Week 2: NJ Sloppy Joes and Blueberry Buckle

I’ll be honest, I didn’t watch this game.  Well, I watched about 5 minutes.  I can’t do 8:30 start times.  I have a kid that thinks 4 am is a perfectly reasonable time to get up.  That being said, I am not upset I missed it.  I think SBNation had it right when they said we “survived.”  From what I read the game was ugly. Sloppy, slow and mistake riddled.  I would have been pissed if I stayed up to watch it.  We ended up “winning,” 13-10.  

That is not to say that I didn’t make food.  We actually had these on Tuesday because my husband was out of town on Thursday.  (So basically I have NO excuse for why I am posting this 2 weeks after the game when the food was ready 2 days before… )

In my humble opinion, New Jersey kinda sucks.  So imagine my surprise when I came across a recipe for New Jersey Sloppy Joes.  These are not your average Hamburger and Manwich type sandwiches.  These are awesome.  It’s a triple decker on rye with 3 types of meat, Russian Dressing, Swiss and Cole Slaw.  Aces, right?  I chose Corned Beef, Pastrami and Turkey.  None of the recipes I saw were for toasted sandwiches, but I’m knocked up again so I need to warm up my cold cuts in order to eat them.  They ended up pretty good and I would suggest toasting them if I were you.

New Jersey Sloppy Joes

Ingredients:

6 Slices Jewish Rye

4 Slices Corned Beef

4 Slices Pastrami

4 Slices Turkey

4 oz Oil & Vinegar Cole Slaw

2 oz Russian Dressing

4 Slices Swiss Cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400.  Place 6 slices of bread on a baking sheet.  Toast 3 minutes. Flip.

2. Put a thin layer of Russian on 4 slices.  On 2 of the slices with Russian, place 2 Slices Corned Beef, 2 Slices Pastrami and 1 Slice Swiss.  On the other two slices with Russian, place 2 slices of Turkey topped with 1 slice of swiss.  Bake for 3 more minutes.

3. On the single pieces of bread, cover with another thin layer of Russian.  Layer each sandwich so that the bread with Corned Beef and Pastrami is on the bottom, Turkey in the middle, then add Cole Slaw and top with the third slice of bread.

New Jersey is also known for harvesting blueberries.   It was a no brainer to make Alton Browns Blueberry Buckle.  I’ve made it before and it rocks.  Tip: It calls for cake flour.  If you don’t have any (which I didn’t - its expensive and I almost never bake) you can make it yourself.  For every Cup of flour you use, remove 2 tbsps and replace it with 2 tbsps Cornstarch.  Boom. Cake Flour.

Blueberry Buckle

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/blueberry-buckle-recipe/index.html

Ingredients:

For the Cake:

Nonstick cooking spray

9 ounces cake flour, approximately 2 cups

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

2 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature

5 1/4 ounces sugar, approximately 3/4 cup

1 large egg

1/2 cup whole milk

15 ounces fresh whole blueberries, approximately 3 cups

For the Topping:

3 1/2 ounces sugar, approximately 1/2 cup

1 1/2 ounces cake flour, approximately 1/3 cup

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

2 ounces unsalted butter, chilled and cubed

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Spray a 9 by 9-inch glass baking dish with nonstick spray and set aside.

2. In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and ground ginger. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, approximately 1 minute. Add the egg and beat until well incorporated, approximately 30 seconds. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and beat on low speed just until incorporated and then add 1/3 of the milk and beat until incorporated. Repeat, alternating flour and milk until everything has combined. Gently stir in the blueberries and pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish.

For the topping:

4. In a small bowl combine the sugar, flour and nutmeg. Add the butter and work into the dry ingredients using a fork to combine. Continue until the mixture has a crumb-like texture. Sprinkle the mixture on top of the cake. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 35 minutes or until golden in color. Cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Happy Eating!

Week 1: Buffalo Chicken Potato Skins, Buffalo Piggies and Chex Mix

Gostkowski for the win!!!  It’s been probably 2 years since I can remember uttering that phrase.  It feels good.  Not quite as good as it would if we had killed Buffalo, but still good.  Other than being excited about Gostkowski not mucking up for the first time in awhile, there were few things to be excited about.

Brady was 28 of 59 for 288 yards and 2 TDs.  Not great in my book, but enough to eke out his 10th straight season opening win. Edelman and Amendola looked solid with 79 and 104 yards respectively.  Edelman threw in 2 TD’s to boot.  Everyone is already making Amendola/Welker comparisons.  I am not ready to go there.  Welker was awesome.  Amendola might be too, but he is not the second coming of Welker.  That is more ridiculous than Durant/Jordan comparisons. I was also pleasantly surprised that I didn’t hear the announcers discussing Tebow, although I am sure with the Jets game next week I won’t be so lucky again.

Today we made Buffalo Chicken Potato Skins, Horseradish Mustard and Caramelized Onion Pigs in Blankets and Homemade Chex Mix.  

Buffalo Chicken Baked Potatoes

Ingredients:

3 Baking Potatoes, Baked

2 Cups Cooked Chicken

1 Cup Blue Cheese Crumbles

1 ½  Cups Shredded Mexican or Cheddar Cheese

⅔ Cup Hot Buffalo Sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400.

2. Scoop out the inside of potatoes and reserve in medium bowl.

3. Add Chicken, ½ Cup Blue Cheese Crumbles, 1 Cup Shredded Cheese and Buffalo Sauce to the bowl.  Mix well.

4. Stuff Potato Shells.  Top with remaining Shredded Cheese then Blue Cheese Crumbles.  Bake for 30 minutes or until crispy.

One of the popular Buffalo Tailgating Recipes including Sahlen's Hot Dogs cooked over a charcoal grill and served with Weber’s Horseradish Mustard.  I don’t have a charcoal grill, nor am I willing to buy one for all 4 of you that are reading this.  Instead we made Pigs in Blankets and stuffed the blankets with Horseradish Mustard and Caramelized Onions.

Buffalo Piggies

Ingredients:

1 Pkg Mini Hot Dogs

1 Pkg Crescent Rolls

3 Tbsp Horseradish Mustard

½ Yellow Onion, Caramelized and diced.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375.  Spread out Crescent Rolls and paint with Mustard.  Using a knife, cut into ½” x 1” Strips.  Place Onions on each strip.  Place 1 mini hot dog on each strip and roll up.

2. Spray a baking pan with non-stick spray and place Piggies on top.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve with extra mustard.

Buffalo is home to the organization and manufacturing of General Mills - the makers of Chex.  I have included the original recipe below, but you will see that mine is a bit different.  Mostly, this is because I didn’t need enough Chex Mix for a party when it was just going to be for myself, Mr. Dan and the Thiboutots, but also because I like Cheerios in my Chex Mix.  Its totally better that way.

Chex Mix

http://www.chex.com/Recipes/RecipeView.aspx?RecipeId=6709

Ingredients:

2 Cups Rice Chex

2 Cups Corn Chex

2 Cups Cheerios

2 Cups Pretzels

1 Cup Peanuts

4 Tbsp Butter, melted

2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

1 tsp Seasoned Salt

½ tsp Garlic Powder

¼ tsp Onion Powder

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 250.  Spray 2 baking pans with Non-Stick Spray.

2. Combine Chex, Cheerios, Pretzels and Peanuts in a large bowl.  Combine Butter, Worcestershire, Seasoned Salt, Garlic Powder and Onion powder in a small bowl.  Mix well and pour over the Chex Mix until evenly coated.  

3. Spread the Chex Mix out on baking pans.  Cook 1 hour, mixing every 15 minutes.

4. Let cool before serving.

Happy Eating!