Stick It

Stick It

So, I’m researching an article about food-on-a-stick. I need to provide some original recipes, and my daughter, Lydia, thought it might be fun to make lasagna on-a-stick.

My plan: boil noodles; interleave noodles with the usual cheese/spicy sausage and maybe rainbow chard; bake; cool; cut into inch by inch squares; mount on sticks; rebake to harden and slightly dry the structure; serve with dipping sauce.

I know, this sounds crazy, but most food-on-a-stick seems tongue-in-cheek.

I’d be interested in input on this simple plan for lasagna on-a-stick, as well as any other thoughts you might have (I need to develop two recipes). Of course, I will provide attribution for any recipe suggestions I use in this piece.

I can't tell from your lasagna concept whether you're going for bite-on-a-stick or multiple-bites-on-a-stick (more like a corndog), but one thing that comes to mind is playing with food that is conventionally stickish and adding all the accoutrements. So, for instance, the skewer of souvlaki or the spit of gyro - spinning that into an entire pita-tzatziki-veg-meat on a stick, in which the pita somehow acts like the corncake part of a corndog...

Seems like the cheese and sausage would fall off the stick.
I'm lazy so I'd make (or parish the thought even buy ) some cheese and spinach tortellini or ravioli and be sure to keep it firm then fry big chuncks of sausage and alter them on the skewer.

If you do try it let us know how it works - I'm curious to see the result.

I have an idea, assuming you could find or make a long tube pasta. Get something maybe 1/2" x4" and boil it until tender. Use a very small pipping bag to fill it with your mixture, weave it onto a skewer, and then deep fry.

annak wrote:I can't tell from your lasagna concept whether you're going for bite-on-a-stick or multiple-bites-on-a-stick (more like a corndog), but one thing that comes to mind is playing with food that is conventionally stickish and adding all the accoutrements. So, for instance, the skewer of souvlaki or the spit of gyro - spinning that into an entire pita-tzatziki-veg-meat on a stick, in which the pita somehow acts like the corncake part of a corndog...

I was thinking of putting maybe three lasagna cubes on a stick.

The corndog is really the perfect stick food: I don't think one could enjoy it any other way.

zoid wrote:Seems like the cheese and sausage would fall off the stick.
I'm lazy so I'd make (or parish the thought even buy ) some cheese and spinach tortellini or ravioli and be sure to keep it firm then fry big chuncks of sausage and alter them on the skewer.

There is a lot of appeal to just buying the ready-made ingredients and experimenting with them, rather than trying to make a good lasagna and end up trashing half of it. I like the way you think.

lasagna on a stick sounds dreadful. pasta of any sort is a bad idea as it dries out rapidly. any food that tastes good on a stick has probably already been created, and is probably a kebob, a skewer , satay, fondue, or an hors d'oeuvre on a toothpick.

my thought: make a shallow pan of lasagne. cut into cubes as you say. chill. put on stick. lightly batter and deep fry.

teatpuller wrote:my thought: make a shallow pan of lasagne. cut into cubes as you say. chill. put on stick. lightly batter and deep fry.

That might actually work with the batter to hold everything together.
You try it and let us know how it is.

justjoan wrote: any food that tastes good on a stick has probably already been created,

You have obviously never been to the Minnesota state fair. There is always something new and bizarre on a stick - and often it is pretty good.

teatpuller wrote:my thought: make a shallow pan of lasagne. cut into cubes as you say. chill. put on stick. lightly batter and deep fry.

I was thinking dipped in chocolate to hold it all together , but I'm liking this batter idea. Hammond, have you consulted the master of novelty on-the-stick dining, Gus at GNR Wiener and Still Champion? I'll bet he'd be a font of knowledge.

stevez wrote:

teatpuller wrote:my thought: make a shallow pan of lasagne. cut into cubes as you say. chill. put on stick. lightly batter and deep fry.

I was thinking dipped in chocolate to hold it all together , but I'm liking this batter idea. Hammond, have you consulted the master of novelty on-the-stick dining, Gus at GNR Wiener and Still Champion? I'll bet he'd be a font of knowledge.

Actually, I will be deploying Gus' wisdom in another article and don't want to over-use him, but if you're reading Gus, your continued direction would be appreciated.

My first thought on lasangne was a ravioli style as well, I like the breaded and deep fried idea as well. Maybe you could take a ball of mozzarella, roll it in a thick (and chilled) pasta sauce, bread it, then deep fry it. I'm trying to think of a cooked pasta you could roll it in instead of breadcrumbs, but I'm not sure what would stick (orzo?).

