Destination # 10 - North Dakota

Did you ever watch the movie Fargo with whats-her-name and bad teeth guy? Hands down one of the strangest and most awesomely fantastic movies ever made in my professional opinion. Fargo, "yaaa!" is about all anybody really needs to know about North Dakota. They have shit-tons of snow and awesome hunting hats with huge woolly ear flaps. Interestingly, they are the 19th most extensive, but the 3rd least populous and the 4th least densely populated of the 50 United States. Hmmm... I wonder why? The bison or buffalo (they are for the most part one and the same, at least in the U.S.) far outnumber the humans in both of the Dakotas. I've never seen a bison to my knowledge but I ate some of one tonight and it was mighty tasty, "YAAAA!" Please note that we did not hunt and kill this bison ourselves (I mean, hell, I can't even catch a damn fish) as I'd surely shoot my toes off if I ever handled a rifle and then I'd likely fall into hysteric fits of blubbering snotty sobs over the poor dead bison for taking its life, so despite the fact that I'd get to wear neon orange freely and proudly, let's just say that hunting is not really for me. I bought this thing ground and packaged up neatly in a grocery store, thank you very much.

Roasted Garlic Bison Meatloaf - recipe courtesy of Bisonbasics.com

INGREDIENTS

1 large bulb of garlic (roasted, see below for details)
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp ground thyme
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (packed)
1 medium sized carrot, coarsely grated (about 1/2 cup)
1 tsp salt
1/4 - 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 lb ground bison (90% lean)
1 lb ground pork (70-80% lean)
1 cup fresh bread crumbs

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350F.

Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until soft, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl combine the roasted garlic paste with the eggs, thyme, parsley, carrot, salt and pepper. Add the sautéed onion. Use a large fork to work in the bison and pork meat. Sprinkle in the bread crumbs as you do so.

Once all the ingredients are well combined, transfer meat mixture to a rimmed baking sheet or roasting pan. Shape mixture into a loaf (approximately 9 inches long, 5 inches wide and 2 inches high).

Bake for about an hour, or until the meatloaf has an internal temperature in the 155 to 160F range. Remove from oven and let rest for 15 to 20 minutes before slicing. Serve with chili sauce on the side.

TO ROAST GARLIC: Set oven to 375F.
Cut the tip off a large garlic bulb, or 2 smaller ones, so that the tops of the cloves are exposed.
Pour about a teaspoon of olive over the top of the bulb(s).
Wrap and seal in aluminum foil. Roast until the garlic cloves are golden in color, about 50 to 60 minutes.
Remove from oven.
Once cool, squeeze the roasted garlic paste from the bulb(s) by squeezing the bulb from the root end towards the open tip.
Add roasted garlic paste to recipe as directed.

Admittedly, I am not a huge meatloaf fan but as far as meatloafs go this one was pretty good. Moist, good crust and not overly unhealthy as Bison is a great lean alternative to beef.

All in all, not bad!

Destination # 9 - Michigan

My knowledge of Michigan can be wrapped up in a 5 minute synopsis of the movie "8 Mile" starring Eminem. I thought Eminem was a superb douche-bag, punk-ass-mofo but I do recall liking the movie despite the protagonist. I'm also quite partial to assembly lines (thanks for that, Henry Ford!) and to recreational boating, which I understand is quite popular out there in Michigan. In my *extensive* research on Michigan I learned that the state is literally bounded by four of the five Great Lakes plus another lake called Lake Saint Clair, which clearly isn't great enough to be worthy of the title. Now I'm a bit curious as to what exactly is the criteria to being considered a "great" lake but alas 30 seconds of deep diving into Michigan is about all my addled little brain cells can take for one night. According to the "think tank" that is Wikipedia, the state of Michigan has 64,980 inland lakes and ponds. Holy Hell, almost 65,000!!!!!!!! WOW! If I were a resident of said state, I would make it my personal mission to either swim and/or pee in every single one of them. Twice. A person chillin' in Michigan is never more than six miles from a natural water source or more than 85 miles from a Great Lakes shoreline. I could totally dig that. I'm officially intrigued. Here's one last interesting tidbit on Michigan, however, before I launch into what's really important (ie, THE FOOD!). The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake". See right there? I bet you non-Michigan residents did NOT know that before!

As per usual, we did a survey of our well-traveled and/or reformed Midwestern friends as to what on earth to make that would represent Michigan well and we were told Pierogis and/or Goulash. Pierogies sounded complicated and a little freaky so we went with Goulash.

