I am sure I will think of others later, but how about peanut soup for Virginia?
This recipe is from a Colonial Williamsburg cookbook.
For South Dakota, I’d have to go with Chislic.
Second would probably be something with pheasant or buffalo.
Virginia is such a big state that the state cuisine is pretty varied. Like any state that borders the Chesapeake you’ll find oysters, bay clams, blue crabs, crab cakes, etc. You could also go for a Smithfield ham (can only be made in Smithfield, VA) or Brunswick stew (try to do it with deer if you can find it).
Peanut soup may be a Virginian food, but I have lived nearly my entire life in various parts of Virginia and I have neither heard of it nor tasted it.
For Virginia, peanut soup is good but it is archaic. She Crab soup is a more modern specialty, but the iconic Virginia recipe to me is ham and biscuits. Just thick cut Virginia ham on a bisuits, i like mustard but tradtionally plain.
For DC the iconic food is the halfsmoke. Unfortunately sausage making is probably beyond the scope of a school project but I am sure you could get one sent out to you.
I have only visited, but I must agree.
Do y’all make red eye gravy?
I’ve got a Chicago Deep Dish Pizza recipe I can dig out if that would work for Illinois.
I was going to mention breaded pork tenderloin sandwich for either Indiana or Iowa. If you want another Iowa suggestion, there’s also loose meat sandwiches aka Maid-Rites, taverns, etc. They are essentially sloppy joes without the sloppy sauce.
Breaded Tenderloins for Indiana for sure. Might as well have some sweetcorn on the cob too.
Gumbo, crawfish and beignets for Louisiana.
Louisiana is easy or difficult based on how you look at it. There are tons of choices but many of them aren’t easy to make well. I would pick Jambalaya as a typical dish that isn’t too hard to make or seafood gumbo if you are a really good cook and want to spend some time (and money) on it.
Gumbo was my first thought for Louisiana, but I was concerned that it might be overly ambitious. How are you at making a roux, Babs? A good, dark roux is very important for good gumbo.
Dirty rice would be an easy alternative, I think. (It doesn’t have to have chicken livers and/or gizzards, by the way–ground beef or sausage will do fine.)
Recipes from Connecticut are easy.
[ol]
[li]Take any recipe for anything you like.[/li][li]Remove all spices.[/li][li]Reduce all herbs to a pinch.[/li][li]Cut the salt by two-thirds.[/li][li]Add sugar.[/li][/ol]
And there you go - authentic FOSONE cuisine.
Oh, and any pizza of any kind you like, just add tomato juice until it’s too wet and sloppy to actually pick up.
Louisiana also has red beans and rice, which would be easier than some of the other dishes mentioned here.
From Hawaii, it’s a tall order to nail down a single food. We’re pretty unique among the states with various ethnic groups. But here’s a couple of easier ones:
Kalua Pig: Pork butt/shoulder, Hawaiian salt (rock salt) and liquid smoke in a crock put. For a large group, mix with cabbage.
Spam Musubi: Make a brick with rice, put a thick slice of spam* on the top, wrap with dried seaweed (try the Asian aisle at most grocery stores). Wrap it up on saran wrap, and it’s the perfect school lunch food.
- Spam, while the butt of jokes in 49 states, just tastes better out here. You can cook the spam with teriyaki sauce, if you like.
In case you need an easy one, here’s another unique* Rhode Island treat, Dynamites. Pretty much limited to the Woonsocket metropolitan area (about the size of an empty lot in Texas).
Simply make Sloppy Joe’s with 2 small differences, use tomato paste instead of tomato sauce, and sprinkly the slop with celery salt on the bun.
*Mainly what’s unique is that some people think these aren’t Sloppy Joe’s
Maine is easy as long as you can afford lobster and know how to boil water.
Massachusetts can be pretty easy. You can make anything Thanksgiving related, anything with cranberries, or just throw some Fig Newtons on a plate and have them with milk (they are named after the Boston suburb that they were invented in).
New Hampshire - pass. You can just use some typical New England dishes like Apple crisps or chowder if you want.
Vermont - Maple anything.
Alabama – biscuits, cornbread, Alabama white BBQ sauce, blackberry cobbler, peanuts
http://www.tuskegee.edu/about_us/legacy_of_fame/george_w_carver/carver_peanut_products.aspx
Georgia – Brunswick stew, peach cobbler, boiled peanuts, Vidalia onions. An easy and delicious Vidalia onion recipe – peel a whole onion and core out a small center piece. Stuff the onion with one beef bouillion cube and a pat of butter. Wrap it in foil and bake or grill until soft.