The Joy of Cooking (Cheeseburger) Pizza

As a kid, I thought there were only a limited number of things that you should put on a pizza. Things like pepperoni, Italian sausage, peppers, olives, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, cheese, and the like. You know. All the things you can order at any local pizza chain. As an adult, I put away childish things (except for acting childish once in a while) and learned that there is so much more out there in pizza land. Chicken, artichoke hearts, fresh herbs, eggs, broccoli, spinach … well, I'll skip the spinach, but you get the idea.

Let's face it. Pizza is basically flat bread with edible stuff on it. Why limit ourselves to just a few ingredient combinations? And don't think that cheese and sauce are sacred. Not all pizza has cheese. Early Italian pizza was just sauce baked flat bread with tomato sauce. American's added the cheesy bits. Not all pizzas have sauce, either. Some just pile the other ingredients on. I'm not suggesting we treat pizza like herbed foccacia with a few olives dotted on it (although we could). Let's just broaden our horizons a little.

A few months ago I got this weird idea of turning various classic salads and sandwiches into pizza. I've since learned there are a few chefs already doing that, but more than one person can have a good idea so, I'm not going to apologize.

What about a cheeseburger pizza? That's a classic American sandwich. I fooled around, making a couple different ways, and they were pretty good. I have no idea what the actual ingredient amounts were. I was winging it. The listed ingredient amounts are guesses. Just don't put on too much of any one thing. When it comes to pizza, piling too much stuff on doesn't make it better.

When I make cheeseburgers, I use sharp cheddar. Because cheddar can get greasy when it melts, which is fine when it drips off the burger, but not so fine on a pizza, I opted for a combination of mozzarella, colby, and Monterey jack.

Ingredients

pizza dough

1 Tbl vegetable oil

1 small yellow onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 half pound ground beef

3 Tbl cup tomato sauce

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

3 Tbl dill pickle relish

1 half tomato, diced

2 cups colby jack cheese (or a bit of colby and Monterey jack), grated

1 leaf romaine lettuce, torn into 2 inch pieces

1 ½ Tbl catsup

salt and pepper

Directions

Heat the vegetable oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat, until shimmering. Add half of the onion, setting the rest aside, and a dash of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until just softened. Add the ground beef, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, and cook until no longer pink. Stir in the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds more, until fragrant. Remove from heat and let cool.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees, Fahrenheit.

Roll out the pizza dough onto a pizza pan, baking sheet, or whatever you use for pizza, and let it rest while you get everything else ready.

Mix the tomato sauce and mayonnaise together, about 3 parts mayo to 1 part tomato sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste. Better yet, use my fry sauce recipe. Spread the sauce in a thin layer over the pizza dough. This is the “secret sauce” part of the burger.

Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese evenly over the sauce. Next, sprinkle the ground beef/onion mixture, chopped tomato and the remaining chopped onion. Lastly, sprinkle on the colby jack cheese.

Bake in the oven for 15 to 18 minutes, or until the dough is cooked through and the cheese is melted and toasty. Rotate the pan halfway through, to ensure even cooking. Remove from the oven.

Squeeze most of the liquid from the pickle relish, and dot all over the pizza. Decoratively squeeze catsup in thin lines, next (I used a crosshatch pattern). Finally, spread the lettuce pieces over the pizza. Slice and serve.

Please don't consider my recipe gospel. Add various herbs and spices to the meat mixture. Hold the pickles; hold the lettuce. Use mustard. Blue cheese, would be a great substitution for the, colby-jack mixture. The point is to have tasty, tasty, pizza fun.

The Classic Reuben

Sometimes, you just want a big sandwich. I’m not talking about peanut butter and jelly, although I enjoy those quite a bit. I’m talking lots of deli meat, cheese and other stuff hot off the grill. Enter, the Reuben sandwich.

The classic Reuben is a hot sandwich, chock full of corned beef, with swish cheese, thousand island dressing and sauerkraut, served on rye bread and then grilled. Several variations exist including the Rachael, substituting pastrami or turkey for the corned beef and coleslaw for the sauerkraut. On the west coast and in Vegas they substitute Dijon mustard for the thousand island dressing. In Florida they really get weird, substituting grouper for the corned beef and using coleslaw.

