Late Night Refrigerator Raid: Spicy PB&J Noodles

When you work in the restaurant business, dinner time can often be at midnight or later. Let’s be honest, much of the time dinner is at 2 AM after the bars close. When cooks get together and open the refrigerator, some funny and pretty freakin’ delicious things can happen. I was recently part of a Ramen noodle fest at 3 AM that included a bag of frozen peas and about 10 poached eggs. Oh, and that BBQ chicken pizza from homemade dough at 3:30? Epic. I mean, using a dough recipe or letting it rise is not that necessary when you’re hungry. Just throw some yeast, sugar, flour, oil, and water in a bowl and it will probably turn into dough…

The recipe I’m about to share with you doesn’t include amounts because how are you supposed to measure things when you can’t even really see that straight? And to be honest, I don’t really remember how much of what went into the pot. I’ll leave the level of spiciness and sweetness and peanuty-ness up to you. All you need to do is to make the sauce taste delicious. It’s not that difficult. I’m not lying when I say this is legitimately one of the most delicious late night meals I have had in a while.

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Feed Us Back: Comments of the Week

– Some of you mac ‘n’ traditionalists are having none of our mac ‘n’ cheese gone wild, but sam henderson is up for mac ‘n’ anything:

For me, there are few things in life as comforting as mac and cheese. I never met a mac and cheese I didn’t like. Had never considered an omelet, but I’d try just about anything once.

LeftLeanWing brings up a good point:

No Mac-N-Ches­se Ice Cream….. ?

Get to work on that one, people!

bunbun adds a new one to our list of America’s best drunk college food:

How could OSU’S hound dogs breakfast pizza not be on there?

Cmon a a pizza topped with sausage gravy, scrambled eggs, ham, bacon, sausage, cheddar cheese, onions, tomatoes, crispy hashbrowns and hot sauce. With a garlic butter basted crust….?

Um, yes. Can anyone provide photographic evidence of this abominable breakfast pizza?

– Finally, every time we feature a Friday Fuck Up we inevitably have a few of you telling us to keep our dirty mouths shut, so we decided to put it to a vote over on facebook, asking should Endless Simmer continue to use the F word? So there’s your chance to change the world — go vote now. And if you haven’t yet, please be sure to like ES on FB.

(Amazing photo of the week: weelakeo)

Feed Us Back: Comments of the Week

– First things first: our sincerest apologies for missing the national holiday that took place earlier this week. erica:

I have to say, i’m slightly disappointed at ES’s lack of National Chip n Dip Day coverage. (not to be confused with National Chip Day). I’ve been thinking of some Tim’s dipped in that olde sour-cream-lipton-onion-soup-mix dip stuff ALL DAY.

We promise to celebrate belatedly this weekend.

– Not surprisingly, ESers were quick to take up Sweet Fiend’s query on what kind of alcohol she should bake with next. Kim:

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America’s Top 10 New Sandwiches

Forget who piles pastrami highest or fits the most varieties of cold cuts onto one hero roll. A great sandwich has come to mean more than just bigger, better and meatier. Across the country, a new breed of sandwich artisans are taking lunchtime to a whole ‘nother level. From California to New England, here are Endless Simmer’s top ten favorite new sandwiches.

10. The Spuckie — Cutty’s, Boston

spuckie sandwich cuttys

Spuckie is a term used by old-school Bostonians to identify any sub sandwich, but it’s increasingly associated with this year-old Brookline shop. It’s also probably the one sandwich that most successfully merges the old-school method of overdoing it on Italian meats with the new world of artisan, veggie-centric goodness. Super-thin slices of fennel salami, hot capicola and mortadella are layered on an oversize ciabatta, then topped with gooey, hand-pulled mozzarella and a fresh olive-carrot salad. For even less traditional sandwich-lovers, there’s also an eggplant spuckie available.

9. Bulgogi Steak Sandwich — Koja, Philadelphia

bulgogi steak sandwich

At the risk of outraging an entire city, we’re going to say it: the Philly cheesesteak is boring. With no disrespect meant to the age-old art of slathering fake cheese on top of a mound of meat, we just think this is one classic sandwich that is ready for a creative update. Enter University City sandwich truck Koja, where the chewy cheesesteak meat is replaced with bulgogi, Korea’s signature thinly-sliced, spicy BBQ beef. It’s served on a hoagie roll that’s coated in sweet chili oil and accented by sauteed peppers and onions. Koja also offers bulgogi pork and bulgogi chicken variations, but the best part is the unbelievable price — $3. Read more about this amazing sandwich at My Inner Fatty.

8.Crispy Drunken Sandwich — Baguette Box, Seattle

crispy drunken chicken baguette

Have you ever dug into a steamy styrofoam container of General Tso’s chicken and thought, “this is delicious, but it would be even tastier on a bun?” Of course you haven’t, that’s the most insane thing we’ve ever heard. But crazy is sometimes genius, as is proven at this tiny Seattle sandwich shop, where hunks of tender chicken are deep-fried and glazed in a tangy brown sauce, then served on a crispy baguette with caramelized onions and cilantro. The result is a supremely sticky, but utterly satisfying sandwich. (Photo: Sevius)

