Central NJ: Pork Roll, a Trenton tradition, often with a fried egg and cheese on a hard roll as a breakfast sandwich.

NJ grows the best corn and tomatoes, I have to say. A classic summer dinner would be grilled steak, corn and tomatoes eaten outside while swatting mosquitos.

What is Chow Chow?

Maryland: crabcakes, hard shell crabs, soft shell crabs, or fried oysters, depending on the season.

Chicago, Illinois regional - hey.... it's almost a state!!! has to be one of 2 things -

1. A real Chicago hot dog, on a poppy seed bun, pure beef hot dog (no pork, no veal, no cereal, no filler), golden mustard, tangy piccalilli, kosher dill pickle, chopped Spanish onions, celery salt and a hot pepper. NO CATSUP!!!!

2. Deep dish pizza, (not stuffed contrary to what some may think) with sauce on top and toppings under sauce. I can smell the garlic now........

Goodness, I haven't thought about chow chow in years! My grandmother used to make it from odds and ends that she grew in ther garden. It's a relish, and here's information and a recipe I found online:

Chow Chow relish is a multi-ingredient relish that makes good use of those end-of-season leftover or orphaned vegetables from the home garden. A home canned jar of chow chow relish is a vegetable staple on a southern dining table whenever pinto beans and cornbread are served. Providing a mixture of sweet, hot and spicy flavor, plus a serving of crunchy vegetables, to an otherwise bland meal.
Near the end of the home garden season, vegetable production slows down and southern gardener's were left with what we call 'orphan vegetables'. One of this and one of that, not enough of any one vegetable to use as a side dish for a meal. However, combining those orphan vegetables and canning them provided, and still provides, a way for the frugal home gardener to utilize every last garden vegetable. Of course you can make chow chow relish with the first vegetables your garden produces and not wait till the end of the garden season, I was just giving a very brief history of chow chow relish.

To make chow chow relish southern style, you will need:

1 quart of chopped cabbage (1 small head of cabbage)

3 cups of chopped cauliflower (1 medium head)

2 cups chopped green tomatoes

2 cups chopped onions

2 cups chopped sweet green bell peppers

1 cup chopped sweet red bell peppers

3 tablespoons of salt

1 1/2 cups of sugar

2 teaspoons of celery seed

1 teaspoon of mustard seed

2 teaspoons of dry mustard

1 teaspoon of turmeric

1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger

2 1/2 cups of white vinegar

Mix all the chopped vegetables in a large bowl and sprinkle the salt over them. Let stand, uncovered, for 4-6 hours in a cool place. At the end of the standing time, drain the vegetables well.

Mix vinegar, sugar and spices in a large pot and simmer on the stove for 10 minutes.

Add drained vegetables and continue to simmer for 10 more minutes until pot begins to boil.

Pack the chow chow mix while it's boiling into hot, pint canning jars. Leave 1/4 inch head space in each pint jar. Wipe the mouth of the canning jar clean, place canning lids on the jars and process for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath canner. This chow chow relish recipe makes 4 pints.

You can always adjust the recipe for larger batches and tinker with the vegetable ingredients to suit your own personal taste. Some of my gardening friends add their orphaned red tomatoes to their chow chow relish mix, or a few pods of okra or whatever other orphaned garden vegetables they may have on hand.

(Sorry! Server hiccup!)

kitchenwitch, chow chow is a relish type dish, basically pickled veggies of various types (chopped fine) and seasonings. I've seen it w/ cabbage, corn, bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, cauliflower, etc. Google chow chow recipes, and you'll see what I mean.

kitchenwitch, chow chow is a relish type dish, basically pickled veggies of various types (chopped fine) and seasonings. I've seen it w/ cabbage, corn, bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, cauliflower, etc. Google chow chow recipes, and you'll see what I mean.

I googled as it has me interested mainly because while chow chow is popular here, not many grow cauliflower successfully.
This recipe from Emirl is something I could make with my sparse garden veggies- I can grow tomatoes and peppers!

