Friday, September 12, 2008

Cowboy Sushi

I know that foods differ by region, ethnicity and family. This is one of those dishes that seem to be a regional favorite and family specific. This little delight is something I was introduced to the first time I went to a family reunion for The Good Husband.

If you can't tell what it is, it is cream cheese, Budding Beef and pickles. My family served something similar but our version was cream cheese, salami and green onion. This is a popular appetizer 'round our family and I have seen uncles fight over the last pickle.

This is a relatively new dish to me and no one seemed to have a name for it. I have heard it called "the pickle dish" and even "oh, you know, those things". So I figured since this might be the only time this dish has been on a food blog, I will give myself the honor of naming it.

I give you: Cowboy Sushi!

Ingredients:
6 large whole kosher dill pickles
3 packages Buddig Beef
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

Directions:
~Spread a thin layer of cream cheese over one slice of beef. Top with another slice of beef and spread cream cheese over the second layer.

~Roll the two slices of beef around one whole pickle.

~Repeat steps one and two so that the pickle ends up with four layers of beef and cream cheese.

~Slice the pickle into thick slices and serve cold.

~Repeat all the steps until all the pickles are covered.

If your family has something similar and you call it something else, please email me and let me know. One of the things I love about cooking is that every family and region has their own version of basic dishes. I get a feeling The Good Family is not the only one to enjoy this cowboy sushi.


recipe by: The Good Wife

64 comments:

The Gladd's said...

I love that you put the label "midwest food" on this because my hubby and I call these "M-dubs". (M-dub for MW which means Midwest.) Get it? :) Kinda hard to explain as a comment. lol Our friend from California named them when I served them to him during one of his visits. He never saw such a thing so he figured it must be a midwestern snack... haha!

So, anyway, I blogged about these last Thanksgiving. I'm very glad to see someone else eats them too! Curious what others call them.

The Good Wife said...

Awsome!! I like M-dubs, too. I think the cowboy part was stuck in my head from reading about Cowboy Caviar in my new cookbook. That is just beans, so I didn't see why pickles couldn't be sushi. :)

Annie said...

I'm from Missouri and they are definitely a favorite at family affairs. We named them Pickle Buddies deriving from pickles and Buddies- Beef Buddig!

Anonymous said...

I just found this on pinterest... and I'm so glad you named this dish! My husband boasts that one of the reasons he married me is for "those delicious.. um... dill pickle wrap thingys!" We always make them with thinly sliced deli salami, but I'm sure the beef would be great too!

-abby h. @ acheerfulheart.

MrsJeffers said...

We call them Pickle Pusses! And they are made with ham instead of the beef. Yum :)

And also, I just discovered this blog, and I am addicted! I love it.

Queen of Beaverton said...

If you like this, you should try dilled asparagus, rolled in sliced ham spread with cream cheese. Some people add capers too. Yum-O!

Kim of Mo Betta said...

We are in the South, and my mom has been making them forever, but she uses dried beef? (it comes in a jar). But your right, they don't have a 'real' name! I like cowboy sushi! My sister calls them 'pickle rolos'. They were a huge hit at a luncheon we hosted recently!

The Good Wife said...

I love all the new names and ways to make this dish.

I never thought this would be as popular a post! lol

Mandy Sue said...

We make something similar in my family (I live in Oregon) except with pickled asparagus and deli ham. We simply call them ham roll-ups, but I like your name a lot more!

Andrea said...

I'm from a very German Minnesotan family. We make ours with ham, and just call them "pickle roll-ups".. which implies rolled up with cream cheese and ham... I suppose there is probably a real name, but not in our house!

Megan said...

My brother used to make these without the cream cheese, in New Zealand. The pickles we got were thinner and he used Polish garlic sausage.

That was about 30 years ago and we'd certainly never seen sushi!

Heather Hughes said...

I just stumbled upon this on Pinterest.
I'm in LOVE with these! In our family we call them "frog eyes". :)

asdf said...

I have never seen these growing up in Arizona. And the combo sounds unappetizing (maybe because I'm pregnant) but the picture and the reviews are making me really want to try them. I'm going to give these a whirl for lunches with my toddler girls, they LOVE pickles!

leanncox said...

My mom has made these for years...except with ham. Try them with pickled okra!!!!

Brandy said...

We made them with pepperoncini and salami in CA. They looked more like little tacos and had a toothpick to keep them closed. They were "salami poppers".

Aubribanana said...

I'm from Missouri and our family likes them as well. We use the same exact recipe as you have posted but we call them Iced Pickles!

samantha said...

MY husband's family makes something similar that they call "those little meat stick things" and they are delicious! They take a green onion wrapped in roast beef spread with cream cheese. They're from Pennsylvania. I've never seen anything like this (or that until I met him) in Texas. I'll try this for Christmas!

