Club House Grub (pub grub)

I would be remiss in my discussions on our vacation foods if I did not mention the classic pub grub we enjoyed of a meal.  Now if you recall we are eating out and cooking at the vacation home but because this was setting up the vacation home from almost nothing eating out took precedence.  When it comes to pub grub there is very little of it you can't make at home if you have a deep fryer and a fry pan or griddle.  Pub grub is meant to be easy, quick yet keep you there for a little while for a few drinks and good enough to keep you coming back.  Honestly the pubs do not make much of a profit if at all from their food.  Profits rather come from the drinks.  Pub grub is unpretentious and makes no claim about being healthy for you.  In fact is is not particularly health with the high emphasis on frying but if push comes to shove it is healthier than the average fast food dinner.

The club house onion rings were excellent and the price wasn't bad at $3.50.  That's about the going price for most pubs.  Onions rings hold a bit of a mystic about them for creating a  home but really all you need is a Spanish onion, batter and a deep fryer.  In less than 10 minutes you will have enough onion rings to feed an entire family!  Surprisingly the batter can be as simple as a pancake batter or a bit more complex as a beer batter but either way this is one side that really is quite easy to duplicate at home.  The main goal is you want a lovely, golden brown, crispy coating with tender, translucent onion inside.

We ordered chicken wings with a garlic butter sauce.  Chicken wings are another great pub food to duplicate at home.  They take very little prep, can be fried coated or uncoated and served with your choice of sauce.  Quite often the best chicken wings are not coated.  They are fried simply as is then served either tossed in sauce or with served with sauce in dipping bowls.

Now this is very easy to duplicate at home.  The individual dipping bowls are quite inexpensive.  In fact you can find really cute ones at the dollar stores so just fill with the sauce of choice.  This makes it nice because each family member can have a different sauce without costing you a fortune.

To make the garlic butter:  Peel and finely chop about 4 cloves of garlic.  Heat fry pan and add 4 oz butter until just bubbling and stir in the garlic.  Heat through then remove from heat.

When it comes to burgers pub grub has it and that is because they use the fundamental philosophy in cooking call KISS (keep it simple silly).  Very few put grub burgers are complicated.  The general topping are lettuce, onion, tomato and American processed cheese along with whatever condiments they offer usually restricted to mayonnaise, ketchup and mustard.  If you are lucky the burger is served with a side of potato chips and even luckier French fries.

The pub grub burger has to be about the easiest to duplicate at home.  You will need hamburger buns, pre-formed frozen burger patties, iceberg lettuce, onion, tomato, American processed sliced cheese, ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise.  Pickle and relish is optional.  If you want to duplicate the taste do not grill!  Instead use a griddle to cook the burger patties.  Add the process cheese just after flipping the burger on the griddle and just let it melt.  Place on the bun, add the toppings with a few potato chips and you have an authentic pub grub burger made at home.