3.04.2010

dinner tonight...

Homemade Garbage Plate! ... sorta.
It started as an... Open-Face Sloppy Burger? And turned into a Homemade Garbage Plate.

Does anyone who's never eaten at Nick Tahou's know what a "garbage plate" is? Is that a dumb question? I've only eaten at NT's once, in high school... but I'm pretty sure I still have some of their grease coursing/clogging my veins.

So here's the story behind dinner (because who doesn't want to hear about the thought-process behind my meals?!):

We had Sara & Dave over for dinner last Friday night and grilled burgers (on the grill outside - thanks, Doug!). I wanted to make "Golden Potato Nuggets" from my MixingBowl.com magazine, but ran out of time, so we just had mashed potatoes. However, I was still determined to make these golden nuggets.

So tonight I planned on having burgers and potato nuggets. I started the prep for the nuggets, then realized we didn't have any hamburger buns. And we only had two burgers left. So, I began improvising. Here's how you can make your own Sloppy Open-Face Garbage Burger Mess.

1. Brown 1 lb ground beef (leave it a tad pink). Drain grease.
2. Sprinkle on some basic burger rub/seasoning. I didn't measure it.
3. Brown a little longer, then toss in some cheese. I used PepperJack. If I had planned more in advance, I would have chopped some onions and tossed them in.
4. Meanwhile, turn on broiler.
5. Grab hamburger buns or bread or whatever you have (I used hotdog buns), open and butter.
6. Toast buns under broiler carefully (do not leave unattended!).
7. Scoop meat mix liberally onto toasted buns.
8. Top with your preferred condiments (we used ketchup & mustard).

Ta-da!

You will want a fork and a napkin.

Golden Tater Nuggets were decent (they actually look much better in the picture than in real life). I ended up mashing mine and mixing it with the burger mess. All in all, the meal was pretty much delicious. Plus, I got to say "toasted buns" in a blog post. Score!

5 comments:

  1. Ha -- whenever I serve hot dogs or hamburgers, I ask the family if they want their buns toasted! Then I snicker. Every time. m<3m

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  2. This place was on the food network...it looked good on there, and you do a wonderful recreation...looks good.

    P.S. I hope your cousin, Victoria, doesn't think I'm a stalker...but I keep waiting for her or you to say she's gone into labor...let her know a random stranger in Spring Arbor is praying for a safe delivery.

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  3. Jeanette,

    I don't think you're a stalker at all :o)

    Thanks for your prayers.

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  4. yummy dinner. and i'm going to make a typical pregnant woman comment: you are so making me want pickles right now. but i'd say that even if i wasn't preggers.
    i know other places have garbage plates but it's places around here so they could have stolen the idea from tahou's. i have never had one. it's on my list of things to do before i die though. haa....

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  5. I love, love, love garbage plates! Got addicted while at Roberts... We have Irondequoit Hots right up the street, so every now and then for a special treat! YUM! (Although, I do not get the hot sauce, I must confess!)

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