Destination # 13 - Maryland

Maryland is one of those states out yonder somewhere that I have been to on random occasions once or twice (or thrice) perhaps. My last visit to Maryland was only just recently in 2010 when Drake and I took the Metro out to the first stop across the Maryland/D.C. border so that we could boast having found a Geocache in the great state of Maryland. We found 4, in fact, in a short 30 minute jaunt and thus considered it a trip well worth taking. Back when I was 18 or 19 I took a vacation to D.C. and Maryland with my boyfriend (yes; it's true, I once had one) and I remember finding Annapolis to be surprisingly charming and beautiful. I recall the "downtown" corridor to be an aesthetic brick paved street lined with double-story brick houses only the bottom story was always a merchant business of some sort with a residential household on top of it. If I were to live in a house stacked on top of a merchant, I would most certainly insist that it was a pizza joint or a bakery. I'm just sayin'. What I recall of the U.S. Navel Academy, located in Annapolis, was that I had never seen an expanse of lawn so neatly manicured nor so many men dressed in the exact same uniform, all with the exact same crew cut, the same gait, glance, demeanor, drawl, cup size, etc. It was like walking onto a movie set of Pleasantville with the same actor replicated 1,500 times playing the role of the Tin Soldier.

For Maryland our food choice was as no-brainer. Crab Cakes. Duh! We made these tonight served up with some sweet corn and some Bubbly because Bubbly is elegant and so are crab cakes (and so are my pink champagne flutes that we bought to benefit breast cancer but look shockingly like giant pink butt-plugs and thus we refer to them as such).

I should explain that the recipe here is Drakey's own creation and not to an exact science. She uses the "ORSO" unit of measurement so feel free to use your own judgement if you want more or less of any particular ingredient; or so. The cakes turned out AH-MAZING!!!

Maryland Crab Cakes - recipe courtesy of Drakey Reilly Kendermore

1 lb loose crab meat
1/2 cup mayo
1 1/8 cup ORSO crushed Club crackers
1 TB Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
1/4 cup finely chopped green onions
1/4 cup ORSO finely chopped celery stalk
1/4 cup ORSO finely chopped red bell pepper
2 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
1 dash and a slight pause of lemon juice

Slightly mix all the ingredients together (EXCEPT FOR THE CRAB) until everything is in a rough paste. Gently fold crab in so that it is not overworked.

Heat olive oil in large saute pan until hot on medium-high heat and then turn down to medium. Form 4 patties and place them into the frying pan, cooking each side until it is golden brown; about 4-5 minutes ORSO on each side. Drain the patties on a paper towel and repeat with the remaining 4 patties.

Destination # 11 - Utah

Let me preface this by saying that one of the many valuable things that my mother taught me in life was that "if I didn't have anything nice to say then to not say anything at all." I can't honestly say that I have conducted my life in a manner always remaining true to these words; no... I can't say that AT ALL, actually, but in the back of my brain where my conscience lies, there's a little nagging angel whining the words of my mother "if you don't have anything nice to say then well then just don't say it at all!". WHATEVER! I tell you this anecdote, kind reader, as a poorly attempted excuse as to why I am not including hardly any information (no research, no
legitimately tried or consumed recipes) about Utah here. Because at the ripe age of 38, I have decided once and for all to heed my mother's advice and just shut the hell up. Well... mostly. Oh hell, I'm gonna TRY!

Here's what I know about Utah: MORMONS! Mormon things. Mormon $$, Mormon politics, Mormon frocks, magic Mormon underwear, and a man named Joseph Smith who found some killer antique gold plated dishware in the desert and decided that those plates were a sign from God to have sex with multiple women and take them under slave-like conditions as "celestial" wives. In the name of Jesus and the Holy Prophet, Amen! And now the Mormons are running for President of the U.S. of A! AWESOME! JUST AWESOME!

