One of America's Favorites - Country Captain

Country Captain is a curried chicken and rice dish, which is popular in the Southern United States. It was introduced to the U.S. through Charleston, Savannah, New York and Philadelphia, but has origins in India. The dish was once included in the United States military Meal, Ready-to-Eat packs, in honor of it being a favorite dish of George S. Patton.

It has also appeared on television shows in both the United States and in the United Kingdom, with chefs Bobby Flay, Atul Kochhar and Cyrus Todiwala all cooking the dish. Todiwala served his version to Queen Elizabeth II as part of her Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

Country Captain

In its basic form, country captain is a mild stew made with browned chicken pieces, onions, and curry powder. Almonds and golden raisins or zante currants are usually added. Many versions also call for tomatoes, garlic, and bell peppers. The dish is served over white rice. With the exception of the rice, it is meant to be cooked all in the same pot. Chef Mamrej Khan has referred to the dish as one of the first fusion dishes to be developed, making it part of the Anglo-Indian cuisine.

Country captain originated in India as a simple spatchcock poultry or game recipe involving onions and curry and possibly enjoyed by British officers. One theory is that an early 19th-century British sea captain, possibly from the East India Company, working in the spice trade introduced it to the American South via the port of Savannah. The dish remains popular amongst the communities in Mumbai, India. The "country" part of the dish's name dates from when the term referred to things of Indian origin instead of British, and so the term "country captain" would have meant a captain of Indian origin, a trader along the coasts of India. Others claim that the word "captain" in the title is simply a corruption of the word "capon".

In 1991, New York Times columnist Molly O’Neill researched the origin of the dish known as country captain, which had been a steady feature in southern cookbooks since the 1950s. Working with Cecily Brownstone, they discovered that the dish originally published in the United States in the pages of Miss Leslie’s New Cookery Book published in Philadelphia in 1857.[8] The recipe required a "fine full-grown fowl". It also appeared in the kitchens of Alessandro Filippini, who was a chef with a restaurant on Wall Street in the 18th century.

Fans of the dish have included Franklin D. Roosevelt, who introduced it to George S. Patton. It was Patton's love for the dish which subsequently resulted in it being added in his honor to the U.S. Army's Meal, Ready-to-Eat field rations in 2000. A variety of Southern chefs have recipes for the dish, including Paul Prudhomme, Paula Deen and Emeril Lagasse. The dish was featured on an episode of Throwdown! with Bobby Flay in season 6 guest-starring Matt and Ted Lee. It also appeared on the BBC One cooking show, Saturday Kitchen, with chef Atul Kochhar cooking the regular chicken and rice version of the dish.

Chef Cyrus Todiwala cooked a variation of country captain on Saturday Kitchen. His version was similar to Shepherd's Pie, in that the meat was baked under a layer of potato. He had previously cooked the dish for Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh at Kirishna Avanti school in Harrow as part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012. That version of the dish used rare breed lamb from the Orkney Islands which had been fed on seaweed. The dish is also now on the menu of Todiwala's London restaurant, Café Spice Namasté.

One of America's Favorites - Pork Tenderloin Sandwich

Pork tenderloin sandwich (large)

The pork tenderloin sandwich contains a breaded and fried cutlet similar to the Wiener Schnitzel and is popular in the Midwest region of the United States, especially in the state of Indiana. The sandwich can first be traced back to the Nick's Kitchen restaurant in Huntington, Indiana (near Fort Wayne).

The primary differences between a Pork Tenderloin sandwich and a Wiener Schnitzel are that the Pork Tenderloin sandwich is made exclusively using pork loin and it is deep fried instead of pan fried. The Pork Tenderloin sandwich is also usually served on a bun. There is a grilled variant of the Pork Tenderloin that omits the breading and grills the tenderloin instead of deep frying it.

A Pork Tenderloin sandwich is traditionally prepared from a thinly sliced piece of pork tenderloin, hammered thin with a meat mallet. The meat is then dipped in flour, eggs and breadcrumbs or crushed saltine crackers before being deep fried in oil. After cooking, the prepared Pork Tenderloin is then served on a hamburger bun, with the meat overlapping the bun considerably. The sandwich can be served with condiments such as mustard, lettuce, onions, pickles, and mayonnaise.

The sandwich is usually served with a side of french fries, though onion rings are often provided instead.

The primary variant of the prepared pork tenderloin is a grilled prepared pork tenderloin. This is a healthier variation as the pork is grilled instead of fried. The meat is seasoned or marinated and then placed on a grill. After cooking, the meat is placed on a hamburger bun and topped with condiments.

One of America's Favorites - Frito Pie

Frito pie

Frito pie is a dish popular in the Southern, Midwestern, and Southwestern United States, whose basic ingredients are chili, cheese, and corn chips (especially Fritos). Additions can include salsa, refried beans, sour cream, onion, rice, or jalapeños. There are many variations and alternative names used by region. Frito pie can be prepared in a casserole dish, but an alternate preparation can be in a single-serve Fritos-type corn chip bag with various ingredients as toppings. In Mexico, a similar type of dish is tostilocos.








The exact origins of the frito pie is not completely clear. It is believed that it was created somewhere in Mexico and was popular at fiestas before it took off in other countries like the United States.

