Week #43: Texas - Lone Star Brisket and Queso Pizza

State:  Texas

I traveled once to Texas for a business trip, but really did not get to experience what the state offers.  I went to Dallas and Houston airports, but did not see the cities.  I did stay in El Paso, TX for a couple of days and I tried to explore, but you really need a car to see some of the historical sites.  What I do remember most, is the great Tex-Mex food and definitely Queso!  So I wanted to make a pizza focused on traditional homemade queso.  I hope you enjoy, because we surely did!!

Ingredients:

Chile Con Queso:

1/2 onion diced (about 1/2 cup)

2 tsp of minced garlic

1 tsp of cumin

1 jalapeno pepper diced

2 tablespoons of butter

2 tablespoons of flour

1 cup of whole milk

1 bunch of chopped and minced cilantro

½ lb of White American Cheese – Ask the deli to cut in blocks, then cut in squares

2 tomatoes, peeled and diced (about 1/2 cup)

Salt and pepper to taste

Queso:

1. Melt butter in a sauce pot on medium-low heat, and then cook the onions & peppers for about five minutes or until onions are translucent.

2. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.

3. Whisk the flour into the butter, vegetable mix and cook for about 30 seconds.

4. Add the milk to the pot, and cook on medium, whisking constantly until sauce is thick, about five minutes. Stir in the cilantro, cumin and tomatoes.

5. Turn heat down to low, and slowly add the cheese stirring into the white sauce until completely melted. Repeat.

6. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Meat:

So this step was very easy.  I didn’t have 8-10 hours to slow cook a brisket, so I ordered from Holy Hog BBQ here in Tampa.  When I get a nice smoker, I will definitely do my own brisket.

Pizza:

Preheat oven to 450.  Cook crust for 10 minutes or until slightly browned.  Turn down heat to 400 degrees.  With a ladle, scoop out queso and ensure to cover all of the crust.   Tear up pieces of the brisket and lay onto pizza spreading out accordingly. Put into oven for 5 minutes to warm up queso and brisket.  Remove from oven and allow pizza to cool before eating.  Enjoy!

Pairing:

So when pairing a beer with this pizza, I would go with an IPA or Imperial stout.  I would usually pair a citrusy beer with this pizza, so it will balance out well.

Learning Moments:

So I learned how easy it is to make queso and not with Velvetta.  Seriously, if you are using synthetic processed cheese, you are not going to make it far in life.  That stuff will kill you!  Anyways, off of my ranting about synthetic cheese.  I really love fresh queso and using fresh ingredients, you can alter it to the way you want it.  I love cooking and this challenge is definitely helping me get outside of the box.  Hope you enjoy it too!

Week #42: Tennessee - Nashville Hot Chicken Pizza

State:  Tennessee

When thinking of Tennessee, you think of BBQ, Elvis, and Country music.  After researching, I learned that the Hot Chicken Sandwich is very popular in TN.  Since I love heat and chicken, I had to make a pizza out of this.  Since the sandwich is usually accompanied with fries, I had to put them on the pizza as well.  Here is my tribute to the state of Tennessee.  I hope you enjoy it!  It was very good.  

Ingredients:

1 lb of chicken fingers

1 cup of cooked French fries

1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 large egg

2 cups buttermilk or whole milk

2 tablespoons vinegar-based hot sauce (such as Tabasco or Texas Pete)

1 cups all-purpose flour

Canola Oil (enough to cover bottom of pan) - I am not deep frying the chicken fingers

6 tablespoons cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder or minced garlic

1 teaspoon paprika

Hot Chicken:

Sprinkle salt and pepper over top of the raw chicken. Next, whisk the eggs, buttermilk, and hot sauce in a large bowl.  In another bowl, combine flour and 2 teaspoons salt.  Add chicken fingers into egg and milk mixture, ensuring all sides are covered.  Then, dredge chicken into flour mixture, ensuring all sides are covered.  Continue the process one more time or three times if necessary. In a large frying pan, add enough oil to coat the bottom and turn on medium heat.  Cook on both sides of chicken until it reaches a dark brown.  Ensure chicken is cooked through at 170 degrees.  Remove from pan and allow chicken to dry on a plate with paper towels.  Allow chicken to cool, then cut into bite-sized pieces and set aside. 

