Expanding My Tastes

BRINGING THE WORLD HOME

On my way to work one morning, I was listening to a new radio talk show broadcasted out of Los Angeles called the Bobby Bones Show. I forget now what the conversation was about but I remember thinking how fun it would be to travel to various places and taste the many different foods they had to offer. I'm quite the avid foodie, I relish in the thought of trying new things, and testing out new things. As it stands, there's no way for I could afford plane tickets plus the cost of lodging with the additional spending money. I thought to myself as I was nearing the off-ramp, about to head south on Highway 141, when a simple thought crossed my mind. "If I can't go to the country, why not bring the country home?" The internet is home to thousands upon thousands of different sites, and I'm sure that by doing a little research I could find recipes pertaining to any country, opening up possibilities of cooking things that are popular there. I backtracked a bit and decided, that instead of starting globally, I would begin this journey at home.

 The idea was set. Twice a month or so, I would choose a state from the United States and make dinner based on the kind of foods that are popular in that region. Not only would it be fun, but also educational, broadening my perspective in how to cook various cultural foods. I happen to love cooking, and while I may not be professional, by any means, this is the perfect way to learn and gain the experience. 

I also wanted a place to talk about my experiences at local places around the city. Part of the adventure is exploring the world with my palette from my own backyard, visiting places on the top 50 restaurants in St. Louis, pursuing through events of Festival of Nations or Taste of St. Louis, and then of course, sharing my own adventures through recipes. I love to cook and I love to cook for my friends and family.

And the first stop—Alabama. 

 I learned there are two distinct regions: Northern Alabama, and Southern Alabama. Each one boasts a palpable palette with seafood reigning near the gulf regions, and traditional "soul food/Southern Cookin" in the north with the very popular white barbecue sauce which was something I knew I had to try.

 For Alabama, I ended up making two different meals and one dessert. 

For the first dinner, I made "Summer Squash and Onion Casserole" with freshly baked cornbread, and for dessert Alabama Mud Pie.

The recipe called for small summer squash, zucchini, shredded cheese, onion, tablespoon of sweetened condensed milk and a pat of butter. I love fresh squash and zucchini, and of course, cheese. 

 

The casserole is layered with the zucchini and squash resting on the bottom, followed by the onions and shredded cheese and a drizzling of the condensed milk. Another layer of onions, cheese, milk. And so on, with an additional sprinkling of onions and cheese on the top. It went into the oven for about 45 minutes. During this time I went ahead and mixed the cornbread together, using one box of Jiffy. I popped the cornbread into the oven before the casserole, the bread was ready by the time the casserole was pulled out.

It was plated nicely. The cornbread was soft and decadent as expected. The only problem came when the casserole was simply too sweet. With the concoction of the melted onions and the cheese and the zucchini and squash all naturally sweet, combined with the condensed milk, made the meal way too rich to enjoy. It was not my favorite turn out. If I decide to attempt the casserole again, I would deplete the milk altogether and add other vegetables into the mix to balance out the rich flavors with something far more bold. 

As it would turn out our first state Alabama, was off to a rickety start. 

Next, after dinner I presented the Alabama Mud Pie. And making it was not only fun, but easy.

Alabama Mud Pie called for crushed pineapple with juice, cherry pie filling, chopped pecans, devil's food cake and chocolate chips, along with several pats of butter. This was also a layered combination. 

Beginning with the pineapple with the canned juice on the bottom, spread out to fill the dish. I love pineapples. I was left eagerly anticipating how the pineapple would end up bringing everything together.

The second layer, spread out on top of the crushed pineapple, is the cherry pie filling. I thought this was kind of an odd mixture, blending cherries and pineapple together. Tartness colliding with the pineapple's citrus. 

 In a separate bowl I mixed together the devil's food cake and once it was mixed, layered it on top of the fruit bottoms, distributing it nice and evenly around the dish. I had a feeling this was going to be a relatively rich dish with the contribution of the chocolate. Alas, I am finicky and would not deviate from the recipe until after we tasted the end result and from there, if I ever chose to make it again, would add and delete here and there to make it a bit more balanced and less on the sweet side.

 

On top of the chocolate cake mix was the chopped pecans. 

 Then a nice, healthy dose of semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Finally, despite the recipe calling for more pats of butter than this, I eliminated several squares to save us from the pool of grease threatening to congeal into the already sweetened mass of fruit and cake mix.

 

After a good forty-five minutes in the oven, the cake rose beautifully with the nut-studded covering and semi-melted chocolate chips decorating the top layer. The devil's food cake hardened nicely with lovely fissures splitting across the center and near the corners of the dish. From my standpoint, I thought the dessert looked absolutely fabulous. I made this the night before the casserole dinner and served it chilled afterward.

Conclusion: As I stated before, very sweet. It helped little that the dinner was rich, also. I would definitely and honestly declare that Alabama dinner #1 was a complete and utter bust. Nonetheless, it was fun to make and I had a thrill making it. Many things will be added and subtracted if the recipes are attempted again. More than likely I will disregard the recipes and file them under "G" for good riddance and move on happily to the next Alabama-themed dinner—which had all the makings for one fine meal to make up for this one.