Homemade Fast Food

Many seem to pooh-pooh the McDonald's and the Burger Kings of this world. And so many more say "pshaw" to Rachael Ray and her ilk. But how many of us do it? Do we make junk food and fast food (not always one and the same) at home and love it!? I admit it! I do it and here's one of my favorites:

Mexican Breakfast Bagel:

Toast a sliced bagel (I prefer poppy seed) and put a few pats of butter on each slice. On top of the butter lay a few pieces of sliced jalapeño. Build up that with a slice of pepper jack cheese, preferably jalapeño jack or habanero jack. Microwave on a plate until the cheese is all nice and melty (about 20-30 seconds).

One notch up: Place a sunny side up egg on each bagel.

Two notches up: Serve with salsa.

All I can say is, "Yum-o."

Home made Egg McMuffin:
Break and stir 1 or 2 eggs in a small bowl with 1-2 teaspoons of water and S & P. Cook in microwave at low setting until done. Scrape it out of the bowl onto half a buttered English muffin. Put a slice of cheese on top of the egg and the other half of the English muffin. Microwave for 15 seconds to melt cheese.

You bet...sometimes after an enlongated commute due to traffic?...Grilled Cheese sandwiches...hotdogs...sloppy joes...anything quick.

Richard

Panini. George Foreman grill. Need I say anything else?

Here's one for you, Gary. All Trader Joe's stuff:

Preheat the GF Grill. Cut a section from a rosemary focaccia (that's the one that looks like an Acme herb slab). Cut that in half crosswise to make two sandwich halves. Drizzle the cut sides with TJ's EVOO, then spread some sun dried tomato bruschetta-from-a-jar. Close the sandwich back up and put it in the grill.

While it cooks, take an ovalini fresh mozzarella bit and slice it up into rounds about 5-6mm thick. Cut a couple leaves of fresh basil into ribbons. When two minutes cooking are over, remove the panini, open it up, put on the mozzarella slices, drizzle with more olive oil, coarse sea salt, balsamico, pepper, and the basil. Close the sandwich back up and eat.

Panini. George Foreman grill. Need I say anything else?

When my daughter moved out for the third (or was it the fourth?) time, she left her GFG. She's not getting it back. It does grilled zucchini and onions sooooooooo well.

This may seem like the dumbest question ever given that it's about using the GFG, which any village idiot should be able to use effectively, but I honestly have been having trouble getting good results using mine -- either for grilling veggies or pressing sandwiches. It's a larger model, which I thought would help, but I dunno... I guess it seems like it doesn't heat up enough, as I get warm, soggy veggies, rather than nicely grilled ones, and my panini also seems to lack that great crisp exterior, so I wind up throwing everything into a cast-iron to finish each time I give it a shot. Is it me? Is it my GFG?

Is it me? Is it my GFG?

I can't answer thr former, but, as to the latter, either you are not letting it heat up enough or the grill is defective. I don't get soggy anything on mine. Now here's a even dumber question: Are you closing the grill onto the veggies or trying to grill them one side at a time? I'm asking because I experimented with this and it didn't work out.

Have y'all been here?

http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/recipes.asp

Have y'all been here?

http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/recipes.asp

Ah, I see where you get your culinary inspiration from! The secret's out!

Definitely closing it. I'm leaning towards defective machine rather than defective chef.

Yeah, I close mine and the outer part of the panini gets crisp with a suggestion of grill marks. I preheat for 4-5 minutes while I slice the bread and prepare my mis en place.

Homemade nachos is a default dinner here about once a fortnight, just made with a tin of refried beans, a tin of tomato and some taco seasoning out of a packet. Then topped with whatever cheese is in the fridge, and into the oven at 200 deg. C for about 15mins. I keep thinking about all the evil transfats, but it's my kids' fave. Homemade oven fries are another of our "fast foods"..

All I can say is, "Yum-o."

I am not a "yum-o-phobe" - I think your recipe sounds FABULOUS! (as Carson from the Fab 5 would say!).

With all this talk about GFG, I should get mine out and use it more often. I've been obsessing on whole wheat couscous for my fast-foods: sautee chopped garlic, pepperoncino (italian pepper), and maybe some chopped onions in olive oil; throw in some kind of protein, black beans, or sauteed chicken, some boiling water - let sit for 5 minutes. Grated parmesan to taste (a lot!) - and "YUM-O-GASMIC!"

I remember going through the same frustration with my GFG until I decided to let it heat up first before grilling.

Paulo and everyone, next week I am cohosting a tasting here in town titled..............Wines with Junk Food.

KFC.
BBQ Duck.
Fish `n Chips.
Arbys Beef and Cheddar.

Just for the record, if you want to know if a food is a "junk food", the first or second listed ingredient has to be a sugar or a fat. According to the FDA, of course.

It's hard to think of honey as "junk food", but there you are.