Hot Sauce:

Whisk cayenne, brown sugar, chili powder, garlic powder, and paprika in a medium bowl.  Carefully whisk in 1 cup frying oil and mix well. Brush fried chicken with spicy oil.  Save a little bit of oil mixture for crust. 

Pizza:

Preheat oven to 450.  Cook crust for 10 minutes or until slightly browned.  Turn down heat to 400 degrees.  Brush remaining oil onto pizza crust (See Learning Moments section).  Add a layer of cheddar cheese and add the cooked fries on top of the pizza.  Then, add the pieces of chicken across the pizza to ensure the pizza is covered appropriately.  Add a little more cheese and put back into oven for another 3-5 minutes to heat the cheese. 

Pairing:

With the heat of the chicken, the cheese and fries, this pizza screams for something acidic like an IPA.  For TN, I didn't have a beer from there at the time.  I will update this section very soon with a beer from TN.  Cheers!

Learning Moments:

I really enjoyed the pizza, but I wasn't a fan of using oil to coat the chicken finger.  When you put the pizza in the oven, it dried the chicken a little.  So, with that said, I would change from being oil base to more of a sauce based coating for the chicken.  I will probably take another stab at this pizza and use sweet potato fries instead.  The sweetness and the heat would make this pizza zing off the charts.  Overall, I enjoyed it, but with a hot sauce instead of oil, it would have been much better.  Hope you enjoy!  

Week #41: South Dakota - Sioux Falls Chislic Pizza

State:  South Dakota

So I have never been out to any of the Dakotas, so doing a pizza for this state took some research.  I do know that South Dakota is the nation's leading state for Bison and has a strong history of Native America influence in the cuisine.  When researching, I also found out that there is a strong German population that migrated to the Dakotas and Chislic became very popular.  Chislic is a seasoned meat, which could be Venison, Beef, Bison, or lamb. I decided to do a Bison Chislic, so I hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/2 pound of ground Buffalo meat or steak

2-3 potatoes cut thin

1 pizza crust

1/2 cup of cheddar cheese

1/2 cup of a creamy cheese (optional) - I did a Sarvechio from Italy

2 skewer sticks

Seasoning

1 1/2 tsp. Worchester Sauce

3/4 tsp. Chili Powder

1/2 tsp. Salt

1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder

1/2 tsp. Onion Powder

1/4 tsp. Ground Black Pepper

Meat:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  So for the Chislic, I decided to do ground bison instead of steak.  For the simple reason, that a pound of ground Bison is $10 and Bison steak is $20 a pound.  So, with that said, I went with the ground Bison.  Combine ground Bison, seasonings and Worcestershire sauce together.  Mix well and form into long style meatloaf.  With a teaspoon of olive oil, grease the skewer sticks and gently slide them in the center of the meat mixture.  Cook the Chislic for 20 minutes or so or until meat reaches 160 degrees.  Remove from heat and allow meat to cool.  Cut into small bite size pieces. 

Pizza:

Preheat oven to 450.  Add a layer of olive oil to the crust.  Cook crust until slightly browned and remove from heat.  While the crust is still warm, add a layer of creamy cheese to the base.  Add slices of potatoes to the pizza and spread out evenly. Next add meat pieces on top of the potatoes and then add a layer of cheddar cheese.  Cook pizza in the oven for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.  Remove from heat and allow pizza to cool before eating.

Pairing:

For this pizza, I wasn't able to find a beer from South Dakota.  However, I was able to find a nice coffee stout to go with this pizza.  I would recommend a stout or imperial ale.  For wine, a Chianti or Pinot Noir would go very well.  Cheers!

Learning Moments:

So, if I could change a couple things on this pizza, I would have gone with the steak and I would have created some type of sauce.  It was a little too dry, so I had to put some extra Worcestershire sauce on it.  The pizza needed some type of sauce, so maybe a cheese sauce would have been great.  With that note, the meat tasted really good and the pizza was almost close to being amazing.  Hope you make a few tweaks and make it your own!  Enjoy!

