Here it is, Midwestern Cuisine as documented from my 2007 family reunion in Keokuk, Iowa.

Much type as been pressed about Cajun food, California Cuisine, Tex-Mex, and Southern-Fried-Anything, but what about food from the belly of our great nation? It might not not be the stuff of Saveur or Gourmet but Midwestern Food is created, above all things, to feed the family. And food ideals can’t get any loftier than that.

Dishes are often in one pot. No fancy knifework, techniques or trendy spices. Ingredients often number less than 10.

Warning! The photos below are not censored for meat content; the Midwest is still a meat-and-potatoes place. But the generous amount of yummy side dishes and some locally-purchased Boca Burgers kept a hungry vegetarian pond-swimming volleyball-champion like me more than satisfied.

Friday’s Dinner featured a Trio of Meats: Ham, Smoked Turkey and Deep Fried Turkey. Please note the Sterzings, (bottom middle) the cultish potato chips only found in Iowa - truly salty, greasy, and fantastic. Sterzings event got a shout out in the Fourth of July issue of the New York Times in an article entitled, The Best Chip? The First One Out of the Bag:

“Jean Fuller is 71 and lives in Dallas with her husband, Dale. Anyone who visits from Iowa, her home state, must arrive with a bag or eight of Sterzing’s, which markets itself as the maker of “the most popular potato chips in southeast Iowa.” Cartons arrive for Christmas. Mr. Fuller got a supply for Father’s Day.”

^{1. BBQ’ed Potatoes, 2. Berry Cobbler, 3. Broccoli Salad, 4. Cheese n Meat Plate, 5. Cheesy Crockpot Potatoes, 6. Cherry Pie, 7. Chocolate Apricot Squares, 8. Corn Souffle, 9. Crudites, 10. Deep Fried Turkey, 11. Garbanzo Zucchini Rice Salad, 12. German Coleslaw, 13. Grandma’s Apple Cake, 14. Ham, 15. Olive-Pasta-Salad, 16. Pickles, 17. Pineapple Souffle, 18. Pork Loin, 19. Salad with Ranch Dressing, 20. Saurkraut, 21. Smoked Turkey, 22. Sterzings!, 23. Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, 24. Three Bean Salad}

And then we went to Stock Car Races to see my cousin (who is 15 and does not have a drivers license) race.

^{1. Grandstands, 2. Beautiful Night at the Stock Car Races, 3. Fast Car, 4. Flag Guys, 5. Gatekeepers, 6. Good Luck, 7. Yellow Flag Lap, 8. I think he’s here every week, 9. Seth Drives Fast!, 10. Seth’s Fanclub, 11. Trophies, 12. Wrong Way, 13. Sunset at the Races}

Breakfast was leftover Ham and Potatoes Grilled outdoors, plus Biscuits and Spicy Sausage Gravy (my vegan adaption is here.) I ate fruit and muffins.

^{1. Biscuits, 2. Cream Horns, 3. Blueberries, 4. Grapes, 5. Spicy Sausage Gravy, 6. Ham, Sausages, and Potatoes on the Grill, 7. Mini-Quiches, 8. Muffins!}

I’ll go into a little more detail about Saturday’s lunch because Maid-Rites are an Iowan institution. Basically crumbly ground beef cooked up with onion and served loose (not in a patty) on a bun. My cousin pointed out that the Loose Meat Sandwich Restaurant from the Roseanne show was probably based on Maid-Rites. Fascinating. You can dig up more fun facts - and franchise info! - on Made-Rite Restaurants here.

I myself ate a Loose Veggie sandwiches (crudites stacked carefully on a bun, laced with dill dip.)

^{1. “Maid Rites” - an IIlinois/Iowa Specialty, 2. Beefy Con Queso, 3. Buns, 4. Red Velvet Cake, 5. Cereal Pretzel Mix, 6. Dill Pickle Chips, 7. Fruit Salad, 8. Kettle Pops, 9. Maid-Right Filling, 10. Pasta and Bell Pepper Salad, 11. Pot-o’-Dogs, 12. Saurkraut, 13. Crudites}

Saturday Dinner was Iowan Beef Burger and Wisconsin Brat night. This is when I broke out the veggie burgers.

^{1. A Discriminating Eater, 2. 7-layer Dip, 3. Baked Beans, 4. Burger Patties, 5. Fruit and Nut Salad, 6. Fruit Salad, 7. Grilled Homegrown Zucchini, 8. Pastachio, 9. Spinach Dip, 10. Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, 11. Buns, 12. Wisconsin Beer Brats, 13. Saurkraut}

Thank you to my wonderful family for arranging this weekend. It was perfect. I am particularly grateful for the strength and grace of our hosts for putting up with air mattresses, beer cans, and assorted strange requests from 70+ of us relatives. Didn’t mean to scare you by setting up our tent in your garage.

You all have an open invitation to stay in Brooklyn anytime - I’ve got an open kitchen, bathtub, and air mattress that’s all yours.

