A Salute to Red & Trudy

3/9/2014

Back in the 1950s, during my pre-teen years in Olean, New York, there was no such thing as a "fast food restaurant". We had our share of excellent full-service restaurants, but we also had several other establishments that I vaguely remember calling "drive-ins". Not drive-thru, but drive-in!

These drive-ins (as best I can remember) had no dine-in facilities. You ordered, paid for (in cash), and then received your food through a window open to the outside. Yes, most of them closed during the winter months!

I remember one drive-in particularly well. It was (and is; yep, the walk-up window is gone, but it's still in operation) located on the outskirts of town and served the most delicious hamburgers imaginable. It's called Red & Trudy's.

At Red & Trudy's, the hamburger meat is first cooked and seasoned as loose meat (not as patties). The loose meat is served on a buttered, salted, and then toasted bun. All four sides (surfaces) of the bun are toasted for extra goodness.

I never met Red or Trudy, and I certainly am not privy to their recipe or their techniques. Many, many years ago, however, I decided to create my version of theirs. I decided to start with sauteed onions, a little garlic, and, of course, the loose hamburger meat. I then butter and lightly salt the top of a standard hamburger bun, and toast the top and bottom halves in a toaster oven (to toast the four sides).

I doubt my version would pass muster in a true side-by-side test with the real Red & Trudy offering, but it still brings back wonderful memories.

Oh, I almost forgot. I call my version the Not-So-Sloppy Joe!

Buon appetito.

P.S. All credit for three of the new recipes listed here goes to Mario Batali, the world-renown Italian chef, restauranteur, and television star – the Bolognese Sauce, the Stuffed Acorn Squash, and the Risotto Milanese. This will not be the last time I mention Chef Batali. I have learned much from him.

NEW RECIPES

Bolognese Sauce
Garlic Potato Salad
Greek Salad
Risotto Milanese
Stuffed Acorn Squash
Whipped Potatoes

6 Comments

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Mary Ann Fitch

3/10/2014 05:26:16 am

Grandpa joe, Maybe you also remember a small walk in restaurant in Olean -Ann and Johnny's, down on West State Street. They also made a loose hamburg with toasted buns, but in the mixture they added the mustard and ketchup. Our date night place to go.

Grandpa Joe

3/10/2014 05:32:25 am

No, Mary Ann, I do not remember Ann and Johnny's.

Dawn

3/17/2014 01:53:03 am

All recipes in this entry sound great, easily prepared with excellent detail tips. Thanks, Joe.

As I'm so ignorant when it comes to some pairings... could you please advise as to how to best use the Bolognese Sauce?

3/17/2014 02:45:12 am

Dawn,

Bolognese sauce originates in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy where soft pastas are very popular, so it is traditionally served over tagliatelli or pappardelle, and always with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. I usually serve it with a lettuce salad dressed with olive oil, white wine vinegar, and a little dry vermouth, particularly when the pasta is the main course. For multi-course meals, where the portions are much smaller, I follow the pasta course with seafood, fish, or meat accompanied by a vegetable. My favorites for this are veal piccata and sautéed rapini (broccoli rabe). Those two recipes haven’t been posted, but they are in the queue. I hope this helps.

3/17/2014 03:33:53 am

Very helpful! Thanks again, Joe.

David

3/22/2014 12:24:42 am

Bolognese (or Bolognaise in America) probably deserves a couple of more comments. Grandpa Joe, Chef Batali, and cooking/science geek (meant very affectionately) Alton Brown have taught me:
1. Spaghetti Bolognaise is a dish concocted in the US. No self respecting person from Bologna would serve that sauce with spaghetti.
2. Most of what you see served in the US that is called bolognaise sauce is actually just a tomato based sauce with ground meat added. This (as you can tell from the recipe) is NOT what it is traditionally. (I am not saying it is bad - just that it should be called tomato sauce with meat or something similar.)
3. If you see the ingredients for this sauce, note that tomatoes are a relatively minor element in the mix. Meat, other vegetables, white wine, and milk make up the main elements. This causes the sauce to be a faint pink or rose color at best - definitely not RED.

Try it!

A Salute to Red & Trudy

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