Apparently Pastrami Burgers are big hit items in Mormonville...um... I mean, Utah. Burgers cooked like any other burger and then topped with a heap of Pastrami, Swiss Cheese and Thousand Island dressing and dressed up appropriately so in a sesame seed bun (the recipe didn't mention anything about dressing up the burger in magic burger underwear so I think it was safe for heathens like us to cook and eat as well). When Drake suggested this recipe I thought to myself, "well hot damn! Something from Utah that I actually might like!" Burgers = GOOD! Pastrami = GOOD! Cheese = GOOD! Thousand Island = GOOD, non-holy Buns = EXCELLENT! A plan was hatched, the BBQ was lit and we were on our way to a blessed Mormon (shit! I mean Utah) super. Now, allow me to boast for a second here if you will, but I am a RIDICULOUSLY AWESOME Grill-Master-Baker. Seriously. I've worked hard to hone my skills at the BBQ and I take pride in perfectly cooked meats and other grilled things. So... I preheated my grill nice and hot only to come back after 20 minutes and find that it was not, in fact, nice and hot, as intended. So we switched out the propane tank thinking that it was just running low, cranked it back to high and gave it another 15 minutes. Still not very hot but I could work with this. Or so I thought. I was wrong. THOSE GOD DAMN MORMON BURGERS BROKE MY FRICKIN' GRILL! I swear it! I swear it on the Prophet and Celestial Marriage and on Gold Plated Dishware! I swear it! Those sad little burgers literally baked (slowly) on that grill for 30 minutes until I finally threw in the towel and fed them to our pet lion. Well... I don't really have a pet lion but if I did, I would have fed him the Mormon burgers because I don't think lions are all that bigoted or picky. Anyway... we took the Pastrami off and made Ruebens which were quite good but not at all associated with Utah so I'm not going to tell you how we made them here.

HERE is a link to the recipe we were ATTEMPTING to make if you'd like to try it.

I guess I failed (once again) at keeping my mouth shut re: mean things about certain religions or practices but I shall try this again in another 10 years when I'm more mature. If it makes any difference, I have ALWAYS strictly adhered to my mother's sound advice about using the proper glassware for the appropriate beverage. So at least the really important advice has stuck.

In the name of the Holy Prophet and Magic Underwear. Amen and good night!

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!

Destination # 6 - California

CALIFORNIA! Oh where to begin? Home sweet home to the both of us. I've been avoiding writing this blog for two days because I couldn't figure out how to condense California into a blog entry of reasonable length as opposed to a long-winded gratuitous Novella about my Utopian childhood playing tennis and swimming in the sunshine 365 days a year, my ridiculously awesome friends and our crazy stunts, and the fact that Drake and I fell in love in about 100 different ways across a broad smattering of California cities from border to border. and how was that for a sentence, eh? Phew. Take a breath. See what I mean? This has the potential for disaster! So instead I've decided to say very little and I aim to accomplish this by leaving out most verbs, adjectives, conjunctions, adverbs , dangling modifiers and other grammatical stylings and trying to stick with mostly just nouns. So here go my thoughts, all summed up, on California... in no particular order.

sunshine family tennis scooters Chinese Food Swim & Racket Club
neighbors love Redwood trees Lombard Street soccer games 408 Joe Montana camping bike rides barefoot Berkley Colluseum
Golden Gate Bridge fruit Trees H2O polo Height Ashbury Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk convertibles summer Camp walnut trees snails Mom&Dad skateboarding cobblers Venice Beach tadpoles home.

We chose to make a Cobb Salad for our California meal because only true Californians are health-conscious and vain enough to eat salads and call it a meal but smart enough to figure out how to load them up with so much crap that you actually forget that you're eating a salad.

And so we present to you our own version of a California Cobb Salad

Ingredients:
A Combination of Romaine and Butter Lettuce
crumbled Bacon (yes; I capitalized Bacon on purpose because Bacon is kinda like God and if God gets to be capitalized then by God so does Bacon)
Blue Cheese
hard boiled egg sliced
Avocado
grilled chicken - sliced
green onions

For the dressing we made a honey mustard concoction

1/4 cup Mayo
1 T. Dijon mustard
1 T. honey
1/2 T. lemon juice

Whisk together. Toss. Serve and relish the fact that you just ate only a salad for dinner.
The dressing will be a bit thick but soooooooo tasty!

Bon Appetite and may the force always be with you, California!

