Walnuts courtesy of GimmeFood /Flickr 2011

Official State Nut of Missouri:Eastern Black Walnut

Missouri named the Eastern Black Walnut the official state nut on July 9, 1990. The Eastern Black Walnut is often used in various candies, ice cream, and baked goods.

The Eastern black walnut shell (J. nigra) is the hardest of the walnut shells, and it is therefore ideal for polishing: clean soft metals, fiberglass, plastics, wood and stone. It is also used for a paint thickener for a “plaster effect,” in explosives as a filler in dynamite, and in cosmetics as soap and exfoliating cleansers.(Wikipedia)

Important California Agricultural Product

The Difference between California Walnuts and Missouri Black Walnuts

The black walnut is a Native American species. Currently the black walnut is used mainly as a rootstock for English walnuts. The meats are tasty but thanks to a very thick shell, they are a lot of work to crack and remove from the shell. Nutritionally speaking black walnuts contain approximately 10% less total fat and approximately 80% less omega-3 fatty acids (ALA) per serving than English walnuts.

Source: California Walnut Commission

History of the Walnut

Walnuts are the oldest tree food known to man, dating back to 7000 B.C. The Romans called walnuts Juglans regia, “Jupiter’s royal acorn.” Early history indicates that English walnuts came from ancient Persia, where they were reserved for royalty. Thus, the walnut is often known as the “Persian Walnut.” Walnuts were traded along the Silk Road route between Asia and the Middle East. Caravans carried walnuts to far off lands and eventually through sea trade, spreading the popularity of the walnut around the world. English merchant marines transported the product for trade to ports around the world and they became known as “English Walnuts.” England, in fact, never grew walnuts commercially. The outer shell provided a natural protective layer helping to maintain the quality of the nut. Today the nut trade continues to be a well-established, ordered, and structured business, and the California walnut is well known as the top quality walnut for the world.

Black Walnuts in Art

Recipe for Walnut Butter

• 2 cups walnuts
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons walnut or vegetable oil (or as needed)

Optional, to taste:

• A little honey
• A little cinnamon

**Yields 1 Cup, 8 servings

Directions for Walnut Butter
You can make walnut butter using raw, soaked or toasted walnuts. Here’s how to do all three, and why they’re different.

Raw walnuts:
Use raw walnuts for a very creamy and smooth texture that tastes like a just shelled walnut.

Soaked walnuts:
This method will remove some of the tannin from the walnut skin, and offer a more textured walnut butter. Soak walnuts overnight, drain and discard the water. Then, toast the walnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet at 350°F for up to 15 minutes to dry them out (don’t let them get dark!). Cool the walnuts before making them into butter.

Toasted walnuts:
To enhance the sweet, nutty flavor of walnuts, toast them before making them into butter. Walnut butter with toasted walnuts will provide a coarse textured finished product. Toast walnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet at 350°F for 8 to 10, or until fragrant. Cool the walnuts before making them into butter.

To make the butter:
Make walnut butter by putting the walnuts in the bowl of a food processor and grinding them until they become sticky or paste-like. Add the salt. Add the oil, a little bit at a time until the walnut butter binds together. If you like, add small touches of honey and/or cinnamon to taste.

Source: Recipe courtesy of the California Walnut Commission

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History & Legislation of the Boston Cream Donut

Massachusetts State Donut

Section 51. The Boston Cream Donut shall be the official donut of the commonwealth.
Approved January 1, 2003.

To read a wonderful musing about the donut, try Happy National Donut Day by the Food Muse.

How to Make a Boston Cream Donut

Boston Scream (web-design on a Boston Cream Donut) photo by James Lee

Yield: 12-14 donuts
Difficulty: Advanced

Vanilla Pastry Cream Filling:

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1-1/2 cups milk
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 4 egg yolks, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 3/4 cup warm milk (105° to 115ºF.)
• 1 package active dry yeast (2-1/4 teaspoons)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 4 egg yolks, at room temperature
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• 2 bars (1.5 ounces each) Godiva® Dark Chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 2 tablespoons water
• 4 teaspoons light corn syrup
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened

1. Place sugar and 1 cup milk in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat until mixture boils.
2. Place cornstarch in medium bowl. Using wire whisk, gradually whisk in remaining milk and whisk until mixture is smooth. Add yolks and whisk until well blended.
3. Slowly pour 1/3 cup hot milk into yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Gradually whisk in remaining hot milk. Return milk-yolk mixture to saucepan and heat to a boil over medium heat. Boil 1 minute, stirring constantly.
4. Remove from heat and whisk in butter and vanilla. (If pastry cream is lumpy, pass it through a sieve.) Transfer pastry cream to a nonreactive bowl. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly onto surface of cream to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until cold.

