Seeking the perfect make-ahead drunk food

[mobtownculinarian]

My little brother is turning 21 on Saturday, and I'm taking him out for a hopefully epic Baltimore pub crawl. It's my sisterly duty to take care of the kid, so I'd like to have some terrific, crave-able, hangover-fighting grub in the fridge ready to heat up at whatever time we stumble back to my place. I was thinking I'd make a stove-top mac n' cheese with bacon, but I'd love to hear other suggestions. Thanks all!

[hepsi]

Mex is always satisfying and not too rich. How about making chili ahead and then putting together some burittos or nachos.

[KailuaGirl]

Classic hangover food - menudo! If you can't stand tripe, try making posole or albondigas. Any of those 3, with lots of warm flour tortillas, will make you fit company until you can go back to bed.

[rochfood]

If he can still eat..you haven't done your job.

[hyde]

fried chicken will seem like a good idea.
do not fall for it.
if you think you might, make some cookies and put them in the freezer.
the nurses and doctors in the e.r. are much more reponsive if you have food for them.

[shanagain]

Jalapeno popper dip - dice fresh, seeded and de-membraned jalapenos to your taste level (I like a lot of membrane but we eat a lot of spicy foods) and mix with softened cream cheese. Stir in a bit of mayonnaise just to thin the cream cheese out a bit and help stabilize during cooking. Stir in shredded cheddar, taste and adjust seasoning to taste with more jalapeno. Stir in about 1/4 cup grated (cheap) parmesan and microwave for about 4 minutes. Serve hot, warm or at room-temp with Triscuits or some other sturdy chip or cracker.

And even better, buffalo wings are the classic drunk-thirty food of choice around this house.

[kathleen440]

I second the chili suggestion, especially because you can make it in a slow cooker. Assemble it in the late afternoon/early evening, let it go for 8-10 hours, come back, and eat with copious amounts of sour cream, shredded cheese, and cornbread. Yum.

[KailuaGirl]

And eat that chili over rice that's waiting for you in the rice cooker, with all those toppings.

Another trick that rarely failed me is to take a B12 along with a couple of pain killers (Tylenol, Advil, whatever) and drink down a full glass of water right before you go to bed. That's one of the best hangover avoidance techniques I've ever been introduced to. I haven't had a hangover inducing night on the town in ages, but will swear by this if I do it again.

[mobtownculinarian]

You are all my kind of people. Thanks so much for the terrific advice and fantastic options.

I ended up making bacon mac and cheese (using some bacon fat in the roux), because I had everything on-hand, but the evening progressed into the kind of night where you do NOT want to eat anything when you get home- it happens.

The next morning though, I make a huge breakfast with bloody marys, good coffee, cinnamon rolls, biscuits and sausage gravy, and scrambled eggs, which were devoured by my bleary-eyed guests & boyfriend. Sent most of the mac and cheese home with the little bro (HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUCAS!). May have to plan another bar night soon if only to try more drunk food options. Thanks again for your outpouring of ideas.

[kaleokahu]

What a great sister you are!

[cookielaz]

If you want something to homemake to fix the hangover, you should make this old German recipe my Mom would make for us growing up.

Dice a pound of bacon. Don't trim any fat. Fry it up in a pot till its nice and crispy. Slowly sprinkle in flour till you basically have bacon fat dumplings.

Then add in a dozen eggs. Do it slow and stir constantly. Also add in some water to help with consistency.

Season with salt, pepper, fresh chive, and Maggi sauce to taste.

This stuff lasts forever and is so damn good

[cstout]

Nothing like a bunch of grease to sop up the alcohol...

[cookielaz]

If you are in Balitmore, buy some crab pretzels from Reilly's Oyster House! They heat up really well in the oven

[Paprikaboy]

In the UK we keep it simple.
Go to pub.
Leave pub.
Go to kebab shop.
Eat Kebab (whilst dropping salad and wiping extra hot chili sauce off your mouth)

Failing that here's a link on home made doner kebabs that I saw the other day.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyl...

[Roxanne Webber]

How about a french toast casserole? Just layer in half slices of bread into a (buttered!) baking pan, pour in your egg mix, and cover and refrigerate. Next day, just pop it in the oven and bake it until the eggs set.

[chileheadmike]

Biscuits and gravy. Both can be made ahead of time and warmed up.

[bonoeufs]

Eggs, bacon or sausage links, hash browns with cheese, toast. At least this is what we used to get at the all-night joint after a night of somewhat bad behavior.

[maplesugar]

I can only think of one thing aside from what's been mentioned aleady:
Frito Pie. Open a small bag of Fritos down one side. Top with chili. Grab a spoon and dig in :)

[porker]

French fries and gravy. Make from scratch, or simply get from corner hot dog/fry joint. Microwave when ready, soggier the better (in my neck of the woods, they'd add cheese curds for poutine). (but do this ahead to avoid kitchen grease fire like *my* drunk sister...)
Totally agree with pizza - leftover cold or reheated.
Howsabout ramen - follow the package instructions and/or add other stuff like scrambled egg, onion, whatever. Don't want it as soup? boil the noodles until done, drain, fry up with the flavor packet (add other stuff like scrambled egg, onion, whatever).
Really lazy? Canned goods. Think chef-boy-ardee, or corned beef hash.
Make a spaghetti sauce & pasta. Mix the two and into the fridge. When ready, fry until crisped, quasi burned, in a teflon pan.
Sloppy joes, or loosemeat sandwiches (with or without cheese).
Fried bologna or fried Spam burgers (now you're talkin).