Destination # 5 - Nevada

It was not quite a full week ago when I first learned what "Basque" was. I had heard the term, of course, but didn't quite understand what it meant and always assumed that it was just some pocket of Spain that naturally produced a specific style of food. My friend, Vicki, had brought over a couple of Basque style cheeses for our Poker night and educated me on the fact that Basque was neither Spanish nor French but something in between; like a half breed of French and Spanish only with its own unique culture and style. I've always been partial to half-breeds so it was no surprise that I whole-heartedly took to this cheese and decided on the spot that I was going to explore the Basque community and cuisine further.

So I asked the Google about Basque style foods and it pointed me directly toward Nevada. Who knew? Apparently Nevada is not all about VEGAS baby and copious amounts of shrimp cocktail and extravagant buffets, after all.

Basque Cuisine

You can explore further at the link provided but the Erin Rae Cliff Notes of it are that during the late 1800's massive numbers of Basque sheepherders migrated to California and Nevada. They came together as a community and thus the Basque inspired cuisine became a popular staple to the desert folks of Nevada.

When I looked up Basque recipes I was literally overwhelmed by the options available, including a... get this... STEAK cooked in between two other thinner cuts of STEAK. WTF? Are the Basque immune to heart attacks? I opted for a chicken dish since my waist line has terribly suffered from our foray into the Southern and Midwestern states over the last couple of weeks. I cooked this entirely by myself and I should have taken a picture of the bomb that clearly went off in the kitchen as a result of my culinary efforts but alas, my hands were tied.

oh and by the way... this turned out AWESOME!!!

Basque Style Chicken - recipe courtesy of My Recipes.

Ingredients

1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast tenders $
2 teaspoons olive oil $
2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
1/4 cup sliced green olives
2 (10-ounce) cans diced tomatoes and green chiles, undrained $
1/4 cup finely chopped prosciutto
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Preparation

1) Combine paprika and pepper; sprinkle evenly over chicken.
2) Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan; cook 4 minutes. Add garlic to pan; cook 30 seconds. Turn chicken over. Add olives and tomatoes to pan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 6 minutes.
3) Remove chicken from pan. Increase heat to medium-high; cook 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with prosciutto and parsley.
4) Serve with Saffron rice.

I served this with an amazing "Nine Hats" Red Table Wine... only because I didn't have any Basque wine on hand. Do the Basque make wine???

Our Culinary Road Trip continues to educate, entertain and inspire us.

Destination # 4 - Indiana

Indiana! What does one say, exactly, about Indiana? Have I ever been there? No. Could I locate it on a map? Most certainly not. Do I know even one single thing about Indiana? Umm... that would be a negative. This quandary, however, hits exactly at the heart of what this project is all about. Learn some Geography, learn about the cultures and customs of someplace beyond the West Coast and endeavor to become overall more well-rounded, more intelligent, more charming and of course, better looking... er... somehow. I was so stumped by Indiana that I couldn't figure out where to start my research so I decided to take a different approach all together. I went straight to the source, or a source, I should say and conducted a "celebrity" interview of a real live, too-legit-don't-quit, Indiana Hoosier, born and bred. My good friend Sara Fear was kind enough to allow me to interview her on the finer points of Indiana living. Our Q:A is outlined for your reading pleasure here.

E-Rae: So, you hail from Bloomington Indiana, do ya? Can you confirm or deny this? Would call yourself a Veteran of said state?

Sara: That is a patent falsehood, a vicious rumor, and I’ll deny it to my dying day! Seriously, though, I went to college in Bloomington, which is in southern Indiana, but I grew up in West Lafayette in the northern part of the state and I consider that my home town. My parents and grandmother still live there. I am a Hoosier (see below), born and bred. I like the idea of having Veteran status, as in, I survived growing up in Indiana.

E-Rae: Indiana – do they have animals? I mean like… livestock or critters or something? What animals would you say claim Indiana as their home?

Sara: There are lots of large, commercial pig farms, which is probably why so many of my Hoosier friends recommended you include pork tenderloin in your Indiana meal. For the record, I never ate pork tenderloin growing up but I did eat a lot of sweet corn, something that is only good on the eastern side of the Rockies. Sweet corn out here in WA is, in a word, crap. Deer hunting is a big deal, I gather. Also, squirrels: there are a lot of them and people hunt them.

