Zweigle's Hot Dogs - Red or White?!

For anyone who comes from New York, the name "Zweigle's" means a lot. Zweigle's is like Hatch green chili to us New Mexicans. Zweigle's originates from Rochester New York and can only be found in east coast stores such as Wegmens. Zweigle's is a family owned business that has operated for more than 128 years! When buying Zweigle's hot dogs, you have the hard decision to make - red or white? It is almost as difficult as the decision, red or green?

A Zweigle's white hot dog a sweet sausage like taste and is encased in the "it pops when it's done" casing. The red hot dog tastes more like a traditional hot dog but it has the Zweigle's taste that cannot be duplicated. It is like saying at a California Mexican restaurant, we have green chili when in reality, it is made from anaheim green chili instead of Hatch green chili - the New Mexico Hatch chili flavor is uniquely New Mexican, so much so that there is now a law saying nobody can call their chili Hatch green chili unless they have proof of its planting.

Back to hot dogs - with Zweigle's you can eat them in a traditional hot dog bun, plain, with mac and cheese, and the infamous "garbage plate" which will be discussed shortly.  First of all, how do you cook Zweigle's to perfection? Do not boil them as they are meant to be grilled. You know the hot dog is done when the skin starts to pop and crack.

Zweigle's White Hots

So, what is a Zweigle's garbage plate? It is a plate of deliciousness that looks horrible but tastes mmm mmm good. A garbage plate consists of Zweigle's hot dogs or hamburger patty, tater tots or fries, potato salad, relish, ketcup, mustard, and a ground meat chili sauce. To make the garbage plate, simply pile all of the above items on top of each other and enjoy :)

Garbage Plate

If anyone goes to New York and wants to bring me back a package of Zweigle's, I would be extremely happy!

A hint of Asian - Sweet and Sour Chicken

On August 5, Dr. Gail on the Today Show discussed what drives people to comfort foods. For me, eating sweet foods, whether it be an ice cream sundae with hot fudge, warm apple pie, or sweet and sour chicken, makes me feel very satisfied :) 

Since last Friday I was craving sweet and sour chicken. My options were to go to Panda Express, get a commercial size bag of sweet and sour chicken from Costco, get a to-go order from our favorite restaurant, ABC Chinese (btw, The Alibi made a mistake by calling me one of the ladies in the photo), or be creative and cook our own chicken and have something to blog about! Actually, my lovely wife made the chicken and I helped make the sauce.



Sweet and Sour Chicken - American style

At most restaurants the sweet and sour sauce is orange and consists of pineapple chunks. We decided to forgo the American sauce and opt for a healthier version. Here is how you make that delicious sauce sans the pineapple and orange food coloring.

1. Pour 3/4 cup sugar into small pot
2. Add 3/4 cup white vinegar into pot
3. Add 1 cup to pot
4. Boil pot ingredients
5. While the mixture starts to boil, in a separate bowl, mix 1/2 cup cornstarch with 1 cup water. Don't make the mistake of adding corn starch directly into boiling mixture or else you'll have big clumps of corn starch floating!
6. Slowly pour and stir the corn starch mixture into boiling pot, this will thicken the sauce
7. If you wish to have a restaurant-style sauce, add a few drops of orange food coloring

To make the delicious chicken, you will need:

• 2 chicken breasts cut into small chunks
• 2 cups flour
• 2 large eggs
• 1.5 cups water
• Salt & pepper (1 Add tsp each)
• Canola oil for frying (enough oil to cover chicken pieces)

To make this great comfort food dish:

1. In a large mixing bowl, add the flower, eggs, water and salt/pepper
2. Mix the ingredients together. Add water as needed to make batter thick but not watery, pancake batter consistency
3. Add the chicken and coat all pieces with batter
4. Heat oil in wok
5. Carefully add chicken pieces into oil
6. Remove chicken and place on paper towel to drain excess oil
7. Pour above sauce over the chicken and enjoy!

This was the first time my wife made sweet and sour chicken at home. From this moment on, I will not be eating sweet and sour chicken at restaurants unless one of these conditions are met: I am far from home, my wife isn't home to help me make the chicken, or I am craving sweet and sour chicken so much that I cannot wait the necessary 15 minutes to cook :)

Gumbo!

Benjamin Buford Blue, aka "Bubba" from Forrest Gump said, "Anyway, like I was sayin', shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that's about it. "

I decided to make turkey sausage and shrimp gumbo tonight. This dish is a great soul food, especially after coming from work with a case of "the Monday's" :) I have never had true gumbo, so I apologize to true gumbo afictionado's... all I know is that this tastes great and I've seen on Food Network a gumbo looking like mine.

