June 1, 2024

Inspired by Kansas

THE MEAL

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It’s funny—when I was outlining plans for these state-inspired meals, I assumed that less-populated states like Kansas wouldn’t have a wide range of unique foods to choose from. But there were so many options for this state! Pizza Hut was invented there, they eat lots of steak, Kansas City BBQ is a big deal, and there’s cuisine from Mennonite communities like bierocks. But there was one food that was mentioned frequently that I didn’t think would appeal to me but had to be explored: chili with cinnamon rolls.

CHILI

I’m going to talk about the components separately, but in Kansas (and Nebraska, but I’m saving bierocks/runza for that meal), chili and cinnamon rolls were often served together in school lunches, so people grew fond of combining them. I kind of get it—my sisters and I do the same thing with green beans and A-1 sauce, after they kept getting mixed together on our plates on steak nights.

Anyway, when people talk about a quintessential American meal, I think many picture a cheeseburger with fries and a milkshake. But I’d argue that one of the most iconic American meals that incorporates things that originated in America is chili and cornbread. It goes back to the American frontier, with many origin stories coming from Texas in the early 1800s. Since Kansas was part of the Republic of Texas back then, it makes sense that chili would be part of their state identity. The ingredients and cooking process are simple enough that it made a lot of sense as a food to make in bulk for school cafeterias, where they joined cinnamon rolls.

There doesn’t seem to be a consensus on which chili recipe specifically goes with the cinnamon rolls, but it always seemed to be a beef-and-tomato chili, so that’s what I made. I prefer white chicken chili, but for a long time I’ve wanted to find my perfect chili recipe—heavy on meat, low on huge tomato chunks. This recipe came pretty close to perfect! The addition of bacon really elevated the taste, and it had a kick but wasn’t too spicy. It was still a little too heavy on tomatoes still for my liking, but it was really great! Definitely better homemade than coming from a can.

SUNFLOWER WHEAT BREAD

I did try the chili with cinnamon rolls (I’ll discuss that in the Cinnamon Rolls section), but I love eating bread with chili, so decided to practice my bread-making to go along with it.

Kansas’s official nickname is “The Sunflower State,” and it’s also known as “The Wheat State.” The sunflower is Kansas’s state flower (and one of my personal favorites), and have been grown for food in Kansas for thousands of years! In 2018, Kansas produced 89 million pounds of sunflowers across 65 thousand acres. And they’re the nation’s top wheat producer, boasting 6 million acres of wheat in 2022!

So, to honor both of Kansas’s favorite crops, I made a sunflower wheat bread to go with my chili.

I still struggle with kneading bread the right amount. My cinnamon roll dough was pretty much perfect, but bread dough doesn’t seem to get as smooth as recipes always say it should. I also really suck at scoring bread. I was so worried about deflating it that I didn’t notice how off-center my Xes were until it was too late. Haha!

They turned out pretty good, though! Definitely smaller than I expected, but they had a nice nutty flavor and were a GREAT vehicle for the chili.

HOMEMADE SLUSHIE

Slushies are popular throughout the United States, but they originated in Coffeyville, Kansas, when a Dairy Queen franchisee named Omar Knedlik stuck bottles of soda in his freezer after his soda machine broke. Though they were still liquid when removed from the freezer, when the bottles were opened, the soda magically turned to slush, delighting customers. This led to the invention of the first Icee machine, which led to other well-known slushies like Slurpees.

To make your own slushie at home without using a fancy machine, take any room-temperature bottled soda, shake it up, and put it in the freezer for a few hours, until it’s very cold but not frozen. When you unscrew the lid a tiny bit to release a bit of pressure, then reseal and flip it, the bubbles instantly freeze, causing a chain reaction to turn the rest of the liquid to slush.

It’s kind of hard to figure out, though, not gonna lie. It felt more like a science experiment than a recipe. The perfect freezing time depends on how crowded your freezer is, and it’s hard to tell how long is too long. My first attempt seemed to still just be liquid when I checked on it frequently, but then suddenly I opened the freezer and it was half-frozen solid! The next attempt went a little better, but was more liquidy than it should’ve been. Still, it was definitely a slushie consistency, and SO refreshing. Omar’s first Icee flavor was Coca-Cola, but he used other sodas too. I stuck with Coke but went with the cherry kind to make it more Slurpee-ish in my mind, and it was delicious.

CINNAMON ROLLS

Okay, so back to chili and cinnamon rolls.

Again, there doesn’t seem to be a specific kind of cinnamon roll recipe that must be made to be authentic “chili with cinnamon rolls.” Sweet buns have been part of European baking for centuries, and cinnamon rolls specifically likely originated in Sweden. Some people make cinnamon rolls in a way where the buns don’t touch, making very distinctive rolls, but I prefer the cram-them-together-in-a-pan method where they blend together and stay super moist and gooey.

Cinnamon rolls were one of the first things I ever learned to make, thanks to a home ec class in junior high. I remember being blown away by the floss method of slicing, and I still do it that way even now that I own sharp knives. I still struggle to make them even widths, though. I need to get one of those baking mats with all the measurements on it.

Anyway, this recipe is from a Cinnabon copycat, and the secret is to pour warm heavy cream over top before baking. It creates extra moisture in the rolls themselves but also caramelizes the sauce that collects underneath them, making them extra sweet. MMM! They were a delicious, gooey mess.

I did try dipping them in the chili, and it was alright! Definitely not bad. I can understand the appeal—I love dipping bread in chili, and the sweetness kind of balances the spiciness, especially if you have frosting on top that creates the same effect as adding sour cream or yogurt. It’s not something I’d do regularly, but I get it, and I would try it again if I ever went to Runza.