E-Rae: Can you think of one celebrity from Indiana, alive or dead?

Sara: Michael Jackson, Axel Rose, Hoagy Carmichael, Cole Porter, David Letterman, Kurt Vonnegut, Gene Stratton Porter, James Dean, Amelia Earhart (born in West Lafayette—woot!)

E-Rae: Are drugs and alcohol popular in Indiana? If so, which varieties?

Sara: I grew up in a typical Midwestern college town and then moved to another typical Midwestern college town, so my exposure to drugs was mostly limited to bad beer and ditch weed. Like many parts of the US where there are a lot of small towns and depressed economies, meth is a major health and safety issue. Of possible interest to your readers, alcohol (including beer and wine) can not be purchased in the state of Indiana on Sundays, unless purchased and consumed in a bar. I’ve never lived in CA, so I think that the booze laws in WA are awesome!

E-Rae: Does Indiana have a state fish?

Sara: Apparently it’s the large mouth bass. I totally Googled that. Sean thought it was the blue gill. I don’t even know what that is, but he was born in Kentucky and grew up in Southern Indiana, so he should know more about these things than I do. Unfortunately, he does not.

E-Rae: Do you know which part of the pig pork tenderloin comes from?

Sara: Uh, the tenderloin?

E-Rae: If Indiana were a color, what color would it be?

Sara: Red. Although the state did go for Obama in 2008. I was shocked into silence for at least 2 hours.

E-Rae: Does Indiana have a song?

Sara: Back Home Again in Indiana, which I grew up singing.

E-Rae: If I were to be a tourist there, what would you recommend I see?

Sara: Chicago. Sean says you should go to Tommy Bartlett’s Robot World, which is in Wisconsin. If you MUST see something in Indiana, I would recommend going to southern Indiana in the Fall, when the colors are changing and the trees are on fire. The rolling hills and little towns are great! James Dean is buried in Fairmount and if you’re lucky, you’ll be there one of the weeks that his gravestone hasn’t been stolen.

E-Rae: Do people in Indiana have an accent? Please elaborate.

Sara: Yes, but the accent varies depending on where you are in the state. Sean says, “Northern Indiana people sound like radio DJ’s. Southern Indiana people sound like rednecks.” I could not have said it better myself. The one major exception to this is people from the Northwestern part of the state, up around Chicago, who tend to have that stereotypical accent.

E-Rae: If I asked you to write a haiku about Indiana, which I will now, what would it say?

Sara: Haiku for the Hoosier State, by griff

Small, fly-over state
Place where I was born and bred
Please don’t ever change.

E-Rae: Just what exactly is a Hoosier?

Sara: Good question. I was expecting this one so I’ve spent some time thinking about my response. The history of the term “Hoosier” is muddled. For many years, it was a derogatory term meaning hick or, my favorite, hilljack. It’s since been adopted as the general term for someone who is from Indiana. Not everyone from Indiana would adopt the moniker, though, especially people who are big Purdue University fans. They may not want to be called Hoosiers because that‘s the mascot for their arch rival, Indiana University.

E-Rae: If I were to read a History book about Indiana, what do you think Chapter 1 would be about?

Sara: If we’re talking about the 4th grade state history book, probably something about “The Road to Statehood (1816)” or “Chief Tecumseh and his wack-a-doo brother The Prophet” or “Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too!” Sean says that these ideas are grossly skewed towards northern Indiana History. He doesn’t know what happened in southern Indiana.

E-Rae: What slang words are commonly used in Indiana?

Sara: This has totally stumped me. On a related note, poor grammar and mispronunciation of words is rampant but that certainly isn’t unique to Indiana. I grew up with a girl who said “warshcloth.” That would kill me every time.

E-Rae: Can you recommend a good movie set in Indiana?

Sara: Hoosiers is good if you are into sports and Gene Hackman. Rudy takes place at Notre Dame in South Bend but I’ve never seen it and wouldn’t recommend it anyway. Breaking Away is good; it’s about the annual bike race that is held at Indiana University, my alma mater. What these movies teach you about Indiana is that people there like to watch sports, but they don’t want to have to play them. That would be too much like getting exercise.