Green Tomato Chow Chow

Recipe Courtesy of Emeril Lagasse

Prep Time:
--
Inactive Prep Time:
--
Cook Time:
--

Level:
Easy

Serves:
6 half pints

Ingredients

1 dozen green tomatoes, cored and quartered
3 medium green bell peppers, seeded and chopped
3 medium red bell peppers, seeded and chopped
3 medium yellow peppers, seeded and chopped
3 medium onions, peeled and quartered
1 cup fresh jalapenos, stemmed and chopped
1 quart Pickling Liquid

Directions

In a food processor, fitted with a metal blade, pulse the tomatoes about 10 times. Pour the tomatoes into a nonreactive saucepan. Add the peppers, onions, and jalapeno to the processor and pulse the vegetables for about 10 times. Add the mixture to the tomatoes. Stir in the pickling liquid. Over high heat, bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and spoon into 6 (half-pint) preserving jars, filling the mixture to within 1/2-inch of the top. With a clean damp towel, wipe the rim and fit with a hot lid. Tightly screw on the metal ring. Process in a hot water bath for 15 minutes. Using tongs, remove the jars, place on a towel, and let cool. Test the seals. Tighten the rings. Store in a cool dark place. Let age for 2 weeks before using

What delicious dinners you all consider classics for your states! I can't wait to tell DH about this thread over dinner tonight. This has turned into such an interesting thread!

Jen: thanks for explaining what chow chow is.

Dlm: I have no idea what "piccalilli" is! Is it a relish of some sort, like chow chow?

I live in NC, so it's definitely pulled pork barbecue with the type of sauce varying by region. I like a more tomato-based sauce, but mustard and vinegar-based sauces are also common.

Where I work in SC, it's definitely peach dishes like peach cobbler. SC actually grows more peaches than Georgia, and they are very, very good.

In my hometown of Buffalo, it's obviously Buffalo/chicken wings and "beef on weck", a roast beef sandwich on a kimmelweck roll (hard roll with salt and caraway seeds) with horseradish.

dlm, DH is from Chicago, and he loves Chicago hot dogs. Also, don't forget Italian beef! :)

Lynn - piccalilli is just a pickle relish, either dill or sweet depending on the particular hot dog place.

gsciencechick - I never think of Italian Beef as being particularly Chicago food because I don't care for it, but I guess it fits the list, too.

Dlm, I haven't heard relish referred to as 'piccalilli' for years! I'm originally from IL also, and remember calling it that as a kid. I don't eat red meat, but do have a few exceptions. Nathan 'dogs'~~exception #1.

gsciencechic, I had beef on weck in NC seveal years ago for the first time. Reminds me a lot of Italian beef, just a different roll. Beef on weck~~exception #2.

I was raised in a small town, and the big thing was pork tenderloins, pounded thin, breaded, then deep fried. I still get one when I go back home~exception #3.

Of course Texas bar-b-q is unbeatable! It's the best these lips have ever tasted~~exception #4.

I think I just love food!!!

Northwest Oregon would include:

Cheese plate featuring Tillamook cheddar cheese, local goat cheese, and sliced pears & apples and a glass of Willamette Valley Pinot Noir to start.
Grilled cedar plank salmon with dill sauce
Spinach salad with pear, goat cheese and hazelnuts
Roasted or grilled (depending on season) seasonal fresh vegetables
Sauteed morel mushrooms and WallaWalla onions
Willamette Valley pinot gris
For dessert a pear (or apple) cobbler topped with crushed hazelnuts, and a big bowl of blackberries, raspberries and marion berries with Tillamook ice cream, topped off with coffee made with fresh, home roasted beans.

My mouth is watering!

My Michigan meal would consist of either fried chicken a la Frankenmuth with mashed potatoes, gravy, corn and cherry pie OR it would be a Detroit Coney Island...hot dog smothered with chili, onions and mustard. I lived the first 21 years of my life in MI and only learned about sweet tea during my first visit to the south! To this day, I've never heard of sweet tea in MI.

I Completely agree with dlm's Chicago meals, though...classic!

Kansas City Bar B Que

It is not like Memphis or Texas style, though those of course are good as well. (when in Rome...)

Kansas City BBQ uses a Dry Rub. This means the meat is rubbed with a spicy blend before cooking.

Beef.

Briskit and ribs

Sauce is not added until after the meat is off the fire, which is a slow fire with usually dry wood chips. Hickory, applewood, cherrywood or a blend.

Ideally on wonder bread, or beef on bun as they say at one of the more popular retaurants. The meat is sliced, not shredded like pulled pork.