You will need:

• 1 lb turkey sausage (healthy alternative) or anduille sausage
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1/2 yellow onion
• 1/2 bag frozen okra
• 1 can roasted tomatoes
• 1/2 bag frozen mixed vegetables
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups prepared white rice
• 1 lb peeled white shrimp
• Salt and pepper

Bowl of warm gumbo for the soul

1. Brown the sausage in a dutch oven over medium heat
2. Add shrimp and cook until it is pink
3. Remove shrimp and sausage from dutch oven and place into large bowl
4. Add all vegetables and chicken broth, scraping the yummy brown bits with non-scratching spatula
5. When vegetables are tender, place sausage and shrimp back into bowl
6. Season with cumin, paprika, garlic powder and stir
7. Add prepared rice and stir into mixture
8. Add canned tomatoes and 1/2 cup water
9. Cover and cook for 15 minutes

Serve this comfort food with crunch french bread and cold drink!

Pizza and Baked Chicken Wings

I feel it is an American tradition that while watching sports on TV, my preferred sport is the Boston Red Sox, that one must eat pizza and a side. For Sunday's winning game against the Chicago White Sox, I cooked chicken wings and made a white pizza.

What is the difference between white pizza and red pizza? Red pizza is typically made with tomato sauce or marinara. White pizza is made with a white cream sauce such as alfredo cheese or a simple garlic olive oil as was the case with my pizza.

You will need:

• 15 chicken wings
• Seasoning - mesquite or Albukirky Seasoning
• 1 medium pizza dough ball - you can buy from your local pizzeria such as Dion's ($2-3)
• Pizza toppings - green chili, red onion, green pepper, seeded roma tomato
• 1 - 2 cups mozzarella cheese
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons EVOO

Crunchy and healthy baked chicken wings

So, how do you make crunchy baked chicken wings?

1. Marinate wings with seasoning for 30 minutes
2. Steam wings in a steamer tray for 10 minutes - steaming will allow excess fat to drip and prevents smoke from forming in the oven when the chicken bakes
3. Place steamed wings in fridge for 1 hour
4. Heat oven to 425 degrees
5. Sprinkle additional seasoning on wings
6. Place wings on baking sheet
7. After 20 minutes, take the wings out and turn them over
8. Bake for another 15 minutes
9. Pizza stone

Yummo Pizza

For pizza, you can bake it or if you are good with an outdoor grill, attempt to grill it - see Albukirky's blog about grilling pizza. I am not great with the outdoor grill and as a result, prefer to bake indoors. 

1. Heat pizza stone in 425 oven
2. Mince garlic and cook in sautee pan with olive oil until fragrant, remove from stove and let cool 
3. Flower a large flat surface such as a pizza peel
4. Roll pizza dough into circle on top of flowered surface
5. Pour and spread garlic olive oil mixture on top of dough
6. Spread a layer of cheese on pizza
7. Place toppings on cheese
8. Spread more cheese on top
9. Carefully move pizza on to stone using pizza peel
10. Bake in 425 oven for 20 minutes

Now you have yourself a great tasting pizza without the hassle of waiting for delivery/carry out and saving yourself $$

Quinoa Chicken Stir-Fry

I've been making a lot of great food lately but haven't found time to update this wonderful place known as my BLOG :) A fab co-worker of mine asked me the other day, is BLOG an acronym for something? BLOG is actually a shortened version of the phrase, "web log" and it was coined in 1997 by John Barger.

Last week, I made quinoa after having a cranberry quinoa at The Corn Maiden for our anniversary on July 21. What is quinoa you ask?

Quinoa ( /ˈkiːnwɑː/ or /kɨˈnoʊ.ə/, Spanish: quinua, from Quechua: kinwa), a species of goosefoot(Chenopodium), is a grain-like crop grown primarily for its edible seeds. It is a pseudocereal rather than a true cereal, or grain, as it is not a member of the grass family. As a chenopod, quinoa is closely related to species such as beets, spinach, and tumbleweeds.

You will need:

• 2/3 cup quinoa - you can find this at your local grocer in the grains
• 1 diced chicken breast
• 1/2 lb cleaned sugar snap peas
• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 1/2 yellow onion or substitute 2 green onions
• Handful cilantro
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• Salt & pepper

Quinoa Chicken Stir-Fry

So, how do you attempt to make this grain? Start off by boiling a cup of water, add a tablespoon of butter and then add 2/3 cup of quinoa. After the quinoa is boiling, cover the pot and lower the temperature to low and cook for 15 minutes.

While the quinoa is cooking (you know it is done when all of the grains open) - sautee a diced chicken breast and season with salt and pepper. When the chicken is 1/2 cooked, add sugar snap peas, onions and red bell peppers.

Remove the quinoa and place into pan containing cooked chicken and vegetables. Turn off the heat and add a tablespoon of sesame oil and adjust salt to taste. Top with a handful a cilantro and enjoy! This may look like it will taste like healthy food but trust me, it is great and this little grain also packs a lot of energy.