The oldest known recipe using Fritos brand corn chips with chili was published in Texas in 1949. The recipe may have been invented by Daisy Doolin, the founder's mother and the first person to use Fritos as an ingredient in cooking, or Mary Livingston, his executive secretary. The Frito-Lay company attributes the recipe to Nell Morris, who joined Frito-Lay in the 1950s and helped develop an official cookbook which included the Frito pie.

Another story claims that true Frito pie originated only in the 1960s with Teresa Hernández, who worked at the F. W. Woolworth's lunch counter in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her Frito pie used homemade red chili con carne with cheddar cheese and onions, and was served in the bag – which was thicker in the 1960s.

A Louisiana man also claims to have invented the frito pie. William "Billy" Grisham says he invented the frito pie in the late 1950s while working as a short order cook in the town of Benton, Louisiana.



Frito pie is a simple dish: at its most basic, it is just a pile of Fritos with beef chili poured on top. It is often served right inside the chip bag, which is split down the middle; toppings typically include shredded cheese and chopped raw onion, and may also include additional items like sour cream and jalapeños.


Frito Pies are sometimes referred to by the name walking taco or Frito boat, and can be made in a

Frito pie variant served in a single serve Fritos bag

small, single-serving bag of corn chips, with chili, taco meat, garbanzos, pork rinds, pepitas, and many other varied ingredients, poured over the top. The combination can be finished with grated cheese, onions, jalapeños, lettuce, and sour cream, known as a Frito boat or walking taco in the Midwestern United States. In the Ohio Valley region, this preparation is commonly called taco-in-a-bag. ("Walking taco", however, is the more widespread term at least in the Midwest). In many parts of Southern California, they are known as "pepper bellies". Frito pies are popular at sports venues, fundraisers, bingos, open houses, state fairs and street vendors. The term Tostiloco comes from Tijuana, and is found in California. Another term is Doriloco, after Doritos.

One of America's Favorites - Chips and Dip

Chips and dip – crab dip and potato chips

Chips and dip are a food of chips or crisps served with dips. Chips used include potato chips, tortilla chips, corn chips, bean chips, vegetable chips, pita chips, plantain chips and others. Crackers are also sometimes used, as are crudités, which are whole or sliced raw vegetables. Various types of dips are used to accompany various types of chips.

Chips and dip gained significant popularity in the United States during the 1950s, in part due to a Lipton advertising campaign for their French onion dip recipe, sometimes referred to as "California dip". Specialized trays and serving dishes designed to hold both chips and dip were created during this time. Chips and dip are frequently served during the Super Bowl American football game in the United States. National Chip and Dip Day occurs annually in the U.S. on March 23.




The popularity of chips and dip significantly increased in the United States during the 1950s,

A bowl of chile con queso served with tortilla chips

beginning circa 1954, due to changes in styles of entertaining in the suburbs and also due to a Lipton advertising campaign based upon using Lipton's instant dehydrated onion soup mix to prepare dip. The advertising campaign occurred on television and in supermarket display advertising, and promoted mixing the soup mix with sour cream or cream cheese to create a dip, to be served with potato chips or crudités. This dip began to be called California Dip. The advertising campaign realized significant success, and new, similar dip products were quickly developed thereafter. During this time, unique platters designed for chips and dip service were created that allowed for the containment of several types of chips, and service variations were devised that included serving the dip in a bread bowl or hollowed-out fruit.

Chips and dip are a popular food during the annual Super Bowl game in the United States. Eighty-five percent of Americans eat potato chips.


Chips and salsa, typically served using tortilla or corn chips, is a common type of chips and dip dish that gained significant popularity in the United States in the late 1980s. Chips and guacamole, also typically served with corn-based chips is another type, as well as chips and bean dip. Seven-layer dip and tortilla chips is another corn-based chip combination, as is chile con queso, an appetizer or side dish of melted cheese and chili pepper typically served in Tex-Mex restaurants as a sauce for nachos.



Double-dipping involves taking a bite of a chip and then re-dipping it into a dip, which some people disapprove, while others are indifferent. Double-dipping transfers bacteria from a person's mouth into a dip, which can then be transferred to other consumer's mouths.

The behavior of double-dipping involves consuming chips and dip, taking a bite of the chip, and then

Tortilla chips and several salsas

re-dipping it into a dip. In March 2013, Tostitos, a U.S. brand of tortilla chips and dips, hired the Ketchum communications agency to perform a survey concerning double dipping that polled over 1,000 Americans. The survey found that 46% of male participants double-dip at a party, compared to 32% of females. 54% stated that they would not consume dip after seeing another person double-dip, and 22% stated that they did not care. 25% stated that they would verbally object to a person caught double-dipping.

A study performed by the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Clemson University found that three to six instances of double-dipping "would transfer about 10,000 bacteria from the eater’s mouth to the remaining dip," which corresponds with "about 50-100 bacteria from one mouth to another, in every bite." The study concluded with the recommendation that double-dipping should be curtailed, along with tips to prevent it from occurring.

A segment on MythBusters in 2009 tested how much bacteria is transferred during the process of double-dipping, finding that there is a transfer but that it "adds only a few more microbes".


