Family Meal Plan: Rocco's Crispy Sweet Potatoes + Fragrant Rice Pilaf + Sparkling Grape Punch

Rocco's Crispy Sweet Potatoes

Happy & Healthy Cooking,

Fun-Da-Mentals Kitchen Skills

• bake :

  to cook food with dry heat, as in an oven.

• boil :

  to cook a food in liquid heated to the point of gas bubbles and steam forming (boiling point is 212 F at sea level).

• knife skills :

  Bear Claw (growl), Pinch, Plank, and Bridge (look out for trolls). 

• measure :

  to calculate the specific amount of an ingredient required using a measuring tool (like measuring cups or spoons).

• mix :

  to thoroughly combine two or more ingredients until uniform in texture.

• pour :

  to cause liquid, granules, or powder to stream from one container into another.

• slice :

  to cut into thin pieces using a sawing motion with your knife.

What is Piccata?

"Piccata" is an Italian cooking term that means "pounded flat." It is used for a dish consisting of a butterflied or sliced chicken breast or veal cutlet that has been pounded flat, dredged in flour, and browned on both sides in butter or olive oil. The chicken or veal is served with a sauce made with pan drippings and added lemon juice, white wine or stock, butter, and capers. It is often garnished with parsley.

In addition to chicken and veal, swordfish is also used to make piccata; for a meatless version, you can try seitan piccata. "Seitan" is a food made from cooked wheat gluten. Or, you can try Sticky Fingers Cooking's meatless version that uses sweet potatoes instead of chicken: Rocco's Crispy Sweet Potatoes!

Let's Learn About the Midwest!

• The Midwestern United States is in the northern central part of the country. The Midwest is between the Northeastern states and the Western states. To its north is Canada, and to its south is the Southern United States.
• The twelve US states in the Midwest are Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. People from these states tend to be very proud of their Midwestern heritage, friendliness, and traditional values.
• The term "Midwest" first appeared in the late 1800s to describe the areas of Kansas and Nebraska. It expanded to include the twelve states currently part of the Midwest.
• The first to settle in the area were Native Americans and French fur traders. In 1863, when the Homestead Act was passed, immigrants from Northern and Western Europe arrived to claim land for farms. They came from the British Isles, Germany, and Scandinavia. When Southern and Eastern European immigrants arrived, they settled in the cities because most of the available land had already been taken. Cities like Chicago, Cleveland, and Detroit began to grow with these new residents.
• Farmers grew wheat and corn, and others raised dairy cattle and pigs. The winters could be cold and harsh, and the summers hot and humid. They often had to deal with drought. 
• The geography of the Midwest has grasslands (called prairies), lakes (including the Great Lakes), limestone bluffs, rivers (including the Mississippi), valleys, wetlands, and woodlands.
• Outside the cities, some of the animals you might see in the Midwest include American badgers, American bison, black bears, coyotes, gray wolves, prairie dogs, and white-tailed deer. 
• Thousands of sandhill cranes migrate from Mexico and the Southern US to breeding grounds in Alaska every spring. On their way, they stop in the Platte River Valley of Nebraska for about a month to fill up on leftover corn kernels, insects, and worms before continuing north.
• The Midwest is known for having several college and professional baseball, basketball, football, ice hockey, and soccer teams. These include the Chicago Bears (football), Detroit Red Wings (ice hockey), and St. Louis Cardinals (baseball). Other popular sporting events held in the Midwest include car races, like the Indianapolis 500, and golf tournaments, like the John Deere Classic.
• Various types of music developed their own styles when people from other countries or regions of the US came to the Midwest. Czechs and Germans brought the polka, and Southerners brought the blues, rock and roll, and jazz. 
• Similar variations also occurred with Midwestern cuisine. There are influences from indigenous peoples and Europeans. Native Americans introduced bean, corn, potato, and pumpkin crops and taught settlers ways to preserve game. Scandinavians brought lutefisk, butter cookies, and æbleskiver. Germans brought sauerbraten, schnitzel, and pumpernickel bread. 
• Some of the foods the Midwest is known for are Chicago-style hot dogs and pizza, Cincinnati Chili, Cleveland-style cassata cake, fish fries, fried pork tenderloin sandwich, Indiana sugar cream pie, Iowa loose-meat sandwich, Kansas City-style barbecue, Ohio buckeye candy and sauerkraut balls, Omaha steaks, Springfield horseshoe sandwich, and St. Louis gooey butter cake.