You are probably wondering what happened to North Carolina and you are right, I did skip them to get to North Dakota. That is because on July 25th I will be firing up the smoker and doing my first annual CAROLINA PULLED PORK OFF. That's right, one day, two Carolinas. I was told that if I was going to do Carolina pulled pork, the only way would be to smoke it and any attempts in a crockpot would be illegitimate. So to recap, on July 25th, Carolina Pulled Pork Off AND on August 1st, the smoker comes back out to catch up with Kansas' burnt ends and some good old-fashioned Texas brisket. It's all happening this summer at the Jersey Shore. OK, now that that is out of the way on to North Dakota. The Sloppy Joe doesn't really have origins in North Dakota, the people there just really like them and who am I but a heartless, cynical east coast man to tell them otherwise. In reality, the sloppy joe is a derivative of Iowa's "loose meat" sandwich. References to sloppy joes as sandwiches begin in the 1940s, with one example from Ohio saying "sloppy joes: originated in Cuba," which actually makes a lot of sense considering the ground beef-tomato sauce blend is reminiscent of picadillo, a very popular Latin American dish. OR they were referencing Cuba, North Dakota in which case, the sloppy joe actually IS from North Dakota. Either way, the practice of putting ground beef in between a hamburger bun about American as it comes. Now cue the scary lunch lady from Billy Madison...
Ingredients:
1lb ground beef
6 oz tomato paste
1 packet of sloppy joe seasoning mix
hamburger buns
1. Brown meat in a large skillet on medium-high heat.
2. Stir in seasoning mix, tomato paste, and water. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Serve on hamburger buns.
Sorry to all of upstate New York but there's no secret that the entire state is dominated by a city on a little island off the coast of New Jersey. New York is the first glimpse of America most of the world sees and it is also my "home city" so to speak. I grew up a quick ferry ride across the bay from the city; most of the adults I knew commuted there to work, I root for their sports teams, every single field trip (except Poricy Park) I ever went on in school went there. What I'm trying to say is, yes, I could just take a trip into the city to Katz or one of the hundreds of other Jewish delis between Red Bank and New York to get authentic pastrami on rye. But that's not the point of this. The pastrami on rye is the simple, yet delectable predecessor of The Reuben. In fact, pastrami on rye can be found almost 40 years before the emergence of The Reuben. Sussman Volk opened one of New York's first delis at 88 Delancy Street in 1888, where he served meat on rye bread. Pastrami came from a Romanian dish called Pastirma, which was cured goose. Since geese weren't readily available in New York City, many Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe served the much more accessible beef instead. It is theorized that Pastirma became Pastrami due to the American simplification of words as pastrami would be next to the salami found in Italian delis next door. Now if you'd excuse me, I have a ferry to catch as I will likely be in tears when I walk into Citi Field to watch the New York Mets tonight live for the first time in almost two years.
Ingredients:
1/2 lb pastrami
1/4 lb swiss cheese
spicy brown mustard
rye bread
1. Place a generous amount of pastrami on your rye topped with two slices of swiss and as much spicy brown mustard as your heart desires.
2. Put your sandwich in a toaster oven or oven at 300 degrees for about 10 minutes or until the swiss cheese has started to melt.
3. Let's go Mets
You may be thinking. A burger? Is that a sandwich? Well, technically, yes because its meats, cheese, and condiments in between bread. But burgers are an entirely separate sub category within the sandwich game that can take months to explore. However, New Mexico is famous for it's Green Chile cheeseburgers, so much so, that there is a Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail with 63 stops around the state. No one knows for sure who invented the Green Chile Cheeseburger but the earliest known place to serve the spiced-up burger was the now famous Owl Bar and Café in San Antonio, New Mexico. Opened in 1945 by Frank and Dee Chavez, the Owl Bar and Café was the famed lunch spot of scientists working on the Manhattan Project. That's right, folks, those defecting German scientists invented perhaps the most consequential weapon in human history while eating a lunch with flavor for the first time in their lives. That's American exceptionalism right there. And what sets this burger apart from any other, is the Green Chile. First grown by the Pueblo and Hispano communities throughout Santa Fe de Nuevo Mexico established by Spain in 1598, it has become a staple of New Mexican cuisine often served diced or within sauces elemental to dishes such as enchiladas, burritos, and of course our beloved burgers. The usage really sets this burger apart from your typical summer BBQ burger, and with an extra 15 minutes of preparation, you can also impress all of your friends with this "exotic" delight as you get the flavors of European Spain mixed with Native American vegetables.
