07/16/2007

Festivals are celebrations of food

Book includes recipes from around U.S.

FROM STAFF REPORTS

Record-Eagle/Douglas Tesner
Cass McGregor, 4, dives into a piece of cherry pie in the National Cherry Festival’s kids’ pie-eating contest. The Cherry Festival is included in a new book about U.S. festivals.

TRAVERSE CITY — Cherries seem pretty ho-hum when you take a look at some of the other festival themes that are included in a soon-to-be-released book, "The Best Recipes from America's Food Festivals” (Penguin, $16.95).

It seems communities across the United States celebrate everything from mussels and giant omelets to horseradish and tofu. In a diplomatic resolution to not taking sides in the age-old "which came first” question, there's the Alabama Chicken AND Egg Festival. And Spam lovers will be happy to know there's even a festival for that — in Austin, Texas.

The book devotes space to the characteristics and highlights of each festival, including Traverse City's own National Cherry Festival, which just wrapped up for the year this past weekend. It also includes recipes that go with each festival, everything from Herb-Crusted Rack of Spam courtesy of the Spamarama Festival to Peanut Butter Proposal Pie from the Great American Pie Festival in Celebration, Fla.

Peanut Butter Proposal Pie

• 18 Nutter Butter cookies, crushed fine
• 3&1/2 T. butter, melted
• 1 12-oz. package cream cheese, softened
• 1&1/2 c. confectioners' sugar
• 1 T. milk
• 1 t. vanilla extract
• 1 8-oz. tub Creamy Cool Whip
• 8 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, chopped
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1 c. creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 (12-oz.) tub Cool Whip
• Crushed peanuts as needed.

In a bowl, mix crushed cookies and melted butter until moist. Press into a 9- or 10-inch deep-dish pie pan, and freeze 10 minutes to firm.

In a mixing bowl and with a handheld mixer, beat cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, milk, vanilla extract and 8 oz. Cool Whip until blended. Spread 1/2 of mixture over crust.

Distribute four chopped peanut buttercups over cream cheese-Cool Whip layer in crust, and freeze about 5 minutes.

To remaining cream cheese-Cool Whip mixture, add brown sugar and peanut butter. Blend well and spread over filling in crust.

Decorate with remaining 6 oz. Cool Whip, and add a sprinkle of crushed peanuts and remaining four chopped peanut butter cups. Refrigerate 8 hours before serving.

— Great American Pie Festival

Ahuaca-Hulli Guacamole

• 3 medium organic tomatoes
• Vegetable oil
• Salt and pepper
• 6 jalapenos, roasted and peeled
• 2 habanero chilies, roasted
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 2 t. Hawaiian sea salt
• 1 bunch cilantro
• ½ t. garlic
• 10 Haas avocados
• 2 t. fresh lemon juice

Cut tomatoes about ½-inch thick, brush with vegetable oil, season with salt and pepper and grill over an open flame for about 2 minutes on each side.

With a large mortar and pestle, grind jalapeno and habanero chilies. Add onion and grind again. Add sea salt, cilantro, garlic and tomatoes, and stir to combine.

Cut avocados in half around the pit and twist gently to pull apart. Remove the pit. Cube avocado in skin and gently turn skin inside out and scoop into the mortar. Repeat with all avocados. Finish by folding in lemon juice.

— From the California Avocado Festival

Seafood Chowder

• 6 oz. slab bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 T. butter
• 2 large onions, diced (about 4 c.)
• 1/4 c. flour
• 2 or 3 c. clam broth or juice
• 4 white potatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1&1/2 t. dried thyme
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 lb. shucked clams
• 1/2 lb. haddock, cut into 3/4-inch chunks
• 1/2 lb. Maine shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1/2 lb. scallops
• 1/2 lb. shucked oysters
• 4 c. half and half
• Fresh parsley

In a large stockpot over medium heat, cook bacon until browned. Add butter and onions and cook for 10 minutes. Add flour and stir until well-combined. Add broth and then add white potatoes, sweet potatoes, thyme, salt and pepper and bring to a simmer. Cook 10 minutes or until potatoes are almost fork-tender. Add clams, haddock, shrimp, scallops and oysters and simmer for 10 minutes. Add half and half and heat through. Do not bring to a boil or chowder will curdle. Just before serving, add parsley.

—Maine Lobster Festival

Rocky Road Cake

• 2 c. flour
• 8 T. cocoa
• 2 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. buttermilk
• 2&1/2 sticks butter
• 1 c. water
• 2 eggs, whisked
• 1 t. baking soda
• 2 t. vanilla extract
• 1 lb. confectioners' sugar
• 2 to 3 T. mllk
• 1 c. chopped and toasted nuts

Preheat oven to 300°. Grease and flour 9-by-13-inch pan. In a large bowl, mix together flour, 4 T. cocoa, sugar and buttermilk. Set aside.

In a large pan over medium heat, bring two sticks butter and water to a boil. Pour into flour mixture and whisk well. Whisk in eggs, baking soda and 1 t. vanilla. Pour into prepared pan and bake 30 minutes.

While cake bakes, in a large bowl and with a mixer on medium to medium-high speed, blend together remaining 1/2 stick softened butter, remaining 4 T. cocoa, confectioners sugar, milk, remaining 1 t. vanilla and nuts. Remove cake from oven and ice while cake is hot. Wait for cake to cool, cover and refrigerate. Serve cold with ice cream.

—Austin Chocolate Festival