Fried Baloney Sandwich

 I've been returning to childhood recipes lately to see if they hold up. And you can't get much more of a flashback sandwich than a Fried Baloney Sandwich.

It's been years since I've dined on Baloney. I remember having it fried then slipped between slices of white bread, with a smear of mayo. These days I like mustard on most of my sandwiches.

Back in the day, almost every household packed them for a school lunch at least once or twice a week. And they were our goto sandwich for a quickie bite on the weekend, after terrorizing the neighborhood (okay, maybe just making a lot of noise with our next-door friends.) It was quick and easy to fix by our haggard mom and dad.

Well, how does it hold up today for this senior citizen? Damn well, thank you. Plus these days you can get almost healthy Baloney with reduced salt, and nitrates and made with low-fat Turkey. Normally, Baloney is made with beef or pork, or a combination of the two. I made my Fried Baloney Sandwich with Turkey Bologna.

Turkey Baloney tastes just like beef (or a beef/pork mix) Baloney. But you do need a little oil in the frying pan as there is less fat in the poultry meat mix. It will stick to the pan without oil. You can use a non-stick pan to leave out oil.

Baloney comes in thick or regular sliced (thin). Of course, you get more slices in packages of regular sliced.  

One peculiar effect of frying Baloney is that the meat bubbles up like an inflated balloon. I now remember how we made 2 or 4 slices from the outer edge to about halfway to the center of the Baloney slice to keep it from bubbling up. 

You want the frying Baloney to brown on the total surface for that extra intense fried flavor. For my version of Fried Baloney, I make an "X" slice in the middle of the Baloney and then press the bubble down, this way the round shape of the Baloney remains.

Since store-bought Baloney is cooked, all you are doing is heating it up for a minute or two. 

Baloney's origins start with Mortadella from Italy. There is a city in Italy called Bologna. Original recipe variations for Bologna go back to Roman times with cured sausage first spiced with myrtle berries. That flavor profile still prevails today. 

Many countries have their own version of Bologna. Modern American Bologna is thought to have started with German immigrants early last century.

In Italy, Bologna is called Mortadella. American Bologna has a similar texture. The main difference is Mortadella has white fat pieces embedded into a slice, while in modern Bologna the fat is reduced and mixed into emulsified meat - it's uniform in color and texture.

Any way you slice it, my Fried Baloney Sandwich may bring memories of schoolyard lunches - for the good or bad?

Fried Baloney Sandwich - Video   Play it here, the video runs 1 minute, 54 seconds.

My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here. 

Ingredients

• 1 or 2 slices of Baloney. I fry the baloney. Use any type of baloney or bologna.
• 2 slices of Bread - any favorite bread.
• Mustard - I smear mustard on a slice of bread and the fried Baloney.
• 1 teaspoon Oil - for frying Baloney. Baloney may stick to a non-greased pan. 

Directions

There's nothing much to this recipe. 

Lightly oil a frying pan or grill. Over medium heat fry baloney until lightly browned. It will take a minute or two on each side of the Baloney.

Assemble the Fried Baloney Sandwich any way you like. I add mustard to a slice of bread and on the fried Baloney. Okay to use any favorite condiments like ketchup and mayo.

Sliced lettuce, tomato, and pickle are extra sandwich toppings.

Witches Brew Coffee

The Sinister Chef is cursed to be a cheap$kate. But you can benefit by checking out this food blog and my Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube accounts. The moldy Chef model was broken when I started making my food videos over a dozen years ago. 

So keep checking back for a cauldron full of tasty treats. Don't burn me at the stake for my budget ingredients because one day you or someone you know, who's hit hard times, may need my price-slashing cooking tips to save a few bucks. 

So allow me to put a spell on you in a tasty way to keep visiting here this month...and beyond!

                                Play it here, video runs 1 minute, 53 seconds.

To link or play on YouTube, click here.

National Pasta Day Recipes

 National Pasta Day - what's not to like? I probably have the most food recipes involving pasta. Just type and enter the word pasta into my blog search window to see them.

I'll save you some search time and highlight some of my most delicious ones below. And click on any recipe name to see the original blog post with tasty text and yummy photo illustrations.

Dried Pasta is still cheap. I find it in my local 99c only Stores and Dollar Trees.

SpaghettOs are still around since when I ate a can or two in my high school daze.

You should have a pasta sauce to start with. My homemade version is quick and easy to do.

My Tomato Marinara Sauce is a click away, here. Check out the video.

I like recipes that you can devour a few ways. My Lighter than Air Meatballs fit the bill. I usually have the Meatballs in tomato sauce over Pasta. 

You can also make a fat Meatball Sandwich. My Meatballs have a lot of veggies that make them lighter than the average Meatball. I like the addition of spinach and mushrooms in my Meatballs. It's okay to leave out some veggie ingredients for a more solid Meatball. Check out my video below.

For the simplest Pasta recipe, how about canned Sardines in Tomato Sauce? It's ready to go once you've cooked some spaghetti. 

Open a can of Sardines in Tomato Sauce, heat for a minute then top the spaghetti with fish fillets and tomato sauce, it could be easier and quicker to do.

One of my first recipes on this blog was canned Baby Clams with Spaghetti.

I sometimes find baby clams, but small cans of chopped clams show up quite often and cheaply.

I can still find small packs of cooked salmon and I have mint in my small garden, so combine the two and add peas for my Peas, Mint & Salmon with Pasta.

The other main sauce for Pasta is made with cream. I like sauteed Mushrooms with Cream and Pasta. 