[goodhealthgourmet]

gravy fries (with cheese!) are the *ultimate* drunk food. i can't imagine eating them anywhere other than a Jersey diner which is why i didn't suggest it, but i just did a little research and apparently they're popular in B-more too. so there you go. good call :)

[goodhealthgourmet]

it's funny to see all the replies here because my first thought when i saw your thread was that the combo of carbs & cheese always works so well when you're wasted at 3 a.m...and clearly i'm not alone :)

mac & cheese is a good call. the other easy thing that might really hit the spot is grilled cheese sandwiches. it's been many years since i had a night like that, but i do recall thinking on more than one occasion that grilled cheese was one of the greatest inventions of all time...particularly if you happen to have multiple bread, cheese, and topping/filling options on hand so you can get creative to satisfy random cravings :)

[cstout]

A "made ahead" Reuben sandwich wrapped up & ready to heat up on a screaming skillet. No panini? Just put a heavy skillet on top (preferably cast iron) & wait for the cheese to ooze out.

Have a deli pickle ready on the plate too. For Gosh Sakes, do not leave the stove during this procedure for any reason - not a good thing. Have a tall glass of crushed ice with your favorite soda in it while tending to the fire. Stay awake by all means.

Eat, take an Alka Seltzer, burp & off to bed (if you can find it!)

[viperlush]

While in Bmore we usually ended the night with a pretzel dog or took home a pizza. \

But snacks at home would be nacho chips and cheese, baconeggcheese sandwich,saltines w/peanut butter, and pasta.

[emalineisabear]

Stir Fry or leftover Chinese food. Orange chicken(the breaded fried stuff from King's Dragon, etc) is super easy to make at home. As is stir fry and fried rice. Those are always what I'm craving after a night of drinking. I want it cold and greasy!

[Lady_Tenar]

Yes, fried rice is an awesome drunk food! I also think all types of curries are really good. Make them ahead, then just re-heat. Couldn't be easier.

[ludmilasdaughter]

I like the mac and cheese and all of the ideas posted. The only thing I can add is that I find that my friends and I also like munchie type foods when we get in from a night of boozing. As a matter of fact, at the New Years Eve party I went to it was all of the appetizers that came back out for the "second" feeding well after midnight. Chips and dip, stuffed mushrooms, deviled eggs. So, maybe munchie type food, or maybe just one or two munchies while you wait for the main dish to heat up? You are a good sister!

[steve h.]

Hot dogs, too! That is, for all of us who have been there, done that.

[ludmilasdaughter]

Oh yeah! Hot dogs. Perfect drunk food. Quick to cook, easy to hold!

[Beach Chick]

Love the thread title!

Love the mac n' cheese thing..
deli meats and cheese with rolls...jalapeno kettle chips with some crunchy pickles
Tortellini in a pesto sauce...cold but you can heat it up
Scalloped pot's
Twinkies
Enchiladas...beef, chicken or cheese..with sour cream and guac with beans and rice...chips!

Morning after..
Lots of coffee...vitamin water, Dr. Pepper, bloodys
Eggs, bacon, sausages, hash browns, english muffins and advils

[steve h.]

In the time it takes to warm up mac 'n cheese, you could make some killer scrambled eggs and scrapple. Have some bubbly in the coolerator if things are ok, some excellent coffee on the stove if not.

[sparkareno]

Another vote for the mac & cheese. I love all kinds of "forbidden" carbs in this situation....non-wheat bread (such as sourdough or ciabatta), any creamy pasta (alfredo or carbonara), mashed white potatoes. My favorite is my mom's potato and cheese peirogies that I keep in the freezer. I like to pretend that these carbs help soak up the booze.

[sandylc]

Artichoke dip and french bread.

[biggreenmatt]

Scotch eggs- might be the perfect hand-held breakfast food to soak up all the alcohol.

[bebevonbernstein]

I generally go with baconeggandcheeseonaroll (or a toasted bagel with cheese) -- but if you want to be fancier, perhaps a carbonara? Not make-ahead, but easily thrown together.

[Niblet]

Agree: baconeggandcheese, except on english. And carbonara is good too.

A friend used to heat up slices of meatloaf studded with big cubes of jalapeno-jack cheese and it was crazy good, totally hit the spot.

[mikey031]

Giant Dagwood sammy and cookies.

[biondanonima]

Pizza, hot or cold. Or my favorite, fried egg sandwiches. The mac and cheese sounds awesome too!

[southernitalian]

I was going to say order a pizza prior to going out and stick it in the firdge. Nothing better than late night cold pizza!

[MelMM]

Wow, I can't wait to hear the responses to this thread. I just know it's going to be good.

I don't have a specific suggestion just yet, but I will throw out there that when I've been drinking, I do best (as far as limiting repercussions goes) with starchy things - bread, potatoes, etc, and not too much fat. I have been at events where all there was was wings and booze, and let me tell you, that is not a good combination. At least, not in my stomach.

[caseyjo]

Taco fixings!

[twyst]

chili.