50 States; 50 Meals: Connecticut

This is our first state that is close to our heart, as my husband is from Connecticut, but we still learned a lot about their "state food". This week we had New Haven Style Apizza (pronounced ə-beets). This is a Neapolitan pizza style pizza originated at the Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana. Mr. Pepe's original plain pizza (also called a tomato pie) was just crust, tomato sauce , oregano and pecorino romano cheese. If you wanted mozzarella you had to ask for it like we ask for toppings. The most popular New Haven Apizza is Mr. Pepe's White Clam pie. The white clam pie is crust, olive oil, oregano, grated cheese, chopped garlic, and fresh littleneck clams. So even though, to our family, the best pizza out of CT is Vito's Eggplant Pizza I obliged and made two apizzas.

I made one White Clam pie sans the clams (Sorry Frank) and one plain tomato pie with half mootz (mozzarella) for the kids.
You think pizza would have been simple but this was my most challenging meal so far. I did end up making my own crust and sauce. Here are my lessons learned.
DO combine all your recipes when using more than one to achieve one meal.
DO wear an apron to protect you from flour bombs.
DO use the Fleichman's pizza yeast to make your dough faster and not have to worry about proofing.
DO look up baking terms if you are not an avid baker.  Proofing is the final stage in making the dough rise where are letting the      dough sit for a certain amount of time.  Why didn't you just say that in the first place!
DO NOT go crazy with the corn meal.  Relax, it's not going to stick
DO NOT expect the same pizza that comes out of a pizza oven to be the same coming out of your builder's grade oven.  (I really want a new oven)

[caption id="attachment_621" align="aligncenter" width="112"] My first Pizza Dough[/caption]

So two homemade doughs, one homemade sauce , some grated cheese, chopped garlic and an hour and a half later I had two apizzas.  And darn it if the kids didn't like the white pizza better!!!  Hubby and I liked both.  Would I make it again? Yes, but next time I would order mootz on my "White Clam Pie sans the clams, Sorry Frank" APizza!

[caption id="attachment_622" align="alignleft" width="224"] White Clam Pizza sans Clams[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_623" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Tomato Pie: Half Plain, Half w/ Mootz[/caption]

Next Week:  We head to another family state: Delaware

50 States; 50 Meals: Colorado

The moment finally happened where I knew as soon as I saw it I wasn't going to like this states dinner. Remember last week when I said I didn't like eggs. Well this week was all about the Denver Omelet. It was the top of everyone's list so I knew I had to make it. BUT... I didn't have to eat it! So I also planned on making Colorado Green Chili, also known as Chili Verde. I had a Daisy meeting this week so I prepped the pork shoulder and my hubby did the cooking. It smelled soooo good when we walked back in the house.
So what makes it a "Denver" omelet? It is kind of a gross story that I made sure to share with the family as they were half way done. Haha. During dinner we talk about the story behind the dish and information about the state so I had to really. ;). Settlers would bring eggs to Colorado by wagon, and the eggs would often spoil in the process. To cover up the bad taste, cooks would add onions, peppers and ham. You could also serve the omelet on bread and then it becomes the Denver Sandwich. They have great food namers in Colorado, don't they. Lucky for us, we had fresh farm eggs delivered by the Egg Man. (Another original name)
For this recipe I went to my tried and true Betty Crocker Cooking Basics cookbook. This was my first cookbook and I still refer to it often.
Check out my omelet making skills. The one on the left is meant to show you what was in the egg and not at all a fail at folding the egg.



Denver Omelet

The Chili Verde was very delicious. The girls were grossed out that it was green but after one taste they asked for a bowl of their own. The taste reminded me of salsa verde. I used to take green salsa in my lunch when I was in school and all my friends would look at me like I was disgusting. What is with kids and green food? The picture doesn't really help my case but I highly recommend taking a break from red chili and go green.



Chili Verde

Next Week: Connecticut

50 States; 50 Meals: California

Finally done with the A's! This week we traveled out west for California Cobb Salads. This is one of my favorite salads and I usually order one of I see it on the menu. My friends laugh at me because I usually order it without the egg because I'm not a fan of the egg. They tell me that is the point of a Cobb Salad but for me it the avocado is the star.
Speaking of eggs... How cool was it that I needed hard boiled eggs the week of Easter?!



When searching for the traditional recipe, I discovered there was quite a bit of history behind this popular salad. In 1937, Bob Cobb created this salad one night while looking for a snack in his restaurant, the Brown Derby. Cobb just threw together items he found in his refrigerator for he and his friend, Sid Grauman (of Grauman's Chinese Theater). The next day Mr. Grauman came back to the restaurant to order the "Cobb Salad" and it was then put on the menu.
I love that story because I have turned many leftovers into salad toppings. Leftover roasted broccoli is one of my favs to include in a salad the next day for lunch.
I made each of us our own individual salads. As I was making them my husband noticed that no one was going to have a true Cobb Salad. He doesn't like tomatoes, our girls didn't like the blue cheese and I don't like eggs. So I took one for the team and added a small bit of egg to my salad. (It has to be right for the picture, right?) It actually wasn't that bad once it was all mixed together.
For the girl's salads I substituted cubes of a cheddar cheese stick for the blue cheese and added grapes. They liked it so much they didn't even use dressing! Whaaat!?

Click here for the story and recipe

How do you eat your Cobb Salad? Mix it all together or at each section separately? 3 out of 4 us were mixers.

Next up - Colorado