Dinner 8: Kansas

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Cozy Inn Smashed Sliders
Corn Spoon Bread
Campfire Asparagus
Kansas Dirt Cake (or Pie!)

Justin's Review

I chose Kansas next, because it's kind of in the middle of the map and we hadn't had any middle states yet. I chose sliders, which are like little hamburgers, a corn bread that was kind of like pudding, asparagus and dirt cake, which was really good!

I mostly just helped make the dirt cake, which was actually kind of like a pie with pudding and some stuff like frosting in it. I got to mix it all up with the mixer. I also got to crush the cookies with a wooden thing like a square hammer until they looked like dirt. And then put that on top of the pie and froze it.

I really liked the food from Kansas, I think it was my second favorite state, after Maine. I just didn't like the mushrooms that were in with the asparagus, and the corn part was a little different. But the burgers and asparagus were really good, and I did like the corn thing, even if it was weird to eat bread with a spoon. The best part of the whole dinner was the dirt cake. It was soooooo yummy. I loved it!

Recipes

Cozy Inn Smashed Sliders

(original recipe from Food Network)

1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, minced
Salt and pepper, to taste
18 slider buns
Dill pickle slices, ketchup and mustard, for topping

Form the meat into 18 golf ball sized balls.

Heat a heavy skillet over high heat. Working in batches, add the meatballs to the skillet and smash them with a spatula. Sprinkle salt, pepper and onion over the patties and cook for 1 minute. Flip the burgers and smash the patties again. Cook for 1 more minute. Steam the buns on top of the patties for a few seconds, then serve the burgers on the buns, topped with pickles, ketchup and mustard.

Corn Spoon Bread

(original recipe from Food Network)

1 cup soy milk
1/3 cup cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup shredded cheddar soy cheese, divided
1 cup canned corn kernels, drained
1/2 cup chopped green onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 eggs worth of egg replacer
2 tablespoons of soy margarine, cut into small pieces
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a 1-quart baking dish.

In a medium saucepan, whisk together the milk, cornmeal and salt. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture has thickened. Remove from heat and stir in half the soy cheese, and the corn, green onions, garlic and egg replacer. Pour the mixture into the prepared dish. Top with pieces of margarine, the red pepper flakes and the remaining soy cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

Campfire Asparagus

(original recipe from Travel Kansas)

1/4 cup soy margarine
1 medium onion, chopped
2 pounds fresh asparagus, cut into 2-inch sections
2 tablespoons water
4-5 mushrooms, sliced
Sesame seeds, to taste
Salt, to taste
Lemon pepper, to taste

Melt the margarine in a heavy skillet. Saute the onion until transparent. Add the asparagus, reserving the tips, and cook for 2 minutes. Add the water, cover and steam for 1 minute. Add the asparagus tips, mushrooms, sesame seeds, salt and lemon pepper and stir until well blended. Cook until mushrooms are heated through and the asparagus is bright in color and still slightly crisp.

Kansas Dirt Cake (or Pie!)

(original recipe from Food.com)

1 prepared Oreo crust
1 package instant vanilla pudding
1 1/4 cups soy milk
4 ounces soy cream cheese
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup margarine
6 ounces dairy free whipped topping (we used this recipe: Dairy Free Whipped Cream Frosting)
15 Oreo cookies

Mix together the pudding powder and soy milk. Chill until set.

Cream together the soy cream cheese, margarine and powdered sugar until smooth. Beat in the pudding and whipped topping. Spread the mixture to fill the crust.

Crush the Oreo cookies until it's mostly crumbs and only a few very small pieces remain. Top the pie with the crumbs.

Freeze at least 8 hours before serving.