National Chip and Dip Day occurs in the United States annually on March 23. Tostitos-brand tortilla chips, a major U.S. brand, observed the day in 2015 by providing coupons for free dip for interested customers named "Chip".

One of America's Favorites - King Cake

Louisiana-style king cake

A king cake (sometimes shown as kingcake, kings' cake, king's cake, or three kings cake) is a type of cake associated in a number of countries with the festival of Epiphany at the end of the Christmas season; in other places, it is associated with the pre-Lenten celebrations of Mardi Gras/Carnival.

What started out roughly 300 years ago as a dry French bread–type dough with sugar on top and a bean inside now comes in many varieties depending on the country. Some king cakes are made of a sweet brioche dough in the shape of a hollow circle with a glazed topping sprinkled with colored sugar. Hundreds of thousands of King Cakes are eaten in New Orleans during the Carnival season. In other countries, king cakes are made with a puff pastry, filled with one of several fillings (e.g., almond, apple, chocolate/pear, etc.), and have a small figurine hidden inside. The figurine changes from bakery to bakery and often represents a hit movie or other cultural icon.

The cake often has a small plastic baby (to represent the Baby Jesus) inside or underneath; and the person who gets the piece of cake with the trinket has various privileges and obligations.



In the southern United States, the tradition was brought to the area by Basque settlers in 1718. Originally, it was a cinnamon-filled bready cake eaten to celebrate Epiphany, but it is now associated with Carnival (also known as Mardi Gras). Celebrated across the Gulf Coast region from the Florida Panhandle to East Texas, King cake parties are documented back to the 18th century.

The king cake of the Louisiana tradition comes in a number of styles. The most simple, said to be the most traditional, is a ring of twisted cinnamon roll-style dough. It may be topped with icing or sugar, which may be colored to show the traditional Mardi Gras colors of green, yellow, and purple. King cakes may also be filled with additional foodstuffs, the most common being cream cheese, praline, cinnamon, or strawberry. A so-called "Zulu King Cake" has chocolate icing with a coconut filling, because the Krewe of Zulu parade's most celebrated throw is a coconut. Some bakers now offer king cakes for other holidays that immediately surround the Mardi Gras season, such as king cakes with green and red icing for Christmas, cakes with pink and red icing for Valentine's Day, and cakes with green and white icing for St. Patrick's Day. Others have gone a step further and produce specialty king cakes from the beginning of football season for Louisiana State University and New Orleans Saints tailgate parties, then for Halloween, then Thanksgiving—and do not cease until after Mardi Gras season, when they produce an Easter holiday king cake.

In the Southern culture, whoever finds the trinket must provide the next king cake or host the next Mardi Gras party.



Starting on Epiphany on January 6, residents begin holding parties especially dedicated to King Cake. King Cake parties bring families and community members together to celebrate the season of Mardi Gras, with its krewe parades and festivals. King Cake is so symbolic of the Mardi Gras celebration for residents it is believed that consuming King Cake outside of the Carnival season will result in rain on Mardi Gras day. The dessert’s “search for the baby,” the small figurine located inside the cake, is a fun way for residents of New Orleans to celebrate their Christian faith.

The dessert’s significance to the city was evident in the first Mardi Gras season (2006) after Hurricane Katrina: thousands of King Cake orders flooded bakeries both inside and outside of Louisiana, an example of how significant the dessert’s tradition is both inside and outside of the region.

Some sports teams around the area have also infused the tradition of the king cake baby into their teams. The Miami Marlins AAA minor league baseball affiliate, formerly known as the New Orleans Zephyrs, changed their name to the New Orleans Baby Cakes, starting in the 2017 season. The New Orleans Pelicans introduced the King Cake Baby as a second mascot during games around Mardi Gras, to accompany their main mascot, Pelican Pierre.



Traditionally, a small plastic or porcelain baby is hidden in the king cake. Originally, the baby was placed in the cake to symbolize baby Jesus. Fava beans were also used to represent Jesus.

Today, the baby symbolizes luck and prosperity to whoever finds it in his/her slice of cake. In some traditions, the finder of the baby is designated “king” or “queen” for the evening. That person is also responsible for purchasing next year’s cake, or for throwing the next Mardi Gras party.

Many bakers have recently been placing the baby outside of the cake, and leaving the hiding to the customer because there is a potential of customers choking on or swallowing the baby, and bakers want to stay clear of this liability.

Traditional king cake baby

There are many different recipes for king cake. However, the most common ones include: milk, butter, yeast, water, brown and white sugar, eggs, salt, nutmeg, flour and cinnamon. The frosting is typically made from confectioner's sugar, water, lemon juice, and colored sugar crystals.

The colors of the king cake originally came from the Christian religion. The purple symbolizes justice, the green symbolizes faith, and the gold symbolizes power. The three colors honor the three kings who visited the Christ child (Jesus) on Epiphany, the 12th day after Christmas.

