Burgers, Dogs, & Pizza, Oh My!

Posts Tagged ‘Recipe’

My favorite niece found this old cookbook, the “New Hotdog Cookbook,”  McFadden Press, 1968. Thought I’d put up some of their recipes, a lot of them are pretty funky!

Bread Soup with Hotdogs

Ingredients

• 6 C hot beef stock
• 6 slices enriched white bread, lightly toasted
• 6 eggs, poached until just firm
• 6 hot dogs, cut in 1/4″ slices

Place a slice of toast at the bottom of each soup bowl. Place a poached egg on top and distribute the hot dog slices around the toast.  Pour in 1 cup of the boiling hot stock over the toast, egg, and hot dogs. Serve at once.

Random internet pic of soup, not representative of recipe

(Recipe remains copyright of publisher)

Bread Soup with Hot Dogs Recipe

Bread Soup with Hot Dogs Recipe

“No Knead Bread” was all the rage of the NY restaurant scene for awhile, and the NY Times subsequently offered a recipe for a home version.

It required no real ability for the home baker, other than patience, as it requires nearly 24 hours of rising/resting. After that, follow the instructions, and you (most times) a perfect round, crusty loaf, reminiscent (to me) of the French boule.

But the problem with baking from scratch is there are no guarantees. You can follow the instructions of a recipe to a ‘tee’ and still have an abysmal failure. As they say “your results may vary.” Could be dead yeast. Could be your oven temp is off.

But thanks to the fine folks at Krusteaz, now you can bake to impress with ease. They have a newish line of “No Knead” bread mixes, which require only for you to mix in a bowl, let rise and rest a couple hours and bake for around 20 minutes at high heat.

You can a marvelous crusty loaf that will impress your family, date or inlaws. “Oh did you make this?” Yep!

It’s delicious, it’s easy, it’s a terrific value, price wise.  Krusteaz makes a big line of mixes, including other breads, bars, cookies, You can check out their website which has a “where to buy” feature.

(The loaf is dusted with flour before baking and has a slit or two in it to let steam escape during it’s hot time – which adds to the ‘crustiness.’

Krusteaz No Knead Bread Mix Review

Breaded steaks, ready to fry

When I was growing up, it was etched in stone  that the family had a big Saturday breakfast together; often my dad cooked the elaborate set-up, which might have been steak and eggs, pancakes or waffles, fruit turnovers, sausage or bacon.

It got so that friends of me and my siblings wanted to do sleepovers on Friday nites just for the morning repast.  Kids were placed in charge of beating batter, folding and stuffing turnovers, and most certainly, setting, clearing and washing.

I carried this on, when I had families. It was flexible tho, depending on people’s schedules, and would be either Saturday or Sunday. It is reportedly a fond memory of my daughters.

Even now, on my own, I continue the practice, but again, it’s not locked into a day.

Today I went with trying to perfect my chicken fried steak recipe, along with eggs and a home version of poutine.

For the steak, I used the flour/eggdip/crumb method, fried until the edges start to look a bit crispy – doesn’t take long!

My crumb mixture today was a combo of panko and crushed pretzels. I’ve tried all sorts of other combos – potato chips, saltines, corn chips. Most are probably too salty for most people.

For today’s poutine, I went with tator tots, brown gravy and feta. It was over the top satisfactory.

A couple poached eggs, and an everthing bagel. Ok, the bagel was a goof-up, cause I baked bread yesterday which I intended to use, and forgot I had put it in the icebox.

It was a good breakfast, large enough for two diners. Tried to share with the cat, but he would have nothing to do with it.

Sunday breakfast

Chicken Fried Steak Recipe

I love green olive tapenade, but the price makes me shudder, usually around $5 or $6 for a small jar. I discovered an easy way to remedy this situation, which I will share with you. I have a cheap, easy, way to make it at home.

Preparation time:  5 minutes

Ingredients:

1  jar salad olives

2 peeled cloves garlic

Olive oil to suit

What are salad olives?  They are the jars of green olives that you see considerably lower priced than the others, in the olive section of your grocery.  They are called “salad’ olives, but really they are pimento stuffed greens that got mangled in production. Bits, pieces, shreds, unstuffed.   The point is, they are REALLY inexpensive, on sale, usually less than two bucks a jar. (Pictured at left).

Take a jar (or two!) of the olives, drain them, don’t chug the brine like I do, I hear it’s not the healthiest thing for your blood pressure.

