Trash Plate
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Recipe courtesy of Casey Elsass for Food Network Kitchen

Trash Plate

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  • Level: Easy
  • Total: 2 hr
  • Active: 1 hr
  • Yield: 4 serving
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and this plate is out to prove it. The Rochester classic, inspired by the Garbage Plate® at Nick Tahou Hots, is basically like having an entire cookout on your plate. Crispy potatoes and creamy macaroni salad form a base layer. Then it’s a choose-your-own adventure of two hot dogs or two cheeseburger patties, or going rogue with one of each. Next comes something known as hot sauce, which is neither spicy nor much of a sauce, but more of a thick meat chili with lots of seasoning. Finally, raw onion and yellow mustard act as a topping and the whole shebang is served with a couple slices of white bread to sandwich or sop as desired. It sounds too weird to be good, but Rochesterians know it’s actually too good to be true!

Ingredients

Crispy Home Fries:

Creamy Macaroni Salad:

Rochester Hot Sauce:

Directions

  1. Arrange the Crispy Home Fries on one side of each plate and the Creamy Macaroni Salad on the other side. Top with 2 hot dogs or cheeseburger patties (or 1 of each) and spoon the Rochester Hot Sauce over top. Sprinkle with white onion, drizzle yellow mustard over everything and serve each plate with 2 slices white bread.

Crispy Home Fries:

  1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
  2. Add the potatoes and oil to a rimmed baking sheet, sprinkle generously with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Spread the potatoes out evenly across the sheet. Bake until browned and crispy, about 35 minutes.

Creamy Macaroni Salad:

  1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Cook the macaroni according to the package directions. Drain the macaroni, then add back to the pot and toss with the onion and vinegar. Let cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.
  2. Add the carrot, celery, mayonnaise and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper and toss to combine. Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.

Rochester Hot Sauce:

  1. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until starting to soften, about 6 minutes. Add the tomato paste and garlic and cook, stirring, until the tomato paste is deep red, about 2 minutes. Stir in the mustard, brown sugar, chili powder, paprika, and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the ground beef and 1 cup water and stir to break up the meat. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low. Continue to simmer, stirring often, until the sauce is reduced and thickly coating the meat, 15 to 20 minutes. Keep warm until ready to use.