1. Place warm milk, yeast and 1 teaspoon granulated sugar in bowl of electric mixer. Using a wire whisk, stir mixture until yeast granules are evenly dispersed. Let stand for 3 minutes until yeast is dissolved and mixture begins to foam.
2. Add 1 1/2 cups flour to yeast mixture. Using paddle attachment, beat on low speed 2 minutes. Remove paddle attachment and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let stand at room temperature 45 minutes. Sponge will have increased in volume.
3. Thoroughly grease a large bowl with 1 tablespoon room temperature butter. To sponge, add remaining butter and sugar, yolks, salt, cardamom and nutmeg. Mix on low speed until blended. Add 1 1/2 cups remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time. Beat dough on medium speed 5 minutes. Dough will not form a ball – it will be soft and part of it will wrap itself around paddle. If dough is very sticky, add remaining flour 1 tablespoon at a time, as necessary.
4. Scrape dough into prepared bowl, turning over dough so that top is greased. Cover with plastic wrap. Let dough rise at room temperature about 2 hours, or until it has slightly more than doubled in volume. (Rising time will depend upon room temperature.)
5. Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper and evenly dust with flour. Dust a clean work surface with flour. Turn out risen dough onto surface and gently press down on it to deflate. With your hands, flatten dough into a rectangle about 1/2-inch thick. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let dough rest 5 minutes.
6. Using a floured 2 1/2-inch round biscuit or cookie cutter, cut out about 12 to 14 rounds of dough. With a floured spatula, gently transfer rounds to prepared baking sheet, reshaping them if necessary. Leave at least 1-inch between doughnuts to allow for expansion. Let doughnuts rise for about 20 minutes, or until almost doubled in size.

1. Pour enough oil in a deep-fat fryer or large straight-sided saucepan to come halfway up sides. Oil should be a depth of 2 to 3 inches. Heat oil to 365ºF. Line a baking sheet with paper towels.
2. Dip a spatula in hot oil and use it to transfer doughnuts from baking sheet to oil. Fry doughnuts, 3 or 4 at a time, for 1 to 1 minute 30 seconds or until golden brown. (The midline of the doughnut will be lighter than the rest of it, which is characteristic.) Remove doughnuts from hot oil using a slotted spoon and transfer them to paper towel-lined baking sheet to drain and cool. When cool enough to handle, use a long, plain pastry tip to poke a hole through the midline of each doughnut. Let cool completely before filling.

1. Cook water, corn syrup and sugar in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat until mixture boils.
2. Remove from heat and add chocolate. Let stand 2 minutes. Whisk in butter until mixture is smooth.

1. Remove pastry cream from refrigerator and whisk cream until it is smooth. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain 1/4-inch round tip with pastry cream. Pipe pastry cream into hole in middle of each doughnut until pastry cream bulges out and doughnut feels full. Wipe off any excess cream. Place filled doughnuts on rack after they are filled.
2. Dip top of each filled doughnut into bowl of warm chocolate glaze, letting excess glaze drip back into bowl. Place glazed doughnuts back onto rack to set. The doughnuts are best when prepared and served on the same day.

-recipe courtesy of Godiva Chocolate

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Alternate Names for Indiana State Pie

Sugar Cream Pie - photo courtesy of Mrs. Wicks Pies. Learn more about Mrs. Wicks Pies below.

How to Make a Sugar Cream Pie

Ingredients

• 1 cup lightly-packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp. butter
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2-1/2 cups cream (heavy cream, whipping cream or heavy whipping cream)
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 tsp. Nutmeg
• 1 unbaked pie shell

Directions

1. Cream together butter, brown sugar, salt, and flour and spread into the prepared unbaked pie crust.
2. Pour throughly beaten mixture of cream and vanilla into unbaked pie shell.
3. Sprinkle nutmeg on top of the pie mixture.
4. Bake for 10 minutes at 450 degrees F. and then at 325 degrees F. for 35 minutes.

Indiana State Pie- History and Legislation

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION urging the adoption of the sugar cream pie as Indiana’s official state pie.

