Million Island Dressing (Homemade Thousand Island), Reuben, and Big Mac+

Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen is one of my favorite cookbooks. The guy knows what he’s doing. He makes recipes with awesome depth of flavor, and even shows how to make your own salad dressings. Awesome. And it’s not some rinky-dink recipe that tells you to put mayonnaise in with a bunch of other ingredients…you make your own mayo. Yep. Let that sink in. This is the real deal. Of course, after you have “3 cups” of fresh dressing (try a whole pickle jar full) that you need to use up in a week, you get creative with ways to use it. Reubens? Check. Big Macs (but better)? Check. And you’ll probably still need to make some Reuben-style hot dogs or something to use up that last little bit…I GUESS you could use it as salad dressing…

 

Million Island Dressing (adapted from Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen)

1 egg

1/4c diced onion (about half of a small/medium onion)

1c canola oil

1c diced tomatoes

2 hard-boiled eggs

1t salt

1t pepper

1t garlic powder/granulated garlic

1t onion powder/granulated onion

1/2t cayenne pepper

1/2c sweet pickle relish

1. Add the raw egg and onions to a blender or food processor and blend until combined (a few seconds). Add the oil in a thin stream with the processor still running (this can be tricky, depending on the processor…I had to stick a funnel into a pour spout on mine). This is the creation of the mayo. Pulse the processor/blender for a bit until the mixture looks like it’s getting thicker.

2. Add everything else EXCEPT the relish. Blend until smooth.

3. Pour dressing into a bowl or jar and mix in the relish. Refrigerate; keeps for up to 1 week or so.

Reuben tips:

You’ll need rye bread, corned beef, sauerkraut, and million island dressing. You can get a nice chunk of corned beef brisket in the refrigerated meat aisle of your local grocery store. Slow-cook it in your crock pot for 5 or 6 hours with a can of sauerkraut. About 2 pounds of brisket and 1 27oz can of sauerkraut (I like Silver Floss) will make about 7 or 8 sandwiches, depending on how much of each you like. I suggest toasting the rye bread a bit so the sauerkraut doesn’t make it soggy. If you drain the sauerkraut well, though, you don’t HAVE to toast the bread. Spread some dressing on both pieces of bread, top with sliced or pulled corned beef and sauerkraut, and enjoy!

Big Mac+ tips:

You’ll need a hamburger bun (preferably with sesame seeds, if you’re being authentic…I wasn’t) and a piece of bread to use as the middle layer. Grill up two beef patties, top with cheese, diced onions, lettuce, tomato (not authentic, I know…), and million island dressing. This will be impossible to eat in a clean fashion, so have napkins on hand. Good to have some oven fries on the side!

Reuben-style hot dog tips:

Grill a hot dog and bun; spread million island dressing on the bun, add the dog, and top with kraut. Easy!

Salad tips:

I'd suggest an ample dose of million island dressing over an iceberg or romaine chopped salad with raw onion half-moons and sliced hard-boiled eggs.

Colby Jack-Stuffed Burgers and Simple Stir-Fried Veggies

Yes, I am slightly obsessed with cheese. I believe I mentioned this in an earlier post. Also the grill-craziness was mentioned before. So here's another delicious burger experiment...the fabled Cheese-Stuffed Burger. I also cooked up some bell pepper/mushroom stir fry to go with (we were getting tired of corn on the cob).

Colby Jack-Stuffed Burgers
Yields 7-10 burgers
264 calories (.26lb burger, 2T cheese)

1.5 to 2 pounds of hamburg
Granulated garlic
Granulated onion powder
Red pepper flakes
Italian seasoning
S+P
Bag of colby jack cheese, shredded
Buns

Simple Stir-Fried Veggies
Yields 4-6 servings
37 calories (6 servings, 12 oz mushrooms, 2T soy sauce, 2t rice vinegar)

Green bell pepper
Red bell pepper
Yellow bell pepper
Container of pre-sliced baby portabella mushrooms
Soy sauce
Seasoned rice vinegar
Granulated garlic
Granulated onion

1. Gather burger ingredients. Be sure to pick out the most hideous tablecloth imaginable for the viewing pleasure of your blog readers.

2. Season the meat. Sprinkle on a good 1 tablespoon of each of the seasonings, excepting the S+P. Just do that to taste. And only add red pepper flakes if you want your burger hot!

3. Mix. Don't be afraid to stick your hands in there and squish the mixture together. Squeeze it through your fingers until it looks like the spices are evenly distributed.

4. Divide and pat. Divide the meat mixture into baseball-sized lumps. Divide each of those in half. Pat both halves so they are thin (half inch at most) and about the size of your palm (or larger).

5. Add cheese. Put a few tablespoons of cheese in the middle of half the patties. Don't put so much on that you won't be able to get a secure crimp on the outside of the patties.

6. Meat sandwich! Put another thin patty on top of the cheese-topped one and pinch the edges together. After that, rotate the patty and press the sides in to make a better, flat, edge.

7. Gather ingredients for veggies. Use this opportunity to show your readers that there is a part of your small kitchen that has purty white tiles on it.

8A. Prepare veggies. Chop up the peppers. Throw them in a skillet with a tablespoon of oil. Add the mushrooms (well rinsed...they do grow in shit, ya know). Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally. When veggies are heated through, add a quick circling of rice vinegar. Add 4 circles of soy sauce. Sprinkle on garlic and onion...about 2t each. Stir and cook until veggies are to the texture you like 'em. I prefer al dente. If you cook the veggies and the burgers at the same time, they should be ready together.

8B. Grill and eat. Put the burgers on the bun rack in your grill over high heat. Flip occasionally until done...about 10-12 minutes until cheesy goodness! If you have extra burgers, put them into sandwich baggies and freeze them. Be sure to label the spicy-hot patties to avoid future tongue death.