Nick Tahou's Garbage Plate

 

Nick Tahou's Garbage Plate 

I grew up in Rochester NY and cannot remember a time in all the years I lived there that Nick Tahoe’s was not part of my life.
As a child my Uncle Moe took my brother and I there at least once a week when it was time for him to meet with his business associate. He was a bookie and taking us with him kept him from being followed by police. That was his reasoning anyway and it seemed to work well for him.   

We were kids and we  didn't care what his reasons were for taking us alone. We loved my uncle and spending time with him  and we loved eating at Nick's so it worked for us as well.

 While we were at Nicks my uncle always bought us something to eat while he took care of business.  

My favorite meal at Nick Tahoe’s was  the Garbage Plate as it still is today.

 Any time I spend a few hours to a few days in Rochester you can bet that a visit to Nick Tahou’s is on my agenda.
I recently did some research and found out how this wonderful meal came into being.
It seems that about fifty years ago college students would ask for hamburgers or hots with all the garbage on it. Originally Nick named it hots and po-tots.
The idea was to put together a plate of meat and potatoes with a few other things thrown in to make a one-plate meal that would really stick to your ribs. It became a favorite among the customers over the years.
In approximately 1992 Nicks, son Alexander took over the restaurant operations and updated the name to the Garbage Plate from hots and po-tots

. He was a smart business man and he trademarked the name Garbage Plate so it would always belong to the family and would always be associated with Nick Tahou's.

The garbage plate has had national attention over the years it has been featured on programs such as the Food Network's Unwrapped and On February 23, 2011 when the Food Network filmed a segment for the show "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" on the recommendation of Pastry Chef Johnny Iuzzini.

 It has also been featured in magazines such as  the July 2007 issue of the US Airways in-flight magazine. It has even made its debut on the Rochester version of Monopoly!

 No Nicks is not longer a Rochester NY secret the nation had been made aware of this over the top and delicious meal only Nick  Tahou’s  could dream up!
So I almost feel guilty sharing this meal and some of the important recipes to make this meal taste like Nick  Tahoe’s .
Almost is the optimum word I have such good memories and enjoy this meal  so much. 

 I wanted you to be able to enjoy it as well. So my desire to share won out over the little bit of guilt I was feeling.

 Here is what is in the garbage plate:

Meat sauce with a wonderful blend of spices to pour over your choice of meat, which is either hamburgs cheeseburgers or hot dogs. The hot dogs can be red or white hot dogs or a combination. That is put on top of  your choice of home fries, French fries, baked beans, or macaroni salad.
My personal garbage plate  is two hot dogs over macaroni salad and baked beans topped with meat sauce and a side of Italian bread. Sometimes I  also add diced onions, ketchup, and mustard . 

Here are some of the recipes. 

Macaroni Salad

INGREDIENTS 

• 1 -1 ½ cup cooked macaroni
• ¼ cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons diced celery
• 1 tablespoon chopped carrot
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper

DIRECTIONS  

*If you want authentic Rochester macaroni salad thoroughly  rinse the macaroni and make sure it's cool before combining the ingredients.

Nick Tahou’s Meat Sauce Recipe (Hot Dog Chili)

INGREDIENTS

1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon oil
1 pound ground beef
1 cup water
to taste
1/4 cup tomato paste (or 6 oz can)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon salt
DIRECTIONS

In a large skillet, fry onion and garlic in oil until soft. Add meat,
stirring constantly with fork to keep the beef broken up. Once the meat
browns, add water and tomato paste. Simmer 10 minutes. (if you want this to be more authentic then use a blender to make the consistency a little finer. It does not change the taste either way)

 Add brown sugar and spices. except for cinnamon.

Add the cinnamon in the last half hour of cooking.

Simmer 1 hour, adding water if necessary to keep it moist (but not soupy).

Crockpot Baked Beans recipe

Cook Time: 8 hours

INGREDIENTS
16 ounces yellow eye beans
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tbsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. dried leaf thyme
1/4 c. molasses

DIRECTIONS 

Pick over beans, looking for small rocks and imperfect beans. Cover with cold water and soak overnight. In morning bring to boil on the stovetop. Simmer until the husks curl when you blow on them. Rinse with hot water. Put half of the beans into Crockpot. Sprinkle with half of the onion and dot with 1 tablespoon of the butter. Repeat with second half. In a measuring cup combine dry ingredients.

Add molasses to 1/2 cup then add  hot water to 1 cup mark; stir to blend. Pour over beans. Add more hot water if needed to barely cover the beans.

 Cover and cook for 7 to 9 hours. 

Remove cover the last hour to cook down.

 Hash Browns 

INGREDIENTS

 1 pound frozen Southern style hash brown potatoes, thawed*
5 tablespoons butter, divided
4 to 6 green onions
4 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup chicken broth
3/4 cup whole milk or half-and-half
1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup soft bread crumbs

DIRECTIONS 
*If you can't find the diced "Southern-Style" hash browns, shredded can be substituted.
Butter a 1 to 1 1/2-quart casserole. Heat oven to 350°. Thaw the hash browns.

In a saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons of the butter; add green onions and cook for 1 minute over medium-low heat. Add flour and stir to blend well. Gradually stir in the chicken broth and milk. Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened and bubbly. Stir in salt, pepper, and cheese. Spoon into the prepared baking dish.


Put bread crumbs in a bowl. Melt remaining 1 tablespoon of butter; drizzle over bread crumbs and toss to blend. Sprinkle the buttered bread crumbs over the casserole. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until hot and bubbly and topping is nicely browned.

Now that you’re exhausted from the idea of making all these recipes let me share a few short cuts.

Baked beans should be Grandma Browns Baked Beans with a little bit of pancake syrup mixed in it is a Rochester staple. 

You of course can buy the macaroni salad but this is easy to make and if you allow the macaroni to cook after it has been well rinsed it will taste just like what Nicks serves.

I order my Zweigle’s hot dogs and Don’s meat sauce both from an on line site NY Style Deli. 

If you watch for this sites specials you can get delivery of these items at a fair price. 

When you are really hungry and have the time give this garbage plate a try. I think you will enjoy this meal and you will not walk away hungry!

Websites

Here is Nick’s website http://www.garbageplate.com/

https://www.nystyledeli.com/cgi-bin/deli/index.html. 

 http://rocwiki.org/Nick_Tahou%27

Locations	Phone	People entering Nicks for a tasty garbage plate.
320 W Main St, Rochester, NY 14608	585 436 0184
3070 West Henrietta Road, Rochester, NY 14623	585 272 1182
Hours
Rochester location:
Monday to Saturday 8:00am to 8:00pm
Closed Sunday
Henrietta location:
Daily: 10:00AM to 12:00AM