A friend of mine made a deconstructed Chicago Hot Dog on a stick this year. He grilled hot dogs, cut them into quarters, and then put them on sticks with onion, pickle, and tomato slices in between the hot dog quarters. He had mustard, celery salt, and relish to put on them as well. It worked out really well, and wasn't as messy as many dogs I've eaten!

I've done Beef Wellington on a stick. I quarter a tenderloin lengthwise into strips about 1/2-3/4"wide, season them with S+P, and sear the outsides of them. I cut those into 2-3" long chunks. I then cook diced Portobello mushrooms in a dry pan, and use that along with mustard and Prosciutto to coat and wrap the beef chunks. I wrap those in puff pastry and cook in the oven for about 20 minutes at 400 until the puff pastry is cooked. After they're done I stick bamboo skewers through them lengthwise to serve. It works out really well, but it is a major PITA to assemble them.

I usually do smoked bacon wrapped dates on a stick. I do the basic date stuffed with Chorizo, wrap it in bacon, and put them on bamboo skewers (6 to a skewer). I indirect grill and then just cut all the skewers in half so everyone gets 3 dates to a stick. I have a red pepper sauce to put on them after cooking as well. I started doing it this way because it's a lot easier to move the dates around the grill when you have 6 on a stick as opposed to each one on a toothpick. The skewers are also less likely to burn.

Jambalaya on a stick -- make jambalaya (use a finer cut on the meat and perhaps use a stickier type of rice), form into rice balls, coat in breadcrumbs and pan fry a la arancini, then skewer. Someone out there has probably done this, but I've not seen it.

Instead of typical jambalaya where everything is cooked in to the rice, you could also cook the rice with all the vegetables and seasonings and make a separate meat sauce with the typical sausage, chicken, and/or shrimp (again, fine cut on the meat), maybe in a creole-style sauce (tomato based), and then use that as the filling for the rice balls to make it more similar to arancini.

These lasagna cupcakes firm up nicely when cooled and have a little more body than a straight version.

http://framed-mylifeonepictureatatime.b ... cakes.html

Some excellent thoughts, guys. I especially like Matt's suggestion of the jambalaya on a stick (it seems impossible, kind of like spaghetti and meatballs on a stick, which has also been attempted).

David, how about pie on a stick? I went to Girl Scout camp for a month every summer growing up, and we used to make something called "campfire pies." This involved bread, butter, and pie filling, cooked over a hot fire on a stick or a tong (if you were lucky). We had to pinch the edges tightly to seal them, they were slightly dangerous and fun at the same time. Perhaps a riff on this, deep fried or grilled, would suit your experiment?

Ursiform wrote:David, how about pie on a stick? I went to Girl Scout camp for a month every summer growing up, and we used to make something called "campfire pies." This involved bread, butter, and pie filling, cooked over a hot fire on a stick or a tong (if you were lucky). We had to pinch the edges tightly to seal them, they were slightly dangerous and fun at the same time. Perhaps a riff on this, deep fried or grilled, would suit your experiment?

"Slightly dangerous" sounds good.

David Hammond wrote:Some excellent thoughts, guys. I especially like Matt's suggestion of the jambalaya on a stick (it seems impossible, kind of like spaghetti and meatballs on a stick, which has also been attempted).

I think it could work well. Like he said though it'll have to be close to arancini, meaning short grain sticky rice or even risotto, chilled and filled with a little of the meat/veg mixture before breadcrumbs and frying. I may just try it myself. I think it'll be key to keep the meat/veg fairly dry and thick with a small dice like Matt said.

Just saw a piece on the Today show this morning. Interesting recipe involving gelatin to hold the food on the stick for the deep fry process.

razbry wrote:Just saw a piece on the Today show this morning. Interesting recipe involving gelatin to hold the food on the stick for the deep fry process.

That's a cool trick. If the oil is hot enough, the gelatin should hold.

Pie on a stick's been done

I think Lasagna on a stick is too much like ravioli on a stick...isn't that fried ravioli sometimes on sticks in state-fair-type places? I think the Jambalaya idea is a good one - maybe you could make an arancini with a slice of sausage, shrimp, peppers and onions.

Colcannon on a stick would be a challenge. (Even better - Colcannon with corned beef and cabbage.)

The inconceivable Mike Gebert came up with a good one: soup on a stick.