Side of BBQ beans, potato salad, cole slaw

Washed down with a Boulwvard Pale Ale

Heavenly. OMG it smells SO GOOD too!

Growing up in Virgnia near the N.C.border, pulled pork on a bun was as common at diners and drive- thrus as burgers. Marrying and
leaving home hit me hard the very first time I requested " a barbque with cole slaw please", and the response was, " a barbquED what?"
At home, a big ole' pot of pole beans simmered in water with a bit of fatback( streak of lean) along with a few new potatoes., served with spoonbread or cornbread, and a side of home grown tomatoes, red onions and sliced cucumbes...yum. I occasionally make this summer meal, but no longer boil the beans to death. A bit of salt pork is still a must, though.

I was thinking more along the lines of what you would cook homemade. If we are talking about dining out, then it would be BBQ & Mexican food hands down. We live in an area that has the best of both. Why, DH and I were just talking about when we were going to make our annual Christmas trip to the Salt Lick!

Here in SE VA near Smithfield (Home of the World's Largest Ham Biscuit), VA, the NC border and the Atlantic Ocean, I have the choice of

Southern pate (aka pimiento cheese - solid block of American cheese grated and fortified with mayo and pimiento)

Ham biscuits (one thin slice of cold, dried out ham on a squishy white dinner roll)

OR

Great fish, shell fish and NC-style BBQ pork. Guess which I usually choose.

from the family archives:

a)A guid Scots breakfast: Porriridge; Smoking hot kippers; with guid brown bread and butter. Eggs and true breakfast sausages. Pots of strong tea for the entire table.

b)My grandma's Scots Broth: Aye -- from the Sunday joint of lamb -- make a guid strong broth with vegetables and pearl barley.

But from Canada -- butter tarts. Of course -- only Canadians would have nation-wide survey of how WHICH type of butter tart we like best -- runny? hard? raisins? nuts? flaky crust? solid crust? LOL! :)

And from Canadian history - tortiere -- a French Canadian meat pie (probably from the 1600s) -- made with ground pork (and various other meats) BUT with the addition of allspice and cinnamon -- some of the oldest preserving spices in the world ..... and a flaky crust.

Teacats, why did I think you lived in California? Obviously not!

Pesky - All your dishes sound fancy (and yummy)! Are there any diner type dishes that are specific to the PNW?

Bumblebeez: no -- not in California! We're here in the DFW area -- a couple of displaced Canucks (yes -- now U.S. citizens! LOL!)

And still "fixin'" to learn about regional cuisines in the U.S.! LOL! :)

For example -- what is succotash? :)

deee, those are pretty typical of what people would make at home or find at most any non-chain restaurant. Where I live, if it's not a chain, it's a Mexican food, Thai or Indian. We have a very diverse food culture. I'm not sure there really ARE diners!

Salmon is served everywhere you go-it's the regions fish. Hazelnuts grow like weeds, so they're in everything (and I personally hate them). Farmers Markets are everywhere during growing season, and there are lots of urban gardens, so fresh veggies are easy to come by. I think if it's very casual dining, we'd grill chicken or steaks-but every party I've ever gone to includes salmon!

It's 8:13 in the morning here. I've already had breakfast and now I'm hungry all over again after more reading about all the wonderful regional meals! Each one sounds delicious to me, although I have to admit that Pesky's sounds closest to the kind of meal I love most.

JMC01: you're from Michigan, too?!? What part of the country are you at now? Yes, Frankenmuth's Fried Chicken Dinner is another iconic Michigan meal. Everyone in the state knows and loves it, I think! (Frankenmuth is a famous town in Michigan and the Bavarian Inn there serves what most Michiganders believe to be the best chicken in the world: "Bavarian Inn, Frankenmuth"

As for sweet tea, growing up in Michigan I had it sometimes, but in recent years it seems to have become a fixture there. We're served it routinely now. Perhaps it's just the area we vacation in, Lexington and the Mt.Clemens area.

Java, that is so funny! I am hosting a baby shower in a few weeks, and my menu, so far, is going to include a spiral ham with biscuits and yeast rolls and fancy, homemade pimento cheese sandwiches - among many other things, including smoked salmon sides.
But it will be good!

Pesky1, That menu sounds so delicious that I would love to hop a plane to have it.

Living in southern California, I'm not aware of a regional dish. I think we are probably too much of a mix of cultures to have just one. Avocados, chicken, oranges, lemons and strawberries are the largest crops grown locally, so maybe a salad using those ingredients would be a representative meal.

