Constructing THE BEST Chopped Cheese | Tasty Tailgating Ep. 5
Donny Enriquez | Tasty Tailgating
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Guys, welcome back to Tasty Tailgating, presented by Pepsi.
00:03Today, we're making my favorite sandwich
00:05from when I was living up in Harlem, the chopped cheese.
00:07Let's get cooking.
00:14All right, guys, today we're making a staple of Manhattan,
00:17but specifically the Bronx and Harlem.
00:19We're making a chopped cheese sandwich, so easy to do.
00:21We have ground beef, we have an onion, some tomatoes,
00:24good old American cheese, some saison seasoning.
00:27This is very important.
00:28It's not authentic unless you have this,
00:29but good news is you can find it anywhere.
00:31And then some lettuce.
00:32You gotta have some nice bread.
00:34I got mine keeping warm in the oven here.
00:36Nice little French demi-baguette,
00:37but you can use a hoagie roll.
00:38That works great, too.
00:39First things first, I'm gonna get an onion diced up.
00:42We got that.
00:43Next, we're gonna get a pan on medium-high heat,
00:46and you're gonna get your ground beef.
00:47I'm using 80-20 beef.
00:48Same thing you'd use if you're making a burger.
00:50In fact, you can just get a burger patty, use that.
00:53That's kinda how it originated.
00:54You wanna keep it in this shape.
00:55We're gonna press it down,
00:56and we're gonna try to get a really nice crust,
00:58because if we're making a smash burger,
00:59you want a lot of browning on this.
01:01It's gonna add a lot of flavor.
01:02So get that down in the hot pan.
01:04Smash it down with your hands or with a spatula.
01:06We're gonna hit this with a little bit of salt.
01:08Not too much, though,
01:09because our Saison seasoning
01:11has a good amount of salt in there.
01:13Whole packet is gonna go right on top.
01:16While that ground beef is cooking,
01:17I'm gonna get some lettuce.
01:18I just have a head of iceberg lettuce here.
01:20You want shredded lettuce for this.
01:21You don't wanna keep it whole.
01:23Pull a couple leaves off like so.
01:24Take those, roll them up,
01:26and then you're just gonna slice.
01:29Just like that.
01:31All right, the ground beef now is ready to be chopped.
01:33Look at that color from that seasoning.
01:35So get in there again with a spatula or a bench scrape.
01:39Chop away.
01:39We have this nice, this is what you're looking for.
01:41Nice, you want some good browning,
01:43some good crusty bits on the bottom there.
01:44And as that beef continues to cook,
01:47we're just gonna add our onions
01:48to the other half of that pan.
01:49A little bit of salt on that.
01:51We have our tomato,
01:52and I like really, really super thin slices of tomato.
01:54You can use a knife,
01:55but if you have a mandolin,
01:57you're gonna get the best result.
02:02There you go.
02:03Super thin slices.
02:04Now we're gonna start to mix that onion
02:05in with the ground beef.
02:08Let that all finish cooking.
02:10Once that's all cooked,
02:11we're gonna go in with our American cheese.
02:13And this, don't be shy with this.
02:14This is a sandwich that's meant to indulge a little bit here.
02:17So we're going with four or five slices of American cheese.
02:20It's gonna melt right into that.
02:22It's gonna get super gooey.
02:23It's gonna help everything stick together on the sandwich.
02:25That'll start to melt right in.
02:29And we can start, oh yeah.
02:30Just mix that up.
02:31Chop that in.
02:32Ooh!
02:33And this whole thing comes together in what?
02:35In 10 minutes, if that.
02:36Very easy to make.
02:37Time to build.
02:38Grab that warm bread out of the oven.
02:40Just gonna slice it right down the middle.
02:47Ooh, that's nice and warm.
02:48We're gonna go on with some mayonnaise now on both sides here.
02:52Get our layer of lettuce.
02:53So this is just a deconstructed cheeseburger.
02:55It's essentially what it is,
02:56but God, it tastes so good.
02:58Load up those thinly sliced tomatoes.
03:01We're just gonna pile this now.
03:07Just like any good cheeseburger,
03:08ketchup to finish it off.
03:12And that's a good looking chopped cheese right there.
03:14Now I'm gonna try to fold this thing over.
03:16Let's see if I can do it.
03:18Now the wrap is important.
03:19This is gonna hold everything together.
03:20We're gonna slice it in tin foil,
03:21let it sit a little bit.
03:22Everything's gonna kind of come together.
03:24You can use parchment paper, tin foil, doesn't matter.
03:26Let's get a nice tight wrap on this though.
03:29There you go, just like the bodegas.
03:38All right guys, there you go.
03:39That's the chopped cheese sandwich.
03:40We have Jersey Jerry in the kitchen.
03:42He's gonna come try this.
03:43You like a chopped cheese, Jerry?
03:44I never have.
03:45What?
03:46I never have.
03:47You're from Jersey?
03:48You're from Jersey?
03:48I know, I didn't wanna say it publicly.
03:50I never have.
03:51That's crazy.
03:51This is the first time for everything.
03:53I'm gonna cut this thing open now.
03:54We'll put it in the basket.
03:55So essentially it's just ground beef and cheese?
03:56It's beef.
03:57It's a cheeseburger that's been deconstructed.
03:59And look at that.
04:00That looks good, doesn't it?
04:01Yeah, that does look good.
04:03That's gonna be nice.
04:03All right.
04:04Okay, can I keep half?
04:06Yeah, you can keep half.
04:07Yeah.
04:08But remember, every crave-worthy bite
04:10tastes better with Pepsi.
04:12Here's a classic.
04:12I have Pepsi Zero Sugar.
04:14Jerry, without further ado, let's go.
04:16This is your first one, so.
04:17Oh, good bread.
04:19Oh yeah, good bread.
04:20Publicly, yeah.
04:21So yeah, we'll peel this one.
04:22I wanna eat this right, though.
04:23I wrapped it like a deli,
04:24so I went kinda crazy on the wrapping.
04:27Didn't have to be quite this many.
04:28Yeah, peel it.
04:29Peel the wrapper.
04:30Ooh, wow, yeah.
04:32Yeah, there you go.
04:34That's a nice peel.
04:35That's a better peel than mine.
04:37Let's go in, right?
04:37Let's go in.
04:38It's not gonna be pretty.
04:41Oh, Johnny.
04:45Oh man.
04:47Johnny, that's good.
04:49That's good, right?
04:50No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, it's good.
04:54Well, there you go, guys.
04:55It's a chopped cheese sandwich.
04:56We'll see you next time on Tasty Tailgating.
04:58Jerry.
04:59Incredible.
04:59Thank you, brother.
05:01Cheers, guys.
05:02Johnny, that's so good.