• SECTION 1. That the Indiana General Assembly urges the adoption of the sugar cream pie as the official pie of the state of Indiana and its renaming as the Hoosier Pie.
• SECTION 2. That copies of this resolution be transmitted by the Secretary of the Senate to the Indiana Foodways Alliance.

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The History of Popcorn

Popcorn by Alan Cleaver (alancleaver_2000/Flickr)

Popcorn was not mentioned in early farm papers and seed trade catalogs until around 1880, but once the American public discovered it, popcorn’s popularity quickly grew. Nearly all of the world’s popcorn production is in the United States, with 25 states growing the crop. Over one fourth of the national production is in Nebraska, and Indiana produces only slightly less. Other major popcorn-producing states are Illinois, Ohio, and Missouri. Scholars agree that corn, and popcorn, originated in the Americas. Precisely how it originated, however, is a topic of debate.

Interesting Popcorn Facts

• The oldest ears of popcorn ever found were discovered in the Bat Cave of west central New Mexico in 1948 and 1950. Ranging from smaller than a penny to about 2 inches, the oldest Bat Cave ears are about 4,000 years old.
• In tombs on the east coast of Peru, researchers have found grains of popcorn perhaps 1,000 years old. These grains have been so well-preserved that they will still pop.
• In 1519, Cortes got his first sight of popcorn when he invaded Mexico and came into contact with the Aztecs. Popcorn was an important food for the Aztec Indians, who also used popcorn as decoration for ceremonial headdresses, necklaces and ornaments on statues of their gods, including Tlaloc, the god of rain and fertility.
• An early Spanish account of a ceremony honoring the Aztec gods who watched over fishermen reads: “They scattered before him parched corn, called momochitl, a kind of corn which bursts when parched and discloses its contents and makes itself look like a very white flower; they said these were hailstones given to the god of water.”
• Writing of Peruvian Indians in 1650, the Spaniard Cobo says, “They toast a certain kind of corn until it bursts. They call it pisancalla, and they use it as a confection.”
• In southwestern Utah, a 1,000-year-old popped kernel of popcorn was found in a dry cave inhabited by predecessors of the Pueblo Indians.

Legislative Resolution

Illinois Official Snack Food – Popcorn

detail of Popcorn by Janet Hudson

How to Make Perfect Popcorn

1. 3 tablespoons peanut oil
2. 3 ounces popcorn kernels, approximately 1/2 cup
3. 1/2 teaspoon popcorn salt
4. 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions

1. Place the oil, popcorn and salt in a large, 6-quart, metal mixing bowl. Cover with heavy-duty aluminum foil and poke 10 slits in the top with a knife.
2. Place the bowl over medium heat and shake constantly using a pair of tongs to hold the bowl. Continue shaking until the popcorn finishes popping, approximately 3 minutes.
3. Remove the bowl from the heat and carefully remove the foil. Stir in any salt that is on the side of the bowl.
4. Melt the butter in the microwave. Slowly drizzle over the popcorn, while spinning the bowl. Serve immediately.

Recipes courtesy of Alton Brown of the Food Network

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Missouri State Legislature on the Black Walnut

Chapter 10
State Emblems
Section 10.100
State tree nut–black walnut.
10.100. The nut produced by the black walnut tree (Juglans nigra) known as the “Eastern Black Walnut”, is selected for and shall be known as the official tree nut of the state of Missouri.

According to the Missouri Secretary of State:

The nut produced by the black walnut tree (Juglans nigra), known as the eastern black walnut, became the state tree nut on July 9, 1990. The nut has a variety of uses. The meat is used in ice cream, baked goods and candies. The shell provides the soft grit abrasive used in metal cleaning and polishing and oil well drilling, and is also used in paint products and as a filler in dynamite.

Black Walnut Stuffing with Sausage and Wild Rice

Ingredients for Black Walnut Stuffing

• 1 cup wild rice, cooked according to package directions
• 1 lb. pork sausage, lightly browned
• 8 cups toasted bread cubes
• 1 cup Hammons Black Walnuts, chopped
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1-1/2 cups celery, chopped
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 2 cups chicken or turkey broth
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 Tbsp. poultry seasoning
• 1 tsp. thyme leaves

Directions for Black Walnut Stuffing

1. In large bowl combine wild rice, pork sausage, bread cubes and Black Walnuts.
2. Over medium-high heat, melt butter in a skillet; add celery and onion, sautéing until soft. Add to stuffing mixture.
3. Stir in eggs, parsley, and raisins.
4. Slowly stir in chicken broth until stuffing is moist and holds together.
5. Season with salt, pepper, poultry seasonings, and thyme leaves.
6. Turn into greased baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes.