One of America's Favorites - Goeta

Goetta sandwich

Goetta is a meat-and-grain sausage or mush of German inspiration that is popular in the greater Cincinnati area. It is primarily composed of ground meat (pork, or pork and beef), pin-head oats and spices. Pronounced gétt-aa, ged-da or get-uh in Americanized pronunciation, and gutta in the Low German pronunciation, this dish probably originated with German settlers from the northwestern regions of Oldenburg, Hannover, and Westphalia who emigrated to the Cincinnati and Dayton area in the 19th century. The word "Goetta" comes from the Low German word Grötte. North of Cincinnati, specifically in the region surrounding Darke, Mercer, Shelby, and Auglaize counties, goetta is often known by the term "grits", not to be confused with hominy grits. This usage of the word "grits" stems from the High German word "Grütze," which is an equivalent of the Low German Grötte.

Goetta was originally a peasant dish, meant to stretch out servings of meat over several meals to conserve money.

Glier's Goetta, the largest commercial producer of goetta, produces more than 1,000,000 lb annually, around 99 percent of which is consumed locally in Greater Cincinnati.



While goetta comes in a variety of forms, all goetta is based around ground meat combined with pin-

A conventional log of Goetta

head or steel-cut oats, the "traditional Low German cook's way of stretching a minimum amount of meat to feed a maximum number of people."Usually goetta is made from pork shoulder or "Cali", but occasionally contains equal parts pork and beef. Goetta is typically flavored with bay leaves, rosemary, salt, pepper, and thyme. It contains onions and sometimes other vegetables.

While similar to scrapple in that it uses a grain product for the purpose of stretching out meat to feed more people, goetta looks very different. Scrapple is made with cornmeal while goetta uses steel-cut or chopped oats. The oats in goetta are much coarser than the fine powder used in scrapple and add texture to the dish.



Goetta is typically formed into small loaves, and then cut into slices and fried, often in butter. Traditionally goetta is served as a breakfast food.



A number of commercial distributors produce and sell Goetta in the parts of Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana near Cincinnati. Glier's is the largest producer of goetta in the world. Glier's Goetta, established in 1946, is based in Covington, Kentucky, part of the greater Cincinnati area.Queen City Sausage is the next largest producer, while multiple small and artisanal producers also make Goetta in and around Cincinnati.



"Glier's Goettafest" is an annual culinary festival held in August near Newport, Kentucky's "Newport on the Levee"(an entertainment, shopping and restaurant complex) on the Ohio River waterfront. The festival celebrates both the dish and Greater Cincinnati's German American heritage. While the main focus of the festival is goetta served in many different ways, it also typically includes music, dancing, and other public entertainment.


Glier's markets goetta as the "German Breakfast Sausage," which may create the impression that it is

Goetta is usually sold in logs but links are available also.

something commonly eaten for breakfast in Germany. In fact, the vast majority of Germans have never heard of goetta. However, a similar product known as Knipp can be found in the present day in Bremen and surrounding areas. This can be spread onto bread or pan fried like goetta. It is also often served with apple sauce, paralleling the apple butter which is served alongside goetta. Although in modern times in most parts of Germany, eating warm sausage for breakfast or a hot breakfast in general is not common, historically Knipp was eaten for breakfast, often in the winter.

One of America's Favorites - Shortcake

Strawberry Shortcake

Shortcake is a sweet cake or biscuit (in the American sense: that is, a crumbly bread that has been leavened with baking powder or baking soda). The earliest recipe for shortcake is in an English cookbook from 1588. In 1602, William Shakespeare used it as a character's name in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Alice Shortcake.

Shortcake is typically made with flour, sugar, baking powder or soda, salt, butter, milk or cream, and sometimes eggs. The dry ingredients are blended, and then the butter is cut in until the mixture resembles cornmeal. The liquid ingredients are then mixed in just until moistened, resulting in a shortened dough. The dough is then dropped in spoonfuls onto a baking sheet, rolled and cut like baking powder biscuits, or poured into a cake pan, depending on how wet the dough is and the baker's preferences. Then it is baked at a relatively high temperature until set.


The most famous dessert made with shortcake is strawberry shortcake. Sliced strawberries are mixed with sugar and allowed to sit an hour or so, until the strawberries have surrendered a great deal of their juices (macerated). The shortcakes are split and the bottoms are covered with a layer of strawberries, juice, and whipped cream, typically flavored with sugar and vanilla. The top is replaced, and more strawberries and whipped cream are added onto the top. Some convenience versions of shortcake are not made with a shortcake (i.e. biscuit) at all, but instead use a base of sponge cake or sometimes a corn muffin. Japanese-style strawberry shortcakes use a sponge cake base, and are a popular Christmas treat in Japan.

The largest strawberry shortcake ever made was in the town of La Trinidad, Benguet in the Philippines on March 20, 2004. It weighed 21,213.40 lb.

Though strawberry is the most widely known shortcake dessert, peach shortcake, blueberry shortcake, chocolate shortcake and other similar desserts are made along similar lines. It is also common to see recipes where the shortcake itself is flavored; coconut is a common addition.



Though today's shortcakes are usually of the biscuit or sponge-cake variety, earlier American recipes called for pie crust in rounds or broken-up pieces, which was a variety still being enjoyed in the 21st century, particularly in the South.