The origin of the Reuben depends on who you talk to. One account credits Reuben Kulakofsky, a Lithuanian-born grocer from Nebraska. It may have been a group effort by Kulakofsky and his poker buddies. They held a weekly poker night in the Blackstone Hotel between1920 and 1935. The sandwich first gained local fame when Charles Schimmel, the hotel’s owner, put it on the Blackstone's lunch menu.

Another account credits Arnold Reuben, the owner of the once-famous Reuben's Delicatessen in New York. According to an interview with Craig Claiborne, Reuben invented the "Reuben special" around 1914. A few others are around as well, blaming different culprits and celebrities. Whatever story is true, this is a filling and satisfying sandwich.

Equipment needed

mesh strainer

measuring cups

non-stick skillet

dutch oven, stockpot, or cast iron skillet

cooling rack

rimmed baking sheet

spatula

Ingredients

1 pound sauerkraut

2 tablespoons butter, or more as needed

8 slices rye bread

3/4 cup thousand island dressing

8 slices Swiss cheese (8 ounces)

1 1/5 pounds corned beef, thinly sliced

Directions

Rinse the sauerkraut in a mesh strainer under cold running water. Drain well and squeeze out as much excess moisture as you can.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

Assemble the sandwiches by layering the ingredients as follows:

1 slice rye bread
1 tablespoon dressing
1 slice Swiss cheese
1/3 cup sauerkraut
another tablespoon dressing
6 ounces corned beef
another slice of Swiss cheese
1 more tablespoon of dressing
1 slice of rye bread on top

Press gently down on the sandwich to set everything together.

Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-low heat. Spread 1 teaspoon butter over one side of each sandwich and put them in the hot skillet, butter-side down. You should be able to do two sandwiches as a time. Place a dutch oven, stockpot, or a cast iron skillet over the top as a weight to press them down. Cook until crisp and golden, about 3-5 minutes. Remove the weight and spread more butter on top. Flip the sandwiches, replace the weight, and cook for another 3-5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack set over a baking sheet in the oven to keep them warm while you cook the remaining sandwiches. Cut them in half if desired. Serve with pickle and potato chips.

Makes 4 sandwiches.

If you have an electric grill, or pannini grill, the process is much simpler. Butter both sides of the sandwiches and cook until crisp and golden.

Shrimp Po' Boys Made Easy

Looking for a hot sandwich for a summer day? Let’s take a trip to New Orleans. Yes, I know they have luxurious restaurants, but more humble fair, even street food, is excellent there, as well. One of the most basics is a po’ boy shop, serving red beans and rice, jambalaya, and shrimp po’ boys.

A Po’ Boy (poor boy) is a traditional submarine sandwich of Louisiana. They almost always consist of meat or fried seafood, stuffed in a baguette or similar crusty bread. The bread is an integral part of the sandwich, using a crusty bread similar to a baguette. It’s so popular, there’s a po’ boy festival each year. I don’t want to wait until late fall, though, so I thought I’d get an early start.

There are many stories relating the origin of the po' boy sandwich. One popular theory sayd that "po' boy" was coined New Orleans restaurant owners Benny and Clovis Martin, who were former streetcar conductors. In 1929, during a four-month strike against the streetcar company, the Martin brothers served the strikers free sandwiches. The Martins' restaurant workers referred to the strikers as "poor boys", and the sandwiches took on the name.

 A “half po’ boy” is six inches long, and about the right size for me. Baguettes can vary in size. I used one that was about 2 feet long, and 2 1/2 inches in diameter. All kinds of meat and sausage can be used, but this version features fried shrimp. Sort of.

As many of you know, I like to cook, but I don’t always like to cook from scratch. You’re more than welcome to make your own breaded and fried shrimp for this, but I used frozen breaded popcorn shrimp, cooked in the oven. Some days the extra work is worth it. Some days it’s not.