Place the olives and the garlic in a mini food processor, and pulse until the mixture reaches the consistency you like.  I run mine until it is pretty fine, spreadable even.  Drizzle olive oil in the processor and pulse again, until it reaches a consistency that pleases you.

It will be the least expensive and best green olive tapenade you have ever noshed on.

If you’d like yours with a little heat, use giardiniera instead of the salad olives.  It’s a mix of olives, peppers, and occasionally other vegetables. (Pictured below).

To get really exotic, add an anchovy filet and a few capers into the pulse.

There are many brands of salad olives and giardiniera, if you pick them up when you see them on sale, you’ll be able to tapenade on demand.

P.S.  It makes a great burger spread too.

Tapenade recipe

Prior to the oven

I don’t remember the last time I made lasagna at home….it’s been years.  During the reign of the late Mrs BurgerDogBoy, the dish was pretty much her purview.  Before she set out to actually try and kill me, she messed with me once by trying to sneak turkey Italian sausage past me in the dish, and it wasn’t out of a health concern, but merely because that’s what the store she went to had, and she being she, was far too lazy to venture on to another store.  Whatever.

My recipe is far more elaborate and work than it need be, as with all my pasta dishes, the red gravy (meat sauce) is the thing.  My basic recipe is here, and it’s best consumed or otherwise used the 2nd day.

I cook down a buncha Roma tomatoes (with a cup of red wine), simultaneously sauteeing chopped garlic, onions, fennel, oregano, and basil.  Brown a pound of 80/20 ground beef and a pound of hot Italian sausage, combining with the sauteed vegetables for 20-30 minutes before adding to the cooked down tomatoes.  You may desire to toss in a small can of tomato paste (or commercial sauce) as a thickener, but not too much, and avoid ones that have added sugar.

Layer lasagna noodles, meat sauce, spinach leaves and mozzarella/provolone cheese mix, repeat until you reach the top of your baking dish (I like my lasagna deep).  I don’t use ricotta, obviously.  I like the flavor and texture imparted from the traditional Italian cheeses.  My mother used to substitute cottage cheese for the ricotta, but only probably because nobody in our town had ever heard of ricotta back then.  We barely had heard of Italy.

Bake an hour at 350.  (BTW, I use “oven ready” lasagna noodles – no boiling required).  Let sit for at least 20 minutes before serving.  Or cut into serving size pieces, put in ziplocs or tupperware and freeze.

Cooking vegetables and herbs

Cooking down the Romas

Saute Beef & Sausage

Lasagna Recipe

The Jucy Lucy (sic) is a burger patty with molten cheese inside.  It originated in Minnesota, but the actual birthsite is in dispute, with both Matt’s Bar and the 5-8 Club in Minneapolis claiming the naming rights.  Matt’s uses the spelling of “Jucy,” while the 5-8 adds the “i.” You’ll pay $6.75 at Matt’s, and $9.35 (with fries) at the 5-8.

The burger style is now widely available across the US, and while the original is stuffed with “American cheese,” there are all sorts of variations available, with different cheeses (feta, blue, pepperjack, cheddar)  and other ingredients (mushrooms, peppers, olives, bacon) as stuffing supplements.

There are a couple of ‘tricks’ to making these burgers at home, but if you follow the tips, you’ll have a fun burger to serve your family and friends, and you can customize them (as suggested above) to suit your guest’s personal palate. Merkt’s sharp cheddar cheese spread is a popular choice in the Chicago area.

Start with 80/20 ground beef, and make two thin patties, one an inch larger in diameter than the other.  Place the larger patty on a piece of wax paper, and place 1 slice of American cheese, quartered, in the middle of the patty. Place the other patty on top, and fold the edges of the larger patty up over the edge of the smaller patty, crimping the edges.

One downside of the Jucy Lucy is no one has figured out how to cook them to any different stage than “well,” because that is how the molten cheese effect happens. So you’re looking at a good 6 minutes plus per side on the griddle or grill.

Garnish to your own taste, and be CAREFUL biting in. “Molten” cheese means just that, and it can be HOT!

I made two this time around, on the left, “traditional style,”  on the right, “black & blue,”  blue cheese, olives, cajun seasoning.

Fold lower patty over upper, crimp edges

Matt’s Bar, Minneapolis

Jucy Lucy Recipe

Every year, in El Reno, Oklahoma, they hold the Fried Onion Burger Festival; they’ve been cooking up their special recipe burgers for nigh onto fifty years or more.  Local favorites include Robert’s Grill.

I had a fancy to whip some up at home recently, with mixed results.

In Oklahoma, a handful of fresh ground is placed on a flattop, smashed, smother with onions, and cooked until crispy.  That was my intent as well.

