Nebraska Runza and Win a Great CD with YOUR Noodle Recipe!

We're finishing up our Nebraska meals today and after a quick retreat back to Missouri (we've got a great new picture book to preview and a dessert) and then Kansas to pick up some more sides, we'll zero in on Oklahoma. Friends have lined up some, shall we say, rather unique recipes for southern-stylin' Oklahoma and it's neighboring Arkansas. I'm excited to get your input on these recipes.

It's never too late to share your recipes from your favorite state(s). In fact, I'm requesting you quickly leave in comments your BEST noodle dish. Why, noodles, you ask? Come on, what kid (and adult) doesn't eat noodles? So what does the chef of the best recipe receive? Well, Bob Drew, in honor of our friend, singer/songwriter, kid rocker and all-around-good-guy Jim Cosgrove (a.k.a. Mr. Stinky Feet) and his new CD titled "Swimming in Noodles" the best noodle recipe of the week gets a FREE "Swimming in Noodles" CD!

We hope to get oodles of noodle recipes. We'll award points for creativity, ease in making and representation of your state. Wisconsin Mac & Cheese? New York Penicillin? American Macaroni Salad? Bring forth those noodle recipes! (Also, I'm curious to know why Yankee Doodle Dandy called his feather in his hat 'macaroni.' Had he just spent too much time hanging out with Samuel Adams? Anyone know?)

NEBRASKA'S SANDWICH, the Runza

My Nebraska consultant, friend and fellow mom, Nicci Ericksen, convinced me that the essence of the Runza was the filling and that to make this fit a family friendly meal I shouldn't have to spend all day baking bread. (I do plan to double my grandmother's sweet dough recipe and use a quarter of the dough for Runzas the next time I want to spend all day babysitting dough.)

For simplicity sake, I relied on the ever-versatile crescent roll dough to work as the covering for a fairly easy filling of ground beef, onion and cabbage all tossed in a skillet and seasoned with salt and pepper.

I may experiment with seasonings next time because it seemed a bit bland to my tastebuds. I cooked the onions first, added the hamburger until it was cooked through and then added the cabbage, making the meal prep a bit longer, but not as long bread dough from scratch. We added poppy seeds to the top of the crescent packages for a little texture -- in honor of the Czech rolichs which always had poppy seeds on top, but I don't think this is an official approved topping!

If you have the time and want to be authentic check this homemade Nebraska Runza recipe here. Also, fellow Kansans can refer to bierock recipes, which are basically the same sandwich.

And if you need a side, perhaps your table guests aren't into that cabbage in the filling, here's a corn casserole from our friend, Mick Ratzlaff, who grew up in Nebraska. Mick likes to cook for his family and has a collection of his grandmothers' recipes.

MICK'S NEBRASKA CORN CASSEROLE
1 large onion, chopped
2 medium green peppers, chopped
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups frozen or canned corn
2 cups long grain wild rice, cooked
1 can diced tomatoes
4 hard cooked eggs, chopped
2 1/2 cups cheddar cheese
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Saute onions and peppers in large skillet with butter until tender. Mix with flour and remove from heat. Add remaining ingredients, reserving 1/2 cup cheese. Pour into a well-greased 2-1/2 quart baking pan. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Top with remaining cheese and let stand 6 to 8 minutes.

I'm intrigued with the wild rice and Worcestershire sauce in this version, but I think I'll opt to leave out the eggs. My youngest shies away from food that contains identifiable eggs. (NOTE: She will not approve of noodle recipes that LOOK like they have egg in them.)

The Road to Kolache Heaven

POLKA DAY IN NEBRASKA

I didn't really think about featuring the Kolache as Nebraska's dessert until I was browsing my newest cookbook: "United Cakes of America" by Warren Brown. This wonderful cookbook is mandatory reading for our journey. Warren, who has bake shops on the East Coast, has put together a national treasury of desserts that's also an entertaining history of baking in America. Plus, it's one of the very few cookbooks that organizes recipes by state. (So if any publishing houses want to explore this idea of more regional/state cooking themes, feel free to contact me.)

