Snacking State-by-State: Colorado II - Denver buffalo buffalo...

Many of the people eating those Western omelet sandwiches in the previous post would have been cattle ranchers and cowboys (again, Brokeback Mountain comes to mind). Cattle is an important part of life in Colorado, as it has been for well over a century.

Snacking State-by-State: Colorado

Official Name: State of Colorado
State Nickname: The Centennial State
Admission to the US: August 1, 1876 (#38)
Capital: Denver (largest city)
Other Important Cities: Colorado Springs (2nd largest), Aurora (3rd largest), Lakewood (4th largest); Fort Collins (5th largest)
Region: West, Southwest, Rocky Mountains; Mountain (US Census)
RAFT Nations: Bison, Pinyon Nut
Bordered by: Wyoming (north); Nebraska (northeast); Kansas (east); Oklahoma (southeast); New Mexico (south); Arizona (southwest - one of the Four Corners states); Utah (west)
Official State Foods and Edible Things: nothing, but note: Greenback Cutthroat Trout (fish - but, it is endangered so you better not eat it!!!)
Some Famous & Typical Foods: Southwestern (New Mexican) cuisine, beef, bison & buffalo, Denver/Western omelet and sandwich

The Colorado Beef Council notes that about a third of all Colorado counties are dependent on the beef industry, and that close to 60% of all agricultural product is beef [Colorado Beef Council, date unknown]. Coloradans, as all Westerners, found uses in many parts of the animal. That includes that most legendary of organ meats, the Rocky Mountain oyster. Though not as popular a delicacy as they used to be, they’re still the stuff of legend in Colorado. But they’re not terribly easy to find here in Maryland, which is why I am not bringing you a Rocky Mountain oyster recipe (Want one? Check out Josh Bishop’s post at GoColorado.com. This Michigan ex-pat writes about his first experience with the stuff in his new home in Denver).

I even thought far enough outside the box to consider that much more indigenous of Western bovines, the bison. The great North American Bison bison roamed this part of the continent for thousands of years, and though it almost went extinct it has made an important comeback, and is back on the dinner plates not just of Coloradans but many Americans. Steve Raabe writes for the Denver Post about the resurgence of bison, and crunches the numbers:

Colorado has about 185 bison ranchers with about 15,475 animals, ranking the state fourth in production, behind South Dakota, Nebraska and North Dakota. While the USDA does not track retail sales, Colorado is believed to rank at or near the top of the nation in per- capita consumption because of the high penetration of bison products in grocery stores and restaurants.

Bison advocates say consumers are attracted by the meat's taste and nutritional profile — leaner than comparable cuts of beef and other red meats. [Raabe 2010]

There are now bison farms all over the US, including in Maryland, where they didn’t really roam. I contacted Gunpowder Bison, that local favorite of Baltimore bison aficionados, but they were out, but took my name and number for when they get them (hell, it’s not like buffalo balls grow on trees). So no fried balls for now. Instead, I’m heading back to that much more simple and easy to prepare recipe, the burger, this time done Southwest - er, New Mexican style - in this case, with some bright green chiles.

The recipe: Best Bison Burger, New Mexican-style

There is many a recipe out there for bison burgers. The one I went with was a simple preparation from Chef Forrest Waldo, who wrote it for Denver-based High Plains Bison. I confess, however, that I made some minor additions to Southwestify it.


The most important, and expensive, ingredient is the bison. No big surprise there. So as not to waste the trip to Gunpowder Bison, at least I left with a pound of ground bison (about $8) - enough to make four quarter-pound burgers. In addition I added the following:

* Worcestershire sauce (got it)
* Tabasco sauce (had none, but I substituted El Yucateco’s smoky hot chipotle sauce)
* granulated garlic (none on hand? Just finely chop a clove of garlic like I did)
* To the recipe I added two small chiles from my garden plot, freshly thawed from the freezer.
* salt, pepper and olive oil (got them - this is for dipping the bison patties into before frying)
* And of course, soft hamburger buns (a bag of 6 for $3)

For an added New Mexican twist, in addition to the chiles I added to the meat, I also flame-roasted a poblano chile and quartered it, reserving one slice of chile for each burger. For a topping, I blended together an avocado, a flame-roasted Roma tomato and a squeeze of lime. Wisconsin cheddar finished off some of the burgers.