Thanks to Danielle at Habeas Brulee for hosting this past Saturday’s first (to my knowledge) NYC Food Bloggers Potluck.  She was kind enough to overlook my eager early arrival and made some wow-looking French Onion Soup Dumplings:

I was thrilled to meet other bloggers in person and it was a real treat to talk with people who spoke foodeese more fluently than I (chocolate nibs? Thai rice steamer?)  The group greatly exceeded my expectation that people who appreciate food can never be all bad… they weren’t any bad. Not only were there excellent potluck dishes (my fav was the Squash and Roasted Banana Soup from Stephanie at Scrumptious Street - post the recipe soon, please!) there was great wine, chat, and bloggeriffic camaraderie.

I for one hope this turns into a regular event.  I didn’t get to pry into everyone’s blogging lives as much as I would have liked -  I’m curious!  I also have high hopes of kicking San Francisco off her high horse and becoming, as NYC is almost everything else, the food blogging capital of the world.

In this corner, representing New York:

Danielle and Dave from Habeas Brulee
Jessica from Su Good Eats
Julie from A Finger in Every Pie
Lisa from Homesick Texan
Nicole, who blogs about food on livejournal as nex0s
Stephanie from Scrumptious Street
Stephanie from Adventures of Pie Queen
Tse Wei from Off the Bone

I think SF has met it’s match.
Thanks to all and hope to do this again soon!

     

I have a 3-day weekend from work (Thank you, Columbus. I was just wondering what you’ve done for me lately.) and had to put the first part on a low simmer since I had to wake up at the crack of dawn on Saturday to get my spandex-wearing heinie to the Chase Corporate Challenge Championship Race in Manhattan with my team from The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

I’ve always like to think of myself as a Wheaties-esque Champion, and look at me now, running around on Park Avenue with champions from all over the world trying not to glare at the camera crew who, riding comfortably in a small vehicle try to get me to answer “You look great! How do you feel!?” When how I felt was: ohmygod WHY isn’t this race over yet and stop FILMING me for gods sakes, at least until my hair isn’t all sweaty and plastered all over my red puffy I’ve-been-short-of-oxygen-for-3-miles-now face, for crying out loud. Please.

There was a free brunch after the race, and it brought so mind some of my favorite food quotes. Here they are:

It is the sauce that makes the fish edible (French Proverb)

Hunger is the best pickle (no idea who said that)

I went into a McDonald’s yesterday and said, ‘I’d like some fries.’ The girl at the counter said, ‘Would you like some fries with that? -Jay Leno

None of these seemed to quite fit, so I’ve decided to coin my own:

A free brunch after a 3.5 mile race makes cheap pancakes taste like golden moonbeams

Forget this Atkins cr*p, carbo-loading on pasta is where it’s at

Which is not quite as elegant as Sophia Loren’s “All you see, I owe to spaghetti.” Hubba hubba.

And that’s my story.

Ever since my lovely dining experience at Pure Food and Wine last week my brain’s been bursting with thoughts on raw food.  I started typing and these ideas started breeding on my computer screen, and I think I should probably just press “post” before this little essay gets even further out of hand.  Comments welcome.

Raw Food, just so ya’ll know what I’m referring to, is a diet of all fruits, veggies, nuts, and grains and legumes that are “raw” in the way that they are not heated over 118 degrees.  Grains and legumes are often sprouted to make them digestible.

I first heard of raw foods a few years ago and was sorta like “yeah, right, who *does* this?  Then started reading up on it a bit.  I got a few cookbooks.  I tried “cooking” a few raw meals to see what the hype was about, and look at me now – eating at raw restaurants and blogging my little heart out on the subject.

Here’s the general “raw” argument from wikipedia:

• Raw foods contain enzymes which act as catalysts to regulate the digestive process in the body. Heating food degrades or destroys these enzymes in food.
• Eating food without enzymes makes digestion more difficult; deprives the body of enzymes; and leads to toxicity in the body, to excess consumption of food, and therefore to obesity and chronic disease.
• Raw foods contain bacteria and other micro-organisms that stimulate the immune system and enhance digestion by populating the digestive tract with beneficial flora.
  Living and raw foods have higher nutrient values than foods that have been cooked.

My personal raw thoughts after the jump.

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I’ve been rather busy this month with event season starting again at the Met and celebrating (in many ways, with many drinks, with many wonderful people - thanks all!) my 28th birthday. I feel pretty adult, but then again I’ve felt adult since I was about 27 1/2. I digress! I want to send a belated e-thank you to my sisters for bring me out on my birthday to the wonderful Candle 79. Since it was a surprise, I wasn’t prepared with my camera but I can guarantee there was a ton of vegan and raw goodness and birthday wonderfiality. I direct you instead to check out the review of Candle 79 on Veganfriendly, a great new resource for us veggie New Yorkers.

What I do have for you today is about a million pictures of the last of my birthday outings, a special “Tasting Menu” treat at the raw food restaurant Pure Food and Wine. The charming Jerry took me there (after virtually zero arm-twisting) because I thought it seemed like the most cozy and fulfilling place to spend a post-birthday evening dining on nothing cooked over 118 degrees. I was proved correct because we had an excellent time, had very attentive and informative service, great food, and really really excellent biodynamic* wine.