Cherry Kolaches I made on the first try after years of not making them.

For Nebraska, Warren presented a kolache recipe, but I thought it would be a crime not to feature MY OWN GRANDMOTHER'S RECIPE. She lived and baked 13 miles from the southern border of Nebraska, in the small town of Cuba, Kansas.

Cuba's got a strong Czech heritage and I remember once singing a happy Czech song in a skit with two other little preschool friends in front of lots of people laughing. I cannot remember WHAT we were singing, but it was probably about food. I think the older lady on stage with us had a bucket of lard. But maybe I'm getting mixed up. It was a long, long time ago. But the Senior Citizen's Community Center had  a stage backdrop that was a painting of a Czech street scene. I'm not sure what condition it's in now all these years later, but there's a great photo of that backdrop if you go to Jim Richardson's Web site, click "Documentary: Our Heartland" and then click on "Cuba, Kansas."

Did you know my hometown was exotic enough to be featured in the May 2004 National Geographic? A subsequent issue printed my letter to the editor thanking photographer Jim Richardson. I'm wondering if I can technically count "National Geographic" as one of the places my work has appeared?


So to all my Cuba homies who have the "Blue" 1978 Cuba Presbyterian Guild Cook Book with my grandmother Margaret Lesovsky's recipe on page 118, it's been updated -- by my grandmother, who was always noting the total amount of flour and other alchemy while baking. Here's the latest version of her "basic" dough that she called her "smaller amount" that also included less kneading. My grandmother didn't think I was the world's best at kneading, but I'd not had her decades of experience either.

The inscription in my cookbook from my grandmother. 

GRANDMA MARGARET'S
BASIC 'SWEET' DOUGH - SMALLER AMOUNT


2 packages of yeast (3 teaspoons equal a package) = 6 teaspoons of yeast
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water (water that is warm and comfortable on the wrist)
1/3 cup of powdered milk (Can you tell my Grandmother grew up in the Depression?)
1/2 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of oil (1/2 cup of oil if making kolaches)

1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
1/4 cup of instant potatoes (Depression inspired? Saves time from boiling real potatoes)
2 eggs
5 cups of flour (approximately)


Put first 5 ingredients (through oil) into mixer. Let yeast work about 10 minutes. 

Then start with other ingredients, making sure you have enough flour. I of course ran out of flour and had to run to the store, hoping the yeast wouldn't expand too much. I noticed later my grandmother's wheat roll recipe calls for this "sponge" action of adding two cups of flour and waiting before adding more flour, so 20 minutes between the cups of flour didn't seem to effect the outcome. Whew!


So once you have nearly five cups of flour (preferably Hudson Cream) use the mixer's dough hook to knead. I love this part of the recipe, though  I still made a mess.

Here's where I zoned off (all those years ago) when I was writing down Grandma's recipe, perhaps because it was ALWAYS pretty warm in her kitchen. My next step says "Bake at 400 degrees" so I know I skipped a few vital instructions. Yes, I can see my grandmother shaking her head now. 
According to her published recipe in the "blue" cookbook here are the rest of the dough directions:


Continue beating in flour until dough is smooth and can be lifted in a mass on the spoon, leaving the bowl clean. Turn dough onto lightly floured board and knead until smooth and satiny. (I did this for three minutes and called it good.) Keep as soft as can be handled. (I think that means not to add too much more flour.) Place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover. Set in a warm place until doubled* then punch down. Let rest for 10 minutes and shape as desired. (For plain rolls, rohliks with poppy seeds, bake at 400 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.)

For the actual kolaches recipe, I've referred to the blue cookbook's Czech kolache notes from Mrs Ed Fisher, and used raising times from Warren Brown's kolache recipe. *Brown lets dough in bowl initially rise for 90 minutes.)