Another creamy dish is my Ham, Peas, & Cream with Pasta.

My favorite cream Pasta meal is a ripoff recipe called Olive Garden Fettucini Alfredo. 

It's just pasta, cream, and parmesan cheese. Okay to add a little protein and a favorite veggie.

One of my earliest stop-motion videos is Baked Pasta with Cauliflower & Cheese. It's basically a Mac & Cheese with cauliflower. Cauliflower and cheese are a tasty combination.

Let's go from heavy to light. Saute some kale in a little olive oil then add garlic and you have a veggie Pasta. Click on my Pasta with Kale, and Pasta with Brussels Sprouts, here.

You can't get much leaner than my Veggie Pasta Salad. Steam your fave veggies and mix in a light salad dressing to add to cooked pasta. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

I also like frozen, canned, or jars of veggies to add to a Pasta salad like my Peas, Artichoke Hearts, Broccoli & Wheat Pasta recipe.

My nephew Zak has a filling Cajun-style Tuscan Primavera Pasta. 

I always have a fun time when I cook with my family.

Zak's Tuscan Primavera Pasta uses pine nuts. I find them quite expensive. A cheap substitution is bags of nuts I get from Dollar Stores. The amounts are enough for a serving or two. If they are salted it's easy enough to shake the salt off or even rinse the nuts. When you saute them they will dry out. 

Try my Pasta with Garlic and Cashews...or Almonds, or Peanuts, or Walnuts - you get the idea.

You can combine almost any protein to pasta. Chicken is still cheap so try my Chicken & Lemon Cream with Pasta. 

Sometimes, I like ground poultry instead of beef as it's now often cheaper. Everyone likes Baked Lasagna, just add Ground Chicken.

Salami or Pepperoni anchor a pungent pasta sauce. All you are doing is heating up the meat with a little onion and garlic then adding pasta. Click here to read all about it.

A delicious slow-cooking pasta sauce is made with the cheapest cut of beef I can find called beef shank. It has a bone with marrow, so this is an extra-rich meaty sauce. 

The other main ingredients are half a dozen sliced cheap onions. Do try out Pasta alla Genovese. 

I'll end with my most outré entree, a Spaghetti alla Carbonara with Bacon Bits. 

No self-respecting chef would ever use Bacon Bits instead of Panchetta. 

Well, I'm a bottom feeder and proud of it. If you don't want to use Bacon Bits then fry up a couple slices of Bacon and it's still a cheap dish.

Quail Egg & Avocado Crostini

I received a basket of Quail Eggs as a wedding present from my niece (through friendship) Diana, a very talented artist. I came up with a simple recipe appetizer using Quail Eggs as the crowning ingredient.

If you can toast bread, slice an avocado, and fry an egg then this recipe is for you. A Crostini is a small slice of toasted French bread with a delectable topping or two and I couldn't think of a better combination than a fried egg with mashed avocado.

My Quail Egg and Avocado Crostini looks as good as it tastes. A small Quail Egg is the perfect size for an appetizer bite. And any recipe that uses a creamy pale green avocado deserves top billing. 

Can't say I see Quail Eggs very often on any grocery shelf. I have run across them at local Japanese groceries and other ethnic markets. I first had a Quail Egg served raw on sushi. Kinda extreme for a first bite, but I grew to crave them. I cannot tell much difference in taste to a regular egg.

A Quail Egg is quite smaller than a chicken egg, about the size of your thumbnail.

Quail Eggs have a harder shell with a tough inner membrane that surrounds the yolk and albumen or clear fluid. Once the egg is cracked, I use a sharp knife tip to pierce the membrane. This will release the egg interior for frying. 

Avocados are easy to come by and they are still reasonably priced, especially at my local Latin Superior Grocers.

I get my sourdough flute from the day-old bakery deli bin at my local grocery supermarket, Ralphs. Since the slices of bread are toasted, I cannot really tell when the bread is old or not. You can use any cheap and tasty bread you like for my recipe. If the bread slices are large then cut them down to fit a fried Quail Egg, or add a couple of Quail Eggs to a larger slice

I like my Quail Egg and Avocado Crostini with a fried egg, but you can scramble the egg, too. Make my recipe the way you like it. 

Quail Egg & Avocado Crostini - VIDEO          Play it here. The video runs for 1 minute and 59 seconds.

To view or embed from youtube, click here.

Ingredients

• Quail Eggs - one fried quail egg per Crostini.
• Avocado - add a slice or two of ripe avocado to a toasted bread slice. 
• Bread Slice Toasted - I used a small sourdough loaf called a "flute". The bread diameter is about 2 inches across. You can slice the loaf as thick as you like. Okay to use any favorite slice of bread. A French baguette is easy to find.
• Salt and Pepper - sprinkle on fried egg or smashed avocado on toast.
• Cooking oil - just a teaspoon to fry Quail Egg.
• Lemon Juice - optional. Drizzle a teaspoon amount and mix into a smashed avocado if you are making Crostini ahead of time, to keep the avocado from quickly turning brown.

Directions

Slice bread and avocado. Start toasting the slices of bread, in a toaster, grill, or frying pan.

Add oil to a medium-heated frying pan. Break the Quail eggshell and piece the inner membrane, if necessary, to release the yolk and albumen or clear liquid onto the frying pan.

As the egg fries finish toasting the bread and smear on a generous slice of avocado. A Quail Egg fries quickly in a couple of minutes, depending on how hot the frying pan is. You can scramble the Quail Egg if you like. 

When the Quail Egg is fried (I like a runny yolk) just slip it on the toast with avocado. That's it.