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Nothing succeeds like excess! The earlier mental_floss article Food Challenges for the Super Hungry, Super Competitive or Super Cheap celebrated foods that are excessive in size. Now we turn to foods that are excessive because of what they are made of. People love to tinker with food. If you like two kinds of food, why not put them together? Just because they don’t normally appear at all similar is no reason to shy away from combining them! Or you find one taste that you love, you can go completely overboard with it. And you can take something normal and traditional and stand it on its head to suit your own tastes.
1. The Luther Burger
One of the specialties served at Mulligan’s, a bar in Decatur, Georgia is the Luther Vandross Burger. This may have been conceived by the late Luther Vandross, or just named in honor of him. It’s a bacon cheeseburger served between two Krispy Kreme donuts. Several restaurants now carry the “donut burger”. Some recipes specify the Luther Burger must include a full pound of beef, as in the homemade versions shown here. (update: Tim left a comment telling us Mulligan’s is no longer in business. If there’s a resturant near you serving these, let us know!)
2. McDonalds Pizza
Along the theme of two great tastes that taste great together, Pimp My Snack used McDonalds cheeseburgers as a topping for pizza! They didn’t stop there. This pizza also has McDonalds fries and a package of bacon. With cheese on top.
More surprising edibles, after the jump.
3. Deep Fried Balls of Butter
Paula Deen of The Food Network is known for her Southern fried recipes featuring delicious butter. Last spring she featured a recipe for Fried Butter Balls on her show in an episode titled Everything’s Better With Butter. The concoction came from one of her fans, who was invited to be on the show. The whole thing was presented as somewhat of a joke. The recipe caused horror among her fans and on sites across the internet, but she tried it herself before sharing, so it must be pretty good.
4. Bacon Cheese Baconburger
They say bacon will improve the flavor of anything. Witness the bacon cheeseburger, popular at every fast food outlet you can think of. The Bacon Cheese Baconburger takes this concept one step beyond. In addition to the bacon and the cheese, note that the hamburger patty itself is made of ground bacon! There’s a complete subgenre of recipes where you add bacon to… anything! Such as apple pie, candy, or a martini.
5. M&Ms Donut
Just as some think anything is better with bacon on it, others know that you can improve existing foods by putting candy on it, or in it. This was the thinking behind the DQ Blizzard, which added chopped cookies or candy to softserve ice cream. Now Dunkin’ Donuts is trying their hand at it, with the introduction of the M&M Donut. Yes, a donut with miniature M&Ms on top! Homer Simpson will be in hog heaven. In a partnership deal with Mars (owners of M&Ms), Dunkin’ Donuts is also offering Milky Way hot chocolate, available through March.
6. Meat Cake
You expect cake at a wedding, but one fellow didn’t get excited about the idea of a sweet groom’s cake. What he really wanted was meat, and his chef friend at Black Widow Bakery was up for the challenge. The result was a perfectly presentable groom’s cake made of ground beef! After you read the cake story, don’t miss the amusing FAQs.
7. Meatloaf Cake
The very opposite is a cake that looks like meatloaf, but inside is a delicious chocolate cake with raspberry frosting! This is part of a collection of Food That Looks Like What It Isn’t, where the hot dogs and spaghetti are sweet, and the waffles are made of turkey or crabmeat.
Do you have any favorite recipes that would fit with these- odd combinations, extreme indulgence, or homemade recipes that make people cringe? Tell us about it!
Comments (42)
Comment
Unfortunately, Mulligans is no longer open, so any Luther Burgers would have to be homemade (if you have an itchin’ for the itis).
posted by Tim on 1-22-2008 at 5:46 am
The Luther Burger may be one of the most disgusting-sounding foods I’ve ever heard of. And deep fried butter balls? A real Southern cook would use lard…
posted by Lisa on 1-22-2008 at 6:40 am
Damn! I live in Georgia and after reading this article I was planning on trekking up to Mulligan’s next weekend to get the Luther Vandross Burger.
Well thanks Tim for saving me the gas.
posted by Jake Le Master on 1-22-2008 at 6:49 am
If you listen really carefully, you can hear the sound of arteries hardening all over the lower 48 states.
Good Lord, this is despicable. Just reading this makes me crave a shot of wheatgrass juice.
posted by Jill on 1-22-2008 at 7:19 am
Not being a meat-eater . . . most of those just make me cringe.
I have seen a cake similar to the meatloaf one, however. When my cousin got married, the groom (who raises organic beef) asked that his cake look like a huge t-bone steak. His chef wife-to-be gladly obliged.
posted by nutmeag on 1-22-2008 at 7:36 am
nutmeag, I’d like to see a picture of that one!
posted by Miss Cellania on 1-22-2008 at 7:58 am
Not sure it qualifies as unusual but I like to add cocktail sausages to mac and cheese. For some reason a lot of people seem to think that is gross. I just think it is more for me.
posted by Patrick B on 1-22-2008 at 8:02 am
If you really, really, want a donut burger, you can go to the Gateway Grizzlies ballpark in St. Louis. Since they’re minor league, they need something to bring people in, so they sell a bacon cheeseburger with Krispy Kreme donuts for buns. People love it, I guess, I wouldn’t touch it.