Week #46: Virginia - Brunswick Stew Pizza

State: Virginia

Living in Maryland, I have visited many parts of Virginia.  All the way from Arlington to the southwestern part of Bristol.  Virginia is a beautiful state with mountains, valleys, farmlands, and apparently is for lovers.  I used to have a 1967 VW Bug and would go to the Bug In's with my dad in Manassass, VA.  Some other fun places to go in VA is Kings Dominion, Busch Gardens, and Williamsburg.  The Busch Gardens in my opinion is better than the one here in Tampa.  After doing research, I realized that the Brunswick Proclamation Stew is very popular in Virginia.  I have never made it or tasted it, so I figured that I would give it a try and I am glad I did.  This pizza was very tasty.  Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 lb chicken breast cutlets (2-3)

1 small onion - diced

2 ribs celery - diced

Water to cover

1 large can crushed tomatoes plus their juices

2-3 medium white potatoes - peeled (about 1 pound total)

1-2 cups of lima beans (Your Preference)

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

1 Pizza crust

1/2 cup of Mozzarella cheese

Stew:

First, combine chicken cutlets with onion in a medium stockpot.  Cover with water and bring to a boil over high heat. With a spoon, skim off and throw away any foam that forms on the surface. Add the celery and reduce the heat to medium to maintain a low boil. Cook uncovered for about 15 minutes or so.

Transfer the whole chicken, celery and onion to a bowl to cool.  Use a slotted spoon to remove any bits of fat and/or skin from the broth. Add tomatoes with juices, lima beans and diced potatoes. Cook uncovered over medium heat for 15 minutes or until the potatoes and lima beans are tender.

Season the stew with salt, black and cayenne pepper. Stir thoroughly, cover and cook for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Next, chop the chicken up into bite sized pieces and add back into pot.  Cook for another 10 minutes and remove from heat.

Pizza:

Preheat oven to 450.  Cook crust for 10 minutes or until slightly browned. Remove from heat and turn down heat to 400 degrees.  With a slotted spoon, scoop out pieces of the stew and arrange evenly along the pizza crust.   With a slotted spoon, scoop pieces of the soup and put across the crust.  Make sure that you have pieces spread out evenly so each slice will have equal amounts of the mixture.  Next, with a ladle add about 1/2 of the stew along the crust. Please Note: Don't put too much stew broth onto the crust or it will leak over into a hot oven surface.  Finally, add the cheese on top and place into oven for 3-5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Remove from heat and allow to cool before serving. 

Pairing:

For this pizza, you have to go with a stout or some type of porter.  This stew is made for the cold winter days and with a stout, it will keep you nice and warm.

Learning Moments:

At the step where the potatoes were tender, I should have taken out half of them and mashed them in the stew.  This would have thickened it a little better.  Either way, the stew and taste was really good.  When you added the mozzarella cheese, it made it taste amazing!  Enjoy!

Week #40: South Carolina - Old Charleston Shrimp & Grits Pizza

State:  South Carolina

I have been to South Carolina four times I think, but it was stopping through to a gas station on the way to Maryland or Florida.  What I do know about South Carolina is that they are well known for their shrimp and grits.  I love me some shrimp and grits, so I had to try it out.  For this pizza, I found an Old Charleston recipe, which incorporated bacon and sausage.  How could you go wrong with shrimp, bacon, and sausage?  This pizza was comfortably delicious and definitely worth trying!  Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 cup coarsely ground grits

3 cups water

2 teaspoons salt

1 pizza crust

1 pound uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined

Salt and pepper to taste

1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste

1 pound andouille sausage, cut into 1/4-inch slices

3 slices bacon

1 yellow bell pepper, diced

1/2 cup chopped green onion

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup chicken broth

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

Grits:

Bring water to a boil and add grits.  Reduce the temperature to a simmer and allow 15-20 minutes for the grits to cook.  Once grits thickens, add butter, salt and pepper to taste.  Remove from heat and allow grits to cool.