The first strawberry shortcake recipe appeared in an English cookbook as early as 1588, according to Driscoll's berry growers. By 1850, strawberry shortcake was a well-known biscuit and fruit dessert served hot with butter and sweetened cream. In the United States, strawberry shortcake parties were held as celebrations of the summer fruit harvest. This tradition is upheld in some parts of the United States on June 14, which is Strawberry Shortcake Day. It wasn't until 1910 that French pastry chefs replaced the topping with heavy whipped cream.

One of America's Favorites - Pecan Pie

Pecan pie

Pecan pie is a pie of pecan nuts mixed with a filling of eggs, butter, and sugar (typically corn syrup). Variations may include white or brown sugar, sugar syrup, molasses, maple syrup, or honey. It is popularly served at holiday meals and is also considered a specialty of Southern U.S. cuisine. Most pecan pie recipes include salt and vanilla as flavorings. Chocolate and bourbon whiskey are other popular additions to the recipe. Pecan pie is often served with whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, or hard sauce.


Pecans are native to the southern United States. Archaeological evidence found in Texas indicates that Native Americans used pecans more than 8,000 years ago. The word pecan is a derivative of an Algonquin word, pakani, referring to several nuts.

Sugar pies such as treacle tart were attested in Medieval Europe, and adapted in North America to the ingredients available, resulting in such dishes as shoofly pie, sugar pie, butter tart and chess pie. Pecan pie may be a variant of chess pie, which is made with a similar butter-sugar-egg custard.

Some have stated that the French invented pecan pie soon after settling in New Orleans, after being

A slice of pecan pie

introduced to the pecan nut by the Native American Quinipissa and Tangipahoa tribes. Claims have also been made of pecan pie existing in the early 1800s in Alabama, but this does not appear to be backed up by recipes or literature. Attempts to trace the dish's origin have not found any recipes dated earlier than a pecan custard pie recipe published in Harper's Bazaar in 1886. Well-known cookbooks such as Fannie Farmer and The Joy of Cooking did not include this dessert before 1940.

The makers of Karo syrup significantly contributed to popularizing the dish and many of the recipes for variants (caramel, cinnamon, Irish creme, peanut butter, etc.) of the classic pie. The company has claimed that the dish was a 1930s "discovery" of a "new use for corn syrup" by a corporate sales executive's wife. Pecan pie was made before the invention of corn syrup and older recipes used darker sugar based syrup or molasses. The 1929 congressional club cookbook has a recipe for the pie which used only eggs, milk, sugar and pecan, no syrup. The Pecan pie came to be closely associated with the culture of the Southern United States in the 1940s and 1950s.


Variations
In his 2004 book, Ken Haedrich identified a number of popular pecan pie variants:

Chocolate pecan tarts prior to baking

Butterscotch
Characterized by the addition of butterscotch chips and brown sugar (in addition to, not in place of, corn syrup)

Whiskey chocolate chip
In this pie, chocolate chips and a few teaspoons of Jack Daniel whiskey are added.

Alice Colombo's Race Day Chocolate Pecan Pie
This pie is named after Alice Colombo, who was a food editor for the Louisville Courier-Journal in Kentucky. This pie was made by her on the occasion of the Kentucky Derby. The special ingredients suggested in the recipe include cornstarch, to soften the top, bourbon, chocolate chips and whipped cream.

Maple
Includes maple syrup and almond extract

Chocolate brownie
This pie has nuts on the surface and it is layered with chocolate pudding and fudge. It is served at room temperature or chilled.

Sawdust Pie
Sawdust Pie is a signature recipe of Patti's Restaurant in Paducah, Kentucky, consisting of an egg-batter filling with coconut, graham cracker crumbs and pecans, topped with whipped cream and sliced bananas.

One of America's Favorites - White Hot

White Hot

The white hot is a variation on the hot dog found primarily in the Rochester, New York area, as well as other parts of Western New York and Central New York. It is composed of a combination of uncured and unsmoked pork, beef, and veal; the lack of smoking or curing allows the meat to retain a naturally white color. White hots usually contain mustard and other spices, and often include a dairy component such as nonfat dry milk.

The white hot, also commonly referred to as a coney, originated in the 1920s in Rochester's German community as a "white and porky". It was originally a cheaper alternative to high-price red hot dogs, made of the less desirable meat parts and various fillers; in contrast, modern versions are made from quality meats and are generally sold at higher prices than common hot dogs.

One of the best-known producers of the white hot is Zweigle's. Although they were not the first to make white hots, they were the first to secure a contract at the Red Wing Stadium soon after Zweigle's founder Robert Berl began making the dogs in 1925. The white hot has become the official hot dog of the Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres, Rochester Americans and Rochester Rhinos and was the official hot dog of the Washington Nationals during the major league baseball team's first season.

Another producer, Hofmann, produces white hots in the Syracuse, New York area under the name "Snappy Grillers". A third company, Hartmann, is also known to produce white hots.

"Meatless Monday" Recipe of the Week - Asiago Vegetable Risotto

This week's "Meatless Monday" Recipe of the Week is a Asiago Vegetable Risotto. "Where's the Beef", you won't ever miss it with this week's recipe! Risotto with a fantastic mix of Vegetables. The recipe is off the CooksRecipes website. At the Cooks site you'll find a large selection of recipes to please all tastes and cuisines. Enjoy and Eat Healthy!  http://www.cooksrecipes.com/index.html

Asiago Vegetable Risotto

Comforting, creamy risotto loaded with vegetables like zucchini, red bell pepper and asparagus, and seasoned with saffron, Asiago cheese, lemon juice, fresh basil and toasted pine nuts.