The recipe is pretty simple: mix the bison with the first four ingredients, then form into patties.


Chef Forrest recommends you dip each patty into the seasoned olive oil until covered, and fry those burgers up. Flip them over a few times. They are done when they no longer run with red blood.

Notice that beer in the background? New Belgium Brewery of Fort Collins, CO, y'all need to get Fat Tire out here in Maryland. Pretty please. I had to smuggle this bottle in my luggage from California. That's not easy.

It’s pretentious artsy foodie word time, folks, and I apologize. Here goes: these burgers were luscious. That’s how I can best describe them, I just can’t help it. Remembering back to my first experience with bison back at a rest stop in California, I told people that it tasted sort of like beef, only subtler and cleaner. That’s bison for you: a nice, gorgeous-tasting meat. Yes, pricey, but I don’t eat it that often. The ingredients all do a good job not of masking but of complementing the bison. This goes for my impromptu guacamole. There’s something about avocado that seems to go very nicely with bison, and here I found that out firsthand.

For my next few posts I head “Back East” as it were - to the Deep South, to the Mid-Atlantic, and right next, to my first foray on this trip-by-blog-post to New England. It’s real, bona fide Yankee cuisine as I head north to Connecticut!

Sources:

Beard, James A. James Beard's American Cookery. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company 1972. Parts also available on Google Books.

Bishop, Josh. “Rocky Mountain Oysters: Try Them If You Dare”. GoColorado.com (Life, Leisure & Travel in the Centennial State), date unknown. Copyright GoWorld Publishing, 2003-2011.

Colorado Beef Council. “The Legacy of Cattle in Colorado”. Colorado Beef Council, date unknown. Copyright Colorado Beef Council, 2011.

Monette, Mark (interview). “Let’s Talk Colorado Cuisine: Mark Monette”. Colorado.com, date unknown. Copyright Colorado Tourism Office, 2011.

New Mexico Tourism Department. “New Mexico Cuisine (Culinary Enchantment)”. NewMexico.org, date unknown. Copyright New Mexico Tourism Department, 2010.

Raabe, Steve. “Bison becoming the other red meat”. Denver Post, published April 22, 2010.

Wagner, Kyle. “The Bite: The yolk's on us”. Denver Westword, published Thursday, Mar 15 2001.

Waldo, Forrest. “Best Bison Burger”. High Plains Bison, date unknown. Copyright High Plains Bison (a Trade Name of Golden Bison Company), 2010.

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

Snacking State-by-State: Colorado I - A Big Ol' Omelette

Colorado is a tough state for me to pin down, but it shouldn't be. I just don't have much experience with it. Probably outside of the state it is best known for two things: the famous Denver omelet, and Coors. It should be known for much more than that, and for this next post, I set out to find out what else there is about the foods of Colorado.

Snacking State-by-State: Colorado

Official Name: State of Colorado
State Nickname: The Centennial State
Admission to the US: August 1, 1876 (#38)
Capital: Denver (largest city)
Other Important Cities: Colorado Springs (2nd largest), Aurora (3rd largest), Lakewood (4th largest); Fort Collins (5th largest)
Region: West, Southwest, Rocky Mountains; Mountain (US Census)
RAFT Nations: Bison, Pinyon Nut
Bordered by: Wyoming (north); Nebraska (northeast); Kansas (east); Oklahoma (southeast); New Mexico (south); Arizona (southwest - one of the Four Corners states); Utah (west)
Official State Foods and Edible Things: nothing, but note: Greenback Cutthroat Trout (fish - but, it is endangered so you better not eat it!!!)
Some Famous & Typical Foods: Southwestern (New Mexican) cuisine, beef, bison & buffalo, Denver/Western omelet and sandwich

Technically, you can call Colorado "Southwestern" - at least to some extent. The southern part of the state, at least, has geology and archaeology that parallels what you find in Arizona and New Mexico. But that ignores large swathes of the Rocky Mountains that could hardly be considered "Southwest". But is the food “Southwestern”? It’s certainly “New Mexican”, also found in Utah and (duh) New Mexico (see a more thorough description of New Mexican cuisine at NewMexico.org).

