follows, I stuck with Richmond-based Duke's Mayonnaise)
* Worcestershire sauce (not every recipe will call for this, or any of the other ingredients that follow)
* sugar (just a tad)
* onion powder (I bought a small bottle for about $1.50)
* cayenne pepper (had it)

First, grate your cheddar cheese.  You could also cheat and buy it pre-shredded. Maybe that would've saved me some time, but this recipe isn't a difficult one to begin with.

I thought about adding a little leftover pecorino romano, though I only added a little.

Throw the shredded cheese in your food processor with all your other ingredients.  I had to do this in two batches.

Pulse until it is like a rough paste.  Add more mayonnaise if it's not soft enough.

This is a delicious, luscious and filling - very damn filling - pimento cheese.  I have enough to last me for a while, and that's after sharing half of it with friends.  I just have to face facts: this is going to gain me a pound or two.,  Grilled pimento cheese sandwiches for the next few weeks anyone?  Note though: I made this during Lent.  A grilled pimento cheese sandwich would be the perfect meatless meal, although I would enjoy it too much.


Sources:


Barbecue Joint.  "Eastern North Carolina Barbecue".  Featured on the episode "Durham, NC" of the show $40 a Day (Rachael Ray, host).  Food Network, 2005.

Bowen, Dana.  "East Vs. West: North Carolina Pulled Pork".  Saveur.com, Issue #139: BBQ Nation.  Published June 16, 2011.  Copyright 2011 Saveur.com.  All rights reserved.


Goldwyn, Craig "Meathead". "East Carolina Kiss & Vinegar Barbecue Sauce & Mop". Amazing Ribs website. Last revised September 12, 2011.  All

Graff, Michael, Wendy Perry, and Teresa Williford.  "The Pepsi ‘N’ Peanuts Cake".  Our State: Down Home in North Carolina. Posted February 2012.  Copyright 2012 Our State.  All rights reserved.

North Carolina BBQ Society.  "Eastern Style Slaw".  Copyright The North Carolina Barbecue Society, Inc. 2009.

North Carolina BBQ Society.  "Piedmont Lexington-Style Dip".  Copyright The North Carolina Barbecue Society, Inc. 2009.

North Carolina Travels (NorthCarolinaTravels.com).  "North Carolina Barbecue".  Date unknown.  Matt Barrett's Travel Guides: North Carolina.  All rights reserved.

O'Dea, Stephanie.  "You Can Use Your CrockPot as a Smoker".  A Year of Slow Cooking.  Posted August 7, 2008.

Pepsi Store (PepsiStore.com).  "History of the Birthplace".  Date unknown.  Copyright PepsiStore.com and Pepsi-Cola.  All rights reserved.

Saveur.com.  "Lexington Pulled Pork".  Saveur.com, Issue #139: BBQ Nation.  Published June/July 2011.  Copyright 2011 Saveur.com.  All rights reserved.

Saveur.com.  "Lexington-Style Red Slaw".  Saveur.com, Issue #139: BBQ Nation.  Published June/July 2011.  Copyright 2011 Saveur.com.  All rights reserved.

Southern Foodways Alliance (Sara Roahen and John T. Edge, editors).  The Southern Foodways Alliance Community Cookbook.  University of Georgia Press: Athens, GA, 2010.

Wallace, Emily.  "A brief history of pimento cheese".  Independent Weekly (IndyWeek.com).  Posted June 22, 2011.  Copyright 2012 Independent Weekly.  All rights reserved.

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