US Cooking Tour Stop 14: South Dakota

The Mount Rushmore State! For those of you who remember when I started this whole venture back in November know that our very first state challenge was North Dakota. And I spent most of the day calling it South Dakota, for whatever reason. But last week was finally time for actual South Dakota. And it was a delicious one!

The official state dessert for South Dakota is Kuchen, but, it's also the most popular dessert in North Dakota, so I had already made Kuchen several months ago. We don't do repeats around here! Even though it took me the entire day to learn to pronounce it correctly, it was an absolutely delicious dessert. But this time, I sought out the second most popular dessert for the state and that was kolaches. 

The kolaches were off the charts delicious. However, they took the entire day to make. Lots of mixing, kneading and rising - over and over again. But I must say, the effort is well worth it. These were one of our favorite desserts yet. They were so incredibly good. 

The main dish was actually a super simple one, chislic. Chislic is a South Dakota dish made of cubed, skewered red meat - traditionally made of wild game or lamb, but often made with steak. I made ours with sirloin. The marinade was absolutely delicious and it made for a quick to come together, delicious meal. I served our chislic with a baked potato, mac and cheese and a salad. 

Here are the recipes. I highly recommend both! 

Kolaches

• 1 cup warm milk (105 to 115°F for dry yeast)
• 1 pkg active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened.
• 2 large eggs 
• 6 tbsp granulated sugar 
• 1 tsp table salt
• 1 tsp grated lemon zest 
• 4 cups unbleached all-purpose or bread flour 

Egg Wash

• 1 large egg (beaten)
• 1 tsp cream, milk, or water

Cheese Topping

• 16 oz farmer cheese or cream cheese, softened 
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar or more to taste.
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 

In a small bowl or measuring cup, dissolve the yeast in ¼ cup milk.

In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture with the remaining milk, butter, eggs, sugar, salt, and, if using, zest and/or mace. Blend in 1½ cups flour. 

Gradually add enough of the remaining flour to make a workable dough.  

On a lightly floured surface or in a mixer with a dough hook, knead the dough until smooth and springy, about 5 minutes.

Place in an oiled bowl and turn to coat.

Cover with a kitchen towel or loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in warm, draft-free place until nearly doubled in bulk, 2 to 3 hours, or in the refrigerator overnight.

Punch down the dough, knead briefly, cover, and let rise in a warm place until nearly doubled in bulk, about 1¼ hours.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly grease the sheet. Punch down the dough, knead briefly, divide in half, form into balls, and let stand for 10 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough ½ inch thick. Cut into 2½-inch rounds. Reroll and cut out the scraps.

Place on parchment paper-lined or greased baking sheets about 1 inch apart, cover with a towel, and let rise at room temperature until nearly doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Position a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Using your thumb or the back of a spoon, press 1 large or 2 smaller deep indentations into the center of each round, leaving a ½-inch wide-rim. Brush the edges with the egg wash.

Spoon about 1 tablespoon topping into the indentation.

Bake until golden brown about 12 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

Chislic

3 lbs beef sirloin, cubed

1/4 C brown sugar

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

2 Tbsp chili powder

1 Tbsp ground ancho chili powder

2 tsp ground chipotle chile pepper

2 Tbsp steak seasoning

1.5 Tbsp liquid smoke

3/4 C worcestershire sauce

black pepper

1 C oil for frying

Place the beef cubes into a large mixing bowl. Season with brown sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, ancho powder, chipotle powder, salt-free seasoning, liquid smoke, Worcestershire sauce, and black pepper. Marinate in the refrigerator at least 1 hour.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering.

Cook the beef in batches in the hot oil until browned on all sides and cooked to your desired degree of doneness, about 3 minutes for medium. Drain the beef cubes briefly on a paper towel-lined plate before serving. Allow the oil to become hot again before cooking the next batch of beef.