Sarah said...

In South Carolina they don't have a name but pickled okra is what we use! Sometimes even wrapping the salami or ham with a flattened piece of white bread (and of course use cream cheese to make it stick). Happy eating!

Julie S. said...

And try them with sweet pickles instead of (or along with) dill pickles. Really good!

blackdogbakery said...

We have always made something similar however ours have a tbsp. of spicy brown mustard and a dash of tabasco mixed into the cream cheese.

Heidi said...

I'm from Iowa and people request these all the time when we go any where. I use ham, and I stack several packages of ham on a plate so it is easier to spread with the cream cheese. I also add some dry ranch dressing powder to the cream cheese for a little extra flavor. I also use baby dills and freeze them for ahile before I cut them and that seems to make slicing them a little easier.

Karin said...

My friend and I just hosted a baby boy shower with a hunting theme. We labeled it buckshot sushi. I think I ate half of it.

Rik said...

My mom made these all growing up, except with pickled okra and ham. We always called them Slimeballs, which is totally gross, but everyone knew they were delicious!

Sheryl said...

My friends from Colorado introduced this delicacy to me several years ago with sliced ham, cream cheese, and pickles. We call them pig-in-a-pickle. I suppose technically they are more of a pickle-in-a-pig, but that just sounds ridiculous!

Ashley @ The Sweet Life said...

I just found this on Pinterst and I can't wait to make these! My boy loves pickles, so I'm sure they'll be a hit!

navywifemomoftwo said...

I make these (they are the most requested item for me to make for pot lucks) but I use Corned Beef instead of Beef. We just call them "pickle things" ... hehehe!!!!

Angela @ Honey, I Shrunk the Mom said...

We simply call them "pickles with cream cheese" but my daughter's friend's family call them "pregnant pickles"

GBCooker said...

My sister-in-law introduced these to our family in Ohio 25 years ago. We make them with dried beef or thin sliced ham and call them "Belly Buttons"

brandibryson said...

My daughter LOVES these. We make them with honey ham, cream cheese, and a pickle spear. I can make a huge tray and she'll eat them all if nobody's watching her!!!

We call them "Frog Eyes" because they are green...and about the size of your eye ball!

:)

Raschel said...

I Like the name Cowbot sushi. I am going to make them for my next get together and call them "Redneck Sushi".

sgrayster said...

We call the Hamickles and ONLY use Claussen pickles!! and honey ham too. haha it's fun to see all the different versions and names.

Jennifer said...

Haha we call them Goat Peckers! And we do the pickles, OR we put green onions in them instead of the pickles! YUM!

Nicole said...

Another Midwesterner who makes a variation on these. We use pickles, ham (NOT! honey ham), and cream cheese. We also warm the cream cheese and add worcestershire sauce to it. It adds a little kick. SO YUMMY! I often make these for dinner for myself. Low carb, filling and YUMMY!

The World Needs More Nerds said...

Grew up in California and we would make them with dill pickle spears wrapped in white american cheese and turkey - yum!

Andie said...

From Texas here and never knew my favorite snack to grab out of the refrigerator was actually served as appetizers! For me, I use spicy dill spears that I canned wrapped with American cheese slice and thinly sliced virginia ham! Oh my! I think Redneck Sushi is a great name for it!

Miss Patricia. said...

random! I found these on pinterest like forever ago and you got me so addicted to them I don't think I ate anything but these for like three days and my roommate started calling me 'pickle breath.' This was how I was introduced to your blog!!!

I'm from the southeast, but live in Utah, and I've never, ever ever heard of these EVER!!! But oh one of these days I'm so bringing them to a party.....though I hope nobody likes them so I can eat them ALL.

Gini Reed said...

i'm from the midwest so not as much cowboy .... our variation was hard salami - garlic powder in with the cream cheese and a sweet pickle vs. dill. You only need to use one slice of salami per roll up .. and about 3 per. I still periodically make these for myself, a version of comfort food.

heyitsashtyn said...

We call them fish eyes.

TS42 said...

A fellow co-worker, originally from Indiana, made these when we worked together in Texas. I moved to Missouri and most everyone here thinks it is disgusting, except my fiance...he loves. We use the exact same ingredients and call them "Pickle Wraps".

dezzy86 said...

We call them Pin Wheels But we use pickle slices not Wholes.

erin said...

I made these and we love them. Thanks for the recipe. I had never heard of them before. :) I linked back to you in my post about making them....

http://abirdandabean.blogspot.com/2012/01/what-weve-been-eating-2.html

Thanks again! They are strange and perfect and delicious.

Crystal Pace said...

My kids absolutely LOVE these and everytime they need to or want to bring a treat to school, this is what they ask for! They are always a great hit at school, home, and parties etc. We call them 'pickle treats'. We make them with a variation of ham, turkey, dried beef, or roast beef. They are Ah-maze-ing! I do however LOVE 'Cowboy sushi' - uber creative!

