Inspired by Oklahoma

Oklahoma is nice enough to provide a definitive list of foods to make to represent their state! The Oklahoma state meal is fried okra, squash, cornbread, barbecue pork, biscuits, sausage and gravy, grits, corn, strawberries, chicken fried steak, pecan pie, and black-eyed peas. Obviously I didn’t make ALL of those things, but it was a very helpful jumping-off point!

THE MEAL

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I’m so excited that we’re getting into the southern states now! I haven’t had a ton of southern food, seeing as I’ve lived in the West my whole life, but hearing about it always makes my mouth water. I love good comfort food and look forward to learning how to make it!

This was a pretty good start! I already knew that I loved chicken fried steak and cornbread, so those were nice and familiar while I experimented with totally unknown foods.

Making this meal involved a LOT of frying, with mixed results. The final product was a lot of brown food, so I chose once again to make a fruit punch instead of going with the state beverage, milk, which would have made most of the meal neutral-colored.

Anyway, it took me about four hours start-to-finish to make just a couple of portions, so I’m glad I didn’t make this one for a crowd! It was pretty awesome to have this feast all to myself.

CHICKEN-FRIED STEAK

Chicken-fried steak is one of Oklahoma’s favorite foods. As with a lot of traditional foods, people aren’t positive where it originated, but some sources suggest that it was the result of German and Austrian immigrants bringing their wienerschnitzel recipes to the South and adapting it to steak. (Source)

In any case, it’s called “chicken-fried” steak because you fry a cube steak the same way you would fry chicken, by dredging it in an egg-buttermilk mixture, then a flour-spice mixture, and frying it until golden brown and crispy. Then you can make a quick gravy by reserving some of the drippings, adding flour and milk, and heating until thickened. It’s quick, easy, cheap, and very filling!

I hadn’t had chicken-fried steak since elementary school, so the taste really took me back to the ’90s. I liked it, but I’m really more used to fried chicken now, so (like with the finger steaks), it was a little too chewy for my taste. That’s just me, though–it’s a really great meal, and I can see why it’s so popular!

BLACK-EYED PEAS

I had “I Gotta Feeling” stuck in my head the whole time I made these. Haha!

I had never eaten black-eyed peas before, so I learned a lot with this dish. Black-eyed peas are a subspecies of the cowpea, and were brought to the Americas by enslaved West Africans in the 1600s. They became a staple food in the South, and nowadays are considered good luck to eat with greens on New Year’s Day. I’ll have to remember that come January!

I could only find canned black-eyed peas, but the recipe called for dried, and I forgot to compensate for that weight difference. So I feel like these should be called “loaded black-eyed peas” for how much extra stuff is in them, making the peas themselves less of a feature. I made sure the recipe is accurate for more black-eyed peas, but adding too much extra stuff wasn’t anywhere close to terrible! You could really just add however much you want.

They turned out surprisingly good! I was trepidatious, because it seems like people always talk about not liking black-eyed peas, and they honestly looked pretty unappetizing to me. I guess past experience has made me expect beans and greens to be flavorless and bitter, but this stuff is so good! They were savory and spicy and full of great southern flavors. It was a nice new way to enjoy baked beans, and while I made them mostly out of obligation to have more veggies in the meal, they ended up being one of my favorite parts of the plate!

FRIED OKRA

Sometimes called “Southern Popcorn,” fried okra is another food brought to the Americas by enslaved Africans, who grew it to supplement their diet when food was limited. Okra is high in vitamins A and C and grows well in hot climates.

I’m not going to share a recipe for this one because it didn’t turn out great for me, and I don’t want to do a disservice to a significant southern food by touting my recipe as a good one. First of all, I didn’t use cornmeal in the batter when I probably should have, since that’s how it’s traditionally made. Secondly, they didn’t turn out very crunchy. I think my oil wasn’t hot enough, because the coating sloughed off a bit. I didn’t necessarily dislike the taste of okra–it wasn’t too much different than boiled green beans or green peppers–but I just didn’t fry it right.

I’m glad I tried. Failures help me learn how to do it better the next time. But I’m adding this food to the list of ones that didn’t work for me and that I need to try at an authentic Southern restaurant someday instead.