Makes enough stuffing to accommodate an 18- to 20-lb.turkey or approximately 20 servings.

Recipe courtesy of the Hammons Product Company.

In 1946, Ralph Hammons couldn’t keep enough black walnuts on his grocery store shelves in the little town of Stockton, Missouri. He invested in a cracking machine and began buying wild nuts from the hard-working Ozarks people who gathered them each fall. Hammon Walnuts are now the world leading supplier of Black Walnuts

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History of the Cranberry

Massachusetts Cranberry Shortbread Cookie - photo by Deborah Austin

The cranberry, along with the blueberry and Concord grape, is one of North America’s three native fruits that are commercially grown. Cranberries were first used by Native Americans, who discovered the wild berry’s versatility as a food, fabric dye and healing agent. Today, cranberries are commercially grown throughout the northern part of the United States and are available in both fresh and processed forms.

The name “cranberry” derives from the Pilgrim name for the fruit, “craneberry”, so called because the small, pink blossoms that appear in the spring resemble the head and bill of a Sandhill crane. European settlers adopted the Native American uses for the fruit and found the berry a valuable bartering tool.

American whalers and mariners carried cranberries on their voyages to prevent scurvy. In 1816, Captain Henry Hall became the first to successfully cultivate cranberries. By 1871, the first association of cranberry growers in the United States had formed, and now, U.S. farmers harvest approximately 40,000 acres of cranberries each year.

Source: Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Association

Adoption of the Massachusetts State Berry

Ingredients for Cranberry Filled Cookies

• 1 cup Sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 4 cups Fresh or Frozen Cranberries
• 1 (3”) Cinnamon Stick
• 1 tablespoon Lavender
• 1 teaspoon Cardamom, ground
• 2 pkg. Pre-made Sugar Cookie Dough

Directions for Cranberry Filled Cookies

1. Combine cranberries, sugar, lavender, cardamom, and cinnamon stick in a saucepan and bring to a boil over moderately high heat, stirring.
2. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until cranberries have burst, about 10 minutes.
3. Remove and discard cinnamon stick, then carefully transfer the cranberry mixture to a blender and puree until smooth (use caution when blending hot mixtures).
4. Cool the mixture in the refrigerator until completely cold.
5. Roll out 1 log of cookie dough until 1/4” thickness is achieved consistently.
6. Using a small round cookie cutter, cut out dough and transfer to a baking sheet, leaving 1/2” space between each cookie.
7. Place 1-2 t of the cranberry mixture in the center of each cookie.
8. Place another piece of round dough on top of the mixture and pinch the edges of the cookie together. (center of top piece can be cut out in a shape, if you choose.)
9. At this point the cookies may either be frozen to be baked at a later date, or bake in a 350*F oven for about 10-15 minutes or until a light golden brown.

Yield:
25-35 servings

Source: Jessica Drakulich, Johnson & Wales University

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Cranberry Sauce - image courtesy of the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers' Association

Cranberry Juice was also adopted as the official State Beverage of the Commonwealth on May 4, 1970.

Ingredients for 5-Minute Cranberry:

• 3 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
• ¼ cup water
• 2 cups sugar
• fresh lemon juice (1/4 lemon)

Directions for 5-Minute Cranberry:

1. Gather all ingredients.
2. Place cranberries in a saucepan with ¼ cup of water and cook over low heat until cranberries are soft and begin to pop.
3. Add the sugar and mix well.
4. Let simmer until mixture begins to thicken.
5. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice.
6. Place in serving dish, cover with plastic wrap and let cool.
7. Serve cold.

Source: Cape Cod Cranberry Growers’ Association

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Maryland Oyster Stew

Ingredients for Traditional Maryland Oyster Stew

• 1 pint shucked Maryland oysters, with liquor
• 1 quart milk
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) margarine or butter
• salt and pepper to taste
• seafood seasoning, if desired

Directions for Traditional Maryland Oyster Stew

1. In 4-quart pan, cook oysters, with liquor, over low heat until edges of oysters just begin to curl.
2. Add milk, margarine and butter, salt and pepper.
3. Heat slowly until hot; do not boil.
4. For an extra zip, sprinkle seafood seasoning on each serving.

Makes about 6 cups.

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History and Legislation

Maryland State Dessert

Maryland’s legislature approved Smith Island Cake as Maryland’s Official Dessert in Senate House Bill 315, which was passed on April 24, 2008.