But I figured there was more to Colorado than Southwesternness, and sought more info. To help me get a better grasp on what the food of Colorado is like, I looked to the writers at Colorado.com. They conducted an interview with Boulder-based chef Mark Monette, executive chef at the Flagstaff House Restaurant. I had hoped he would clarify just what is "Colorado cuisine". Instead, I read this:

It’s not really something that you can define anymore. We have well-trained chefs in Colorado now—people who are highly trained in food and wine and who are excited about it and they’re coming up with new ideas all of the time. They try to search for the local farmers and producers. It’s not just a grilled ribeye and baked potato anymore. [Monette, date unknown]

So Monette doesn't clear things up the way I had hoped. He does, however, note that Colorado is loving the locavore movement we see in California (qv last week). He also notes in the interview
that his restaurant utilizes plenty of locally grown and raised vegetables, fruits and animals (lamb, rabbit and - yes, bison). If ever I make it out to Boulder I must save the money for a visit.

Perhaps the most famous dish, one that needs little mention, is the Denver omelet (or Western omelet, to Coloradans). Kyle Wagner at the Denver Westword gives a very simple description of it: "ham, peppers, onion and cheese" in an omelet (Wagner 2001), as served at the Perfect Landing restaurant in Denver. The omelet has been around since the early 20th century at the latest, and then it was primarily in sandwich form. Wagner notes that the Denver sandwich was a meal of convenience - the ingredients could be traded by cattlemen and eaten without a plate. Just imagine Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist sharing a Western sandwich in that cold tent (Yes, I know that was Wyoming. When will I next get a chance to make a Brokeback comment?) The famous sandwich became a famous omelet in an equally practical way: when the bread wasn't necessary anymore, people stopped using it (Wagner 2001). I didn't use any bread either for my Denver omelet, which follows.

The recipe: Western (Denver) Omelet

Since there are a thousand variations on the Denver omelet, I went with the simplest one I could find. I stopped looking with James A. Beard's American Cookery version from 1972, which is incredibly simple: simply combine chopped onion, green pepper and ham (or bacon), season it in butter til limp, and then add beaten eggs, browning on each side. Season with salt, pepper and hot sauce, and serve on a bun. Beard's recipe allows for a lot of leeway: he regularly added tomato and bacon. I prefer red bell pepper (never a fan of the green ones here). It goes without saying that you do not need a bun for this.


Most ingredients were inexpensive or already on hand:

* eggs (I ended up using four)
* ham steak (about $3.50 for one - I needed only about a quarter of it, and froze the rest for another day)
* onion, green and red bell pepper
* cheese (my choice: Wisconsin cheddar)
* butter, for sauteing the veggies.

The Denver omelet, as Beard notes, is quite simple to put together:

Chop your veggies and shred your cheese - I used a half an onion, half a green bell pepper, and half a red bell pepper. I eyeballed the cheese until I had as much as I wanted. Cube your ham steak while you're at it. Set it all aside.

Get out a big old cast-iron skillet, and melt some butter in it. Then do the following:


Add the veggies and ham to the pan.


Lightly scramble the eggs and add them and the cheese to the pan.


Continue to fry until browned on one side, and flip over. Try not to break it all apart like I could not help doing. When both sides are browned, it's done. Put it on a plate and eat it!


This was an omelet that I had to eat in two sittings. It was what one might call a most hearty omelet: cheese, ham, egg, with whatever vegetables you care to add. Taste-wise, it turned out nicely for me. Visually, it was a mess. I think I am incapable of turning an omelet without tearing it to pieces, especially if it has lots of stuff in it. It didn't matter to me: Beard's recipe assumes you're going to put it in a roll anyway, so nobody's going to see it all torn apart.

Sources:

Beard, James A. James Beard's American Cookery. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company 1972. Parts also available on Google Books.

Bishop, Josh. “Rocky Mountain Oysters: Try Them If You Dare”. GoColorado.com (Life, Leisure & Travel in the Centennial State), date unknown. Copyright GoWorld Publishing, 2003-2011.

Colorado Beef Council. “The Legacy of Cattle in Colorado”. Colorado Beef Council, date unknown. Copyright Colorado Beef Council, 2011.