On the train ride home, it came to me: vichyssoise. Add gelatin, cut in small cubes, it might actually be good.

David Hammond wrote:The inconceivable Mike Gebert came up with a good one: soup on a stick.

On the train ride home, it came to me: vichyssoise. Add gelatin, cut in small cubes, it might actually be good.

Make soupsicles. Vichyssoise, gazpacho, borscht with sour cream swirled in. Perfect snack for a sweltering day.

Rene G wrote:

David Hammond wrote:The inconceivable Mike Gebert came up with a good one: soup on a stick.

On the train ride home, it came to me: vichyssoise. Add gelatin, cut in small cubes, it might actually be good.

Make soupsicles. Vichyssoise, gazpacho, borscht with sour cream swirled in. Perfect snack for a sweltering day.

I'm so stealing this one.

David Hammond wrote:The inconceivable Mike Gebert came up with a good one: soup on a stick.

On the train ride home, it came to me: vichyssoise. Add gelatin, cut in small cubes, it might actually be good.

Fried soup on a stick would be awesome. Use a little gelatin and more methyl cellulose, which creates thermoreversible gel that's firm when hot, liquid when cold*. That way the gelatin would set it just enough when cold to be firm enough to batter, when it hit the grease the gelatin would melt, but the methyl cellulose would prevent it from boiling and oozing out. When it was pulled out from the fryer and cooled down to edible temperatures, it'd be too hot for the gelatin to set, too cold for the methyl cellulose to set. Inside your crisp, fried shell: soup.

The incredible - and free - hydrocolloid recipe collection from Khymos would be the place to start.

-Dan

* there are all sorts for various gel strengths, temperature ranges, etc

Dmnkly wrote:

Rene G wrote:

David Hammond wrote:The inconceivable Mike Gebert came up with a good one: soup on a stick.

On the train ride home, it came to me: vichyssoise. Add gelatin, cut in small cubes, it might actually be good.

Make soupsicles. Vichyssoise, gazpacho, borscht with sour cream swirled in. Perfect snack for a sweltering day.

I'm so stealing this one.

Have a friend who's a caterer and he uses his anti-gridlle for this regularly.

http://www.cuisinetechnology.com/the-anti-griddle.php

dansch wrote:

David Hammond wrote:The inconceivable Mike Gebert came up with a good one: soup on a stick.

On the train ride home, it came to me: vichyssoise. Add gelatin, cut in small cubes, it might actually be good.

Fried soup on a stick would be awesome. Use a little gelatin and more methyl cellulose, which creates thermoreversible gel that's firm when hot, liquid when cold*. That way the gelatin would set it just enough when cold to be firm enough to batter, when it hit the grease the gelatin would melt, but the methyl cellulose would prevent it from boiling and oozing out. When it was pulled out from the fryer and cooled down to edible temperatures, it'd be too hot for the gelatin to set, too cold for the methyl cellulose to set. Inside your crisp, fried shell: soup.

The incredible - and free - hydrocolloid recipe collection from Khymos would be the place to start.

-Dan

* there are all sorts for various gel strengths, temperature ranges, etc

Wouldn't you have to make an awfully thick batter in order to be able to stick it for service without breaking through to the liquid and having it all leak out?

Better idea: deconstructed Vichyssoise. Take a piece of potato and piece of leek. Skewer. Serve.

spinynorman99 wrote:Have a friend who's a caterer and he uses his anti-gridlle for this regularly.

http://www.cuisinetechnology.com/the-anti-griddle.php

The recipe needs to be simple enough for an average reader to replicate, so anti-griddle/smoking gun/molecular transport are probably out.

My simple ass recipe will likely not include even homemade Vichyssoise. I'm thinking prepared soup + gelatin --> cooling tray --> cube --> skewer --> eat/giggle.

happy to volunteer as a tester/sampler (simple-ass level status--check )

Tonight, we had jambalaya-on-a-stick, two ways.

Way 1: basic jambalaya with rice, cooked to relative dryness, rolled into ball, coated in panko and deep-fried:



Way 2: basic jambalaya without rice, cooked to relative dryness, pressed into a ball of rice, coated in panko and deep-fried:



Both preparations had something to be said for them. Way 1 was juicy and rich, with full jambalaya flavor; Way 2 had a wonderfully crisp and crunchy, and I kind of liked the "surprise inside."

This on-a-stick jag is It’s so not over, oh no, it’s way on.