Minnesota - maybe walleye and wild rice?? or any variety of "hotdish"

Ham and Beans are definitely a household winter staple here in OK. Many serve fried potatoes with them, I like to make Tabouli. Love sweet cornbread!

Fried catfish, Steak, BBQ and TexMex are also big here.

Oakley, DH & I had wonderful catfish at a catfish restaurant just outside Seminole, during our late-September trip back to Oklahoma. I wanted to go again last weekend when we were at OU for their big Dads Weekend, but there were too many related activities for a 40 minute drive just for dinner. Maybe next time.
Lynn

I agree, pesky's regional cuisine is my dream. Plus throw in all the ethnic cuisine, too! I could eat all those every day.

Javachik, I forgot about pimento cheese! There are some good varieties available here. My favorite is one that comes in traditional, jalpeno, and bacon types.

Bumblebeez and gsciencechick - Yes there are good recipes for pimiento cheese (Andrew Knowlton at BonAppetit has some), but what I've been served in the 6 years I've been here is a la the above recipe.

I love ham and I love real biscuits (Angel biscuits are HEAVENLY, seriously they come with halos I swear) but not a thin, cold single slice of ham on white gum-bread store-boughten heat n serve rolls.

Being a real fish lover, it's the first thing I look at on the menu. If it's a local caught fish, it's always good! I *do* love my Salmon however, and it's pretty difficult for me to pass up.

I remember driving back from Minnesota to Illinois and always stopping in Red Wing for that wonderful Walleye Pike! My mouth watered all the way there. LOL

Here in Western Wa the menu would be very similar, if not identical to Pesky's. But the cheeses would be local artisinal goat or sheep's milk, the mushrooms would be chanterelle's. Typically the menu would be with grilled salmon, but geoduck steak is very WA and delicious if properly prepared; also the best Dungeness Crab.

Certain times of the year WA grown asparagus is abundant, so I would include that, as well as local grown cherries. But the quintessential dessert would be wild mountain blackberry cobbler. Not the ubiquitous blackberries that grow on fences and in back yards, but the tiny, difficult to find and pick berries that grow in the mountains. They are teeny tiny and to pick enough for a pie takes a good while. But they are ambrosia.

Here is a link to AL. restaurant where DS1 used to be. It is gone now. He was listed on the Alabama 100 things to eat before you die. Check out the note on "Waverly"...seasonal ice-cream at The YellowHammer. That was my son's invention when he was the chef there for 5 years. it is Honeysuckle Ice cream !! A one of a kind treat that no one can ever duplicate as it is the only recipe he never gives out :)

Here is a link that might be useful: 100 things to eat before you die !

Lynne, So. Oakland County to Chicago to Grand Rapids MI to NYC to Twin Cities to Chicago. That's pretty much the journey in a nutshell. Give me the Midwest anyday!

Tons of my ancestors were in-around Mt. Clemens.

What a small world!

Here in Western NY, we enjoy friend baloney sandwiches, speedies (chunks of sirloin marinated in speedie sauce and then grilled, Johnny's Texas Hots, Beef on Kummelwick, and of course chicken wings!

Wow, Torsade, some of those are totally new to me! I used to visit friends on Grand Island (The Big Pork Chop)outside Buffalo, NY, and they got me hooked on Wings a long time ago, but I don't recall "Speedies or "Speedie Sauce", and what the heck is "Kummelwick"???

Torsade - How far west are you? Are you an aficionado of the Rochester "garbage plate"? : )

Lynn -
Kummulweck is a hard roll topped with coarse salt and carraway. They are only made in a few places because I think the salt chunks attract moisture and make the rolls soggy quickly. To make beef on weck serve the roll with rare, thinly slice roast beef, au jus and horseradish. Yum.

Deee, thanks for that clarification. It sounds delicious! I LOVE horseradish and beef together!!!
Lynn

Look what my sister just sent me!

I will need to get an eye of round for the roast. Cooked and then sliced very thin with horseradish.

Lynnie, I grabbed my bottle of Speedie marinade out of the fridge to give you an idea of what's in it:
Vinegar, soybean oil, salt, black pepper, dehydrated garlic, spices, natural flavor and MSG. To make speedies, you cut sirloin into small chunks, marinate it over night. Then you string the chunks up on skewers and grill them. They cook quickly. That's why they're called speedies. You unload the skewer onto a soft piece of italian bread. YUM!
I'm in the far SW corner of NY state.

