VERMONT - Maple Glazed Pork Chops, White Cheddar Potato au Gratin and Glazed Carrots

This week we head up to New England to visit “The Green Mountain State.” Vermont became a state in 1791, and was the first admitted to the Union after the ratification of The Constitution making it the 14th state - the first outside the original Thirteen Colonies. Vermont is also the only New England state that does not boarder the Atlantic Ocean. Vermont is the second smallest state in population, only beating out Wyoming. President Calvin Coolidge was born in Plymouth, VT and is the only president to be born on the 4th of July. Everyone’s favorite late night indulgence, Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, was founded in 1978 in Burlington, VT. Being known as an environmentally conscience company, Ben & Jerry's gives their ice cream waste to the local Vermont farmers who use it to feed their hogs. Apparently the hogs seem to like all of the flavors except Mint Oreo.

But perhaps the thing that Vermont is most famous for, and what will be the inspiration for our meal this week, is maple syrup. Vermont is the largest producer of maple syrup in the U.S., producing over 500,000 gallons a year. This week, we’ll be making a maple glazed bone-in pork chop, with brown sugar glazed carrots. And, to incorporate another famed Vermont food, we will be serving it with a Vermont white cheddar potato au gratin.

Vermont White Cheddar Potato au Gratin:

1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup finely chopped shallots
1 teaspoon chopped rosemary
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 pounds potatoes
4 ounces sharp white cheddar cheese

This dish is so easy to make, it's practically fool proof, and it's so delicious and heats up nicely if you have leftovers. To get started, first we're going to wash and peel the potatoes. I used Yukon golds for this, but I think russet or red potatoes would work well too. After the potatoes are peeled, we have to slice them very thin. The easiest way to do this is to either use a mandolin (the kitchen tool, not the musical instrument) or to use the slicing attachment on your food processor. You could do this with a kitchen knife, but it will take a lot longer and will be more difficult to get even, thin slices. The potato slices should be about 1/8 of an inch thick or even a little thinner.

Preheat oven to 375°F and butter your baking dish. I used a 8x6x2 (6 cup) glass baking dish, which is the perfect size for cooking just for 2 to 4 people. While the oven is heating, grate your cheese. Then, in a small mixing bowl, combine the cream, shallots, rosemary, salt, and pepper and whisk it a little to blend it all together. Next, place half of potatoes in the baking dish, overlapping slightly so they lay even and sprinkle with half of the grated cheese. Then, top with a second layer of potatoes and pour cream mixture over potatoes in dish and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover gratin with foil and bake for 1 hour. Then uncover and bake an additional 45 minutes or until top is golden brown and potatoes are tender. When you take the gratin out of the oven, it might look a little soupy, that's OK. Just make sure to let the gratin cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Maple Glazed Bone-In Pork Chop:

2 bone-in pork chops
1 cup chicken stock 1/4 cup maple syrup (THE REAL STUFF!)
6 thyme sprigs, leaves stripped and chopped
Juice and zest of 1/2 lemon
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Before we cook our pork chops, we want to take them out of the refrigerator and let them sit on the counter until they're at room temperature. This is because if you put cold meat into a hot pan, it will seize up and get tough. Season the pork chops liberally with salt and pepper on each side. Preheat a large skillet over medium high heat with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, or until the bottom of the pan is just covered. When the oil is hot, add the pork chops and sear for 2 minutes on each side and they are nice and brown. Then turn the heat down to medium and cook another 5-6 minutes total. Remove the pork chops from the pan and place on a plate and cover with foil. Then, using the same pan, add the chicken stock, thyme, maple syrup, lemon zest and juice. Bring up to a bubble and simmer until it starts to thicken. Then, return the pork chops to the pan and coat both sides with the glaze. Remove pork chops and place on the serving plate and drizzle some of the remaining glaze on top.

Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots:

1 pound medium-small carrots (about 10 carrots)
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup water
Salt and pepper
Chopped flat-leaf parsley

First, trim the green stems leaving about 1 inch left on the top and scrub the carrots to clean off any excess dirt. You can peel them if you want to, but I didn't because I like the rustic look of an unpeeled carrot. In a medium saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar, and water and bring to a boil over high heat. Then, add the carrots and reduce heat to medium and continue boiling (uncovered) for about 20 minutes or until carrots are tender but not mushy. Add salt and pepper to taste and freshly chopped parsley. Use a slotted spoon to remove carrots from the pan and serve.