Patrick B, hot dogs + mac and cheese = delicious, so I bet cocktail sausages are just as good!
posted by Toyouke on 1-22-2008 at 8:14 am
Miss Cellania:
I’d show you one, but this was years and years before I had a camera! I will say it was pretty real looking . . . and was made out of red velvet cake, so I guess that would make it rare?
posted by nutmeag on 1-22-2008 at 8:46 am
Well, one of my old roomates had this concoction she would make occasionally that “is as close to bachelor cooking as I go” called “Beanie-Weenie soup” Just as it sounds, imagine soup constructed with a can of Busch’s baked beans, hot dogs, ketchup, etc. o.o odd. It tasted OK though so I can’t complain too much.
Also, a friend of mine stir frys chicken in Pepsi. She says its delicious but I’m pretty sure that that can’t be a good idea.
When we were younger, my sister would combine cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, and cold ham from the salad bar with spaghetti on buffets. Gross.
posted by Ashley on 1-22-2008 at 9:06 am
Good grief. I have difficulty cramming down just -one- American-style do[ugh]nut. Far too sweet, lardy and cloying. Possibly the addition of a great seasoned meaty lump in the middle would provide me with more of the savoury I like, but I think I’ll pass all the same.
The deep-fried Mars bar / pizza / haggis that’s still concocted in the occasional bleak Scottish chippy is in for some stiff competition, I can tell.
posted by Andrew on 1-22-2008 at 9:25 am
I am completely wowed, and oddly inspired
posted by downchez on 1-22-2008 at 10:10 am
Well done. I’d love to see mention of the southern delicacy the “hamdog” one of these days. The “Hamdog” is a hot dog wrapped in beef patty covered with chili, cheese, onions, eggs and fries. I can’t imagine eating one, but people seem to love them.
posted by Caroline on 1-22-2008 at 10:22 am
I had fried mac and cheese bites at a bar a couple of months ago… suprisingly delicious.
Fried PBJ? Also delicious. I had that in October and I think my cholesterol is still trying to adjust.
posted by Stacy on 1-22-2008 at 11:04 am
I nominate a favorite of my late Aunt Beverly: The Soup Sandwich. Yes, that’s condensed soup spread on bread. Although I miss her terribly, I have never been tempted to try one.
posted by Lori L. on 1-22-2008 at 11:08 am
You know, I’m normally not the type to eat tons of artery-clogging foods, but that donut burger, I’d try that at least once, just to say I did. With bacon.
posted by Katherine on 1-22-2008 at 11:10 am
Similar to the McDonald’s pizza … Uno Chicago Grill serves a deep dish cheeseburger pizza (it has ground beef, pickles and mustard as part of the toppings). I have never tried it myself, but apparently it’s not bad.
posted by erin on 1-22-2008 at 11:23 am
Well, it´s almost lunchtime and I have completely lost my appetite. Deep fried balls of butter? Is she trying to provoke a record number of heart attacks? The thought alone is making me nauseous.
posted by GTT on 1-22-2008 at 11:42 am
I used to live in Savannah and have been to The Lady and Sons (Paula Deen’s restaurant) many times. Deep fried butter balls would not be out of place on their menu. One of her signature desserts are Gooey Butter Cakes. The recipe calls for no less than two full sticks of butter and a pound (a FULL pound) of powdered sugar.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm…
If you’re in the area, I HIGHLY recommend the place.
posted by Anthony on 1-22-2008 at 11:52 am
Most people that I meet who do not live in the US seem to think that Americans eat WAY too much unhealthy food. They say that our portions are too big and that everything has too many calories.
I seem to remember, however, eating a “hot chip sandwich” when I went to Australia. This consisted of: white bread slathered in butter, ketchup and chili sauce with french fries from the local fish and chip shop stacked high with another piece of white bread with butter, ketchup and chili sauce on top of that. Surpirsingly good.
posted by Emily on 1-22-2008 at 1:04 pm
I wonder how many Weight Watchers points are in those things?
posted by Suzeo on 1-22-2008 at 1:19 pm
Is the guy in the cheeseburger pizza picture wearing….a Game Boy watch?
posted by bedhead on 1-22-2008 at 1:21 pm
The last three don’t sound half bad, especially the meatloaf cake!
The others are just gross examples of human excess. I can’t belive the Luther is still being made!
posted by heather on 1-22-2008 at 2:04 pm
I always get a kick out of black widow bakery’s website. I first stumbled upon them when I was trying to figure out how to braid bread. They have an awesome gallery of meatcakes submitted by readers.
posted by Jason! on 1-22-2008 at 2:08 pm
In response to the M&Ms Donut:
I’m still waiting for Dairy Queen to combine the two flavors mentioned in the article, to create a Donut Blizzard. There’s something about little pieces of glazed dough floating in vanilla (or chocolate) ice cream that sounds heavenly.