Classic Goulash - recipe courtesy of Allrecipes.com

2 pounds lean ground beef
2 large yellow onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 cups water
2 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
2 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons dried Italian herb seasoning
3 bay leaves
1 tablespoon seasoned salt, or to taste
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni

1) In a large Dutch oven, cook and stir the ground beef over medium-high heat, breaking the meat up as it cooks, until the meat is no longer pink and has started to brown, about 10 minutes. Skim off excess fat, and stir in the onions and garlic.
2) Cook and stir the meat mixture until the onions are translucent, about 10 more minutes.
3) Stir in water, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, soy sauce, Italian seasoning, bay leaves, and seasoned salt, and bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4) Stir in the macaroni, cover, and simmer over low heat until the pasta is tender, about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, discard bay leaves, and serve.

The Discovery of Goulash - a personal anecdote:

I must confess that I was sooooooooooooo not at all excited about this meal. Not even one iota of a little bit. We made this on Sat. and I had gone fishing earlier in the day hoping to catch a salmon and switch the meal plan to fresh sushi so as to avoid having to eat something as horrid sounding as Goulash. So while I was fishing for our salvation supper, I popped a couple of beers (every good fisherman-lady knows that drinking beer helps to attract the fish) and accidentally wound up totally schnockered which I would like to note was not at all my fault as they should have made that 10% ABV sign a WHOLE LOT BIGGER on the damn beer can, you see, and so because of the circumstances being what they were, I actually took no part in cooking this dish what-so-ever. Drake thought that my wielding a large kitchen knife would not have been advisable at the time. Obviously she does not understand that I am a secret Ninja and a Master at knife handling but we can let that remain a mystery to be discovered at a later date in our relationship. An hour or so later, after much spirited singing and playing of my Ukulele and brief lapses of consciousness, Drake handed me a big bowl full of steaming hot Macaroni in a Bolognese sauce. I was surprised and delighted to have been spared the nasty sounding Goulash. After examining the contents of my bowl I think I exclaimed something like "Macaroni alla Bolognese! You are a GENIUS!" Well, apparently the Hungarians are geniuses because Goulash is just a clever word for "Macaroni alla Bolognese. Macaroni in a tomato based meat sauce. Comfort food at it's finest. To end a long story, we ate and rejoiced and made wild eyed gestures at each other that expressed words of "hey this ain't too bad at all!" All in all, another successful state down. Cheers to Michigan!

Best served with just about anything other than a 10% ABV beer (or three).

Destination # 8 - Hawaii

Aloha, friends!

I've been fortunate to have visited all of the major Hawaiian Islands, to include the big island of Hawaii, Oahu, Kauai and our most very favorite, Maui. aaaaannnddd I pretty much love them all. "Love" is not even strong enough a word. I am so fond of Hawaii, in fact, that I never even stepped foot in our neighboring tropicana, Mexico, until I was 36 and had a free ride there through my company because...umm... why go to Mexico as long is there is Haaaa-vvaaaii-iiii? Beautiful tanned people with perma-grins and hang-loose hands and oooozing the aloha spirit from every salt-licked pore of their being! Man, I frickin' love Hawaii!! It wasn't until recently that Drake and I started paying even the slightest attention to the food. and when we did? We were crazy impressed. First of all, best dim sum I've ever tasted was found in the International District of Honolulu on Oahu. Drake enjoyed herself some Spam Sushi (insert gagging noises here) on Maui. We were tipped off about the Puka Dog on Kauai after it was featured on the Food Network as one of the best kept secrets on the islands. Holy mother of a hot dog shoved vertically down into the steaming depths of the doughy capsule of a bun and then assaulted with a variety of tropical sauces and chutneys of your choice. My heart was so happy it beat in perfect rhythm with the sound of my arteries clogging... bite by blissful f_cking bite. Finally, this brings me to Kalua Pork. ummm.... mamma!!! Kauai was all about SUV'ing in the jungle, Mai Tais with extra cherries and Kalua Pork; as in Kalua pork in every form we could get it in from quesadillas to tacos to plain over white rice to how can I get this in pill form? aaahhhh... Kalua Pork.

Kalua Pork

Ingredients:
1 (5 pound) pork butt roast
1 1/2 tablespoons Hawaiian red sea salt (***note, this is not to be mistaken for regular sea salt. You can get it at various places like Trader Joes or order direct from Amazon or merchants in Hawaii).
1 tablespoon liquid smoke flavoring

Directions:
1) Pierce pork all over with a carving fork. Rub salt then liquid smoke over meat. Place roast in a slow cooker.
2) Cover, and cook on Low for 9-10 hours, turning once during cooking time.
3) Remove meat from slow cooker and shred or chunk, adding drippings as needed to moisten.