Monette, Mark (interview). “Let’s Talk Colorado Cuisine: Mark Monette”. Colorado.com, date unknown. Copyright Colorado Tourism Office, 2011.

New Mexico Tourism Department. “New Mexico Cuisine (Culinary Enchantment)”. NewMexico.org, date unknown. Copyright New Mexico Tourism Department, 2010.

Raabe, Steve. “Bison becoming the other red meat”. Denver Post, published April 22, 2010.

Wagner, Kyle. “The Bite: The yolk's on us”. Denver Westword, published Thursday, Mar 15 2001.

Waldo, Forrest. “Best Bison Burger”. High Plains Bison, date unknown. Copyright High Plains Bison (a Trade Name of Golden Bison Company), 2010.

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

Snowed In and Baking

I almost baked up a storm today. I did bake some Trader Joe's Reduced Guilt Brownies. I just love that name. While most of what I buy at Trader Joe's is fabulous, lately I've been having problems with some of the mixes I have bought from TJ's. Plus, I've rarely had luck with reduced-fat brownie mixes. So I was a bit trepidatious about this mix to say the least.

This mix just needs 2/3 cup of lowfat vanilla yogurt. I did in fact have some plain yogurt in the fridge (the rest of the yogurt is straining in the fridge - I'm Greekifying it). Mix the two, and some vanilla extract if you use plain yogurt, and put it in a greased 8" square pan for about 22 to 27 minutes in a 325 degree oven. The mixing seemed fruitless at first, but sure enough it all came together after about a minute or so of stirring it with a fork.

These brownies are sticky. Lay your knife atop them and you will pull up a brownie-covered knife. But for something so sticky it sure is a stable brownie, When you slice it, it sure makes a mess but it all comes up in one piece anyway, deceptively neatly. Plus, it is a surprisingly moist brownie. What is best is that it does not have that weird "reduced fat brownie" flavor that so many other mixes have.

I did not bake anything else today. Almost made some gluten free bread from a mix, but I have enough bread for now.`

Asparagus pot?

A friend on a very large social network recently posted this question: "Is an asparagus pot a necessary kitchen item, or am I being seduced by more gadgets?"

I guess I'm not a "foodie" after all. I've never even heard of this contraption!

This makes me wonder: what are some of the useless kitchen devices we have in our cupboards? I had a difficult time answering this question because, to be honest, I don't usually bring kitchen utensils into my home unless I need them. That marble mortar and pestle? Hardly mere decoration, I've been grinding spices with that thing for almost 15 years. And my bread maker is just as useful today as a rice cooker. Don't even get me started on all the ways I use my strainer.

The closest one I could come up with was my over-the-flame sandwich pie maker. Perhaps this was a more useful a device, oh, 90 years ago than today. Apparently my mother's grandmother had the one resting in my kitchen. It's a device that looks somewhat like two sticks each with half a flying saucer stuck to the inside, so that when you press it together it looks like a flying saucer stuck between two sticks.

See? Flying saucer between two sticks.

This seemingly useless device was used to turn plain old sandwiches into delicious flame-roasted pies. Just lightly butter each side of a sandwich - say, apple butter - and roast it in this device over an open flame for about five to ten minutes, equal time on each side. You will get a warm, delicious and gooey sandwich pie for your troubles. Today it might be a new and different way to make a grilled cheese.

The only other thing I could think to put on this list is my pasta maker. You may wonder what rube would put such a wondrous device on such a list. This one. I bought it at a markdown when Linens & Things shut down. Yet, I haven't had the chance to use it yet. I know, I will, eventually. But for now, it's still sitting in its box, waiting...

How about you all? Do you have any kitchen gadgets that actually are useless? Or maybe ones you want to get some more use out of?

Snacking State-by-State: California Part 2B - the Northern Half (The Best Little Shiu Mai in Chinatown)

To finish with California, I head back to the big city: this time San Francisco, home to sourdough, fog, and the thriving Chinese and LGBT communities of Chinatown and the Castro, respectively (related note: the Castro was the home of Harvey Milk, gay rights activist and the first openly gay politician to be elected to public office in the US). While we don't, alas, think of the gay community's contributions to San Francisco's culinary landscape, Chinatown fortunately has an extensive food history.