My wife will contest that I’ve been saying this for years…maybe I should get a patent. Or maybe I’m the only one who would appreciate this creation…:)
posted by Caley on 1-22-2008 at 2:20 pm
The sandwich loaf from the Cold War recipes post is starting to look REALLY good after seeing these…
posted by Melodye on 1-22-2008 at 2:21 pm
THose look like delicious ways to kill myself.
posted by John P on 1-22-2008 at 2:30 pm
I’m pretty much a vegetarian, so I wouldn’t eat much of this, but that meat cake is fucking amazing. The potato icing is a nice touch.
my fave weird food as a kid is something I haven’t had since moving out, due to lack of sandwich maker, get a sandwich maker and put a piece of bread in it, pour half a can of alpahgetti(preferably Simpson’s alphagetti maybe even a bit of cheese) and put the other piece of bread on top, close the sandwich maker, and two mins later you have the best damn sandwich in the world.
posted by Donnie on 1-22-2008 at 3:32 pm
Donnie, what is a sandwich maker? An assembler contraption? A cooker? I assumed when I first read that, that you must’ve been referring to your mom. I know that’s what I am to MY kids -a sandwich maker!
posted by Miss Cellania on 1-22-2008 at 3:42 pm
OK, how about these:
-Tunut butter sandwich- Tuna and peanut butter mixed together and eaten on rye bread.
-Turkey dressing with maple syrup.
-Vidalia onion and peanut butter sandwich.
-Chili with pineapple chunks (This is the only one I’ve actually tried and I love it.)
-I haven’t had the chicken-pepsi stir fry, but I have had Coca-Cola chicken. This was popular in the south in the 60’s. I can’t recall how it tasted.
posted by harold on 1-22-2008 at 3:49 pm
Hey Caley, someone did that on an episode of the Apprentice. It way outsold the other team’s ice-cream and people loved it.
posted by jenny on 1-22-2008 at 3:53 pm
Paula Dean also has a recipe for bread pudding that uses Krispy Kreme doughnuts for the bread portion.
The ESPN Zone restaurant at one time had a Krispy Kreme ice cream sundae. I never was able to work up the nerve to order it though.
posted by Tom on 1-22-2008 at 3:55 pm
The weirdest food combo i have ever seen was fried chicken and waffels,
i understand it is a southern taste but living in central Texas i have never heard of it, has anyone out seen, tried this combo??
posted by Lindsey U on 1-22-2008 at 4:26 pm
The MacDonald’s pizza is funny all right (and kind of sick and twisted, so check out Mad TV’s parody of the Pizza Hut twisted crust pizza. Go to YouTube and search for MadTV Pizza complete-za. It’s hilarious — cracks me up every time.
posted by Dolly on 1-22-2008 at 4:30 pm
Just yesterday I was in Dunkin’ Donuts and noticed the M&M donuts. They look SO GOOD. I think it’s because they’re so brightly colored they look like cartoon donuts, like the caricature of what a delicious donut is supposed to look like. But I resisted.
I think the Dairy Queen Cheesequake blizzard belongs on this list.
posted by Sara on 1-22-2008 at 4:41 pm
Miss Cellania: a sandwich maker is like a waffle machine… You put the sandwich in, close lid and wait. The result is a heated sandwich with slightly toasted bread and melted everything inside. Yum.
posted by GTT on 1-22-2008 at 5:00 pm
One step down from the Luther burger is the Maple Bacon Bar at Voodoo Donuts in Portland, Oregon. It is what it sounds like - strips of bacon on top of a maple dip donut. Voodoo has a wide variety of bizarre donuts described on their website.
posted by Carole on 1-22-2008 at 8:40 pm
Ever tried deep fried hamburgers?
Just make up a regular hamburger (no lettuce, tomato, relish, onions please), put it in a fry basket and cook it. I got the idea when hurling grease at McDonald’s back when grills were used and not microwaves.
My record is 7 in one sitting.
posted by Bobby on 1-22-2008 at 8:48 pm
Well, I vaguely recall eating cold pepperoni pizza dipped in melted vanilla ice-cream. It really wasn’t that bad- the salty and sweet were kinda good.. But I ABSOLUTLEY remember the BEST chocolate milk I’ve EVER had- Reed’s Dairy, Idaho Falls, Idaho! They make the chocolate milk with -what else- potatoes! It was an incredible taste experience! If you’re ever in South-eastern Idaho, go to a grocers and get a jug of Reed’s Dairy chocolate milk! You’ll NEVER regret it!
posted by Ashley on 1-22-2008 at 11:25 pm
Jenny, thanks for the info. Maybe someday it will be mass marketed and my life will be complete! ;) Well, complete and 10 pounds heavier, at least.
posted by Caley on 1-23-2008 at 8:59 am
I have a friend who likes to eat KitKat bars with ranch dressing. She says it’s good, but it sounds just plain nasty to me.
posted by Janel on 1-23-2008 at 11:47 am
Paula Dean Just had a show air that takes the Luther Burger to another Level. She added a Fried Egg along with all the other toppings. How Does She have a show that’s Completely Disgusting!! WTF
posted by Bobby B on 2-23-2008 at 1:13 pm