I divided the dough and started forming small rolls about the size of a small egg (thinking small because they'll continue raising with that massive amount of yeast!), placing them two inches apart.

I flattened them slightly and let them rise when they're doubled in size. (Brown specifies 30 minutes, Fisher says Kolaches can be tested by pressing in the center. If an indention remains they're ready to spread out, leaving a 1/2 inch edge. Sort of like this, I am by no means a Kolache Queen:

Fill with filling of choice — I used canned ready cherry and apricot pie fillings - puree apricot filling before using - or I make my own plum or what we used to call prune filling. I added canned pineapple to the apricot because my Grandmother always liked to make pineapple kolaches because that was her favorite fruit. There's also a poppy seed and cottage cheese option, but, yuck! I don't even attempt to make that disgusting kind.

START THIS THE NIGHT BEFORE:
Debbie's Plum Filling
1 orange (you'll need the zest)
1 package pitted plums (12 oz.)
1 1/2 cups raisins
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Soak prunes and raisins overnight in water. Cook until soft with the zest of the orange and the sugar. Drain. Add lemon juice. Puree and ready to go.

After carefully filling the centers, an egg wash is optional. They'll need to raise one last time for about 5 to 10 minutes and then can bake in a 400 degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Mine took about 15 minutes. Don't forget to go light on the filling:

But my first batch turned out well enough I think my Grandmother would have been proud. The total recipe made four dozen. And if you're within driving distance of my house, I've still got some to share.

Husker Burger, Part II and Cinnamon Rolls

Welcome back to Nebraska Week. We've got two more recipes for another day in Nebraska and I've also received some more enticing recipes from Kansas and Nebraska. So by Thursday or so, we'll head south to start virtually sightseeing in Oklahoma! (Hmmm, wonder if I need to rent that movie, again.)

The Nebraska Department of Economic Development spent some money on encouraging family travel, at least it seems that way based on their web site. They've got some fun films for kids, but I'm not sure kids are dictating where families are driving to on their free weekends. The site has this orange-haired animated kid trying to stow away in this Nebraska family's minivan.

Tyler from the Nebraska Dept. of Economic Development's Web site.

The nice family has room, but let's face it, this cartoon kid named Tyler shows no athletic prowess and will never be a lineman for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. So you know this isn't a "Blind Side" fairy tale here, the cartoon kid always gets discovered before the family sets out onto one of the many trips to various parts of the state for picnics, I think.

The kids' area on this site has a bunch of printable car activities including a game of counting the cows you see on either side of the road. (I think this would also be part of the Kansas landscape as well and I remember getting excited about seeing a cow figure carved out of real butter at the Kansas State Fair. Welcome to the Midwest folks!) But Nebraska's Economic Development site does have a great online game for children called Geography Jam, where you try to locate different towns throughout the state. I give it a big thumbs up, even if it featured that cartoonish Tyler with snarky bubble comments.

Speaking of towns, Omaha's Jen Shatel was able to clarify the proper way to dress a Husker Burger (available across from Memorial Stadium on football game days in Lincoln.) The Husker Burger is shaped like the state of Nebraska and depending on which you like best you run that condiment along the line where the Platte River runs. Start with ketchup (or mustard) and stream it from the lower corner on bottom of the panhandle to the middle of the "wavy" East side of the state, just south of where Omaha is. You can just guess where Omaha is or play the Geography Jam game above. Then Jen's says you can "dot" certain favorite cities with the opposite condiment. She usually adds Alliance, in the panhandle; Broken Bow, in the middle of the state; and Auburn, in the lower right corner; because she has family living in those locations. (I'm gonna fire up my Photoshop and illustrate this soon, so check back!)

I also asked John Mabry, who I worked with eons ago at The Kansas City Star Sports department, for his insight on Nebraska foods. John is the editor of L Magazine, Lincoln's Premiere Lifestyle Magazine that's part of the Lincoln Star-Journal newspaper.