E-Rae: What do folks from Indiana do in their spare time? Is there a state sport or hobby?

Sara: Quarrying, which involves going to a quarry and swimming. Creeking, which involves walking around in creeks. Cow tipping, which involves going up to sleeping cows and tipping them over. I’ve never done that last one and didn’t know what it was until I saw the movie Heathers.

Sara generously and without prompting surveyed her Hoosier friends on Facebook for food tip ideas for our blog. The response was overwhelmingly in favor of Breaded Pork Tenderloin. Corn casserole was also a popular favorite including one statement instructing me to eat this meal with a bottle of Miller Lite. I couldn't bring myself to do that, however, despite my dedication to the cultural integrity of this project. A girl has to have standards, after-all. Instead I had a nice crisp Northwest IPA Micro-brew and pretended (almost) that it was Miller Lite.

Breaded Pork Tenderloin Sanwiches

Note*** I found this recipe on Allrecipes (original recipe linked).

4 (4 ounce) slices of pork tenderloin, cut across the grain
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
1/2 cup peanut oil for frying
Kaiser rolls or other buns

Directions
1.Place each slice of pork tenderloin between two pieces of sturdy plastic or parchment paper (such as a cut-up large plastic freezer bag), and flatten the cutlet until it's about 1/4 inch thick, and about 3 1/2 by 5 inches in size.
2.Beat the eggs and milk together in a shallow bowl, and whisk in the garlic powder, onion powder, seasoned salt, marjoram, oregano, salt, and pepper until the spices are well blended into the mixture. Place the bread crumbs in a shallow bowl.
3.Dip each flattened cutlet into the seasoned milk-egg mixture and then into the bread crumbs, thoroughly coating the cutlets with crumbs. Set the breaded cutlets aside on a piece of parchment or waxed paper; do not stack.
4.Heat the oil in a large skillet until the oil is shimmering. Gently lower the cutlets, one at a time, into the hot oil, and fry until golden brown on each side, about 8 minutes per cutlet. *** I don't believe it took this long. Drain the cutlets on paper towels.

5.Preheat oven broiler, and set the oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source.
6.Spread the Kaiser rolls or other rolls if you wish to make a sandwich open with the cut sides up, and broil until the rolls are toasted and hot, about 1 minute. Top each roll with a fried cutlet (hopefully the sides of the meat will hang out of the roll by at least an inch on each side); top each cutlet with choice of mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, lettuce, tomato, onion, and a pickle slice, if desired.

Nutritional Information
Amount Per Serving Calories: 475 | Total Fat: 14.5g | Cholesterol: 104mg

Corn Casserole - recipe shared by Sara Fear

1 box Jiffy Cornbread Muffin mix
1 stick of butter (room temp or softened)
1 8oz tub of sourcream (I used low fat)
1 can regular kernel corn
1 can creamed corn
Note** this also called for 1 egg which I forgot to put in.

1. Cream the butter with an electric mixer until soft
2. Mix together all remaining ingrediants.
3. Bake in a 8X8 casserole dish, uncovered for 1 hour at 350 degrees
Note*** you can double the recipe for a larger casserole (9X13).

Both of these recipes turned out *awesome*, especially the Corn Casserole. I very much enjoyed our little foray into Indiana and certainly learned a whole bunch! Many thanks to Sara and her Manager/Husband/interview consult, Sean. Next time, we'll remember to invite you over for dinner, I swear...

