cheesy pickle pretzel sliders

just as some parents of little ones are required to check for monsters in the closet, my mom was required to check for pickles on my burgers. despite always ordering a very plain cheeseburger, an itsy bitsy pickle occasionally managed to wiggle its way on there and terrify me. like, spider on my face in the middle of the night terrifying. and no, i don't really know why.

i'm happy to say though that i've since embraced the pickle/thrown parties in its honor/etc. (and have now focused my energies on decreasing my recovery time when small green worms crawl out of my salad, which happened last month and i don't wanna talk about it.) this embracing of the pickle is a very good thing because just like steak n shake is the quintessential late night food of my chicago suburb and just like a greasy slice is the quintessential late night food of new york, the fried cheesy pickle appears to be the quintessential late night food of grand forks. it's basically a pickle wrapped in cheese wrapped in an egg roll skin and then fried and served with magic sauce. crack sauce. awesome sauce. 

it is all the right textures and saltiness for a night of gin and tonics out on the town with the lovely ladies of grand forks... 

but let's say you were inspired by a certain fries on burger situation to straight up put your cheesy pickle on a burger. you'd do it in the name of fried crunchiness, right? correct. so that's what i did, and that's what you should do the next time you step on a treadmill and turn on mean girls and forget to get off of the treadmill until lindsay lohan pukes all over that guy.

cheesy pickle pretzel sliders

makes 8

ingredients

1 lb mix of ground chuck and sirloin

kosher salt and pepper

8 pretzel slider buns

8 slices tomato

8 leaves lettuce

ketchup, mustard, mayo, etc.

2 fried cheesy pickles (recipe below),

sliced into discs, plus extra for serving on the side

clues

divide the meat into 8 equal parts and form into patties. salt and pepper both sides. coat the bottom of a pan with oil and heat over medium heat. cook the burgers on each side to desired doneness.

toast your burger buns, if desired, and top with tomato, lettuce, a meat patty, any other condiments, and a slice or two of fried cheesy pickles. 

enjoy!

fried cheesy pickles

makes about 13, but amount can easily be adjusted, as all you need is a 1:1:1 ratio of pickles to cheese to egg roll wrappers

ingredients

1 jar farmer's garden by vlasic kosher dill spears

13 slices havarti cheese

13 large (6-7 inch) egg roll wrappers, store-bought or homemade

canola or vegetable oil, for frying

ketchup, mayo (chipotle??), mustard, other sauces for serving 

clues

drain your pickles and use a paper towel to pat off any excess moisture. wrap each pickle in a slice of cheese and then wrap each in an egg roll wrapper. seal it well, using a bit of water on the edges if necessary. (refer to the above gif.)

heat 2 inches of oil in a large sauce pan to 360º. fry the pickles on all sides until golden brown and crispy. transfer to a paper towel and let cool. slice (put them on a slider?) and serve!

-yeh!

this post was sponsored by vlasic's tasty new line of pickles, farmer's garden! all opinions are mine mine mine. these pickles come in super cute farmy jars and there are no artificial flavors in them (yay). they're inspired by pickling pioneer joseph vlasic, who started making pickles 70 years ago! aside from kosher dill spears, they make zesty garlic chips, bread and butter chips, kosher dill halves, and dill chips. to see what other fun things are going on it pickle word, you can follow #farmtojar.

also be sure to enter their sweepstakes: farmer’s garden is celebrating the authentic taste of #farmtojar with the savor simplicity sweepstakes running from 5/7/14 – 7/31/14. enter at www.farmersgardenvlasic.com for a chance to win a weekend cooking adventure or summer entertaining package, each worth $1,500. one winner will be chosen each month. a $1 off coupon will also be given to all entrants immediately following entry!

bánh mì hot dogs

there are few things i love more than hot dogs. they're my favorite part about baseball games, they might even be one of my favorite parts about summer. when i was little, this was acceptable. now that i'm a sophisticated (*picks nose*) adult, it's almost embarrassing to eat a hot dog unless i've waited hours for it at hot doug's. at barbecues i feel like i should be going for angus this or wagyu that instead of elbowing a seven-year-old out of the way to get to the wieners with ketchup only. cue the judgements from all the chicagoans. i know i know. but is it so much to ask that i have a new, fun way of eating a hot dog that makes me feel more like a real live grown-up?

no.

enter: the bánh mì hot dog!

it's inspired by the one at asiadog and it's basically what would happen if your beloved hot dog got the prettiest, most colorful makeover in all the land. it's also perfect if you don't have access to those special meats that are often found in bánh mìs. this version is super easy to make and great for adding some spunk and new flavors to your barbecues. snappy wieners basking in squishy soft buns, topped with heaps of crunchy veggies? ooh yes.