"Runza sandwiches are big here (beef and cabbage stuffed in a roll)," John says. "Of course, steak and potatoes. People love their chili and cinnamon rolls here (together). I don't know if that is unique to Nebraska, but it is a pretty good combo."

I'm experimenting with a Runza recipe that I want to share this week. I've got both cabbage and sauerkraut (may opt for the later since it will be quicker) and still trying to decide on the best bread/roll recipe to use. I was going to just purchase a frozen quick bread, but I didn't see anything at the grocery store that looked like it would taste right. So my long-time friend Mary (reconnected on Facebook) directed me to our hometown's church cookbook for the roll recipe she uses frequently. I'll keep you posted on how this bread baking turns out.

John mentioned cinnamon rolls and it seems that in states with smaller towns much of the center of the community is centered around the local restaurant serving homemade cinnamon rolls and cheap coffee (read, no cream and 'don't need no Starbucks' -- that's for my daughters who are Justin Beiber and Ludacris fans; well Justin fans and they know who Ludacris is.) But Bill James, of Lawrence, Kansas, and recent special guest on the Simpsons, says not all cinnamon rolls are created equal.


Bill's wife, Susan McCarthy, gave me her cinnamon roll recipe. I've compared it to several other regional recipes and her recipe seems easier than most. So pics of this soon!

Susan McCarthy's and Bill James'
Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
3 cups warm water
2 teaspoons of yeast ( 3/4 package)
1 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon salt
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup butter, softened
7 to 8 cups flour

About 4 or 5 in the afternoon mix the ingredients together, adding enough flour to form a sticky dough. Let rise 4 to 5 hours. Punch down the dough, divide into quarters. Roll out each quarter flat, spread with butter and a mixture of sugar and cinnamon. Roll the section up and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces. Place rolls in greased baking pan. Continue in same way with the other dough quarters. Cover baking pans and let rolls rise overnight. Bake at 350° for about 30 minutes. Frost while warm and serve.

I appreciate recipes that specify the time of day to start, though it also means I'll be working with sugars near bedtime, and that's dangerous for me.

Bill writes: "A good cinnamon roll is a joy forever, or for the 20 minutes it takes you to eat it, whichever comes first. An interesting thing about cinnamon rolls is the immense variety of them.  I think there is more variety in cinnamon rolls than in chile, and there are very good cinnamon rolls of all different sizes, shapes, and taste. And also terrible ones. . ."

I couldn't agree more and my extended family of Czech bakers believe frozen bread dough is a blasphemy. The roll dough has to be sweet. (I took Texas-based Kolache Factory kolaches to my hometown, a Czech base with the slogan of "Czech Us Out." The verdict: Kolache Factory's rolls weren't sweet enough. So sugar has to be a MAIN ingredient in Czech and also Midwest baking, never mind how those Texans bake!)

Coming up is my grandmother's kolache recipe, too, since this fruit-filled SWEET roll is a Czech specialty, and there's a big Czech population in Nebraska. My hometown of Cuba, where my grandmother lived two doors down, is 13 miles from the Kansas-Nebraska border.

Thirsty? It's Kool-Aid Time

Why is it I cannot say Kool-Aid without yelling, "Hey Kids, I've got Kool-Aid?" Maybe it has to do with growing up in the '70s and '80s and all those Kool-Aid commercials where thirsty has only be defeated by Kool-Aid Man who's really a large glass pitcher. I've got to somewhat agree with Dane Cook's Kool-Aid remarks. (I had to go over to my friends' houses to get Kool-Aid. My mom didn't buy us Kool-Aid very often, but she did think Tang was fine, maybe because it was endorsed by astronauts, but I think they both had a lot of S U G A R.

Do they even advertise Kool-Aid anymore? With my limited TV watching I'm not too familiar with recent commercials, unless they're on during a sporting event. I'm so not Nielsen material and I cannot talk TV at all with my in-laws who know most of the season's lineups on most channels.