Destination # 3 - Oklahoma

Oklahoma is where my people hail from. My "kinfolk" as they might say in Okie-speak. My maternal Grandmother, "Big Grandma," birthed about 636 babies (give or take) and raised all but one of them in Oklahoma. My own mother was the baby of the bounty and she experienced what I could only imagine was a very different upbringing in California. We used to visit Oklahoma most summers right around the time when the heat and humidity were so oppressive that steam would ooze from my ears and sweat would flood my little body in the short sprint from the air conditioned houses to the cars in the driveway. I remember wild and somewhat terrifying lightning storms and chasing fireflies after sundown. There were nights of dizzying blackness; a darkness so complete only the country could offer and the tiny buzzing glow of the fireflies that always left me both stunned and delighted. Parts of Oklahoma have nothing but Indian red clay roads as far and as flat as your eyes could see and little mini-marts every few miles that were called "the # 9" or "the # 3", 7 and so on. For some reason this charmed the pants off of me and was such a complete culture shock from the 7-11 laced California suburb that I called home. Lastly, before I move on to the food, and by far my fondest memory was the ho-downs (for lack of a better word) we used to have out by the lake. I'm proud to claim that I have a couple of musical prodigies in the family (a cousin that contended and I believe tied with Allison Krauss in a fiddling competition and an Uncle and cousins that produced a few albums in a Bluegrass band for several years. Those guys would whip out their fiddles and banjos and we'd all sing along and dance to blue-grass music and picnic by the lake, jumping in frequently to beat the heat. Throughout my childhood, my friends would constantly make vicious fun of me because I always sang with a country accent but hey... that's what I associated with stellar singing so there ya go. I'm over the country accent now, AND I can't sing worth a lick. Coincidence? I don't think so.

When I think of Okie food I think fried okra, monkey bread and all things buttermilk. I used to drink buttermilk by the gallon every Tuesday when I visited with Big Grandma while my mother would make faces and gagging gestures at me in the background. I'm also over the buttermilk obsession but I don't think it's affected my ability (or lack thereof) to sing. My mom told me the other day that Big Grandma used to make her "Chicken and Dumplings" every Sunday for supper and that it tasted like nasty slop with boiled chicken and blobs of raw dough dropped in. BINGO! I had my Okie culinary challenge. We are attempting to make a Chicken and Dumplings dish that will get the Mommy stamp of approval and turn her around on Chicken and Dumplings for good. I'm typing this as Drake is in the kitchen fixin' dinner now (I'm sick so I'm free of any cooking duties on this one) and there are a few alarming exclamations coming out of that kitchen, I must confess. Truthfully, we're both pretty out of our domain here. To quote Drake directly, "it's so interesting to cook a food that you've never eaten, never seen anybody eat, or even imagined eating." I don't even know what dumplings are, much less what they are supposed to look or feel like.

Chicken and Dumplings
4 slices of bacon
3 large potatoes, peeled and diced
1 onion, diced
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - diced
3 cups chicken broth
1 t. poultry seasoning
1 1/2 cups half and half (original recipe called for 3 cups)
1 1/2 cups 2% milk (original recipe called for 1 cup whole milk)
1 can Pilsbury Biscuit Dough

1. Cook bacon over med heat until evenly brown. Drain and crumple; set aside.
2. Add potatoes, onion and chicken to bacon drippings and cook 15 mins, stirring occasionally. Pour in chicken broth; season with poultry season, salt and pepper. Simmer for 15 mins.
3. Pour in half and half and milk; add crumbled bacon.
4. Cut each of the four biscuits into eighths and roll gently into balls.
5. Drop biscuit balls into boiling mixture; reduce heat and simmer 10 mins, uncovered, then another 10 minutes covered. Do not stir. Serve hot.

Fried Okra
10 pods okra, sliced in 1/4 inch pieces
1 cup milk
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. black pepper
1/2 cup vegetable oil

1. Soak okra in milk for 15 minutes.
2. Combine cornmeal, flour, salt and pepper in seperate bowl.
3. Heat oil in skillet over med-high heat. Dredge okra in the cornmeal mixture, coating evenly.
4. Place okra in oil, stir continuously. Reduce heat to med when okra first starts to brown and cook until golden.
5. Drain on paper towels and server hot.


Post Meal Notes:





Okay. Hmmm... that was, well, interesting! Drake surprised me with fried okra which was about as awesome as I remember it the last time I tried some in 1982. LOVE IT! Drake on the other hand, did not. Sure, okra has a bit of a slime factor to it but it's the clash of textures when you fry it that makes it so fun and good. The chicken and dumplings turned out okay. Drake would describe it as a bland potato soup while I would describe it as a bowl of yellow things, none of which had a whole ton of flavor but I feel that the recipe probably turned out okay. She did make a few of modifications to cut back on the caloric level a bit (do southern people really cook with 3 cups of half and half)??? YIKES!