The Smith Island Cake is an amazing confection consisting of up to 15 layers of thinly sliced cake with delicious layers of chocolate frosting in between.

According to Wikipedia:

The most common flavor is yellow cake with chocolate icing but other flavors such as coconut, fig, strawberry, lemon, and orange are also common. Known simply as the Smith Island Cake, the dessert is baked for any occasion and not reserved only for holidays.[11] The cake is also baked as the feature prize for a local fundraising tradition called a cake walk which is a game played like musical chairs where donated cakes serve as the prize. Great attention is paid to the perfection of the layers and form of the cake. Before each round, the prize cake at stake is cut in half and shown to the players who pay to participate in the game. A poorly stacked cake may not attract many players and as a result, not raise as much money as a more perfectly executed cake.

Maryland State Dessert

How to Make a Smith Island Cake

Frosting – Ingredients

• 2 sticks butter
• 2-12 oz. cans evaporated milk
• 8 heaping Tablespoons unsweetened Cocoa
• 2 lbs. confectioners Sugar

Frosting – Directions

1. Melt butter. Stir in evaporated milk (off heat).
2. Whisk in Cocoa until smooth, return to heat and cook for approximately 10 minutes. DO NOT BOIL or Scorch.
3. Remove from heat and whisk in confectioners sugar slowly.
4. Cook slowly until thickened and will stick to back of a spoon or to the whisk (It will form a ribbon when you drizzle a spoonful onto mixture while cooking).
5. Approx time: 45 minutes.

---

Cake – Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into chunks
• 5 – eggs
• 3 – cups flour
• ¼ – teaspoon salt
• 1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• ½ cup water

Cake – Directions

1. Cream together sugar and butter.
2. Add eggs one at a time and beat until smooth. Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder.
3. Mix into egg mixture one cup at a time.
4. With mixer running, slowly pour in the evaporated milk, then the vanilla and water. Mix just until uniform.
5. Put three serving spoonsful of batter in each of ten 9-inch lightly greased pans, using the back of the spoon to spread evenly.
6. Bake three layers at a time on the middle rack of the oven at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. A layer is done when you hold it near your ear and you don’t hear it sizzle.
7. Start making the icing when the first layer goes in the oven.
8. Let the layers cool a couple of minutes in the pans. Put the cake together as the layers are finished. Run a spatula around the edge oft he pan and ease the layer out of the pan. Don’t worry if it tears; no one will notice when the cake is finished.
9. Use two or three serving spoonsful of icing between each layer. Cover the top and sides of the cake with the rest of the icing. Push icing that runs onto the plate back onto the cake.

To ice the cake

1. Take one slightly cooled layer and spread with cooled frosting. Add crushed candy randomly on layer. (Reese cups, snickers, milky ways, or whatever your favorite is—candy is optional as well )
2. Add next layers, frosting, candy, and repeat process till the 10th layer.
3. Do not add candy to final layer.
4. Finish frosting the cake and sides. May have to wait to ice top and sides until the icing cools.
5. Enjoy!

From Mrs. Kitching’s Smith Island Cookbook by Frances Kitching and Susan Stiles Dowell. Copyright ©1981 by Tidewater Publishers. Used by permission of Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Maryland (800-638-7641).

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A simple catfish recipe

Fried Catfish - Photo by arnold | inuyaki's - Flickr

• Fish fillets (4 to 6 ounces)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon Cajun spice
• 1 tablespoon lemon pepper
• 1 tablespoon garlic salt
• 1 to 2 cups milk
• 1 to 2 eggs

Instructions:

1. Cut fillets into two- to three-inch pieces.
2. Mix eggs and milk in a small bowl.
3. Mix flour and spices into a quart-sized zip lock bag and shake to mix.
4. Dip fillet pieces in egg-milk mixture and drop into bag of spiced flour. You can do three to four pieces of fish at one time. Shake bag with flour, spices and fish to coat the pieces of fish. Place on a plate so the coating has a chance to set up before cooking (five to 10 minutes).
5. Pour 1/4 to 1/2 inch of olive oil in a skillet. Cook on medium heat. Test oil with small pieces of breaded fillets to see if it boils. If it does, it’s ready to add fish to. Depending on thickness of fillets, cook the fish five to 10 minutes on each side until lightly brown, but don’t over cook.

Source: Provided by Tom Pettengill, former sport fisheries coordinator for the UDWR

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