*biodynamic, we found out, is a system of gardening that is one step above organic. The wiki reads:

A central aspect of biodynamics is that the farm as a whole is seen as an organism, and therefore should be a closed self-nourishing system, which the preparations nourish. Disease of organisms is not to be tackled in isolation but is a symptom of problems in the whole organism.

Cool!

Now, for those of you not familiar with raw food, basically, it’s “raw” fruits, vegetables, and nuts that are not heated over 118 degrees in order to preserve the living enzymes, theoretically making the food easier to digest. My personal feelings on raw food aside (and I have quite a few conflicting thoughts on this subject, but other day, another post), this dining experience was really wonderful and just goes to show that eating even those most extreme “health” food can be completely satisfying if given enough time, attention, and love.

Please live raw vicariously through my snaps and food commentary below:

This was a nut “cheese” on a dehydrated (not baked, obviously) “cracker.” The sauce was a Framboise-balsamic reduction that Jerry pretty much licked off his plate.

We got the 5-course tasting menu which, as explained by our waiter, was more like 7 courses. Since they served both Jerry and I different plates with a different thing to taste, that ends up to be 11 unique raw creations. I pretty much lost count by the end. The appetizer course above was wonderful. The one on the left was a thai-esque wrap of marinated cabbage leaf with a tamarind dipping sauce. It translated to “raw” quite well (check out my mostly-raw build-your-own-lettuce-wraps here.) The cabbage they used was really delicious, but unfortuntely so was the biodynamic wine so I can’t remember exactly what type of cabbage it was. The wraps were Jerry’s favorite of all the dishes and for good reason - crunchy, sweet, sour, whimsical. Try this at home. The seaweed salad had not two but three different kinds of seaweed and was also quite tasty, but not as standout as the wraps.

When the waiter announced that this was Creamy Tomato Soup creamed only with heavily whipped tomato, my tastebuds suspected he might be lying because it was so tasty and had a great texture. An excellent example that fresh vegetables need very little (not even cooking) to taste their very best. There was an interesting use of lemon zest that made the soup really sparkle. Mental note to use more zest. Mental note to say the word “zest” more often - what a great word!

OK, back on track, back to main course #1. Well, main course 1a and 1b actually. The dish on the left is Zucchini Ravioli. The “pasta” was thin slices of zucchini dehydrated to a wonderful chewy texture. The filling and sauce were different kinds of nut cream, if I recall correctly, and there was some nuts and a nice crunchy side salad of what seemed to be celery leaves to provide more layers of texture. Terrific. The dish on the right was a nest of fennel with more nut cheese and a balsamic sauce. This dish was less than thrilling - it seemed a little small in comparison to the ravioli and the color and tastes weren’t as exciting as some of the other dishes.

And here are main courses 2a and 2b. The tamale was an interesting concept - corn and nut cheese and possibly some zucchini all wrapped up in a corn husk with a avocado garnish and with a side of mole sauce. The mole sauce was as good as any cooked mole I’ve ever had - yum! Complex and flavorful. Zesty! But the sweet tamale filling got a little cloying tasting after a few bites, but maybe because this was dish 7 or 8 and my palate was getting numb. The mushroom skewer had a beautiful presentation on a long thin plate with a vibrant green avocado lime sauce and a pepper side salad. I’m not a huge mushroom lover and was skeptical about having them raw but it really worked, in part due to the flavorful marinated pepper salad. I voted this dish my favorite.

Dark and Light Chocolate Cake and Chocolate Banana Sundae

Oh my god and the desserts! These were not wimpy vegan fruit-and-nut-butter pies, these were REALLY BIG, really dense, really chocolately, serious serious desserts. On the left is a Dark and Light Chocolate Cake with a chocolate ice cream that you wouldn’t believe didn’t have cream your waiter crossed his heart for you like I made ours do. The Chocolate Banana Sundae was like the most heavenly banana split EVER. I can’t believe that these things didn’t have cream. I can’t believe that this might be the first desserts that I didn’t have room to finish.

The Bill and a Little Something Extra

We’re nearing the end of our story, gentle readers, and though still slightly embarrassed, I’ll have you know that at the end of the meal I was so happy, relaxed, saturated with raw goodness and stuffed with vegan chocolate desserts that when the bill came I was in such a stupor that I figured that the little item holding down the bill was some wonderfully constructed piece of raw candy and tried to take a bite. I mean, I literally put it in my mouth and closed my chompers on it. As you may be able to tell from the dimly-lit photo above, this “candy” was actually a rock. A rock!

Which pretty much sums up the experience for me: Pure Food and Wine has such a comfortable atmosphere and non-obtrusive approach to a questionably extreme cuisine that your relaxation level rises to the point that you’ll eat a rock if they put it down in front of you. I know, because I did.

Dining Out, Food Theory | Comments (0)