Equipment Needed

Cutting board

Paring knife

Serrated knife

Rimmed baking sheet

Chef’s knife

Ingredients

1 pound frozen breaded popcorn shrimp

1 long baguette

1 large tomato, cored and thinly sliced

1 large dill pickle, finely diced

1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 teaspoons lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

4 green lettuce leaves

Cooking spray

Directions

Spray the baking sheet with cooking spray. Spread the frozen shrimp evenly on the sheet. Sprinkle with the Cajun seasoning and bake according to package directions.

In the meantime, cut the baguette loaf into four 6-inch pieces. Slice each piece crosswise to open the sandwich like a hot dog bun, being careful not to cut all the way through. Use your fingers to hollow out the inside of the baguette pieces, removing some of the inside crumb from both top and bottom crusts. Save the removed bread crumb for making fresh breadcrumbs, later.

Spread the mayonnaise evenly and liberally inside each hollow crust. Sprinkle with lemon juice and season with a bit of salt and pepper. You can add more Cajun spice at this point if you like it spicer.

When the shrimp is done cooking, spread the pickles and shrimp into the bottom crusts. Top each sandwich with tomato slices and a lettuce leaf and fold the sandwich back up to make it whole.

Makes 4 sandwiches.

Egg Salad Sandwiches

Ah, the classic egg salad sandwich. Easy to make, yummy to eat. My wife certainly loves them. I'm  pretty fond of them, too. You don’t have to put egg salad on bread to enjoy it. It works nicely as a light side. If you’re not watching your carbs, though, why not? Toasting the bread first is nice, too.

The secret in this simple recipe is not to chop the eggs too finely. Keep it course or they will dissolve into the dressing.

Equipment needed
Cutting board
Chef’s knife
Measuring cups and spoons
Mixing bowls
Rubber spatula

Ingredients
1 celery stalk
1/4 yellow onion
12 hard-boiled eggs.
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbl dried parsley, or 2 Tbl fresh parsley, minced
1 Tbl Dijon mustard
1 Tbl fresh lemon juice
Salt and Pepper

Directions
Cut the celery stalk into long thing strips, then cut the strips crosswise into very small pieces. Mince the onion into 1/8-inch or smaller pieces. Cut the eggs in half, lay them on their side and coarsely chop.

Mix the mayonnaise, chopped celery, minced onion parsely, 1/2 tsp salt, pinch of pepper, mustard, and lemon juice in a large mixing bowl. Gently fold in the eggs. Season with addition salt and pepper to taste.

Spread on bread to make sandwiches, or eat as a cool summer side dish.

Makes 4 cups of egg salad, enough to make 6 sandwiches.

French Peanut Butter Sandwich

Ah, food of French Provence! Well, sort of. The next internationally inspired peanut butter sandwich combines French cheese and herbs with creamy peanut butter for a bright sandwich with peanuty undertones. Maybe we should call it pain avec le beurre d'arachide et le fromage de chèvre.

There's a bit of prep involved with this peanut butter sandwich variation. Start with about two tablespoons of chèvre (goat) cheese. Mix in about 1/ 4 teaspoon dried basil. Next, peel, seed, and thinly slice 1 cucumber. You'll only need about half of it. Get out the creamy peanut butter and a couple of slices of good French bread.

With this prepped, spread a layer of peanut butter on the bread, then a layer of the goat cheese mixture. Top with slices of cucumber, and then sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper over the top.

You can serve this as an open face sandwich, as I have, or closed, with peanut butter and cheese on both sides. You'll probably only want one layer of cucumber in this case, though.

You can use cream cheese instead of the chèvre, but the flavor won't be as interesting.

Korean Peanut Butter Sandwich

International Peanut Butter Sandwich Month has been extended, in case you didn't guess. This time, we're heading to the Korean peninsula and asking, “What would a Korean peanut butter sandwich be like?”

Take a heaping tablespoon of peanut butter and mix it with a tablespoon of soy sauce. This will be enough spread for two sandwiches.

Toast four bread slices (I used white bread this time), and spread the peanut butter mixture on each slice, one side only please. Alternately, you could use puffed rice cakes instead of bread.