Shrimp Mixture:

In a bowl, sprinkle salt, pepper and cayenne pepper over shrimp.  Mix thoroughly.  In a medium pan, cook sausage slices over medium heat and cook until browned.  Take out sausage and set aside.  Add bacon and cook until evenly browned.  Transfer bacon to a plate with paper towels to absorb excess grease.  Retain 2 tablespoons of grease and discard the rest.  Add in the yellow bell peppers and garlic cooking until the onion is translucent.  Add in shrimp and sausage to pan. 

In a medium saucepan on medium heat, melt butter.  Once melted, add in flour to make a roux or a smooth paste.  Turn heat to low and stirring roux constantly, until the mixture is brown in color. Make sure not to burn the roux or you will have to start over.  Pour the butter-flour mixture into the skillet with sausage, shrimp, and vegetables.  Place the skillet over medium heat and pour in chicken broth, bacon and Worcestershire sauce.  Cook and stir sauce until it thickens and the shrimp are a bright orange or pink.

Pizza:

Preheat oven to 450.  Cook crust until slightly browned and remove from heat.  Next, lower oven temperature down to 400.  Add a layer of cheese to the base of the pizza.  Then, with a spooned ladle, scoop out mixture and apply to pizza crust.  Make sure to spread out toppings to ensure all slices will have equal parts.   Top off the pizza with green onion and place into oven for another 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and allow pizza to cool before eating.  

Pairing:

So for this pizza, I was trying to find a Thomas Creek, but the beer store was all out.  However, I did find a Bayshore IPA, which is a Tampa beer and it was brewed at the Thomas Creek brewery.  Technically, this beer was brewed in SC, so it all worked out.  An IPA is good for this pizza, since you need some type of acid or citrus taste to balance out the pizza.  You can also go with a Pinot Noir or a Chardonnay for this pizza.  Cheers!

Learning Moments:

For this pizza, I skipped the flour part as I did not have any gluten-free flour.  I think it would have made a big difference in the sauce, but either way this pizza was tasty.  Anytime you have sausage and shrimp, you can't go wrong.  This challenge is definitely taking me outside my comfort zone.  This pizza was really tasty!  I hope you enjoy!   

Week #39: Rhode Island - Clam Chowder Pizza

State: Rhode Island

Going into this challenge, I wasn't sure if I wanted to do another chowder pizza.  Rhode Island's chowder is more like a soup with a broth consistency.  So, to honor the last chowder pizza of this challenge, I decided to tweak the recipe a little to make it my own.  This pizza turned out really good and was worth it. 

Ingredients:

3 tbsp. of chopped parsley

1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese

3 strips of bacon

1 pizza crust

Chowder:

2 medium sized diced red potatoes

3 celery stalks cut in half (long ways) and diced

1 can of clams

1/2 small Spanish onion

Salt and pepper to taste

1 carton of chicken broth

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp. of garlic powder

1 tbsp. of butter

Soup:

In a medium sauce pot, cook the bacon until browned on both sides.  Once cooked, drain the majority of the grease from the pot except for 1-2 tablespoons.  On medium heat, add potatoes, onion and celery.  Stir constantly for about 5 minutes or onions are translucent.  Add in chicken broth and bring to a boil, then add clams.  Reduce heat and cover for 5 minutes or so.  Add the butter, Worcestershire sauce, and spices.  Stir until all is mixed in thoroughly.  Remove from heat and set aside.
  

Pizza:

Preheat oven to 450.  Cook crust for 7-10 minutes or until slightly brown.  Add a half of the amount of mozzarella cheese on across the crust.  With a slotted spoon, scoop pieces of the soup and put across the crust.  Make sure that you have pieces spread out evenly so each slice will have equal amounts of the mixture.  Next, with a spoon add about 2-3 spoonful’s of the broth along the crust. Please Note: Don't put too much broth onto the crust or it will leak over into a hot oven surface.  Put the rest of the cheese on top and place into oven for 3-5 minutes or until cheese is melted.  Remove from oven and put pieces of bacon onto pizza. Sprinkle the parsley across the pizza and cut into slices.  Serve and enjoy!

