A Quest for American Food

So last night I was watching a pretty bad show on Food Network (that tour of diners with the spiky-platinum-haired dude) but it got me thinking about American food. I'm inspired to go on a quest for classic American recipes (at least for those that don't include lard) and revisit some of the favorites of my youth--one of which has been featured of late in said bad show but also in an issue of Saveur a few months back: American chop suey! In my house this particular dish was also known as "slumgullion." Sounds appetizing, don't you think? It's basically canned tomatoes, ground beef, and elbow macaroni. Not glamorous but total comfort food. Send me your favorite only-in-America dishes and I'll keep you posted on fun recipes I track down.