Mango Chutney
1 mango - peeled, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1 green onion, chopped
1 fresh jalapeno chili pepper, finely chopped
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Mix all ingredients together and let it set in a chilled bowl for at least 1 hour.

We used flour tortillas as our venue for the Pork and and topped it with the delicious mango and jalapeno chutney for some Hawaiian style tacos.

Best served with White Russians.

Mahalo,

Erin Rae

Destination # 7 - New Mexico... and sort of San Antonio too

So... truth be told that in a pinch I probably couldn't name a single city in New Mexico if I had only a minute or two to think about it. and yes... I'm 36. Or 37 or maybe 38. Who knows how old I am but the point is, I'm probably too old to be this dumb.

Drake went on a business trip to San Antonio last week for a medical conference and naturally I was a curious as to where my wife was situated in the world relative to me so I looked up San Antonio on a map and was shocked to see that it dipped deeper into the South than some parts of Mexico. Who knew that the U.S. dipped below Mexico? I mean... well... maybe everybody did but this was news to both myself and Drake. But then again, we're only 36. or 38. There is still plenty of time to learn important things such as this. While in San Antonio Drake consumed approx. 1,436 Margaritas and ate 6 meals a day and it ALL consisted of Mexican food, rightfully so. I was so jealous I thought I might die. The minute she got home I inquired when we could whip up some Mexican food and because we had already covered Texas we had to find another state that specialized in the cuisine of our southern neighbors to make it relevant to the Culinary Road Trip Project. The great and mighty Google told me that New Mexico was the ticket. Upon doing some research about New Mexico (cuz I take this project seriously yo!) I learned some interesting things: 1) The Rio Grand (yes! I've heard of this river before in songs and movies) runs through the ENTIRE state! Wouldn't it be cool to river raft through an ENTIRE state? Can I get a Shit Yah? 2) Las Cruces makes the world's largest enchilada the first weekend in October at the "Whole Enchilada Fiesta." Umm... I like Enchiladas. and I like festivals. If I ever visit New Mexico, I will make a mental note to only go in October so that I can sample the world's largest Enchilada. and 3) well... umm... yah, that's probably about it for interesting things.

We cooked up some wicked awesome Enchiladas last night in honor of New Mexico and a little bit of San Antonio. I had already made the chicken for a previous taco meal but found that it worked wonders in tacos, quesadillas and enchiladas alike.

Slow Cooker Spicy Chicken - recipe courtesy of allrecipes.com

3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 (8 ounce) jar medium salsa
1/4 cup tomato sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small red onion, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 pinch salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Arrange the chicken breasts in the bottom of a slow cooker, and pour in the salsa and tomato sauce. Add the garlic and onion, and sprinkle in the cumin, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Set the cooker on Low, and cook until the chicken is very tender, 4 to 5 hours. Shred the chicken with two forks for serving.

Enchilada Sauce - courtesy of allrecipes.com

6 dried ancho chiles
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1/4 cup corn oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
3 cups beef broth

1.Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Arrange the ancho chiles on a baking sheet and toast in the preheated oven 3 to 4 minutes; remove the stems, pulp, and seeds from the toasted peppers. Place peppers in a bowl and pour enough hot water into bowl to cover completely; allow to soak for 1 hour.
3. Combine the ancho chiles, tomato paste, corn oil, garlic, salt, oregano, cumin, and about 1 cup of the beef broth in a blender; blend until smooth. Pour the mixture into a saucepan with the remaining beef broth and place over medium heat; simmer until heated through, about 10 minutes.

A note about this Enchilada Sauce* if you have ever brewed beer or been to a brewery while they were brewing beer, you are probably familiar with the sweet and malty aroma of wort. The steeped anchos TOTALLY reminded me of that smell. After we had strained the chilis out I made Drake keep the bowl of broth laying around so that I could shove my nose into it and take big whiffs every few minutes. Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo delicious.

To assemble the Enchiladas, we dipped the chicken into the sauce and mixed it up good. I also added a whole can of diced green chilis for some heat and texture. We added the chicken to some flour tortillas and rolled them up. We then layered a 9X13 pyrex pan with about 1/2 cup of sauce, then packed in very tightly (for some reason this is important) the rolled up tortillas. We added another 1/2-1 cup of sauce to cover and then about 2 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese on top. Baked at 350 for 25 minutes until cheese was golden and sauce was bubbling. Drank with homemade Margaritas (duh!)

This was the best Enchilada I have ever had if I do say so myself. Seriously... soooooo good!