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I love food, both cooking and eating it.  One of my goals on this trip is to sample regional food specialties.  The upper tier of states in the US is not known for its fine cuisine, but it does have many delicious dishes that are especially appealing to the calorie-starved cyclist.  What follows in reverse chronological order, and with periodic updates, are regional foods I have tried.  It is excerpts from other posts, but covering just the food portions.)

(4 Aug: Near Deadwood OR)  I FINALLY found a roadside stand with fruit.  We bought plums, blueberries, and cherry tomatoes, and ate them all on the spot.

That night I enjoyed a “Mr. Bill” inspired pastry that Noel’s wife, Kavitha, and younger son, Aaron, had thoughtfully bought for us.

(2 Aug: Sisters OR)  We stopped briefly in Sisters, a cute tourist town.  I ordered a double espresso, and the price was 50 CENTS! Drinks with milk were closer to what I am used to.  Espresso was excellent, BTW.

 (1 Aug: Redmond OR)  Toward the end of the day, we came upon a roadside farm stand.  I’ve been wanting local fruit the entire trip, but always seem to be there too early in the season.  At this stand, all they had were vegetables! (and no tomatoes even).  We bought carrots that were sweet enough to be fruit, and ate the whole bag right there.

 

(31 July: Mitchell OR) We all had dinner together, and finished with milkshakes that Noel says are his most vivid memory of the trip.

(26 July: Boise ID)  For dinner I had yet another burger, this one quite excellent.  The Idaho French fries came with “fry sauce”.  The server said it is ketchup and mayo with spices.

(25 July: Carey ID)  I arrived in the town of Carey, and had a great surprise. One of the churches was holding a fundraising breakfast on their front lawn, and I noticed a bike with panniers parked nearby. I had to stop, even at the risk of the wind starting to pick up. There I met David, who is between undergrad and master’s, and is doing a bunch of fun stuff in the year between the two programs (cycling cross country, living in northern Italy among others). I also talked to Mike and his wife, two locals.

Even though I had already eaten breakfast, I sampled the pancakes and bacon.  otexcelet.

(23 July: between Ashton and Idaho Falls)  There was a local cheese/ice cream store  there, and I enjoyed a huckleberry cone.  Creamy and delicious.  I’m starting to see huckleberry food items everywhere.

(18 July: Greybull WY)  Dinner was at Lisa’s. The chicken fried steak (with garlic mashies) was the best I ever had.  The steak was a good cut and the coating was light and voluminous.  Vegetables were perfectly tender crisp.

(17 July: Burgess Crossing, Bighorn Mountains)  For dinner I wanted to try something regional, so I ordered the Elk burger. It tasted very much like (not very good) hamburger, not venison, as I had hoped.

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(13 July: Black Hills – Sundance)  Breakfast was excellent.  Terrific homemade corned beef hash (with Hollandaise!) and maybe the best biscuits I’ve ever eaten.  The place is called Cheyenne Crossing, and has been there for over 100 years.

Because I’m in steak country, I had a roast beef stuffed flat-bread that sounded interesting, but wasn’t.  As an appetizer I tried Texas Toothpicks, which I had seen on a menu previously.  They are strips of onions and jalapenos that are breaded and deep fried.  These were pretty bland.

(7 July: Highmore SD) The day ended with an excellent dinner.  Food options are limited in Highmore, and I chose the D&K Outpost.  It’s a restaurant combined with a convenience store and gas station.  I didn’t expect much, but I was very wrong.

For an appetizer, I sampled chislic, a local specialty.  It’s spiced, deep-fried cubed meat.  Mine was tender, tasty, and perfectly spiced.

For a main course I had smothered chicken, along with cole slaw, hash browns, and toast.  All were perfect.  The cole slaw was fresh and with an ideal sweetness.  The hash browns were crispy and light.  The chicken was prepared perfectly with onion, mushrooms, and cheese.

Proprietor Darcy gave me the chislic recipe, and son John was the perfect host/server.

(4 July: Clear Lake SD)  The one restaurant in Clear Lake closes on weekends. (Interesting business model I must examine.) So dinner was from the local convenience store. Imagine the possibilities?! Here’s my 3 course meal.

(2 July: Hutchinson MN) For dinner, I went to Zella’s in the center of town. They have a menu of straightforward dishes prepared from fresh local ingredients. I had a delicious salad, which was a take on a Cobb, but with Romaine, which seems an improvement over iceberg.

For an entrée, I tried their bacon wrapped meatloaf on a bed of mashed potatoes over whole grain toast. They somehow made it elegant, and it seemed perfect for the upper Midwest.

 (1 July: Waconia MN)   I’m not sure if this is a national phenomenon, but here in the Midwest, it seems all the free continental breakfasts at motels include a cook-yourself-waffles station.  The machine on the right dispenses batter, you pour it into the iron on the left, you pivot it 180 degrees, and a timer goes off to tell you when it’s done.  Works quite well actually.

 (24 – 25 June: Fence, WI)  Saw bison being raised.  Have had buffalo burgers twice since then, and find them more flavorful and tender than beef.  Will have to buy it at Stop & Shop when I get back to New Haven.  They do sell it there.

( 20 – 23 June: Michigan’s Upper Peninsula)  In Escanaba, I had a pasty for dinner.

Pastys are meat pies with various fillings. I love the concept, though the one I got was pretty unspecial.

I’ve been sampling regional food specialties, but I decided to skip this one:

(19 June – Manitoulin Island, Ontario)  The food at the Meldrum Bay Inn, Manitoulin Island, Ontario, is fantastic.  I finally had a chance to sample the local whitefish. It was perfectly prepared in a simple but delicious way that allowed the fresh local ingredient to shine through. The sides were perfectly prepared. What a find!

(13 – 18 June Ontario) We ate Jenn’s farewell dinner at the Anchor Bar, where Buffalo wings were invented.  Not bad, but also indistinguishable from other good ones I’ve had elsewhere.

The other regional food find was roast beef on weck.  Weck is a roll with caraway seeds dipped in a salty brine and allowed to dry.  Tasty, but salty.

For breakfast I tried peameal bacon for the first time.  This was a local food recommended by Erin.

Unfortunately, peameal bacon ends up being an awful lot like Canadian bacon.

On my food quest, I’ve also had maple donuts at Tim Horton’s and poutine several places.  The latter is fries smothered in cheese and gravy.  Perfect for cycling.

The other thing Tim Horton used to be famous for were butter pies.  You see them all over this part of Ontario.  Luscious, sweet, buttery tarts that a hungry cyclist can eat in two bites.  Here’s  a tray-full I saw in one shop.  Or maybe they were just in my handlebar bag.

 (ca. 9 June New York) We drove to a funny restaurant out in the country, which ended up having the BEST ribs I have ever eaten.  Not barbeque, but with an interesting spice rub.

(6 June New Haven) The first food specialty came two days before I left.  I had Pepe’s pizza, often rated in food polls as the best in the country., and certainly among the very first.  There is always a line out the door.  Also, the night before I left, a group of family and friends enjoyed a simple barbeque and a bon voyage cake.  It’s from Marjolaine (in New Haven), a terrific pastry shop.