7. Cheesy Mac and Rib — The Grilled Cheese Truck, Los Angeles

cheesy mac and rib

Another new West Coast outpost that achieves genius results by thinking outside the bun, LA’s great cheese-on-wheels purveyor offers several list-worthy grilled sandwiches, but none is more awe-inspiring than this. Sharp cheddar mac-and-cheese, strands of sweet BBQ pork and caramelized onions are all stuffed into two perfectly buttered-and-fried slices of white bread. Yes, it sounds like the horrifying 3 a.m. creation of a stoned college student. Yes, it actually works. 
(Photo:
Grilled Cheese Truck)

6. Pibil Torta — Xoco, Chicago

XOCO Pibil

Upgrading Mexican street food has suddenly become a hot task of haute chefs around the nation, although the results often have us pining for the real thing. Not so at Rick Bayless’ Chicago sandwich shop, where tortas baked in the wood-burning oven take Mexican to levels we didn’t know existed. In this sandwich, silky strands of roasted suckling pig are served on crusty bread spread with black beans and achiote paste, then finished with a layer of pickled onions and habanero salsa. The Pibil may be one extra ingredient away from being a Top Chef disaster story, but as is, it’s perfection on bread.

Next: The top 5

ES Must Do: Munich Oktoberfest

MLOfest

Remember when I swooned over the 24 oz beer I got at a concert?

Forget it.

Far, far away from Scranton, Pennsylvania is a place called Munich, Germany (München, in German). They hold Oktoberfest during the last two weeks of September. But you know this already.

I was in attendance at the Spaten (ochsenbraterei) tent. No, we didn’t tent hop, but that story is for another day. Now, they only serve one type of beer in each tent (that brewery’s beer, obviously), along with alcohol free beer, and the lemonade-beer mix (shandy) for people who are too drunk to drink more beer. Or, at least that’s why I had to have one. The beer was absolutely delicious. It TASTED like beer (not the American water we call beer) and went down very, very easily. It was also brewed stronger for Oktoberfest, so it was about 6% abv. Not terribly strong, but enough to knock you on your ass after a few liters.

A beer stein (pictured above) holds one liter of beer. For those of us not in metric mode, that’s nearly 34 ounces for 8,75 Euro, or about $12 plus tip. 7 million liters of beer were served (who knows if they were all consumed).What’s better than that? Food.

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Feed Us Back: Comments of the Week

State Fair Fried Hard Boiled Egg

– Writer and state fair expert Kat Robinson emailed us to take issue with our top 10 state fair foods, noting that we neglected the Arkansas State Fair, which runs through October 17.

While shorter than some of the other fairs in our nation, many original ideas do come out of here.  For instance, this year’s preview has shown that we have two items — Deep Fried Battered Hard Boiled Eggs and Chocolate Smooches (deep fried Hershey’s Kisses) that haven’t appeared elsewhere.

Well color us corrected! And hungry for a deep fried battered hard boiled egg. Thanks for the photo, Kat. Don’t miss her full food report on the Arkansas State Fair here. Seriously check it out — barbecued rabbit sandwiches and gator on a stick — heck yeah!

– Speaking of rabbit sandwiches, everybunny loves brit’s report on butchering a whole rabbit carcass. Erica:

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Top 10 New Foods at the 2010 State Fairs

With all due respect to George Washington Carver, America’s greatest food inventions have all originated in one place — the state fair. From cotton candy to corn dogs to deep-fried Coke, the enterprising folks at America’s state and county fairs top themselves year after year. Some observers thought state fair cooks had hit their peak last year, when the Texas State Fair debuted Deep Fried Butter. But in 2010, they outdid themselves once again, proving that if it’s edible, it’s even better battered and fried. From coast to coast (but mostly in the middle) here are our top ten favorite finds:

10. Hash Brown Hot Dog  – San Diego County Fair

hash brown dog

Hot dogs with french fries is a pretty fantastic lunch, but boy it takes a lot of effort to transport all those individual fries from the plate to your mouth. If only we could get the hot dog and the potato to be one cohesive unit, preferably arranged on a stick. Thank you, San Diego. Thank you. (Photo: It’s Holly)

9. Deep-Fried Cheddar-Bacon Mashed Potatoes…On a Stick  – Minnesota State Fair

potatoes

Sorry, San Diego — did you really think you could best the Midwest at spuds-on-a-stick? Here, Minnesota achieves the state fair trifecta — potatoes, pork and cheese — all deep fried, all on a stick. For more of Minnesota’s many, many state fair foods, check out Baking Junkie’s heart-stopping food crawl through the MN State Fair. (Photo: Baking Junkie)

8. Garbage Burger – Indiana State Fair

garbage burger

It’s the great state fair dilemma. Should pork be the basis of your dish — or a topping? In Indiana, this is not a problem. Behold the garbage burger — a deep-fried pork patty topped with a healthy serving of pulled pork. Why settle for one pig when you can have two? See more at The Hot Cookie. (Photo: Sarah Richcreek)

7.  Deep-Fried Frito Pie – Texas State Fair

frito pie

No other state takes this season as seriously as Texas, the good people who started the deep-fried everything movement with their corn dog in 1942 and haven’t looked back since. Earlier this week, ES told you about frito pies — those delicious piles of chili-topped corn chips. One guess what Texas has gone and done to ’em. (Photo: Texas Fried Frito Pie)

6. Deep Fried Klondike Bar – San Diego State Fair

deep fried klondike bar

California continues its surprisingly strong showing by having the cojones to throw a chocolate-covered ice cream bar in the deep fryer. This one’s more concept than execution, because not so surprisingly, it’s a total disaster to eat. My Burning Kitchen has more. (Photo: My Burning Kitchen)

Next: Top 5 New Foods at the 2010 State Fairs