Grilled Pork Sliders with Coleslaw

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Spring is just around the corner in Northern Indiana and soon the cold winds and snow will give way to warm breezes and the summer rain. It’s also the time of year that I really start to crave food cooked on a grill. I’m tired of the casseroles, pot roasts and other types of comfort food that I have been making indoors since the cold weather blew in.

Inspired by the approaching spring weather, and craving the flavor of seared animal flesh, I decided to break out my stove top grill and make a batch of mini-burgers to put my mind at ease. (I have actually been using the grill a lot lately.)

For this recipe, I make sliders from ground pork. To add to the warm weather ambiance, I top them with barbecue sauce and coleslaw, a summer party favorite that works great as a side but even better as a crunchy topping for this sandwich. Making these wasn’t as thrilling as an outdoor grill-a-thon in cargo shorts and a T-shirt, but it might be enough to get me through the rest of winter without going out of my mind.

BEHIND THIS BITE
I recently made a spicy Southwestern version of coleslaw and had some cabbage leftover. I decided to make a normal version so it didn’t go to waste and that’s when I thought it would be cool to use it as a topping for sliders. I often have a lot of leftovers and the cabbage is a perfect example.

Throwing away food is just throwing away money and I have made it my goal recently to cut down on what I toss in the garbage - much of which is leftover stuff I have made for the print column and this site. It’s not that it tastes bad, it’s more about buying to much initially and only part of it gets used. It seems as though I always buy one to many tomatoes or an extra jalapeno that ends up getting thrown away. The cabbage was extreme though - I only used half the bag initially - this time I put it to good use.

Eat will, cook often ...

THE RECIPE
Serve 4; 40 minutes
3 C Cabbage mix
1/3 C Mayo
1 Tbs Vinegar
1 Tbs Sugar
1 Tbs Vegetable oil
1/4 tsp Celery salt
1 lb Ground pork
8 Dinner rolls
1/2 C Barbecue sauce

Make slaw
In a bowl mix together cabbage, mayo, vinegar, sugar and celery salt. Refrigerate and let sit for at least half an hour.

Cook pork, assemble sliders
Form pork into 8 patties and season with salt and pepper to taste. Place on a medium-high grill and sear until cooked through 5 to 7 minutes per side. Remove, let rest at least ten minutes. Split bun and layer pork, barbecue sauce and coleslaw. Then serve.

Mini Reuben Sandwiches

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In Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day is a religious holiday. The tradition was brought to America with mass immigrations of the Irish in the 19th century. Over the last 150 years, the American version of the celebration has moved from the church to the streets – complete with leprechauns guarding pots of gold, green beer and corned beef and cabbage – all St. Patrick’s Day traditions part of the American version of the holiday.

In 19th century Ireland, corned beef was rarely eaten, and was produced mainly for export to England. It is believed that Irish immigrants in the U.S. started eating it on St. Patrick’s Day as a symbol of their newly found status and it eventually evolved into the traditional holiday dish. Corned beef and cabbage is to Ireland like Taco Bell is to Mexico – more American than authentic cuisine.

For this recipe, I use corned beef and fermented cabbage, otherwise known as sauerkraut, in a mini reuben sandwich – The perfect snack for an American St. Patrick’s Day party or celebration.

BEHIND THIS BITE
In 1956, Fern Snider, a cook at the Blackstone Hotel in Omaha, Nebraska, won the first National Sandwich Idea Contest with the reuben sandwich, giving it national recognition. Today, reubens can be found on menus all across the U.S., and is truly a great American sandwich. I put it in the same category as the Big Mac and Philly Cheese Steak.

Arby's has a Reuben as a temporary menu item that I tried last Friday night. It was good, except I got the "Super Reuben" which included sliced turkey as well as corned beef. This took away from the overall experience because when I order a reuben – I'm expecting a reuben. I should have just gotten the regular version.

After I left Arby's I went directly to Meijer to explore the grocery section hoping to find inspiration for my weekly food column that was due four days later. I was there a total of ten minutes when I came across a display of cocktail party breads. At first I thought "bruschetta." As I looked at the various packages of different breads I noticed rye. That is when it hit me. I had to take these mini slices of rye bread and make me some mini reubens!

It's lots of work making 20 small sandwiches, but the end result was a tasty little snack.

