[Suzanne]

Here's a head's up for those of you who love these clones of chain restaurant dishes: Todd Wilbur is coming out with an updated version of the restaurant collection very soon! Classics, new stuff, and even a bunch of bonus recipes for items even I've been wondering about! It's not listed on Amazon yet, but keep checking the link here.

[phatch]

I've enjoyed those books, for the chain restaurant trivia if nothing else.

Yes, I've made a few of the recipes too. My favorite is the clone of White Castle burgers.

Phil

[scott123]

Phil, I'm curious, what's in the White Castle burger recipe?

[phatch]

It's more how they cook it and prep the patty. And it doesn't sound nearly as good as it tastes.

Form the burger fairly thinly. Then you poke holes in it, pencil sized holes, works best with the patty partially frozen. If the patty is thawed, the holes make the patty fragile, You can move it carefully in the raw state, but a partially frozen patty holds together better.

Chop onions fine. Make patty sized mounds of onion in the pan (this is a time I like non-stick or cast iron) Salt and pepper the onion. Lay the patty on the onions and season it. Cover with a lid and let the patty cook in the onion steam.

Turn it once and cook the other side on top of the onion pile. You may have to reform the onion pile before putting the burger back down on it. When done, scoop the whole pile onto your prepped bun.

The juices and sugars from the onions and meat make a caramely mess on the pan that is a pain to clean but tastes gooood. That's why I like non-stick or well seasoned cast iron for this recipe.

Could be fun to try shallot one of these days.

Phil

[scott123]

Hmmmm... interesting. A while back, I had heard that white castles get some of their taste from beef liver. The onions play a huge role in flavoring the meat, but I believe there's something more to the equation. Liver, btw, would still conform to their '100% ground beef' claim.

My meatloaf recipe involves long sweated onions and although the taste is close to a white castle, I belief there's some truth to the liver rumour. I haven't tried incorporating ground liver yet, but I plan to.

[Learner]

My all time favorite is the mini tootsie rolls,they turn out very much like the reel thing and after a few batches you cut your prep and cook time in half.