Overall take-a-way: Mom - you're off the hook but I am super excited that I got to sample some okra again and now I know that chicken and dumplings are really just not for me.

Time to wrap this up but if you have any Okie or Southern heritage and wish to try this, I'd be real curious what your thoughts are. Authentic? Yes? No?

And as they always say in Oklahoma, "Ya'll come back now, ya' hear?"

Destination # 2 - Houston, TX.

Strangely, I've visited the great (as in size) state of Texas a few times. I have very little explanation as to why other than life landed me there, "Deep in the Heart of Texas! clap clap clap clap" on more than one occasion and through a myriad of cities. I even once took a road trip with a friend (who happened to live in Plano at the time) from Dallas to Austin. We were seventeen. All I can remember about that road trip was that it was very flat and that I was entirely unaccustomed to having the air conditioning blasting in the car; that it literally made it hard for me to breath, but what choice do you have when it's 150 (give or take) degrees Fahrenheit outside, right? Austin is also the lucky city to claim my very first gay bar attendance. I was two years yet from understanding that I was gay but it was a memorable and exciting experience nonetheless and I have nothin' but positive things to say about the city of Austin in general. Years later I found myself in Houston, TX. for work-related training and my oh my did I walk away with a lot of impressions. Not all bad. Not all good. For starters, I like the name. I've always wanted to have a small southern baby and name him "Houston" but that's neither here nor there. A brief smattering of impressions: everything really *is* bigger in Texas. Giant hotel rooms, big wide streets (no sidewalks/no pedestrians), and BIG BIG BIG portions of food. Oh - and all the girls wear their hair parted on the side but whatever... let's get back to the food! Everything I ate during my week stay in Houston was pretty much delicious. A little Texas BBQ, and equal parts of a shit-ton of Mexican food and Margaritas. AH-MAZING Margaritas, I should clarify. The best. Sincerely. Which leads me to why we chose to do Carnitas for Texas. Obviously, Texas has a lot of classics where cuisine is concerned but personally I will always associate crazy awesome Mexi food and Margs with Houston, TX.

Pulled Pork Carnitas - recipe courtesy of America's Test Kitchen

1 (3.5-4 Ib) boneless pork butt, fat cap trimmed to 1/2 inch think, cut into 2-inch chunks

1 small onion, peeled and halved

2 bay leaves

1 t. dried oregano

1 t. ground cumin

table salt and ground black pepper

2 cups water

2 T. juice from 1 lime

1 medium orange, halved

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat the oven to 300 degrees. Combine the pork, onion, bay leaves, oregano, cumin, 1 t. salt, 1/2 t. pepper, water and lime juice in a large Dutch oven (the liquid should just barely cover the meat). Juice the orange into a med. bowl and remove any seeds (about 1/3 cup juice). Add the juice and spent orange halves to the pot. Bring to simmer over med-high heat, stirring occasionally. Cover the pot and transfer to the oven; cook until the meat is soft and falls apart when prodded with a fork, about 2 hours, flipping the pieces of meat once during the cookbook.

2. Remove the pot from oven and turn oven to broil. Transfer pork to a bowl; remove orange halves, onion and bay leaves from the cooking liquid and discard (do not skim fat from liquid). Place the pot over high heat and simmer the liquid, stirring frequently, until thick and syrupy, 8-12 minutes. You should have about 1 cup reduced liquid.

3. Using two forks, pull each piece of pork in half. Fold in the reduced liquid; season with salt and pepper to taste. Spread the pork in an even layer on a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet or on a broiler pan. Place the baking sheet on the lower-middle rack and broil until the top of the meat is well-browned but not charred. and the edges are slightly crisp, about 5-8 mins. Flip meet and continue to broil until the top is well browned and the edges are slightly crisp, 5-8 minutes longer. Server with warm tortillas, tomatilla sauce (optional but we did), lime wedges, minced red or white onion, fresh cilantro leaves, thinly sliced radishes and sour cream.