It was a complete coincidence that corned beef and sauerkraut (fermented cabbage) are the center piece for this treat. It's the perfect recipe for a St. Patrick's Day column and made for an easy introduction. Try these this weekend - They're the ultimate snack to wash down with green beer!

Eat well, cook often ...

5 Minute Crispy Chicken Sliders

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The freezer isle at most grocery stores offer a plethora of snacks that can be made in minutes. Add a few ingredients of your own and wala! You’ve got a gourmet snack. This recipe took five minutes to make, turned out great and provided a quick lunch. These chicken sliders could be used as a great starter snack for a party or a nice bite to feed the kids for dinner.

This is the fifth in a series of everyday quick meals I'm creating. For most of my culinary needs, I have always stuck to fresh ingredients, so the freezer section is literally undiscovered territory. I have been combing the freezer isles of the local super markets lately and I can honestly say I'm amazed at the variety of foods that are sold there. It's like finding a whole new world of items to work with.

I have taken a real liking to the “mini” snacks like these sandwiches. They make creating sliders a snap and really do have good flavor. I would rather make everything from scratch, but when in a rush this mini bite is an easy show-stopper at any gathering - from dinner party to dinner for the family.

Eat well, cook often ...

Homemade Horsey Sauce

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When I think of Arby’s, I think of one thing – the horsey sauce. They are most famous for the roast beef, but I wouldn’t think of eating there without a gallon of their delicious horsey sauce to spread on my sandwich and dunk my curly fries in.

The first Arby’s restaurant opened in Boardman, Ohio on July 23, 1964 by Leroy and Forrest Raffel. They decided on the name Arby’s from the initials R.B., which stood for Raffel Brothers. The franchise grew quickly and the menu was refined. They added their famous horsey sauce in the 1970s, along with curly fries and the beef and cheddar sandwich. Today, there are more than 3,500 Arby’s restaurants.

For this recipe, I make my own version of horsey sauce. It’s a modified version of a mayo-based barbecue sauce that is popular in the South. To it, I add horseradish, dijon mustard and some finely minced garlic for some zing. I slather it on a sandwich featuring roast beef, cheese and sautéd veggies –  creating an Arby’s feast at home.

BEHIND THIS BITE
I had another recipe ready to go for my weekly column for print, but then I had a craving for horsey sauce and roast beef before settling in to watch the divisional round of the NFL playoffs. I documented it and decided to go with it. In the past, I have made this sauce to accompany steaks on the grill, but because it is winter here in Northern Indiana, I went the roast beef sandwich route. There is something about horseradish and beef that really works for me.

I bought this roast beef at the deli in one of the many super markets we have here in Fort Wayne. I would love to have made it myself but I think roast beef is an involved enough recipe to merit an entire post all to itself. The store-bought roast beef used here was, I have to admit, delicious and tender. (And expensive, $16 for 1.5 pounds!) It will take a little time to actually top it with a recipe of my own - better get to work.

Eat well, cook often ...

Bite-Size Sausage Pizza Sliders

In 1921, the first White Castle was opened in Wichita, Kansas by Billy Ingram. It was the first fast food burger place in the U.S. The name White Caste was chosen for specific reasons. The "White" was for purity and the "Castle" for strength. It was marketed that way to an American public that was weary of ground beef because of Upton Sinclair's book The Jungle, which exposed unsanitary and inhumane conditions in the meatpacking industry. At the time, pork was the most popular household meat.

White Castle proved to be a resounding success and became famous for selling tiny little hamburgers known today as "sliders" – a name derived from the ease with which the sandwiches “slide” down the throat.

For this recipe, I make a pizza slider from pre-made sausage biscuits found at most grocery stores. Pepperoni, pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese are added to the little sausage biscuit, creating a mini-pizza sandwich that should “slide” down like a White Castle burger.

BEHIND THIS BITE

Simplicity. That is what I wanted to achieve with this recipe. I made this snack in a large quantity and it was as easy as cooking gets (beyond heating up frozen dinners). It's really meant to be a snack for Sunday's start of the NFL season. It's a true Man Bite – and a great snack to enjoy with a group of beer-drinking football fans as they settle in for a Sunday full of grid iron battles!

For the newspaper version of the column I didn't have the space to mention the real intention behind this bite. I'm ok with that because I thought the history of the slider is actually better journalism, and I will choose an Upton Sinclair reference over football parties any day - I'm crazy like that.

Eat well, cook often ...