Recipe Ingredients:

2/3 cup (6 ounces) butter - divided use

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
3 1/2 cups vegetable broth - divided use
Pinch of saffron threads
1 medium zucchini, sliced into 1/4-inch half-rounds
1 cup asparagus, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup red pepper, diced
2 green onions, sliced
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup (4 ounces) Wisconsin Asiago* Cheese, shredded
2 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted

Cooking Directions:

1 - In 3-quart pan, heat 1 tablespoon butter and olive oil over medium-high heat. Add rice and stir continuously until edges of kernels are translucent; about 3 to 4 minutes. Add 1/2 cup broth and stir until it is absorbed; about 3 minutes.
2 - Reduce heat to medium and add another 1/2 cup broth, saffron, zucchini, asparagus, red pepper, onions and pepper. Cook until all liquid is absorbed; stirring frequently. Continue to add remaining broth, 1/2 cup at a time, cooking until liquid is absorbed each time.
3 - When all liquid has been added and absorbed, stir in lemon juice, Asiago and remaining butter. Mixture should be creamy and rice should be al dente.
4 - Before serving, stir in basil and pine nuts.
Makes 8 servings.

*Tip: Parmesan cheese can be substituted for the Asiago.
http://www.cooksrecipes.com/mless/asiago_vegetable_risotto_recipe.html

One of America's Favorites - Scrambled Eggs

Scrambled eggs is a dish made from whites and yolks of eggs (usually chicken eggs) stirred or beaten

Scrambled eggs with grated cheese.

together, typically with salt and butter and variable other ingredients, and then gently heated in a pan while being stirred.








Only eggs are necessary to make scrambled eggs, but nearly always salt is used, and very often other ingredients such as water, milk, butter, cream or in some cases creme fraiche or grated cheese may be added. The eggs are cracked into a bowl; with some salt, and the mixture is stirred or whisked. More consistent and far quicker results are obtained if a small amount of thickener such as cornstarch, potato starch or flour is added; this enables much quicker cooking with reduced risk of overcooking, even when less butter is used.

The mixture can be poured into a hot pan containing melted butter or oil, where it starts coagulating. The heat is turned down and the eggs are stirred as they cook. This creates small, soft curds of egg. Unlike pancake or omelette scrambled egg is virtually never browned.

Once the liquid has mostly set, additional ingredients such as ham, herbs, cheese or cream may be folded in over low heat, just until incorporated. The eggs are usually slightly undercooked when removed from heat, since the eggs will continue to set. If any liquid is seeping from the eggs (syneresis), this is a sign of undercooking, overcooking or adding undercooked high-moisture vegetables.

Variations
* English style. In English style the scrambled eggs are stirred very thoroughly during cooking to

Preparation in pans

give a soft, fine texture
* American style - In American style the eggs are scooped in towards the middle of the pan as they set, giving larger curds.
* Scrambled eggs can be made easily sous-vide, which gives the traditional smooth creamy texture and requires only occasionally mixing during cooking.
* Another technique for cooking creamy scrambled eggs is to pipe steam into eggs with butter via a steam wand (as found on an espresso machine).
* Scrambled eggs can also be cooked in a Microwave oven.



Classical haute cuisine preparation calls for serving scrambled eggs in a deep silver dish. They can

Scrambled eggs with bacon and pancakes

also be presented in small croustades made from hollowed-out brioche or tartlets. When eaten for breakfast, scrambled eggs often accompany toast, bacon, smoked salmon, hash browns, cob, pancakes, ham or sausages. Popular condiments served with scrambled eggs include ketchup, hot sauce, and Worcestershire sauce.

One of America's Favorites - Sloppy Joe

A sloppy joe is a sandwich consisting of ground beef, onions, tomato sauce or ketchup,

A homemade sloppy joe with coleslaw

Worcestershire sauce, and other seasonings, served on a hamburger bun. The dish originated in the United States during the early 20th century.










Early 20th century American cookbooks offer plenty of sloppy-joe type recipes, though they go by different titles: Toasted Deviled Hamburgers, Chopped Meat Sandwiches, Hamburg a la Creole, Beef Mironton, and Minced Beef Spanish Style.

Marilyn Brown, Director of the Consumer Test Kitchen at H.K. Heinz in Pittsburgh, says their research at the Carnegie Library suggests that the sloppy joe began in a Sioux City, Iowa, cafe as a "loose meat sandwich" in 1930, the creation of a cook named Joe.

References to sloppy joes as sandwiches begin by the 1940s. One example is a 1944 Coshocton Tribune ad under the heading "Good Things to Eat" says "Sloppy Joes' - 10c - Originated in Cuba - You'll ask for more - The Hamburg Shop" and elsewhere on the same page, "Hap is introducing that new sandwich at The Hamburg Shop - Sloppy Joes - 10c."

The term "sloppy Joe's" had an earlier definition of any cheap restaurant or lunch counter serving cheap food quickly, since 1940 or a type of casual clothing.

