Double Fudge Brownie Murder (Hannah Swensen series Book 18) (4 page)

BURGER DOGS

 

For grilling these outside, preheat your grill on medium heat.

 

For frying, you’ll be cooking at medium heat and using a frying pan or electric grill large enough to hold 4 double hamburger patties.

1 and ½ pounds lean ground beef

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Several shakes of hot sauce
(make it Slap Ya Mama if Mike is coming)

1 Tablespoon onion, finely chopped
(I used Maui sweet onion)

2 beef hot dogs
(I used Hebrew National)

2 teaspoons prepared mustard
(I used Gulden’s spicy brown)

2 teaspoons ketchup
(I used Heinz)

1 teaspoon sweet pickle relish

4 burger buns

Lettuce, sliced tomato, and sliced pickles for garnishing
(optional)

Mayonnaise or your favorite sauce for spreading on the buns
(optional)

 

In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, salt, freshly ground pepper, and hot sauce.

 

Add the Tablespoon of finely chopped onion and mix with your impeccably clean hands just until combined.

 

Tear off a sheet of wax paper
(or aluminum foil or parchment paper sprayed with Pam)
that’s large enough to hold 8 hamburger patties. Put it on the counter.

 

Form 8 round patties about a half-inch thick. As soon as you form them, place them on the sheet of wax paper.

 

Cut the hot dogs into chunks and then grind them up finer by putting the chunks in a food processor and processing them with the steel blade in an on-off motion. When the hot dogs are finely ground, place the pieces in a small bowl.

 

Add the mustard, ketchup, and sweet pickle relish to the ground hot dogs. Mix them in until they are thoroughly combined.

 

Form a spoonful of the hot dog mixture into a ball. This ball should be made up of about a fourth of the mixture.
(You’ll need 4 balls in all.)

 

When you form the balls, place them in the centers of 4 of the hamburger patties.

 

Top each of those patties with another patty and seal the edges by pressing them down with your fingers.

 

Grill the Burger Dogs over medium-high heat, flipping them once, halfway through the cooking time.

 

If you like your burgers rare, it will take about 3 minutes per side, medium will take about 4 minutes per side, and well done will take about 4 and a half minutes per side.

 

If you fry or cook your burgers on an electric grill, preheat your frying pan or grill to medium-high heat and follow the above cooking times.

 

While your burgers are cooking, prepare your buns. You can toast them on the grill if you like, or simply slather on a little mayo or a sauce of your choice.

 

Once your burgers have cooked to the desired degree of doneness, place them on the bottom half of the bun, garnish them with lettuce, tomato, and/or pickles if you like, slap on the top of the bun and serve to rave reviews.

 

Yield: 4 stuffed double-patty burgers.

CONEY ISLAND SANDWICHES

 

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

 

(This is not a mistake. The temperature is 250 degrees F. You need to heat these sandwiches slowly at low heat.)

½ pound American cheese, cut into small cubes
(I used Velveeta)

2 five-ounce cans of water-packed tuna, well drained
(I used Chicken of the Sea white chunk tuna)

3 large hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped

2 teaspoons green bell pepper, finely chopped

2 teaspoons pimento-stuffed olives, finely chopped

2 teaspoons onion, finely chopped

2 teaspoons sweet pickle relish

½ cup mayonnaise
(I used Best Foods which is Hellman’s if you live east of the Mississippi River)

6 large hot dog buns
(I got the kind with sesame seeds on top—they’re the same shape as hot dog buns, but wider and longer)

 

Hannah’s 1
^st
Note: You can chop up the hard-boiled eggs, green bell pepper, pimento-stuffed olives, and onion ahead of time, put it in a sealable baggie and keep it in the refrigerator so it’s ready to go when it’s time to mix and assemble the Coney Island Sandwiches.

 

Mix the cubed cheese and tuna together in a large bowl.

 

(I use a fork to do this because it’s easier to flake the tuna with a fork.)

 

Add the chopped hard-boiled eggs, green peppers, olives, and onion. Mix well.

 

Add the pickle relish and mix it in.

 

Spread the mayonnaise out on top with a rubber spatula and then use the spatula to mix it in.

 

Open the hot dog buns, spread the filling on the bottom halves, and close the buns again.

 

Wrap each bun in a piece of aluminum foil.

 

Place the foil-wrapped Coney Island Sandwiches, cut side up, in a baking pan.

 

Bake the sandwiches at 250 degrees F. for 30 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and they’re warm all the way through.

 

Serve these sandwiches warm. Kids love them, especially because they come in their own foil-wrapped packages. Coney Island Sandwiches are also very good to take on picnics if you keep them warm in an insulated bag for the trip to the park or the beach.

 

Yield: 6 Coney Island Sandwiches.