Snacking State-by-State: California

Official Name: State of California
State Nickname: The Golden State
Admission to the US: September 9, 1850 (#31)
Capital: Sacramento (7th largest city)
Other Important Cities: Los Angeles (largest, & 2nd largest in the USA), San Diego (2nd largest), San Jose (3rd largest), San Francisco (4th largest)
Region: West, Pacific (small sections of the state can be considered Northwest or Southwest in terms of its food and culture); Pacific (US Census)
RAFT Nations: Acorn, Chile Pepper, Pinyon Nut, Salmon
Bordered by: Baja California, Mexico (south), Arizona & Nevada (east), Oregon (north), Pacific Ocean (west)
Official State Foods and Edible Things: golden trout (fish), California Valley quail (bird), grizzly bear (animal)
Some Famous & Typical Foods: Where to begin? "New California cuisine", diversity of ethnic cuisines, especially Asian, Latin American and Mediterranean (Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Thai, Salvadoran, Korean, Italian), citrus (especially in the south), wine (especially in the center and north), seafood, dates, and so much else

One of the oldest Chinatowns in North America, it survived the massive earthquake of 1906 to grow bigger and better than ever. If you ever visit San Fran's Chinatown, as I did a few years ago, don't spend time in any one restaurant. I mean, sure, go ahead and do that, but I had more fun trolling up and down the streets on my own dim sum crawl.

When we usually think of Chinese food, we think specifically of things that nobody eats in China - I mean nobody. Chop suey, for example, is not Chinese food. It was actually just stuff that a Chinese immigrant in California threw together for some white patrons, as New York author Jennifer 8. Lee points out in her fascinating must-read book The Fortune Cookie Chronicles (note: fortune cookies aren't Chinese either - they're of Japanese origin). As for General Tso's chicken? Nope, not Chinese either. Lee gives us the scoop on her search for it in the Hunan province home town of General Tso (aka Zuǒ Zōngtáng) himself:

Unlike kung pao chicken, which nearly every self-respecting Chinese chef can make, a request for General Tso's chicken left many cooks, waitresses, and restaurant owners [in Hunan] scratching their heads.

The refrain was consistent: "We don't have General Tso's chicken here" or "We've never heard of it." Even after I showed them pictures of the dish on my digital camera, they would frown and look at me blankly, then helpfully suggest another chicken dish, often the local specialty, mala or kung pao. [Lee, p. 68]

Out of all the foods Americans are familiar with that actually are Chinese, perhaps the most popular is dim sum. PBS mainstay Martin Yan writes in his Martin Yan's Chinatown Cooking about the place of dim sum in China's varied cuisines:

Dim sum is to China what hors d'oeuvre are to France or tapas are to Spain. Dim sum is social food, meant to be enjoyed with family, friends, and business associates along with plenty of conversation.

Dim sum has evolved into an art form over the past eleven centuries since its origins in Guangzhou. The majority of Westerners are only now beginning to realize the elegant simplicity of popular dim sum dishes like char siu bao and maw mai gai. [Yan, p. 1]

Yan starts his cookbook with dim sum, and it's where I end my trip back to California.

The recipe: Surefire Shu Mai (Pork Version)

One of my favorite types of dim sum is the popular steamed version of the pork and shrimp shu mai dumpling, native to Guangdong (Canton) in southern China. Yan swaps out the traditional pork and shrimp for ground chicken. Never a fan of ground chicken, I followed his recipe but put the pork back instead of the chicken, and left out the shrimp.


As with the California roll, there were many varied ingredients. However, most of those ingredients were far more easily assembled than the sushi. Usually I halve the recipes but I love shu mai so much, I made the whole thing.

* dried mushrooms (about $2 or $3 at H-Mart - I only needed two of them)
* ground pork (I used about a pound, $5 at Whole Foods)
* sliced bamboo shoots (one can was less than a dollar at H-Mart)
* an egg (I did buy a dozen for this, but I knew I'd be using a lot of eggs in the near future)
* green onion (just one - a bunch is a buck)
* soy sauce, salt, cornstarch, white pepper and sugar (got it all)
* fresh ginger (same)
* sesame oil (almost out)
* shu mai or dumpling wrappers ($1.75 at H-Mart, in the freezer section)
* one carrot and about a 1/3 cup of frozen peas (decoration)
* lettuce leaves or parchment paper to line the bamboo steamer (I tried both. I had better luck with the latter)

In addition, you will need a wok with a steamer rack, and a bamboo steamer. If you do not have these, you just have to find some other way to steam the shu mai.