Now, don't let this next part freak you out. Put a layer of kimchi (Korean pickled cabbage) on one slice for each sandwich and then sprinkle on a bit of green sliced green onion on, as well. Put the slices together like a normal sandwich and cut in two pieces, if desired.

This peanut butter sandwich variation is tastier than your brain thinks it is.

Peanut Butter Quesadilla

“What would a Mexican peanut butter sandwich be like?” I asked myself one day. I'm not a huge fan of Mexican food, but some of it really peaks my taste buds. So does peanut butter. Duh. I kicked my brain into gear, putting together flavors, ingredients and cooking techniques from “south of the border,” and came up with a tasty peanut butter sandwich variation.

Before you think my taste buds have gone wonky, let me assure you that the rest of my family thought it was pretty tasty, too. I even taught my middle daughter how to make them. She did quite well, thank you.


Equipment Needed
Cast iron skillet
Cutting board
Kitchen knife
Spatula
Mixing bowl

Ingredients
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup re-fried beans
2 teaspoons ground cumin
4 tablespoons tomato-mango salsa (any sweet tasting tomato and fruit salsa will do)
pinch of onion salt
1/2 cup grated queso blanco, or use grated cheddar
2 flour tortillas
1 tablespoons cooking oil
Extra salsa and sour cream for dipping, as desired

Directions
This recipe makes two peanut butter quesadillas.

Combine the peanut butter, re-fried beans and ground cumin in a mixing bowl. Mix until well combined. Spread the peanut butter mixture onto one side of two flour tortillas. This mixture will want to stick more to the knife than the tortilla, so you'll want to pat it down.

Spread the salsa on top of the peanut butter, about 2 tablespoons per tortilla. Sprinkle each with a pinch of onion salt. (If you want, you can use chopped green or yellow onions, here. I just didn't have any the last time I made this and the onion powder seemed to work really well.)

Divide the grated cheese between the two tortillas, sprinkling evenly, and fold each one in half, making a classic quesadilla.

Heat the oil a cast iron skillet over medium heat. You can use a regular skillet if you don't have a cast iron one. Cook the peanut butter quesadillas on each side until crispy and brown, about 2-3 minutes per side. Cook one at a time so you don't crowd your pan.

Remove the cooked quesadilla from the pan and let it cool slightly, about 2 minutes. Cut each one in half and serve with extra salsa and some sour cream, if desired.

I know. It sounds crazy. Maybe it is, but sometimes, crazy can be delicious.

Makes 2 servings.

Peanut Butter and Tomato Sandwich – Southern Comfort

A classic peanut butter sandwich variation hailing from the South, peanut butter and tomato sandwiches are a must try. At least once, anyway. Maybe you've already had one. They're not all that uncommon.

The classic sandwich is simply peanut butter, a slice of tomato, and a bit of salt. This is nice, but I felt like it needed a bit of an update.

In my version, you start by toasting the bread. While that's going, mix about 2 teaspoons of tomato powder into 2 tablespoons of creamy peanut butter. (Tomato powder is very versatile and deserves a place in your food storage.) Spread this mixture on the toast, followed by a thin layer of mayonnaise. Top with a thin slice of fresh, beefsteak tomato. Sprinkle on a little onion salt and some cracked black pepper and enjoy, open faced.

You can make a closed face sandwich as well, if that's your preference.


If you really want to get sophisticated, try mixing the peanut butter with sun-dried tomatoes instead of topping with a fresh one.

Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich - the "Elvis"

Peanut butter and bananas, baby. The PB&B. What a great peanut butter sandwich variation. Jaqueline, of Purple Chocolat Home, came by last time and reminded me taht Elvis Presley loved these. I do, too. I like to slice the bananas thinly and overlap them on the bread. On toasted bread is nice, too.

Besides the peanut butter, honey or strawberry jam are great additions to this peanut butter sandwich. Chocolate syrup is, too. It takes about one half of a banana to make one of these. If you really want to get crazy, why not serve the sandwich with slices of the the other half of the banana and some chocolate sauce? Yum.