Food companies began producing packaged sloppy joe sauce, such as Manwich, by the 1960s.




Several variations of the sloppy joe exist in North America. In Quebec, Canada, sandwiches of

Ground Buffalo "Joe"

stewed ground beef such as pain à la viande and pain fourré gumbo are usually served on hot dog buns. A similar sandwich, the "dynamite," exists in the area around Woonsocket, Rhode Island, and is distinguished by the use of onions, bell peppers, and sometimes celery.

Stewed meat sandwiches are common in several other culinary traditions as well. The rou jia mo, from China's Shaanxi Province, consists of stewed pork, beef, or lamb on a steamed bun. Keema pav of Indian cuisine uses a pav bread roll filled with keema, a minced, stewed, curried meat.

Ground turkey or textured vegetable protein may be used as a substitute for ground beef.

One of America's Favorites - Fondue

Fondue (/ˈfɒndjuː/ or /ˈfɒnduː/; French pronunciation: ​[fɔ̃dy]) is a Swiss, Italian, and French dish of

Dipping a cheese fondue with a long-stemmed fork

melted cheese served in a communal pot (caquelon) over a portable stove (réchaud), and eaten by dipping long-stemmed forks with bread into the cheese. It was promoted as a Swiss national dish by the Swiss Cheese Union (Schweizerische Käseunion) in the 1930s, and was popularized in North America in the 1960s.

Since the 1950s, the name "fondue" has been generalized to other dishes in which a food is dipped into a communal pot of hot liquid: chocolate fondue, in which pieces of fruit are dipped into a melted chocolate mixture, and fondue bourguignonne, in which pieces of meat are cooked in hot oil.





The word fondue is the feminine passive past participle of the French verb fondre ("to melt") used as a noun. It is first attested in French in 1735, in Vincent la Chapelle's Cuisinier moderne, and in English in 1878.





The earliest known recipe for cheese fondue as we know it today comes from a 1699 book published in Zurich, under the name "Käss mit Wein zu kochen" "to cook cheese with wine". It calls for grated or cut-up cheese to be melted with wine, and for bread to be dipped in it.

However, the name "cheese fondue", until the late 19th century, referred to a preparation including eggs and cheese, as in la Chapelle's 1735 Fonduë de Fromage, aux Truffes Fraiches it was something between scrambled eggs with cheese and a cheese soufflé. Brillat-Savarin in 1834 says it is "nothing other than scrambled eggs with cheese". Variations included cream ("à la genevoise") and truffles ("à la piémontaise") in addition to eggs; and also what we now call "raclette" ("fondue valaisanne").

The first known recipe for the modern cheese fondue under that name, with cheese and wine but no eggs, was published in 1875, and was already presented as a Swiss national dish. Despite its modern associations with rustic mountain life, it was a town-dweller's dish from the lowlands of western, French-speaking, Switzerland: rich cheese like Gruyère was a valuable export item which peasants could not afford to eat.

The introduction of cornstarch ("Maïzena") to Switzerland in 1905 made it easier to make a smooth and stable emulsion of the wine and cheese, and probably contributed to the success of fondue.

Fondue was popularized as a Swiss national dish by the Swiss Cheese Union (Schweizerische Käseunion) in the 1930s as a way of increasing cheese consumption. The Swiss Cheese Union also created pseudo-regional recipes as part of the "spiritual defense of Switzerland". After World War II rationing ended, the Swiss Cheese Union continued its marketing campaign, sending fondue sets to military regiments and event organizers across Switzerland. Fondue is now a symbol of Swiss unity.

In the meantime, fondue continued to be promoted aggressively in Switzerland, with slogans like "La fondue crée la bonne humeur" "fondue creates a good mood" and (1981) "Fondue isch guet und git e gueti Luune" "fondue is good and creates a good mood" – abbreviated as "figugegl".

Fondue was promoted to Americans at the Swiss Pavilion's Alpine restaurant at the 1964 New York World's Fair.

The extension of the name "fondue" to other dishes served in a communal hot pot dates to 1950s New York. Konrad Egli, a Swiss restaurateur, introduced fondue bourguignonne at his Chalet Suisse restaurant in 1956. Then in the mid 1960s, he invented chocolate fondue as part of a promotion for Toblerone chocolate. A sort of chocolate mousse or chocolate cake had also sometimes been called "chocolate fondue" starting in the 1930s.





Cheese fondue consists of a blend of cheeses, wine and seasoning. To prepare the caquelon it is first rubbed with a cut garlic clove. White wine is slightly heated with cornstarch, and then grated cheese is added and stirred until melted. It is often topped off with a bit of kirsch. The cornstarch or other starch is added to prevent separation. The mixture is stirred continuously as it heats in the caquelon.

When it is ready, diners dip cubes of bread speared on a fondue fork into the mixture.





A cheese fondue mixture should be kept warm enough to keep the fondue smooth and liquid but not so hot that it burns. If this temperature is held until the fondue is finished there will be a thin crust of toasted (not burnt) cheese at the bottom of the caquelon. This is called la religieuse (French for the nun). It has the texture of a cracker and is almost always lifted out and eaten.





Ready to eat:
* Refrigerated fondue blends are sold in most Swiss supermarkets as convenience food and need little more than melting in the caquelon. Individual portions heatable in a microwave oven are also sold.