So our friend and neighbor, Mick Ratzlaff (who has a corn recipe for our project) reminds me that Kool-Aid was invented in Hastings, Neb. It's now owned by Kraft, but there's still a Kool-Aid exhibit at the Hastings Museum of Natural and Cultural History.



Here's a link for Playdough made with unsweetened Kool-Aid. It makes for great colors and a really nice scent.

And check this link for Midwest Living's recipe for Kool-Aid Angel Food Cake. I got concerned when I saw the four cups of powdered sugar, but that's mixed with either grenadine, maraschino cherry liquid or Kool-Aid for the frosting. Probably best NOT served with Kool-Aid to drink.

Tomorrow: Details on the proper way to top a Husker Burger and some stuff about trails.

New Pantry, Corn Pudding and Husker Burgers

My friend Jen Shatel is a native Nebraskan and a mom of three darling girls. Today Jen shares two great Crock Pot ideas. With the onset of Autumn is seems natural to bring out the Crock Pot to provide the heavy-duty work in the kitchen. And now, thanks to two new marvelous black chrome five-tier stands in my reorganized pantry, I can actually find my Crock Pot. See!

I'm feeling oh-so like Martha Stewart right now. (And just wait til I tell you about my grand schemes for sewing homemade Halloween costumes, and we also have to make about 30 homemade Halloween cards too. Now, I'm feeling tired again.)

Back to food. Jen writes: "My easiest and yummiest recipe involves corn — appropriate for the Cornhusker state. It's a simple crock pot recipe."

Jen Shatel's Corn Pudding
2 cans cream corn
2 cans whole kernel corn (with the water/juice)
2 boxes of corn muffin mix
1 stick of margarine
8 oz sour cream (optional)

Mix all ingredients in crock pot.
Cook on low for 3 to 4 hours until the mixture thicken and "sets" and looks like this:

And it tastes amazing. In fact, I think I'll have some for breakfast. (And it makes a large batch, too.)

Simplest Crock Pot Chicken
Jen also uses her Crock Pot to cook frozen chicken breasts. "I put them in by themselves and turn it on low," Jen says. "Once they cook, I shred the chicken breasts in their own juices and we put the shredded chicken in tacos, on buns with BBQ sauce, or in quesadillas. Very simple and very good flavor, too."

It was Jen and her husband, Tom, who first introduced me and my husband, Joe, to the Husker Burger. This was after 2005 because I remember standing in line behind then-alumnus -- still all-time great Husker QB -- Tommy Frazier to get into a downtown Lincoln bar. I don't think any of us waited long to get into the bar. Can you ever imagine Frazier getting overlooked in Lincoln?

So the Husker Burger is shaped like the state of Nebraska, but the real fun is garnishing it with ketchup and mustard. The mustard snakes across the burger like one of the state's rivers and then the ketchup .... okay, let me check with Jen on the CORRECT way to dress a Husker Burger. (Thursday's NU football game is against my Wildcats in Manhattan, Kan., and I can assure you there are no traditions in that college town that deal with condiments -- or at least that I can recall as I'm writing this at 10:42 p.m. on a week night.)

Check out Corn Nation's blog where they nominated their favorite stadium foods in the off-season. It makes for an interesting read. And lookie, I found a site that's part of Yahoo that's finding the best food in each state. They picked the baked bread stuffed with meat sandwiches called Runzas for Nebraska. (They also picked Chicken Fried Steak for Kansas. Even though their report came out in June of this year I can assure you I didn't see this list until today. But I'm happy to agree with these Yahoo/Shine people on my birth state of Kansas. Runzas are tasty, but I'm still partial to the Husker Burger. Besides Husker Burger just so much more catchier to say. It's way more fun than saying "Runza, Runza, Runza.")