And there we have our completed Vermont meal! Hopefully, you'll be able to time it so that all of the components come together at the same time. After your dinner, I suggest finishing off your night with a pint of your favorite Ben & Jerry's ice cream. My favorite is "AmirCone Dream" - Vanilla Ice Cream with Fudge Covered Waffle Cone Pieces & a Caramel Swirl. Also, as of this post, Vermont is dealing with massive flooding due to Hurricane Irene. If you would like to make a donation to help with the relief effort, you can do so through the American Red Cross http://www.redcross.org/

ILLINOIS - Deep Dish Pizza

What better way to start off than with my very own home state. It’s known as “The Prairie State,” “The Land of Lincoln” or just good ol' Illinois (the “s” is silent). Illinois became a state in 1818, and was the 21st state to enter the union. In 1865, Illinois was the first state to ratify the 13th Amendment to the Constitution abolishing slavery. A total of three presidents, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and Barak Obama have been elected from Illinois, but Ronald Reagan is the only president to have been actually born in the state (Tampico, IL). For all you comic book nerds out there, you’ll be interested to know that Metropolis, the home of Superman, really exists in Southern Illinois. He his honored by a giant statue on the main square, and every June, the city holds a festival called "The Superman Celebration." On to some interesting food trivia. Des Plaines, IL is home to the first McDonald’s, and the ice cream "sundae" was named in Evanston, IL. In 1890, due to influence from the religious community, the town passed an ordinance prohibiting the sale of ice cream sodas on Sundays. However, ingenious drug store owners, still technically obeying the law, started to serve ice cream with the syrup of your choice, without the soda. Because the dish was only served on Sunday it became known as such, but objections were made to naming a dish after the Sabbath, and spelling of "sunday" was eventually changed to "sundae.”

Alright, enough history, let’s get down to business. To honor my home town and great state of Illinois, we’re going to make a Chicago style deep dish pizza. Now this isn’t some wimpy, floppy, greasy, fold in half and stuff in your mouth while you’re walking on the street thing. This is a sit down at the dinner table with a fork and a steak knife, hearty meal of greatness. To make this even more authentic, I’ll be wearing my Mike Ditka Chicago Bears sweater while cooking this meal DA BEARS! If you’re not familiar with deep dish pizza, the main thing to know is that it’s basically assembled upside-down. Cheese goes on first, then topping and then sauce. Let’s get started.

First order of business is to make the pizza dough. This recipe makes enough for dough for a pizza cooked in a 12in deep dish pan, or you can cut the recipe in half to make a pizza in a 9in pan (which is what I did). As far as the pan goes, you can go a head and spend some money buying one of those custom made deep dish pizza pans, or you can take a cue from me, and just use a trusty spring form cheese cake pan. I already had it around the house, and it makes cutting and serving the pizza a hell of a lot easier.

Pizza Dough:

1 cup warm water
1 package yeast
3/4 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 ½ - 3 cups flour

Start by putting the warm water in a mixing bowl and add the yeast until it dissolves, then add the corn meal, salt, sugar, olive oil, and melted butter. You’ll want to whisk it for about 5 minutes so that the cornmeal dissolves and the yeast starts to proof. Now, if you have a kitchen aid mixer, here’s a great time to fire that baby up. I don’t have one, so I’ll be doing this the old fashioned way, with my clean, freshly washed hands.

Next, add one cup of flour and mix it up well, then add the remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until you can handle and kneed the dough without it sticking to your hands. You may not need the whole 3 cups of flour, or you may need more. You will have to use your judgment. Next take the dough out of the bowl and kneed it by hand on a countertop. If you have made the dough right you will not have to put any flour down, or you will only need a minimal amount. Kneed the dough for 3 to 5 minutes. Again, this is a judgment call.

Now we have to let the yeast do its magic and let the dough rise. Lightly oil the inside of a bowl and place the ball of dough inside, cover it with a kitchen towel and set aside on the countertop. The dough will take around 2-3 hours or until it doubles in size. Now is a good time to clean the kitchen and go out for a movie, or a few drinks with friends.

After the dough has risen, punch down the dough into a ball. Place the ball of dough on the counter and flatten it with your hand. Then, using a rolling pin (or wine bottle in my case), roll the dough into a uniform circle 1/4 inch thick. Take your dough and carefully place it into the pan. Form the crust by pinching the dough 1 1/2 inch up the side of the pan.

Pizza Toppings:

½ lb sliced mozzarella cheese
1 link sweet Italian sausage
1 jar sliced mushrooms
15 oz can pizza sauce (store bought or home made)
Grated Parmesan cheese
Grated Romano cheese

Now comes the fun part, adding your toppings. My family always has sausage and mushroom pizza, so that’s what I’m making today. The first thing you will put on is the slices of mozzarella cheese. For a 9in pizza, I used a half pound. Then one link of sweet Italian sausage. Break open the casing and evenly spread little chunks of the sausage over the cheese. Next comes the mushrooms. I like to used the sliced jar mushrooms, because that’s the way my momma makes it. You can use fresh mushrooms or other vegetables, but make sure to cook them first. Otherwise the water in the vegetables will sweat out into the pizza and make it soggy. Then, cover the pizza with pizza sauce. You can used can store bought (like I did) or, if you have time, make your own. Put enough sauce so that it’s just covering up all of the toppings. Then sprinkle the top with Romano and Parmesan cheese. At my store, you can buy Romano and Parmesan already grated and mixed together.

Time to cook the pizza. Preheat the oven to 475ºF. Bake the pizza at 475ºF for 15 minutes. Then, lower the temperature to 400ºF and bake the pizza an additional 25 minutes until the crust is golden brown. Let the pizza cool 5 minutes and then serve and enjoy.