Broth
* Fondue chinoise (lit. "Chinese fondue") is a common name for hot pot, where meat and vegetables are cooked in a shared pot of broth. Various sauces are provided on the side. Uniquely the meal is finished off when all the diners have finished cooking their ingredients by sharing out the broth, which now contains an amalgam of all of the flavors from the earlier ingredients.

Chocolate Fondue

Chocolate
* Slices of fruit or pastry are dipped in a caquelon of melted chocolate. Other types of dessert fondues can include coconut, honey, caramel, and marshmallow.

Oil
* Fondue bourguignonne consists of a fondue pot filled with hot oil into which diners dip pieces of meat to cook them. Various dipping sauces are provided on the side. This fondue comes also from Switzerland.





A tradition says that if a man loses his bread in the pot, he buys drinks all around, and if a woman does, she must kiss her neighbors.

Most writers recommend that each morsel be put in the pot only once (no double-dipping) and that the dipping fork be used only to transport the food from the pot to one's plate, not to eat.

The choice of beverage to drink with fondue is specified in several conflicting traditions; some demand that white wine should be drunk, while others specify black tea as the beverage of choice. Some people drink a shot of spirits during or after the meal. However, a study published in 2010 showed that none of these beverages caused indigestion after eating fondue.

One of America's Favorite - Chicken Fried Steak

Chicken fried steak, served with mashed potatoes

Chicken fried steak (also known as country fried steak) is an American breaded cutlet dish consisting of a piece of steak (tenderized cube steak) coated with seasoned flour and pan-fried. It is associated with the Southern cuisine of the USA. Some state that the dish gets its name from the fact that the steak is cooked in oil that has already been used to fry chicken. Others note that the method of cooking is the same as for fried chicken.

Chicken fried steak resembles the Austrian dish Wiener Schnitzel and the Italian-Latin American dish Milanesa, which is a tenderized veal or pork cutlet, coated with flour, eggs, and bread crumbs, and then fried. It is also similar to the recipe for Scottish collops.





The precise origins of the dish are unclear, but many sources attribute its development to German and Austrian immigrants to Texas in the 19th century, who brought recipes for Wiener Schnitzel from Europe to the USA. Lamesa, the seat of Dawson County on the Texas South Plains, claims to be the birthplace of chicken fried steak, and hosts an annual celebration accordingly. John "White Gravy" Neutzling of Bandera in the Texas Hill Country also claims to have invented the dish.

The Virginia Housewife, published in 1838 by Mary Randolph, has a recipe for veal cutlets that is one of the earliest recipes for a food like chicken fried steak. The recipe for what we now know as chicken fried steak was included in many regional cookbooks by the late 19th century. The Oxford English Dictionary's earliest attestation of the term "chicken-fried steak" is from a restaurant advertisement in the 19 June 1914 edition of the Colorado Springs Gazette newspaper.

A 1943 American cookbook recipe for Wiener Schnitzel includes a white salt and pepper cream gravy.

Chicken fried steak is among numerous popular dishes which make up the official state meal of Oklahoma, added to the list in 1988.





Chicken fried steak is prepared by taking a thin cut of beefsteak and tenderizing it by pounding, cubing, or forking. It is then either immersed in egg batter and/or dredged in flour to which salt, pepper, and often other seasonings have been added (called breading). After this, the steak is fried in a skillet or, less commonly, deep-fried. Restaurants often call the deep fried version chicken fried and the pan fried type country fried. The frying medium has traditionally been butter, lard, or other shortening, but in recent years, health concerns have led most cooks to substitute the shortening with vegetable oil.

The cuts of steak used for chicken fried steak are usually the less expensive, less desirable ones, such as chuck, round steak, and occasionally flank steak. The method is also sometimes used for chopped, ground, or especially cube steak. When ground beef is used, it is sometimes called a "chuckwagon". Chicken fried steak is usually served for lunch or dinner topped with cream gravy and with mashed potatoes, vegetables, and biscuits served on the side. In the Midwest, it is also common to serve chicken fried steak for breakfast, along with toast and hash browns.

The CFS, as it also known, can be served on a hamburger bun as a sandwich, cubed and stuffed in a baked potato with the gravy and cheese, or cut into strips and served in a basket with fries and gravy, which is then known as "steak fingers".

Chicken fried steak with chipotle cream gravy

Typically, in Texas and surrounding states, chicken fried steak is fried in a thick layer of oil in a pan and served with traditional peppered milk gravy. The same dish is sometimes known as "country fried steak" in other parts of the United States, where it is subject to some regional variations. Often there is a brown gravy, and occasionally the meat is either pan-fried with little oil, or simmered in the gravy. In some areas, "country steak" may refer to Salisbury steak, a chopped or minced beef patty in brown gravy.

Other meats may be used, with "chicken-fried chicken" having appeared on many menus, substituting a boneless chicken breast for the steak. Chicken fried chicken differs from the dish known as "fried chicken" because the meat is removed from the bones, and cooked in the fashion of chicken fried steak. Another term is "steak-fried chicken". Boneless pork chops, usually center cut, can be served in this manner, as well as chicken fried buffalo steak.