I'm originally from the village of Metamora in Michigan. I haven't lived in MI since 78' and a lot has changed since. My idea of classic regional is skewed. Most of the family and people my parents associated with then were very much into hunting, fishing and all sports. No one I knew as a child frequented restaurants except maybe a hamburger in a bar. We had one wealthy friend who took us to a steak house once. There was a slant towards German style foods and Irish. Also, it all depended on the time of year and the hunting and fishing season. We had venison, pheasant, wild goose, rabbit and fried fish. Sometimes turtle stew or bear jerky. On Sundays there was roast beef dinners. In the summer everyone got together for cookouts where a few of the above meats and fish was brought as well as hotdogs in the skin and there was always a few different types of potato salad, macaroni salad, many kinds of relishes, garden items, there was always fresh ground bologna salad and sometimes blueberry and rhubarb pie. Wisconsin Colby cheese with Ritz crackers were popular as well as Canadian pepper cheese. In between having wild game or fish there was always pots of ham and potatoes stew, and an American version of goulash made with ground beef. In my teen years after the parents divorce most of my food consumption came from a can unless I was at grandmas house and she could have been a famous chef. I'm now in Florida in an area where everyone is from somewhere else. There is a big mix of cuisines. I cannot think of one dish that would be considered regional.

Thanks Gsciencechick and Torsade! As strange as the name is, that dish sounds delicious!

Jterrilynne: we were almost neighbors growing up! I'm from Mt.Clemens. Michiganders seem to eat a lot of cheese. My favorite growing up was Win Schuelers Bar Cheese. I found it again last year, here in New Mexico at our grocery store. It was still as delicious as ever, but before I knew it I'd put on 5 pounds! I steer clear of it now (LOL). The rest of the foods you've mentioned bring back a lot of memories, as well.
Lynn

Hey Lynn, I was only an hour or so north of you. Most my family either lives in the U.P now or near there. Were the Spartan Relays in Mt. Clemens? When I was in track and qualified for state it seems like we did the Spartans there at the big track & field. For years it was all at the same place, I remember that much. It's been a long time and two dodgy knees ago! What year did you last live in MI?

Kitchenwitch - pork roll used to be all over when I was a kid; I don't see it much any more. People seem to eat bagels or egg with bacon or sausage on a biscuit or English Muffin.

Very hard to find traditional hard rolls.
Where I'm at in South Jersey; what I consider real pork roll can't be found.

The price of steak is so out of reach for many; burgers are probably more accurate lol

Torsade, just to clarify, it's actually "spiedie" not "speedie" - the dish originated with Italian immigrants to that area of NY. From Wiki: "The term "spiedie" comes from the Italian spiedo meaning spit or spiedini referring to cubes or balls of meat cooked on a skewer." I'm not from NY, but friends of ours travel to that area to visit family every year and bring back the marinade for use at their summer pool parties. After having it at their house, I asked about the marinade to find out its origins as well as see if I could order the marinade online and that is how I learned the origins of the dish. Perhaps the manufacturer of the marinade you bought named it "speedie" but just wanted to clarify that the name of the dish is actually "spiedie" in case anyone wanted to look up a recipe for the marinade. It is definitely delicious!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiedie

I lived in Mt.Clemens until 1974 when I moved to Deerfield Beach, FL. I moved back to Mt.C by my family again in 1978. I worked at Mt.Clemens General Hospital there until I married DH in January of 1983. We moved out here to New Mexico then. Much of my family is still in Mt.C and the Richmond/Armada area. My folks have homes in both Michigan and north of Tampa. You know Michiganders, they do love that warm Florida weather when it starts getting cold up north (LOL)! Is that how you ended up there?
I don't think the Spartan Relays were in Mt.Clemens. At least, I don't recall anything about them.

lynne, I just read all these posts, and had to respond to your classic Oklahoma dinner of beans, etc. I just made that dinner this last weekend, minus the fried okra, since its not in season right now, plus I do add in fried potatoes like Oakley said.

I remember growing up we had to BEG my mom to make them growing up because she had them so much when she was growing up, since its an inexpensive dish, she grew tired of it.