SWEET CORNBREAD

We have Native Americans to thank for this recipe! Before Europeans arrived, ground maize was already a common food in the Oklahoma area, used to make all kinds of corn-based dishes, including breads and cakes. When Europeans came, they used the cornmeal to make bread the same way they would with European grains. It became especially popular in Southern cuisine during the American Civil War, because it was cheap and versatile. (Source)

Something I didn’t know until researching for this meal is that Oklahoma was federally designated “Indian Territory” in the 1800s, and was the destination of the Five Tribes (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole), who suffered on the Trail of Tears. There were other Native tribes already established in Oklahoma, and it was supposed to be Native-only land with European settlement forbidden. At one point, it was even proposed that the area become a Native-only state in the Union. The Five Tribes still have federally-recognized nations in Oklahoma, but most of that initially promised land was eventually taken from them too. (Source)

Anyway, cornbread is now popular throughout the nation, but especially in the South. There’s a debate about whether or not cornbread should be sweet. Instead of trying to explain why neither way is “right,” I’m just going to point you to this article. It does a great job of explaining the history: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/living/food-drink/article68763427.html.

I’d made cornbread before, but always with a box mix with some extra ingredients thrown in. This was my first time making it entirely from scratch, and it was AMAZING. It has that classic crumby texture and corn flavor with just a touch of sweetness that’s almost like a yellow cake but still savory enough to not be a dessert. I loved it! And now that I have plenty of cornmeal on hand, I’m going to try to make it from scratch as often as possible from now on!

STRAWBERRY-WATERMELON JUICE

Did you know that Oklahoma’s state fruit is the strawberry, and their state vegetable is the watermelon? That’s right–the state vegetable. They may say that it’s not a fruit, but it sure went well with this fruit punch I made to incorporate both state foods!

Though slightly different than the wild strawberries that grew in Europe, strawberries were already in the New World when settlers arrived! They’re now the number one fruit crop in Oklahoma home gardens. They were named the state fruit in 2005 when a group of elementary school students proposed the bill after discovering that there wasn’t already an official state fruit. I think that’s so great that they learned about politics and making a difference in the law at such a young age! 

Watermelon was named the state vegetable because they’re related to cucumbers and gourds, so that must mean they’re a vegetable. I’ll admit that it’s somewhat of a gray area in my mind, but I definitely lean more to the “fruit” side of the debate. Apparently the senator who proposed the bill once won a contest to spit watermelon seeds the farthest, so I take it he’s really passionate about his favorite vegetable. (Source)

I could have just had strawberries and watermelon as a side,  but like I said last time, I’m really enjoying making drinks. Oklahoma’s state beverage is milk, which wasn’t really appealing to me. I don’t like to drink milk plain. So I came up with a punch instead.

It was really simple to throw together. I just pureed watermelon and frozen strawberries in a blender with a little lemon juice and sugar, then added soda water! I could have easily added more sugar, because my watermelon wasn’t very sweet, but the flavor was really refreshing and I sipped on it all day without adding more sweetener. It was great!

FRIED APPLE PIE

I couldn’t find much about the origins of fried pies–just that they’re a classic food in the South and became popular because they were easy to take on the go–so if anyone knows where they got their start, please let me know!

As with Texas, pecan pie is Oklahoma’s favorite, but once again, I went a different direction. I figured apple pies would be juicier than pecan, and I like apple better. Also, I’m sure they’re more often deep-fried, but I did the pan-fry method, which still turned out pretty good.

I love how this is my second time making pie crust, but I still haven’t made a traditional pie. Last time it was a galette, this time it’s fried pie. Someday I’ll do it the “real” way! Haha! But my pie crust did turn out really good this time. Much better than the galette for Colorado. It was so flaky!

I struggled a bit with crimping them closed for frying. I tried with just a fork, but the two sides didn’t stick together. So then I tried doing pretty folds, but they didn’t stick either. So I ended up just squishing the edge closed with my fingers, and they turned out to look kind of nice that way! I’m determined to master pie crust, though. I still have a lot of learning to do.

Frying pies was unique. I’m glad I made extras because the first one burnt badly on the bottom, and then the butter turned brown and made the tops look muddy. But they tasted great. I was surprised how little sugar was involved. You could definitely dust the crust with more sugar after frying if you want, but the cooked apple inside was sweet enough! It had all the classic flavors and textures of apple pie, in an easy-to-eat package.

Someday, I really want to try Arbuckle Fried Pies in Oklahoma. They sound AMAZING! 

CONCLUSION

I wasn’t totally thrilled with everything in this meal, but I learned a lot that I didn’t previously know about Southern foods and about Oklahoma. The meal was wonderful to eat by myself, but I want more practice before I try to tackle something like this for a crowd. The amazing black-eyed peas and cornbread were pleasant surprises. It was lovely comfort food, and I would definitely try to make everything again!

So how’d I do? Let me know in the comments if you have any suggestions for improvement, and be sure to tune in next time for my take on a meal inspired by Arkansas! If that’s where you’re from, what do you think I should make to represent your state? Bonus points if you have reliable recipes or pro tips before I make the attempt! Thank you for reading!