Tomatilla Green Chili Salsa - recipe from Allrecipes.com

• · 1 pound tomatillos, husked

  · 1/2 cup finely chopped onion

  · 1 teaspoon minced garlic

  · 1 serrano chile peppers, minced

  · 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

  · 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano

  · 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

  · 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, or to taste

  · 2 cups water

  Directions

  1. Place tomatillos, onion, garlic, and chile pepper into a saucepan. Season with cilantro, oregano, cumin, and salt; pour in water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until the tomatillos are soft, 10 to 15 minutes.

  2. Using a blender, carefully puree the tomatillos and water in batches until smooth.

Erae's (that's me) Homemade Skinny Bitch Margaritas

2 parts Tequila (preferably gold; Repasado if you want to get real technical)

3/4 - 1 part fresh squeezed lime (depends on how tangy you like it)

1/2 - 1 part Agave Nectar (depending on how sweet you like it)

3/4 part cold water (just do it)

shake the crap out of this in a shaker and serve, chilled either up or over ice.

Add more tequila as needed (ahem).

Drakey's Homemade Tortillas (this isn't necessary but well worth it)

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup water

Directions

1. Beat flour, shortening & salt until crumbly (3-5 minutes)
2. Gradually add warm water and mix until dough is smooth (3 minutes)
3. Divide into 3 pieces and roll into ball
4. Place on baking tray and let rest, covered, at room temperature for 15 minutes to 1 hour
5. On lightly floured board, roll into 10 inch circles
6. Cook on dry skillet 30-45 seconds per side

Destination # 1 - New Orleans, LA.

I should start by saying that we have no pre-planned map of how we're going to approach which states we tackle and when. We're flying by the seat of our pants but as long as we can check off one unique state a week for the next 50 weeks we should be on track to completing our challenge within a year. Choosing New Orleans, Louisiana to kick off our project was an easy and obvious choice for us. For starters, it's Mardi Gras Season. Whoop Whoop! Sadly, neither Drake nor I have ever been to New Orleans, which always comes as a shock to most people who know us as such things as Jazz Fest, loud and crazy hats/outfits, amazing food and partying until the cows come stumbling sideways home is sorta-kinda right up our alley. Hell, our figurative "alley" runs smack down the middle of Bourbon street. Not only should we visit New Orleans, we should probably MOVE to New Orleans. I mean, they even have a main drag named after booze!! Who does that? New Orleans, that's who! But alas, it's still an item on the "bucket list" yet to be checked off. I can't wait to see it; or rather "do" it. As I understand it, one does not merely "see" New Orleans as much as one "does" New Orleans. And so it came to be that New Orleans was the first place we chose for our "Culinary Road Trip" Geography challenge. Known for their Cajun, Creole, fiery spices and bold flavors, it was frankly difficult to chose just one dish to make because OMG THEY ARE ALL SO DAMN TASTY!!! Slow Cooker Jambalaya with Dirty Rice ultimately won out. We got the recipe off Allrecipes.com website, a user-driven interactive recipe site and hands-down our favorite online venue to browse new recipes. The meal turned out AWESOME!

Colleen's Slow Cooker Jambalaya
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1 inch cubes
1 pound andouille sausage, sliced
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
1 large onion, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chicken broth
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried parsley
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 pound frozen cooked shrimp without tails

Directions

In a slow cooker, mix the chicken, sausage, tomatoes with juice, onion, green bell pepper, celery, and broth. Season with oregano, parsley, Cajun seasoning, cayenne pepper, and thyme.
Cover, and cook 7 to 8 hours on Low, or 3 to 4 hours on High. Stir in the shrimp during the last 30 minutes of cook time.

Serve over your favorite rice.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 233 | Total Fat: 13.5g | Cholesterol: 98mg

As a bonus, we went to Toulouse Petit for brunch this weekend, a restaurant geared entirely toward New Orleans Cuisine, and had classic French Quarter style Beignets and Cajun Hashes. I took one for the team and had an AM cocktail, The Hurricane, for the sole purpose of providing a photo op for this blog entry, of course. Kids, I would not recommend drinking boozy bevvies before noon at home, unless of course it is loaded with nutritional juices, which this happened to be, so as far as I'm concerned it was health food and I've done my part in staving off scurvy for the week.

Photos courtesy of Ms. Drakey (the D-Dog) Reilly K.

What's your favorite Jambalaya recipe or New Orleans inspired cuisine?