March Madness -

by BS

March Madness 2012: America’s Best Drunk College Food

While the rest of you were obsessing over your brackets, Endless Simmer has been evaluating OUR favorite part of college: the food. Yep, we’re talking about that greasy, cheesy, meaty, bacon-y, over-the-top late-night goodness that can only be found in one place: college.

After much exhaustive research, and with March Madness just about to tip off, we’re ready to present our second annual list of all 68 NCAA tournament teams, ranked by their best drunk college food.

68. Montana: Hoagieville Cheese Fries

This esteemed establishment claims to have invented the idea of putting “taco cheese” on top of French fries. And yes, they are proud of that.

Hoagieville; Missoula, Montana (Photo: Hoagieville)

67. St. Mary’s: Chili Cheeseburger and Chili Fries

It’s like the drunk college version of Portlandia. How do you save a subpar burger? Put some chili cheese on it. How do you save some mediocre fries? Put some chili cheese on it.

Nation’s Giant; Moraga, California (Photo: Michelle N.)

66. Kentucky: MegaHo Burger

This triple-decker burger comes complete with gravy, cheese, jalapenos, mushrooms, bacon, tomato, pickle and lettuce. Only ranked so low because we have not confirmed that you can eat this and still walk out the door alive.

Tolly-Ho; Lexington, Kentucky (Photo: Tolly-Ho)

65. St. Louis University: The Slinger

A St. Louis tradition that is widely available at 24-hours establishments, although we find it hard to stomach that anyone would eat this before 3am: two fried eggs, a hamburger, a mound of hash browns, a sea of chili and a handful of cheese.

Courtesy Diner; St. Louis, Missouri (Photo: Zack Minarick)

by BS

Super Snacks: Poutine Potato Skins

At Endless Simmer we’re a little obsessed with all thing poutine. We eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We haven’t figured out how to turn it into a dessert just yet (any ideas??) but breaking news…we now have poutine as a handheld appetizer.

The idea for poutine potato skins came when I saw that Mile End — the champion of our tour de poutine — was offering these as a take-out Super Bowl snack. I made my version for Super Sunday as well, but I’m pretty sure they make sense for March Madness, too. Or St. Patrick’s Day. Or Easter Sunday. Or a random Monday morning.

These aren’t actually so different from regular potato skins; you’ve just got to pair the spuds with gravy and cheese curds, the other two elements of the holy trinity that make up poutine. The biggest hurdle, of course, is finding fresh cheese curds. In New York, I tracked them down at Saxelby Cheesemongers. For the gravy, I decided to go a little more American than the dark gravy usually found on Montreal poutine, and went with a white bacon gravy. Since I had to cook up bacon strips to produce that gravy, in the end I crumbled them up and added that to the top of the skins as well, because…yeah, I don’t have to explain myself there.

Poutine Potato Skins

in Bacon / Cheese / Endless Bacon / Featured / Pig / Recipe 1 comments

by BS

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:

in Holiday 4 comments

by bakersroyale

Salted Caramel and Chocolate Stout Whoopie Pies

Does the food fury of March Madness have the threads on your pants stretched thin? Seriously, I want to know who can down a pint of beer with power grub like the MegaHo Burger without becoming completely dismantled like Pittsburgh in the dizzying game end with Butler. For those who can, I bow to your prowess.

For the rest of us, let’s switch gears and go for a 3-in-1. Say hello to pacing yourself through the Sweet 16 with a March Madness power food: Salted Caramel and Chocolate Stout Whoopie Pie.

A little bit salty, a little bit sweet and whole lotta stout. Grab your savory in half the flavor of the salted caramel buttercream and the sweet in the other half, take that and wash it down between two chocolate whoopie cakes shot up with some beer and…yeah, now any of us can man up and have a March Madness power grub.

Salted Caramel and Chocolate Stout Whoopie Pie

in Desserts / Featured / Recipe 12 comments

by gansie

Happy Hangover: St. Patrick’s Day Leftovers

Bravo if you’re at a desk this morning instead of hugging your toilet. Yesterday was a brilliant day, when two extremely holy holidays came together for a magical 24 hours: St. Patrick’s Day and the first day of March Madness.

We have something for you that’s almost as magical: Corned Beef Hashburger with a Fried Egg. Enjoy your hangover with a side of delicious leftovers.

(Photo and Recipe: Smokin’ Chokin’ and Chowing with the King)

More Holiday Madness
March Food Madness: All 68 NCAA Tournament Teams Ranked by Their Best Drunk College Food, Part 1
March Food Madness: All 68 NCAA Tournament Teams Ranked by Their Best Drunk College Food, Part 2
100 Ways to Cook With Guinness 
Irish Brownie Bombs with Guinness, Bailey's and Jameson
Cast Iron Irish Soda Bread
Guinness, Leek and Steak Pie
A Naturally Green Cocktail: Coca Leaf Liqueur

in Eggs / Holiday 1 comments

by BS

America’s Best Drunk College Food

It’s that very special time of year when all of America’s college students put aside their textbooks to focus on a more pressing pursuit: who is best at putting a ball through a hoop. But at Endless Simmer we’re more interested in what they’re doing after the game. So instead of spending all week filling out some silly brackets, we decided to rank all 68 NCAA tournament teams by what really is the best part of college: the greasy, cheesy, meaty, ridiculously over-the-top local foods that you would ever only consider eating if you were in college, celebrating a win, and…well, drunk as hell.

68. Virginia Commonwealth University: Senior Bobble

A quesadilla kicked up a good few notches, with ground beef, peppers and crushed tortilla chips inside.

BoDillaz; Richmond, Virginia (Photo: BoDillaz)

67. Kentucky: MegaHo Burger

This triple-decker burger can come complete with gravy, cheese, jalapenos, mushrooms, bacon, tomato, pickle and lettuce — don’t forget the cheese-filled tater tots on the side. Only ranked so low because we have not confirmed that you can eat this and still walk out the door alive.

Tolly-Ho; Lexington, Kentucky (Photo: Tolly-Ho)

66. UC-Santa Barbara: BBQ Sauce Nachos

It’s unclear why so few other establishments have thought to combine juicy chicken or carne asads nachos with sticky BBQ sauce.

Freebirds World Burrito; Isla Vista, California (Photo: Tuan T)

in Bacon / Cheese / Featured / Lists / Pig / Red Meat / Restaurants 23 comments

by BS

March Food Madness: All 68 NCAA Tournament Teams Ranked by Their Best Drunk College Food: Part 2

Read Part 1 of the List

35. Notre Dame: Four Horsemen Basket

Ribs, chicken strips, mozzarella sticks, Parmesan shrimp and breadsticks. Perhaps designed to be eaten by a group, but on many occasion consumed by a single drunken Irish fan. Between the Buns; South Bend, Indiana (Photo: BtB)

34. Marquette: Chili Cheese Atomic Dog

Spicy Vienna beef Polish hot dog fried crispy and topped with onions, tomato wedges, chili and cheese.

Dogg Haus; Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Photo: Dogg Haus)

33. Texas A&M: Spicy Bacon Chicken Baked Potato

Thought a baked potato was only a vessel for sour cream and cheese? Think again. This one has BBQ chicken, bacon, butter, sour cream and cheese.

Potato Shack; College Station, Texas (Photo: DerekSteen)

32. Florida State: Wake ‘n’ Bake Dog

Too late for dinner, too early for breakfast? Try a hot dog wrapped in bacon on a fried egg with cheese.

VooDoo Dog; Tallahassee, Florida (Photo: VooDoo Dog)

in Bacon / Lists / Pig / Red Meat 29 comments