Maid Rite Sandwiches with De Luxe Potatoes

Well Hello Dear Readers!  Tonight I have a really great recipe to share with you straight out of the Midwest, but first, I have some GREAT news!  I just received the regulations from the FDA for selling my mixes online and guess what?  I am allowed to do it!  So the Foodie Mommie Store will be opening very soon!  I have a few people who have agreed to be product testers for me, so if you are interested in that, I am still accepting food tester requests, just e-mail me with your address and as soon as I get things organized I will be sure to send you some products to test!  I have a meeting with my friend Hayley who is going to do this with me at the end of the month, so things are coming together nicely!
I did happen to test out my Ranch Dressing mix this weekend and David was not a fan...I need a few more people to tell me how it is before I yank it from the list.  I need testers who can be absolutely brutally honest with me.  


Anyway, onto tonight's recipe.  Since moving to the Midwest almost two years ago I have found very little that I like, however I did come across quite a nice little sandwich a couple of months ago.  We have a little diner not too far from our house called the Maid Rite.  David and I went in for lunch one day and ordered hamburgers expecting, well, hamburgers.  What we got were kind of like Sloppy Joe's but without the sauce.  They were REALLY yummy!  A couple of weeks later, my friend in Mom's Club made some of these sandwiches for a cooking club one day.  I had mentioned that I had never heard of a sandwich like this, other than Sloppy Joe's.  I guess it is not very nice to compare Maid Rites to Sloppy Joe's.  My friend Hayley said that these sandwiches are called Maid Rites in Iowa, after the restaurant that invented them.  Another friend mentioned that these sandwiches are a Midwest tradition and you would be hard pressed to find them anywhere else - I certainly had never heard of them before moving here.  That same friend said that they have a different name depending on which state you live in but they were invented in Iowa by the Iowa Maid Rite Cafe.  
So, tonight I thought I would try my hand at making a Midwestern favorite, I got this recipe from my friend in Mom's Club.  It breaks a few of my food rules (one of the main ingredients is Pepsi, but oh well, once isn't going to hurt anything, it's when we make it a habit that all goes awry).  I served these up with my De Luxe Potatoes, which also have a story to them (which I will tell in a minute).

Maid Rite Sandwiches

• 1 lb ground beef (I usually use ground turkey but my friend told me you cannot make a Maid Rite with ground turkey, it just doesn't turn out right)
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp. yellow mustard
• 1 tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 tbsp. white sugar
• 1 tsp. granulated garlic or garlic powder
• 1/2 can (6 oz) Pepsi (or Coke)
• 4 hamburger buns
• your favorite burger toppings - ketchup, mustard, pickle relish, mayonnaise, cheese

In a large skillet, saute the beef until well browned.  Drain the beef in a colander and rinse it with warm water (I know, strange, but necessary according to my friend).  Add the beef back into the skillet along with the rest of the ingredients (except the buns and the burger toppings of course) and simmer over medium high heat until the liquid is completely absorbed by the meat (about 10 minutes or so), stirring occasionally.  Serve the meat in a hamburger bun with your favorite burger toppings and a sprinkling of grated cheese if desired!  REALLY YUMMY!

De Luxe Potatoes

There used to be this guy that had a sandwich shop just off campus when I was in college. We called him the Sandwich Guy cause he made the best sandwiches in town.  One day he started offering what he called "pommes de terre americains de luxe." (luxurious American potatoes) I asked him what made them "Americains" and he said that Americans love potato wedges that are seasoned.  Hmm...ok.  So anyway, finally I asked him for the recipe because these potato wedges were REALLY yummy, despite the strange name.  By the way, he also had a sandwich called "L'americain" which had ground beef and french fries in it.  Yah, again....ok...

I changed this up just a little by adding a hint of cayenne pepper for a little bit of a kick.  These also freeze really well.  I make a huge amount, serve some for dinner and freeze the rest.  To freeze them, just spread them out on a cookie sheet and place in the freezer for about an hour.  Then remove them to a ziplock or foodsaver bag, seal and place them back in the freezer.  To reheat, bake in 425 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until cooked through.

• 2 lbs new potatoes cut into wedges (I used a mixture of red, yukon golds, and adirondack reds)
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 tbsp. granulated garlic or garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. celery salt
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp. paprika

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Spray a large cookie sheet generously with cooking spray.  Place potatoes in a large ziplock bag and pour in butter and olive oil.  Mix spices together in a small bowl and pour into the ziplock bag.  Seal the bag and shake the potatoes around until they are completely coated with the butter, olive oil, and seasoning.  Bake for 25-30 minutes or until soft and beginning to brown.  Broil potatoes for about 5 minutes or so until crispy on the outside, watch them though, they can burn really fast!

I hope you enjoy these recipes.  Until next time happy and HEALTHY Cooking and EATING!