Regional and state food oddities

[Vanquisher]

Having moved a few times across the country, I have come to realize that the diversity in regional cuisine in the US is HUGE. Anyway, Utah is this strange culinary oasis of weird things. So, I wanted to share some fun things about Utah cuisine, and hope that you will share some things about where you are from. I could do South Carolina too, but I'll start with Utah.


Fry sauce: In Utah, we have a concoction called fry sauce. If you ask for it there, you will get it, but the rest of the country does not know what it is! It was invented and used in Artic Circle fast food restuarants and caught on. It is a mixture, mainly, of ketchup and mayonnaise used for dipping fries, of course! Also good on onion rings and corndogs.

Recipe:

Equal parts ketchup and mayonnaise.

http://www.somedudesfrysauce.com/what.html

Funeral potatoes: This is an easy to make potato and cheese casserole that people bring to funerals, weddings, and all sorts of other gatherings.

Recipe:

1/4 cup butter (melted)
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 pint Sour Cream
2 bags shredded hashbrowns Simply potatoes
1/2 cup Green Onion
2 Cups Shredded sharp cheddar cheese

crushed cornflakes, melted butter to coat corn flakes, mixed

Mix Liquids together add cheese and potatoes. Mix. Put in 13x9 casserole dish. Top with cornflakes mixture. Bake @ 350 degrees for 45 minutes.


Jello, especially green:

Utah is the lime jell-o capital of the world. I always skip the jell-o dishes, but they are many and varied containing fruits and cheeses and even grated carrots. :eww:


Utah scones

Scones in Utah are not like scones anywhere else in the country. Scones are fried dough and topped with honey butter. YUM!! Navajo’s used fry bread, Mexicans used sopaipillas, and the early pioneers used fried bread. These are all kind of like scones but not quite.


Utah Scones
1 quart warm buttermilk
2 packages (2 tablespoons) active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
10 to 11 cups flour
Heat buttermilk; pour into a large mixing bowl. Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add to the buttermilk: sugar, eggs, oil, salt, baking powder, baking soda, dissolved yeast and 6 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Add remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough. Place in a greased bowl; turn. Cover and allow to rise until doubled in bulk; punch down. Cover and place in refrigerator overnight. Roll out 1/2-inch thick and cut into squares just before frying in hot, deep vegetable oil. Serves 15 to 18; recipe can be halved. Serve with Honey Butter, made by beating 1 cup softened butter with 1 cups honey for 10 minutes, or until fluffy. Adapted from Three Decades of Cooking With Donna Lou Morgan

**EXTRA**
Honey Butter
1 cup (sticks) butter, softened
1 1/4 cups honey
Beat together butter and honey for 10 minutes, until fluffly.


Your turn!

[DCJenn]

Re: Regional and state food oddities

Maryland:

the Maryland Crab Cake. There are no substitutes.

The Chesapeake Bay Blue crab is practically an endangered species but if you can find some lump crab Bay crab, OMG.... The crab is bound with minimal binders- actually I like panko but that's not exactly traditional. Minced celery, Old Bay, and lightly beaten egg whites. I do it by feel so there's no measurements. I combine the ingredients with minimal handling and add stuff as needed to keep them together. BROILED, not fried.

The Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab- is STEAMED. Period.

This is a specialty of Southern Maryland. It's commonly found at church revivals, etc.

MARYLAND STUFFED HAM

15 lb. fully cooked boned ham
1 lg. head cabbage
4 lbs. fresh kale
4 lbs. fresh spinach
4 lg. yellow onions
Paprika, start with 1 tbsp.
Pepper to taste
Salt to taste

Chop medium fine and mix thoroughly.
Fill large pot with greens and add water halfway in the pot. Steam until a little more than wilted. When greens are done, drain and set aside. Take the ham and make a 2 inch long, 2 to 4 inch deep cut (anywhere on the ham). Then stuff this cut with the greens. Do this all over the ham and stuff as you make each cut. When you're through wrap the ham in cheesecloth or place in a pillow case. Cover with water and cook either on top of the stove at medium heat for one hour or in the oven at 350 degrees for an hour. If all the stuffing is not used, place the remaining stuffing around and on top of the ham before wrapping it in cheesecloth/pillow case.

a different version:

SOUTHERN MARYLAND STUFFED HAM

1 corned ham, about 20 lb.
8 lb. cabbage, cored
8 lb. onions
Black pepper
Red pepper

Ham may be with or without bone. Chop cabbage and onion to approximately 1 inch pieces. Wilt in boiling water until pliable. Drain well. Season with pepper and a little red pepper until quite spicy. Cut holes in ham by stabbing it clear to the bone with a wide blade knife. When cabbage mixture is cool enough to handle, stuff in holes one at a time.

MARYLAND FRIED CHICKEN (The secret to this the cracker crumbs instead of other toppings. I've seen Ritz or Saltines used.)

1 slightly beaten egg
1/4 c. milk
2/3 c. fine cracker crumbs
1/2 tsp. salt
Dash pepper
1 (2 1/2-3 lb.) ready to cook broiler
Fryer chicken, cut up
3-4 tbsp. shortening
1 c. milk

Combine egg and 1/4 cup milk. Mix cracker crumbs with salt and pepper. Dip chicken pieces into egg mixture. Then roll in crumbs. Heat shortening in heavy skillet. Brown chicken pieces evenly turning with tongs. Add milk. Cover tightly and simmer 35 minutes; uncover and cook until tender about 10 minutes. Make a cream gravy from pan drippings. (4 servings.)


Jenn

[rainbabies]

Re: Regional and state food oddities

i cant think of anything off the top of my head. well,things that i dont have recipies for...but people look at me like im nuts.

these are things from vermont:

creamy=soft ice cream anywhere else

grinder=sub sandwich or foot long
(also a bulkie--a round roll sandwich)

(this one really kills me. i know people who never knew there was anything but fake) :thud:
REAL(not fake!!!) real maple syrup=aunt jemima.

cheddar cheese..no, not the gross yellow crap you get. real sharp WHITE cheddar cheese. milk is white. not yellow or orange.

oh, and whole milk. not the red capped stuff at the store. whole. from the cow. out of the tank. fresh. full of fat, whole milk. YUM.

(i know, im a hick)

[HouseofWool]

Re: Regional and state food oddities

cheddar cheese..no, not the gross yellow crap you get. real sharp WHITE cheddar cheese. milk is white. not yellow or orange.

Well, here in WI, it is orange. The white cheese is usually mozzarella. If it is white cheddar, then it usually classified as "gourmet" or imported.

But to truely show off our Wisconsinite status, we eat brats (rhymes with hots) and deep fried cheese curds (orange cheddar, thank you very much).

We also have an infinate number of Jello dishes. My grandmother made one that was lime jello, cool whip, crushed pineapple and cottage cheese. I hated it so I don't have the receipe...

I've also had Jello where the cold water was replaced with an equal amount of vanilla ice cream. With, orange jello - it's like a dreamcicle... YUM!

[Phoebe]

Re: Regional and state food oddities

I made the funeral potatoes the other night!

[MDPhDWife]

Re: Regional and state food oddities

I can't stand spicy food despite the fact that I'm hispanic, so I won't be able to give any recipes.

There's a small town called Hatch, NM which is the chile capital of the world. Anytime you go into a restaurant in NM you'll inevitably be asked red or green? Chile, that is. People here put chile on just about everything. You can imagine the strange looks I get for having Espinoza as my maiden name and refusing to eat chile. :huh: