Dinner Fit For A President

Since it was President's Day, I decided to make some of our President's favorite foods.  I was surprised to see how many websites are dedicated to the foods Obama likes, and after a little research, I found some of his favorites.  But first, you might be interested to hear what some of his dislikes are...Do not try to feed the President any mayonnaise, salt and vinegar potato chips, beets, asparagus, or soft drinks.  Instead, you can definitely make him happy with any of the recipes below and whatever your political views, I think you will enjoy this meal!

Drink...

Black Cherry Iced Tea

*recipe adapted from Food and Wine.com
According to the Food and Wine website, "one of Obama's favorite drinks is the hard-to-find, organic Black Forest Berry Honest Tea.  His staff tries to keep bottles on hand, but, in a pinch, he might like this home-made black cherry tea made with green tea leaves."
This tea is great tasting, but very sweet.  I would say it tasted more like juice than tea.  You might want to either add a little water or even a little alcohol to make it less sweet!
Ingredients:
(makes 1 1/4 quarts) 

• 1 1/4 quarts water
• 1/2 pound fresh black cherries, pitted, or one 10-ounce bag frozen pitted black cherries, thawed
• 1/2 cups + 2 tbs sugar
• 2 tbs fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2 whole star anise (I omitted this because I have no idea where it buy it!)
• 1/4 vanilla bean, split and scraped(I used a splash of vanilla extract)
•  8 green-tea bags
• Mint sprigs, for serving 

 Directions:

1. Bring the water to a boil in a large saucepan. 
2. Add the black cherries, sugar, lemon juice, star anise and the vanilla bean with its seeds. 
3.  Simmer the cherries over low heat for 15 minutes, crushing them against the side of the pan with a wooden spoon. 
4. Remove the cherries from the heat, cover and let stand for 1 hour.
5. Strain the cherry juice through a fine sieve into a clean saucepan, pressing on the solids. Discard the solids. 
6. Bring the cherry juice to a boil over moderate heat. 
7. Remove from the heat, add the tea bags and let steep for 5 minutes. 
8. Discard the tea bags and let cool to room temperature. 
9. Transfer the cherry tea to a large pitcher and refrigerate until chilled or for up to 2 days. 
10. Serve the tea over ice, garnished with mint sprigs. 

Dinner...

Obama Family Chili 

*recipe from iVillage.com 
According to the website above, Obama says, "I have been using this chili recipe since college and would bring it to any potluck.  I can't reveal all the secrets, but if you make it right, it's got just the right amount of bite, the right amount of oomph in it, and it will clear your sinuses." 
I would agree with the president that this chili is tasty, but I apparently did not "make it right" because there was no spice to it!  If you like any spice in your chili at all, add something to it, because this doesn't have any!
Ingredients:
(serves 5-6)

• 1 large onion, chopped  
• 1/4 tsp ground basil  
• 1 green pepper, chopped  
• 1 tbsp chili powder 
•  several cloves of garlic, chopped 
•  3 tbsp red wine vinegar  
• 1 tbsp olive oil  
• 1 can red kidney beans  
• 1 pound ground turkey or beef 
• several tomatoes, depending on size, chopped 
•  1/4 tsp ground cumin  
• 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
• shredded cheddar cheese (for garnish)  
• 1/4 tsp ground oregano sour cream (for garnish)  

Directions:   

1. Saute onions, green pepper, and garlic in olive oil until soft. 
2. Add ground meat and brown.
3. Combine spices together into a mixture, then add to ground meat.
4. Add red-wine vinegar and tomatoes and let simmer until the tomatoes cook down. 
5. Add kidney beans and cook for a few more minutes.
6. Serve over white or brown rice. 
7. Garnish with grated cheddar cheese, onions, and sour cream.

Dessert...

Sweet Potato Pie

*recipe from iVillage.com

 iVillage.com says, "It's no secret that President Obama loves pie. During his Presidential campaign, pundits began counting the number of times he said "pie" during a speech (his record was 15 times in 104 seconds). He has proclaimed sweet potato pie as his favorite on many occasions, mentioning it in the following speech:" “We decided to stop at a diner because I was hungry and I decided I wanted some pie. Pie. That’s what I wanted. ... I like sweet potato pie. I'm thinking of having a sweet potato pie here in Philadelphia. Because I've heard a lot of people are saying they can make sweet potato pie. I'll put it up against my mother in law's sweet potato pie.”
-- President Barack Obama, October 2008
I had never had sweet potato pie, so I was a little nervous.  If you haven't had it either, it pretty much tastes just like pumpkin pie.  Delicious and surprisingly easy to make (if you use my shortcuts.)

Ingredients:

• flour (for pie crust)  
• 1/4 cup sugar 1 tsp salt (for pie crust)  
  
• 1 tsp sugar (for pie crust)  
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp very cold water (for pie crust)
• 3/4 cup brown sugar  
• 1 tsp cinnamon  
• 1 tsp ginger  
• 4 eggs 
•  1/4 tsp orange zest  
• 2 cups sweet potato puree 
•  pinch of salt  
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream 
• whipped cream

Directions:

1. I'm sure Obama likes his pie crust home-made, but if you want to make it even easier, be like me and buy a frozen pie crust and skip to step 2.  Otherwise, the recipe calls for this "easy" pie crust: 
1. Place the dry ingredients in a food processor and pulse 4 or 5 times.
2. Add the butter and pulse just until small pebbles form.
3. Add the ice water and pulse just until a crumbly dough comes together. If needed, add 1 Tablespoon of water at a time until the dough forms.
4. Remove from the food processor (carefully?) and form a flat disc. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour (or 20 minutes in the freezer).
5. Roll your dough in a shape 2” larger than your pie pan. Using the rolling pin, pick up and gently lay the dough into the pan. Cut, crimp or use the tines of a fork to create a decorative edge.
6. Bake blind (with pie weights) at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until golden on the edges, or fill according to your favorite recipe and follow its instructions.

    2. For the filling: Using a large bowl and whisk, beat the eggs with 

        the salt.  

    3. Add the remaining ingredients and whisk thoroughly.

    4. Remove the pie weights from your baked pie crust (or take out 

        your  frozen pie crust). 

    5. Pour the filling into the pie tin and bake pie at 375 degrees
        Fahrenheit for 35 minutes. (20 minutes for smaller pies), or until       
        the center is ‘set’.  (mine took a lot longer - about 45-50 minutes)