Yan also has a recipe for an excellent dipping sauce of powdered mustard, white vinegar, soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar and chili sauce. Make it while the dim sum is steaming and refrigerate.



The first part is the easiest: mix all of the above ingredients, rehydrating the mushrooms and mincing them along with the bamboo shoots and the ginger. Yan says to mix it all until spongy.

The next part is the tedious part. Here you will need two moist washcloths or kitchen towels, one to cover the wrappers while you work with them, the other to cover the dumplings that you have made but not yet steamed.

To assemble each shu mai dumpling, take a sheet of dumpling wrapper and put about a tablespoon and a half of the filling in the middle


Next, fold the sides around the filling like a purse, puffing some out until it bugs out of the middle a little bit.

Fold those sides around

Line them up like little shu mai soldiers

Top each dumpling with some shredded carrot and a few frozen peas if you like. I did that. Yan also suggests that you can smooth out the sides with wet fingers to make it look neater. I didn't do that.

Next, prepare your wok for steaming by placing the steamer rack in the center of the wok and filling the wok with enough water to almost come up to the rack. Once it sets to boiling you will set the bamboo steamer onto the rack. While the water builds up to a boil, place the shu mai into the bamboo steamer, making sure they don't touch.


Set them on either lettuce leaves or parchment paper, cover the steamer, and steam for about 20 to 25 minutes.

And of course, put the bamboo steamer lid on the top steamer tray.

I had better luck with the latter, as the shu mai that I set on (albeit small, piddly little) lettuce leaves wound up having goopy, sticky wrappers at the end of steaming, while the parchment paper produced a far more stable dumpling. Note that at no time did any of the filling fall apart. The steaming will make that pretty solid. I had to steam about five rounds of shu mai altogether. Martin Yan says his recipe will yield anywhere from 24 to 30 dumplings. I eked out 35, so maybe mine were a wee bit smaller than they should have been.

Apart from the goopiness of the first round of shu mai, this recipe turned out very well. The filling tasted about the same as any I have had out. Only the dumpling wrappers left something to be desired, and I have to find out if that is due to their having been frozen but not quite thawed, or if the water level in the wok was too high, or if I just left it to steam too long. The next time I make this type of dim sum I will have to experiment to see what yields a less soft wrapper in the end. These are easy to heat up and eat up. After heating in the microwave for about 30 seconds (I did it in stages, 15 seconds each), it was quite good, in fact slightly better than when I first took them out of the steamer.


I leave California having learned about some foods I had never eaten until I lived in the Golden State: California rolls (and by extension, sushi), shu mai (and by extension, dumplings) and California cuisine (as opposed to, say, California's cuisine). And I made my own date shake on top of that! It is not meant as a put-down to say that Colorado, the next state on my list, will be easier to handle. It will - there just aren't as many people. And there are a few key dishes that just scream "COLORADO"! None of them, I might add, involve Coors. Yekhkhkh.

Sources:

Lee, Jennifer 8. The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food. Twelve Books: New York, 2008.

Waters, Alice, and the Cooks of Chez Panisse. Chez Panisse Vegetables. HarperCollins Publishers: New York, 1996.

Yan, Martin. Martin Yan's Chinatown Cooking: The Companion Cookbook to the Public Television Series. William Morrow: New York, 1995.

Some information also obtained from Wikipedia's "California" page and the Food Timeline State Foods webpage link to "California".

Snacking State-by-State: California Part 2A - the Northern Half (California Fresh!)

Last week, I reveled in recipes from the Southern half of California, which I know quite well. This week, I try to understand the foods of the Northern half of the state, a place that is strange and unfamiliar to this Southern California boy. Okay, honorary Southern California boy by way of Baltimore, my hometown and current location.