A'Lona said...

We call these ham rolls as we make them with ham instead of beef & also replace the pickle with a garden onion...

verus77 said...

I was raised in Iowa, and I demanded these for my wedding! Like other postings, we use honey ham and we call them hamickles.

SarahG said...

My family always used ham and green onions. We are from Michigan. But when we moved down south and I met my boyfriend (hes from TN) his family always used pickled okra. My Yankee grandma fell in love with them!! So delish! Also, pat the lunch meat dry- make spreading easier, and then after you roll the Ham Roll (our very boring name for them) put them on a plate and leave in the fridge for a while so the cream cheese hardens a bit and they are easier to cut! I cant wait to try all the different variations!!!

Krumpledwhiskers said...

The only time I've ever seen these is at a wedding in Wisconsin. The midwest thing must be true.

The Good Wife said...

LOL! I'm shocked The Good Husband didn't ask for these at our wedding.

Jessica said...

Okay, I rarely comment on blogs but I have to say WOW!! This is amazing! I stumbled upon your blog via pinterest. Honestly, I had been seeing the picture of your "cowboy sushi" for a while, but thought that it looked kind of gross (reminded me too much of the ham and american cheese roll ups my mom made me eat as a kid) but finally I had seen it too many times and decided to check it out. After reading all of the reviews I had to try it...just to see.

These crazy things are so good! I used what I had on hand dill spears, smoked ham, and cream cheese. So so so good. The only problem is that I only had two spears left so now I am hooked on these and have no more pickles! Thanks for blogging these!

cindy venning said...

This reminded me of something I haven't made in awhile. I would spread cream cheese on a rectangle shaped piece of slice ham. Place a dill pickle across the slice of ham and roll it up and cut into bit size pieces. Was always a hit at parties.

Anonymous said...

This looks simply amazing! So glad it is popping around Pinterest. I love pickles. I love Buddig beef for cream chip beef so I think I'll love this combo.

Katherines Corner said...

Brilliant! fun name too. Thank you for sharing. Hugs!

Unknown said...

We make them just like this and call them pickle roll ups. This is the first time I've seen anyone else that knows about them besides my family!

Tessa said...

I love these! I add horseradish to the cream cheese for some kick!

Unknown said...

My family has made these for years! We use Claussen mini dill pickles, cream cheese and Budding pastrami. There isn't a family gathering I go to that I am not required to bring these. I also am now making them for my in-law family gatherings. I forgot to take them once and got in big trouble! We've just always called them "pickle things" or "pickle roll-ups" but after reading some comments above I'm now going to adopt the "pickle buddies"!

Unknown said...

I was introduced to these about 13 yrs ago and the person that made them called them GREEN EYE MONSTERS!!! Some days we just make them to snack on

Unknown said...

I'm from Minnesota and we always called them Frog's Eyes. My husband's family from Wisconsin calls them Pickle Dogs. But honestly, I might change the name to Cowboy Sushi! It doesn't matter HOW MANY of these little buggers you make, they WILL be gone. Every time.

Unknown said...

I'm from Minnesota and we always called them Frog's Eyes. My husband's family from Wisconsin calls them Pickle Dogs. But honestly, I might change the name to Cowboy Sushi! It doesn't matter HOW MANY of these little buggers you make, they WILL be gone. Every time.

Cupcake Lovers said...

I am casting a NEW game show about foods just like this !!! Contestants can win $10K dollars for most unique dish. Check out our casting site if interested:

https://sharpentertainment.com/casting/frankenfood/

Unknown said...

We call them pickle wraps but I like your name for them better. We add a 1/2 packet dry ranch dressing mix to every 8oz cream chease. Mix the cheese & ranch then spread on ham/beef.

Unknown said...

We used to live in Arkansas, but learned about them from my bro-in-law who was in Missouri, in the airforce. He made them for his sons baby shower. Now, we make them with a good blackforest ham and we call them "Redneck Sushi"!

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Paula said...

I've made these for years! My family LOVES them! We just call them pickle rollups, and one of my little daughters-in-law gave them that name a few years ago. Before that my kids would ask for the pickle thingy's! LOL!! I always knew what they were talking about though. :-) Having a housefull of kids, sometimes calls for reading between the lines to understand what they are talking about! ;-)

Paula said...

I've made these for years! My family LOVES them! We just call them pickle rollups, and one of my little daughters-in-law gave them that name a few years ago. Before that my kids would ask for the pickle thingy's! LOL!! I always knew what they were talking about though. :-) Having a housefull of kids, sometimes calls for reading between the lines to understand what they are talking about! ;-)

Unknown said...

We do pickles or green onions and call them goat peckers too. Wonder where that originated.