Last time I posted Rochester Style Garbage Plates, it was an ode to Nick Tahou on his birthday, the evil genius behind piling greasy foods on a plate, leaving behind a legacy and tradition for all Rochester natives.

A Garbage Plate is a loaded dish of crispy home fries, hot sauce, macaroni salad and cheeseburgers topped with raw onions, condiments and slices of white bread.

This time around it to celebrate hubby and his friends traveling up to Buffalo, New York this weekend for a Buffalo Bills game.  In his mind, nothing says fall football more than spicier-than-h*ll buffalo wings and Garbage Plates.

I know what you are thinking… “What in the world is a garbage plate??  I just see a pile of random food!”  Ding, ding, ding- you got it! Garbage plates come in many varieties, but they are all comprised of three basic layers: the base, meat and toppings.

The base is generally crispy home fries and sometimes French fries. I liked to make mine in giant cubes, but to each their own.

Next comes more carbs in the form of macaroni salad. For a garbage plate, a dry mac salad made a day ahead of time is best. All the other condiments will result in it being too saucy if your mac salad is a wet one.

But hey, if you are into that kind of thing, who am I to stop you?

The one ingredient that never changes is what garbage plate goers call Rochester Hot Sauce. Not the usual Texas Pete, but instead beef simmered in onion, garlic, tomato sauce and spices to an almost chili-like consistency, but ironically not very spicy.

Every “hots” store will have their own proprietary hot sauce, so there isn’t one right way to make it.

The base can consist of macaroni salad, baked beans, home fries or French fries. The meat layer can be just about any piece of meat, or non-meat, you can think of!

A traditional plate uses cheeseburgers or hamburgers, but you can also mix it up and get hot dogs, grilled cheese, fried fish, steak, Italian sausage or fried chicken fingers. Some people don’t use any meat and that is okay too. This is a lot of food!

The toppings range from fried eggs, extra cheese, raw onion, sauteed onion, mustard, ketchup or relish.  All plates are served with a side of plain white bread (untoasted) with butter packets to mop up the extra sauce.

The goal being to end up with a clean plate.

Not down for this long process, but want to try a plate?  You can always purchase pre-made macaroni salad, canned mild chili and frozen home fries.

Another little fact, health.com has rated the Garbage Plate the fattiest food in the entire state of New York, so please consume in moderation!

Be honest… would YOU eat a Garbage Plate???