Just to reiterate the background info:

Snacking State-by-State: California

Official Name: State of California
State Nickname: The Golden State
Admission to the US: September 9, 1850 (#31)
Capital: Sacramento (7th largest city)
Other Important Cities: Los Angeles (largest, & 2nd largest in the USA), San Diego (2nd largest), San Jose (3rd largest), San Francisco (4th largest)
Region: West, Pacific (small sections of the state can be considered Northwest or Southwest in terms of its food and culture); Pacific (US Census)
RAFT Nations: Acorn, Chile Pepper, Pinyon Nut, Salmon
Bordered by: Baja California, Mexico (south), Arizona & Nevada (east), Oregon (north), Pacific Ocean (west)
Official State Foods and Edible Things: golden trout (fish), California Valley quail (bird), grizzly bear (animal)
Some Famous & Typical Foods: Where to begin? "New California cuisine", diversity of ethnic cuisines, especially Asian, Latin American and Mediterranean (Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Thai, Salvadoran, Korean, Italian), citrus (especially in the south), wine (especially in the center and north), seafood, dates, and so much else

Northern and Central California are perhaps most famous for their wine. As I pointed out last week, California wines have gotten good enough that they now rival wines from France in many competitions. Most famous among the California wines are those from Napa and Sonoma (though again, they aren't the only ones). I never got the chance to take a tour through wine country, though my friends Jim & Gil, also from SoCal, have talked about it. We will, someday. As Eric, one of my much more local friends, pointed out to me over a New Year's Eve dinner (thanks, guys), California grapes played a very important role in rescuing the French wine industry. In the 19th century, vineyards in both England and on the Continent were ravaged by the Phylloxera. Unable to stop their vineyards from dying, European vintners eventually grafted cuttings from North American vines that were more resistant than the completely non-resistant European varietals.

Of course, Northern (and Central) Cali is more than wine. It's also the home of Berkeley-based chef Alice Waters, the executive chef of Chez Panisse and the public face of "California cuisine". California cuisine is not the same thing as "California's cuisine". It's a whole way of looking at, procuring, preparing and eating food, period. It is the use of the freshest, most locally-grown and most in-season ingredients as you can find, and often prepared as simply as you can prepare them. As Waters writes in her book Chez Panisse Vegetables, we can all live "California cuisine" without even coming close to the Golden Coast:

If at all possible, plant a garden yourself, and above all, patronize farmer's markets. Get to know your purveyors and producers and give them feedback... Always explore your garden and go to the market before you decide what to cook. Decide on your menu based on what you find there. Buy products that are fresh, local, and organic. Select produce that looks freshly harvested and at its peak. Look for vegetables that look right back at you! [Waters, p. xix]

In the spirit of Waters and California cuisine, I looked for something simple and in season to prepare. At first I thought a salad would be a great idea, but lettuce isn't exactly in season in Maryland right now. Winter squash is, and I ended up finding one from the farmers' market right on my counter.

The recipe: Oven-Roasted Squash with Garlic and Parsley


This recipe, from Waters' Chez Panisse Vegetables cookbook, is a simple and surprisingly sumptuous way to prepare pretty much any winter squash. I found it worked especially well with butternut. It was almost as easy as that date shake I wrote about last week:

* winter squash (mine was a butternut, about 1 lb, which I bought at the farmers' market for a buck)
* olive oil (had it)
* salt and pepper (had those, too)
* garlic (had a few cloves left)
* fresh parsley (had just enough in the fridge)


Peel and seed the squash and dice it into 1" pieces, then toss it with olive oil, salt and pepper. Waters' recipe didn't give exact amounts. I just added enough to my liking. Please, please don't go overboard with the salt and pepper.


Put the pieces on a baking sheet and bake for 375°F for 40 minutes, moving it around with a spatula once in a while to make sure it doesn't burn.


While baking the squash, finely chop a few cloves of garlic (I like garlic, so I chopped about 5 or 6 small cloves) and parsley (a small handful), and then toss with the squash just before serving. That's it.