I started with freshly sliced white onions, sweated in butter in a cast iron skillet, and took a course ground 1/4 pound of 85/15 and smashed it on the onions.

I over cooked them, intentionally, trying to get the crispy edges and crust that the Okie burger purveyors serve up, but wasn’t successful.  I dressed them with mustard and house made pickles, and achieved a close proximity to the OK version.  I think a hotter skillet from the onset would have made the difference.  Very tasty, nonetheless!

fried onion burger recipe

Millionaire Tuna Salad / Melts

Why “Millionaire?” Because I start with fresh Ahi which I order from a sashimi supplier. Regardless of your source, using fresh tuna of any ilk to your preparations that call for tuna, adds an entirely new depth of flavor and texture over the canned product.

Ingredients

• Fresh tuna steak, sushi grade   ( I buy it here, great company)
• Mustard (your choice) Stone ground, Dijon, Yellow)  (French Maille is the best, you can order it here).
• Mayonnaise
• Diced Green Pitted Olives
• (Optional crunch factor) Add diced celery or onion if desired
• Bread (choose English muffins,split baguettes, or sliced bread)
• Cheese for melting (Havarti, Provolone, or American)

Directions

Sear the tuna well on both sides in a hot skillet. I season mine with Tony Chachere Seasoning….it’s similar to a ‘blackened’ seasoning, but with more heat and less salt.

Rough chop the tuna and olives.

Mix in mayo and mustard, measurements depend on your preference for creaminess.

Lightly toast your bread, ladle on the tuna salad, cover with cheese, and dust with paprika, before putting it under the broiler until the cheese is thoroughly melted.

Seared Ahi

Mixing Ingredients

Open Face on Rye Toast

Tuna Salad Recipe

PIZZA KNOTS FOR TAILGATING PARTIES

I got a crazy itch this past weekend to try and make garlic knots for the first time. But I didn’t really feel like spending all weekend at it – when I usually make scratch bread or pizza dough, it’s a two day process.

So I went with the old reliable frozen bread dough. Which isn’t all that impromptu either, as you need a day to thaw it.

Ingredients

1 loaf frozen bread dough or pizza crust

6 cloves garlic, diced

1 T fresh parsley diced

1 T basil

4 oz pepperoni diced

3 oz your preferred “Italian” cheese

2 T butter

2 T olive oil

Method

Frozen bread loaf, thawed

Using a roller, or a 2 liter bottle of soda if you don’t have a rolling pin, make a couple of 8” circles of dough.

Slice lengthwise into ½ inch wide strips. Tie into a loose knot. Set aside.

Roll dough, slice

Place the butter and oil in a cast iron skillet. Saute the garlic, herbs and pepperoni until it has a little crisp going on.

Saute meat and veggies

Spoon out the garlic, parsley and pepperoni, and leave as much oil/butter in the skillet as you can. Place in a bowl and toss knots in the mixture.

Toss knots with vegs, meats, oil and butter

Put the knots in the skillet in a single layer, drizzle with more oil and cover tightly, allow to double in size. Probably 3-4 hours.

Knots in the pan

Preheat over to 425, put skillet in oven on center rack for 25-30 minutes. Brush with more olive oil when you remove from oven and dust with your Italian cheese. Serve immediately. Or “knot.”

Out of the Oven!

You can serve some marinara on the side for dipping if you like.

pizza knot recipe

You may have made a strata before, it’s sorta like quiche, but because of its construction, opens up other flavor possibilities.  One of my favorites is to make a “Reuben” strata, which is a perfect alternative brunch recipe.  Here’s the dope.

Ingredients

• 8 slices hearty rye bread, crusts removed
• 2 cups milk or half and half
• 3 eggs beaten
• 6 slices swiss cheese
• ½ pound corned beef
• ½ cup sauerkraut, thoroughly squeeze to remove moisture
• 1 t powdered mustard
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Spray 8X12 baking dish with quick release

Place bread in bottom of baking dish, cut to fit dish

Beat eggs with milk and dry mustard

Place layer of corned beef, topped with swiss cheese on top of bread

Pour milk / egg mixture in baking dish

Let sit in refrigerator over night

Pre heat oven to 375

Cover dish with foil, bake 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 15 minutes. Serve hot, with side of mixed fruit.

Possible variations:  substitute Italian sausage, salami, or pepperoni and mozzarella.  Bacon or ham and cheddar.  Country sausage crumbles, american cheese and drizzled with county gravy.

Bacon & Cheese Strata