Pairing:

When pairing a chowder pizza, I would suggest a good porter, stout, or scotch-aged ale. For wine, a nice soft Cabernet or Chianti would be good with this pizza.

Learning Moments:

After doing this challenge, I have learned how make my first chowder to eventually making my own recipe.  I plan on making plenty of these style soups, using different ingredients.  I think I need to make a Maryland and Florida chowder next!  This challenge has really helped me step up my game, creating new cooking styles and techniques.

Week #38: Pennsylvania - Philly Cheese Steak Pizza

State: Pennsylvania

One of my favorite states to visit is Pennsylvania.  PA has a lot of memories for me in cities such as Lancaster, Reading, Poconos, and Philly.  Going to Lancaster, we would see Amish buggies and stop by to get apple pie.  If you have not had Amish apple pie from the Pennsylvania Dutch, you are missing out!  My father's house which was located in the corner of Northeastern Maryland was so close to PA, we used to walk to the state line.  If you lived near PA, you have had to at least visited Jason's Woods or Field of Screams haunted attractions.  Both exhibits open up for Halloween and they are the BEST Halloween attraction sites in the Mid-Atlantic.   Their budgets are on a multi-million dollar scale, in which they rent out a farm and host an attraction of scary haunted houses, hayrides, mazes, and more.  I haven't been in a long time, but I look forward to taking my son there one day.

When it comes to food in PA, the first thought is a Philly Cheesesteak.   If you are not from the area, you spell it "Cheese Steak."  If you are in the surrounding states or the Mid-Atlantic, we spell it "Cheesesteak."  If you are from Philly, there is only one way to eat a steak.  The locals prefer Amaroso bread, steak, onions/peppers, and some kind of cheese, either the Whiz or Provolone.  In Maryland, we add other stuff like pickles, cherry hots, lettuce and whatever else. For this challenge, I kept it traditional and as authentic as possible.

Ingredients:

1 Pizza Crust

1 Box of 100% beef steaks or if you can get the butcher to slice thin Steak Rib-Eye

1/4 lb. of sliced provolone cheese (I went with Picante) or 1/3 cup of Cheese Whiz

1/3 cup of Mozzarella cheese

1/2 of onion

1/2 of green bell pepper

Optional:

Sweet Hot Cherry Peppers (hard to find in some regions)

Steak & Veggies:

In a medium pan, break apart steaks in small strips.  When buying the steak, great real beef and not the "Steakum" versions.  Cook on medium heat until all pink is gone and add in onions & peppers.  Cook until peppers and onions are translucent.  Remove from heat and place meat mixture onto a plate with paper towels.  The meat will be very greasy.  Set aside.

Pizza:

Preheat oven to 450 and bake bread till slightly browned or for 7-10 minutes. Lower oven temperature down to 400 degrees. Next, add a layer of mozzarella and sprinkle some of the sweet hot cherry peppers on top (optional).  Then, add beef mixture across the top of the base ensuring all areas are covered.  Finally, add the slices of provolone cheese on top.  Bake for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted on top.  Remove from oven and allow pizza to cool before eating.

Pairing:

When looking for a good beer from PA, there are a few beers that I would go with.  For this challenge, I had two that I wanted to highlight.  Rivertowne Brewery IPA is a newer craft beer company and was pretty good.  Weyerbacher makes some very strong ales and because of my memories with Jason's Woods, I had to do the Imperial Pumpkin Ale.  I would recommend something that contains a lot of citrus or acidic notes like an IPA, to help balance off the cheese steak grease....Lol. Cheers!

Learning Moments:

For this challenge, I was having crust issues but it turned out pretty good.  I originally wanted to get fresh ribeye and have it sliced thin, but Whole Foods did not have a slicer there. They also did not have frozen steaks and being pressed for time, I went to Winn Dixie to get thin steaks from the freezer section.  I would have gone to Publix, but Winn Dixie is right next to Whole Foods.  Any who, I would like to do this challenge again but with the ribeye sliced meat.  The pizza was really good, but I would love the meat to be fresher and not from a frozen box.  Either way, it turned out really good and reminded me of the cheesesteaks from home.  Enjoy!