It sometimes amazes me how such a simple recipe can be so tasty, but Waters' recipe was just that. The butternut just gets nice and sweet in the oven, and stands up so well against all the savory, salty ingredients thrown at it. Please do yourselves a favor and make this sometime. Eat it with a simple salad. Waters recommends a very simple dressing for many of her salads (look in the "lettuce" section of her Chez Panisse Vegetables), based on a finely chopped shallot that sits in wine vinegar and a little salt for about an hour, then mixed with some olive oil, pepper and other items of your choice. I poured a bit of this with chopped garlic over a salad of blood oranges and mixed greens.

Sources:

Lee, Jennifer 8. The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food. Twelve Books: New York, 2008.

Waters, Alice, and the Cooks of Chez Panisse. Chez Panisse Vegetables. HarperCollins Publishers: New York, 1996.

Yan, Martin. Martin Yan's Chinatown Cooking: The Companion Cookbook to the Public Television Series. William Morrow: New York, 1995.

Some information also obtained from Wikipedia's "California" page and the Food Timeline State Foods webpage link to "California".

Winter Restaurant Week Starts Tonight!

Yes, it's that time of the year again, when many local restaurants offer delicious prix fixe meals for $35 ($20 for lunch if you want to save some money). Winter Baltimore Restaurant Week is here to cure those post-New Year's doldrums. I am hoping to indulge this year with friends, and I will write about it this time. Make sure you make your reservations as soon as you can!

Ramen ramen everywhere

I've been eating a lot of ramen noodles lately.

Yes, some of you who are foodies may be retching. And many of you might be scratching your heads. I mean, with all these State-by-State posts and Beltway posts (another one coming up in a week or two), and all the other things I'm cooking you may wonder why I would be indulging in the culinary equivalent of Styrofoam.

Simple: it's easy, and one can't make meatloaves, California rolls and Hoppin' John all the time. Once in a while, I like just being lazy. Especially when I have a cold, as I did this week. How simple can it be to just boil some water, throw in a brick of hard dry ramen noodles and three minutes later have a meal?

But that dorm room / bachelor pad staple has to be zhuzh'd up somehow. So I go to my spice rack to make those ramen noodles a little more interesting. Some combinations I've come up with (in each case, the spices are added along with the spice packets. You might also try it without them):

Beef ramen - add a dash or two of the following combinations:

• cayenne and curry powder
  
• turmeric and curry powder
• mint

Shrimp ramen - dill worked very nicely this morning. Made it taste almost buttery.

"Oriental" ramen - a Thai or Chinese spice blend works well, or some ginger

Chicken or roast chicken ramen - tarragon or thyme, or any of the ones mentioned above for beef

Our new robot overlords

Not food related, but this is pretty neat. At least until they take over.

A few random bites: January Edition

Yes, once again I've been overwhelmed with work, job apps and extracurricular activities to write about everything I've eaten as of late. Just a few tidbits to keep you all up to date:

1. Sof'ella's Blueberry Muffin with Streusel Mix is pretty damn good. It's not so easy to find here but go to any of the DC-area World Markets and you will find them easily.

2. A week or so ago, my sister and I met up with some friends of hers for a (mostly) girls night out - all the way out in Eldersburg. The County Cork Pub is a very busy place, and for at least half an hour it was standing room only for us while we waited for a table. Once seated I ordered for myself a plate of oysters on the half shell (about $10), with a few tangy sauces to eat them with. So delicious. The burger ($9) with hand-cut fries in garlic were even better, but filled me up too much for any dessert.

3. This past Friday night I stopped by 13.5% Wine Bar. Again, it was all good: bread with olive oil and roasted garlic ($6) was a little messy, as far as squeezing out the garlic, but still very comforting. The pulled duck confit tacos ($8) were new for me: rich duck confit with an onion jam and sprigs of cilantro inside soft tortillas were an odd combination, but one I will have to come back to sometime soon. And I must pair it with their four shots of draft beef ($7), which gives someone like me, who can't make a decision, a nice variety of beers to try out. The Clipper City stood out for me, but all were good.

4. That chocolate gravy-turned-mousse that I made a few weeks ago was still good in the refrigerator yesterday. Still not sick! Oh what one will pull out of the fridge if it has no fuzz or weird colors on it.

5. Oh what useless junk one will find in Giant: who really needs a "small appliance caddy" to slide small appliances that just-are-not-small-enough back under your cabinet? Really?