I'm also noticing this pride in all things corn (though the state is the third-leading producer of corn behind Iowa and Illinois). But those states also don't have a team that proudly (and I mean PROUDLY call themselves the CORNHUSKERS. Sitting in a sea of red on a football game day is a site to behold. Their stadium hot dogs are OF COURSE dyed a bright RED, too. And the automatic hot dog thrower at games is called Der Viener Schlinger. I'm telling you, life is better than fiction; you couldn't make up a name like that. (Technically, SOMEONE did come up with that name and got it approved or offered enough $$$ to get it approved.) Why doesn't some action movie film a scene where the hero in white has to run through Memorial Stadium's packed game-day crowd, grabbing Der Viener Schlinger to fell the bad guys chasing him (or her — I'm all for female heroines.*)

* Our fam's favorite new heroine is Eva Nine from Tony DiTerlizzi's "The Search for Wondla."

A Trip North to Husker Nation

ONWARD TO NEBRASKA AND PANTRY REMODEL

So while we travel to a new state, I'm reorganizing my pantry after I heard a clatter two nights ago.

Three shelves were starting to fall and I knew I was in need of new support for my dishes and plastics and kitchen appliances. For six years this built-in shelving system helped me stay fairly organized. But for some time, one of the long boards would start to slip and I'd have to heave it back up on it's wall and two bar supports. With three shelves slanting precariously, I knew it was time to change up the pantry before all four shelves ended up on the ground. So my kitchen is quite the mess (I mean WORSE than it normally is.) More updates on the pantry later this week.

Let's check out Nebraska, shall we? If you're seeking recipes from the Great State of Nebraska, you can purchase a copy of "Inspired Recipes from Nebraska" that states on their web site:

Proceeds from sales will provide funds for educational materials about the history of the Governor’s residence given to grade schools and for updates to the residence. 

And at $36.05 a copy, I hope that the Governor's Residence (placed on the National Registry this year) is getting some really great window treatments. The First Lady of Nebraska Sally Ganem mentions in her letter on the site that the cookbook proves that "politicians eat more than rubber chicken."

I won't be asking for any rubber chicken recipes for this project. But we will explore the proper way to make a Husker Burger before heading to a NU football game, bring to light a few Kool-Aid recipes since it was invented in Hastings, Neb., and explore some bierocks (Runza was started in Nebraska) and kolache recipes from a state food culture influenced by German and Eastern European cultures, says Dr. Georgia Jones, of the Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences at University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

But today my friend Alyson Burnett Rawitch shares two of her favorites recipes from her family cookbook titled "Mostly on Your Mother's Side." I love that title!

Alyson writes: "My mom and dad grew up in Omaha and Lincoln respectively. Below is one of my mom's recipes. I prefer it with frozen corn and Ritz Crackers."

Sally Burnett's Baked Corn
From Alyson's family cookbook: "Mostly on Your Mother's Side"
A prairie recipe from the 1967 Nebraska Centennial Cookbook

Mix with an egg beater:
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup half and half and
1 egg
Add 2 cans kernel corn (drained) and
1 can creamed corn
Add 2 tablespoons butter cut into pieces
Add salt & pepper to taste
Mix in 24 to 36 crushed crackers
Top with more cracker crumbs and dot with butter. Bake at 400 degrees for about 1 hour.

And for dessert, a simple but delightful dessert. You can tell we're moving up the longitude latitude (I always confuse those terms) and the cooks can make meringue desserts without worrying about the humidity of the south. Here's Alyson's grandmother's recipe.

Alyson says, "My aunt, Katie Dailey Hopper wrote: "I can remember these piled on a
round silver tray and served at piano recitals at our house."  My kids LOVE them."

Mildred Jane Dailey's Meringue Kisses

Beat until stiff:
3 egg whites
1/8 tsp. cream of tartar
pinch of salt
Add slowly:
1 cup sugar
Stir in:
Chocolate chips (12 oz package) (I use mini's)
Drop by spoonfuls on a (sprayed with Pam) cookie sheet. Lift to a peak
with back of spoon. Bake at 250 degrees for 30 minutes.

Check back later this week for more Nebraska recipes. Feel free to submit your favorites in comments.