Want to enter Adventure Land? Try grilling one of these. As the peanut butter melts into the bread ... ooooh ....

International Peanut Butter Sandwich Month

Inspired by blogs such as Peanut Butter Boy and Scanwiches, I've decided to make April International Peanut Butter Sandwich Month at Mormon Foodie. The idea is to create and share your favorite peanut butter sandwich variations based on international cuisines. Or not. As long as they have peanut butter, that's fine.

The Max Special

I first got the idea of a month of peanut butter sandwich variations while watching an episode of Gourmet Magazine's Diary of a Foodie on PBS. Ruth Reichl, the magazine's editor-in-chief, made a sandwich she called the “Max Special.” Simply put, it's a sandwich made with peanut butter, mayonnaise, and sliced green olives. I thought it sounded disgusting, but Ruth seemed to enjoy herself eating it. After trying it, I realized that my first impressions were mostly right. I'm not a huge fan of this sandwich. If it's not actually disgusting, at least it's an acquired taste. My oldest daughter disagrees with me, however. She quite liked it and has made them for herself from time to time every since.

Now it's Your Turn

So, here's the challenge. Create and share your own peanut butter sandwich variations and share them with us as comments. If you find a sandwich variation you like, let us know that, too. I'll post the ones that I like best, or get the most good comments, as a “winners” post next month.

Here are the submission rules.

1. They have to have peanut butter as a main ingredient. No chicken sandwiches with peanut sauce, although that sounds pretty tasty.
2. They have to be wrapped in some kind of bread/grain product, at least enough that it can be argued that it's a sandwich. Tortillas are fine. So are rice crackers. Lettuce or nori wraps won't cut it. Anything that actually has “bread” in the title is perfect.
3. They have to contain only food. No non-food items, such as Pokemon cards or plastic twist ties, are not allowed.

That's pretty much it. Anything else goes. They can be fresh, grilled, broiled, raw, or whatever. Contest winners will get … well, I don't know. Five minutes of fame? A link to their own websites, if they have one? My undying gratitude? I don't know. Maybe I'll think up something good later.

Photo credit: David Villarroel

Easy Slow-Cooker Barbecue Pulled Pork

If you've never had a Southern-style pulled pork sandwich, you don't know what you're missing. My wife and I recently shared one on our vacation to Newport in Oregon. It was the special at Cafe Stephanie in Historic Newport on Nye Beach. It's a great cafe, and their pulled-pork sandwich was pretty good, served with a perfect, crispy dill pickle spear and potato chips. To be honest, though, I like mine better.

You can use whatever kind of barbecue sauce you want. When I think of Southern-style pulled pork, though, I think of a vinegar based barbecue sauce. I've included the recipe I'm currently using. Feel free to change things up, though. That's the beauty of barbecue. Making your own signature sauces is part of the fun.

Equipment needed
Slow-Cooker
Baking sheet
Medium saucepan
Large mixing bowl
Measuring cups and spoons

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups (14 oz.) beef broth
2 – 3 pound pork shoulder roast, tenderloin, or boneless ribs
1/2 teaspoon salt

for the sauce
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon cayenne (red) pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Directions
Trim any extra fat from the pork. Add it, along with the salt and broth, to the slow cooker. Cook on high heat for 4 to 6 hours. Let it cool enough to handle safely and shred with a fork. It may not seem like it's working at first, but trust me. It will shred easily once you get started.

Make the sauce while the pork is cooking.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove the pork from the slow-cooker, discarding any remaining broth (there won't be much). Toss with the barbecue sauce in a large bowl. Add as much barbecue sauce as you want, just don't add so much that it turns into soup. Transfer to a baking sheet. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for about 30 minutes, or until heated through. Serve on good buns.

Makes about 4 – 6 servings.


To Make the Sauce
Heat the water in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the brown sugar and stir until dissolved. Add the remaining ingredients, reduce the heat, and slowly simmer for about 5 minutes. You don't need to cook vinegar barbecue sauce for very long.