bánh mì hot dogs

makes 8

ingredients

for the daikon/carrot slaw:

(adapted from the kitchn)

1 c julienned daikon

1 c julienned carrots

a big pinch of salt

1/4 c sugar

1/2 c white vinegar

1 c water

for assembly:

8 hot dogs

8 cobblestone bread co. windy city hot dog buns

1 large cucumber, seeded and sliced

1/2 c hoisin sauce

sriracha mayo (1/2 c mayo + 2 tsp sriracha, or more if desired)

2 jalapeños, seeded and sliced

fresh cilantro sprigs

clues

for the slaw, combine all ingredients in a large bowl, cover, and then refrigerate until ready to use. (you want it to sit for at least half an hour.)

for assembly, grill the hot dogs. place them in their buns and top each with a slice of cucumber, some hoisin sauce, sriracha mayo, some slaw, a few jalapeño slices, and a sprig or two of cilantro.

enjoy!

-yeh!

compensation for this post was provided by cobblestone bread co. via aol media. the opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of cobblestone bread co. or aol.

p.s. check out these other fun summer sandwiches!

brisket on sourdough with sriracha shaved brussels sprouts

there is a possibility that i spoke too soon about wanting winter to stay.

i know this because over weekend, when a recipe arrived in my inbox from sweet tara for steamed buns that require three (3!!) ingredients for the dough, the only thing that prevented me from acquiring the required self-rising flour from the shop across the street was the task of bundling up for -21ºf. 

never before in my life have i stopped at an obstacle when steamed buns were involved. 

but you guys. i've been wearing two pants, two-three pairs of socks, and two fleeces under my down coat on a regular basis. 

and my snot freezes. and my skin is cracky.

so while i do love winter food with all of my heart, i wouldn't mind the ability to go outside wearing just one layer and possibly pick a tomato from the ground.

on the bright side: i've been testing brisket recipes for the passover installment of molly on the range and have the terrible burden of having so much leftover brisket in my fridge. life is so tough, right? one day soon, when it warms up to positive degrees, i will make steamed buns with brisket in the belly. but for now, i have a delightful winter sandwich.

brisket on sourdough with sriracha shaved brussels sprouts

makes one sandwich, but can easily be doubled/tripled/septupled

ingredients

olive oil

2 thick slices of crusty sourdough

1 thick slice of brisket

1/2 c shaved brussels sprouts

a pinch of kosher salt

1 tb sriracha mayo* (or more)

*i keep a squeeze bottle of the stuff in my fridge and you should too. i use 1 tsp sriracha for every 1/4 cup of mayo, but add more sriracha as you wish.

clues

heat a grill pan or skillet with a bit of olive oil over medium heat. toss on the bread, and if the brisket is cold from being leftovers, toss that on too to warm it up. heat both sides of the bread (and brisket).

in a separate pan, heat a bit more olive oil over medium-high heat and add your brussels sprouts. season with salt. cook til soft and slightly browned and then toss with sriracha mayo. (you could also keep your sprouts raw if you'd like)

assemble and destroy!

-yeh!

HONG KONG: HOKKAIDO DAIRY FARM MILK RESTAURANT

in the past year i've gone through, oh, about five thousand million dozen eggs. i've poached them under my master poacher mother's supervision, baked them at midnight for a noshie eggboy, soft boiled some rainbow beauties that were fresh out of the hen, scrambled them as slowly as possible with the best most freshest chives available, and gone through many many kinds of fancy salt in all different colors. one would think i've made a good egg. 

but upon taking myself on a morning date to the hokkaido dairy farm milk restaurant, i realized the answer was, 20 years ago, right in front of my four-year-old-bowl-cut-self: fluffy white bread with the crusts cut off, hilarious amounts of butter, and milk. 3.6% fat milk, to be exact, says robyn.

hokkaido's egg sandwich is approximately one of the best things i've ever eaten. it's better than australia dairy company's version. it's better than the super bougie eggs i spend too much money on at the farmers' market.

it's sweet, fluffy, buttery, eggy yumminess sandwiched between two slices of the most pillowy soft white bread you ever did meet. it's large. large enough to feel bad about also ordering the peanut butter stuffed french toast (but not that bad, because, hey, when in honk honk?) and large enough that you need to use two hands and be extra careful that you don't make a mess, lest some valuable egg get away. 

​eating a hokkaido egg sandwich is almost like eating a slice of new york pizza. the grease just runs down your arm and it is one happy moment. 

-yeh!​

this post on hokkaido was brought to you by jet-lag. it's thanks to jet lag that i was able to be the first customer of the day and avoid the usual long line.

thank you, jet lag, i love you, jet lag.