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!