Category: Tailgating (Page 7 of 10)

      Hot Dog Friday: Chicago dog

      June 3, 2011 /

      Greetings, fellow food lovers. Last year I did a feature on Grub For Guys on Hot Dogs for July 4 weekend. Being that July 4 is a month away, I’m going to declare Fridays in June Hot Dog Friday and give you a different hot dog recipe each week. But first I will recap the ones I posted last year in that article, and then give you a few new ones for July 4 weekend. First up, the classic Chicago dog:

      Basic Chicago Dog
      True hot dog fans have tasted Chicago style dogs and not wanted to ever have them another way. Trust me, they are that good. Here is our take, and it may or may not be authentic, but it’s close enough.

      Ingredients
      4 all-beef hot dogs
      4 hot dog buns
      Yellow mustard
      ¼ cup sweet relish (bonus points if you can find that neon green stuff they use in the Windy City)
      1 small dill pickle, chopped
      ½ medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
      ½ small tomato, seeded and chopped
      Pickled jalapenos or skinny pickled chili peppers
      Sprinkle of celery salt

      Directions
      Grill dogs on medium high heat, and about 2 minutes into the cooking time, carefully (and by that, I mean without burning your hands off) cut a sliver down the center of each dog, about halfway through it. Turn every minute or so to avoid burning, then assemble by placing a dog in a bun and topping evenly with remaining ingredients.

      Bring on the summertime!

      Ingredients, On the Grille, Recipes, Tailgating

      Product review: Slim Jim Dare

      June 2, 2011 /

      Chef JimSeems like products are getting spicier these days. Last year, Doritos came out with those 1st, 2nd and 3rd Degree Burn flavors. We also recently reviewed some spicy Planter’s peanuts. Now, in Walgreens, of all places, I came across Slim Jim “Dare”–a new line of spicy meat snacks, featuring two flavors–“Freakin’ Hot Jalapeno” and “Really Freakin’ Hot Habanero.”

      I grew up on beef sticks like these–at least as I sort of out-grew candy, I remember my grandfather taking me to the deli and buying me beef sticks, and how I came to love the flavor. Well, the texture of these Slim Jim’s is similar to those that I remember from my childhood–though let’s face it, who knows what kind of mystery meat I’m eating.

      Anyway, the “Freakin’ Hot” is very hot, and takes 5-10 seconds to creep up on you. It is also tasty with a nice, slightly lingering burn. Meanwhile, the “Really Freakin’ Hot” were slightly more tender, but that could be the lot of Slim Jims and not the flavor. These took a good 10 seconds for the heat to kick in, and it was a much stronger burn. Well, duh. But it was really nice for someone that likes spicy food as I do.

      So if you do like spicy food and if you like Slim Jim’s or meat snacks, go grab some of these and as the late “Macho Man” Randy Savage used to say, “Snap into a Slim Jim!”

      Product Reviews, Tailgating, Your Kitchen

      Our new grill

      May 31, 2011 /

      Chef JimSo yesterday my wife and I bought a new grill–mainly because the one we had was on its last leg, had wasp nests growing inside of it, and was blown over by the Great Blizzard of 2011 a few months ago. I had assembled it again and got it to work, but only marginally…it would not even get hot enough so that my hand touching the lid wouldn’t make me jump five feet in the air.

      So we went to Menard’s here in Madison and bought another Char-Broil grill, the same brand we had before that served us well, and because it was only 98 bucks! Only problem…I asked the nice lady in that department how easy it is to put together..she said it was only in 2-3 pieces. Um, no. It was in like a million pieces, complete with instructions most humans cannot comprehend. Now, it was around 2pm and I had no interest in doing this on Memorial Day, not this late when it might take 8 hours for me to complete. But my wife, bless her heart, decided to help me. She also calmed me down a few times when I wanted to throw said million pieces out the window. But hey, piece by piece it came together, and four hours later we were grilling!

      It was a pain, but we accomplished it and the food tasted that much better because of it. But hey, if you buy a grill like this, be warned…..and give yourself plenty of time to put it together. Onward!

      On the Grille, Tailgating, Your Kitchen

      Product review: Blue Diamond Nut-Thins

      May 17, 2011 /

      Chef JimIf you haven’t tried Blue Diamond’s new Nut-Thins, you are in for a treat–especially if you are allergic to wheat products (although there is a disclaimer on the box about that). The fine folks of Blue Diamond have figured out a way to make a cracker out of almonds, even if the main ingredient is rice flour. The second ingredient is pure almonds, and you can surely taste the delcious nutty flavor in each bite.

      The company sent us two flavors–original and smokehouse. The original tastes very much like a flattened rice cake, but a bit more dense from the almonds. The smokehouse has that signature flavor we’ve all come to love from the company’s signature Smokehouse Almonds. And I can attest to one thing that Mrs. Mikey and I both noticed–you absolutely can’t stop eating them, especially the highly addictive smokehouse flavor.

      And the good thing about not being able to put the box down, is that each 16-cracker serving is only 130 calories, 2.5 grams of fat but with a whopping 3 grams of protein. They are baked, not fried, and yet are light and crispy.

      In addition to the flavors we tried, there is also a cheddar flavor almond cracker, as well as hazelnut and pecan versions.

      For more information, go to www.bluediamond.com or just go pluck a box or three off your grocery store shelf.

      Healthy, Product Reviews, Tailgating, Your Kitchen

      Gazpacho for dudes

      May 13, 2011 /

      Well, not just for dudes, but I posted this on Grub for Guys a couple years back and it’s definitely dude-friendly, thanks to my secret weapon, Buffalo wing sauce. The weather reached almost 90 degrees here in Wisconsin earlier this week, so it’s time to start thinking about warm weather fare. So try this one when you have one of those steamy days….

      It’s summer, and you can either embrace that or bide your time until fall. Either way, you can help yourself by eating foods that are warm weather fare—grilled steaks, chicken, salads, and cold pasta are always good choices. And if the thought of cold soup doesn’t scare you, gazpacho is one of the best summer foods, and it’s very easy to make. Here, I came up with my own version that includes a few non-conventional ingredients like avocado, cilantro and Buffalo wing sauce. Give it a whirl in your blender and on your taste buds and let me know how you like it. With that, here we go…..

      Ingredients
      1 ½ cups tomato juice or vegetable juice such as V-8
      3 medium size tomatoes
      ½ small green pepper
      1 celery stalk
      ½ medium cucumber
      1 medium raw jalapeno pepper
      1 small avocado or ½ of a large one
      2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
      2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
      2 Tbsp. commercially made Buffalo Wing sauce
      1/3 cup chopped cilantro
      ½ tsp. Kosher salt
      ¼ tsp. ground black pepper

      Directions
      Cut the tops off the tomatoes and squeeze the pulp and seeds out, then coarsely chop the flesh. Seed the green pepper and coarsely chop. Remove the strings from the celery and coarsely chop.
      Peel and seed the cucumber and coarsely chop it. Seed and chop the jalapeno, using kitchen gloves if possible (or washing your hands immediately afterward…..I hope I don’t need to tell you why!). Then cut the avocado in half, remove the pit, scoop out the flesh and discard the pit and rind. Put all of the vegetables in a blender along with the tomato juice, olive oil, vinegar, wing sauce, cilantro, salt and pepper. Blend or pulse briefly until smooth (shorter time if you prefer a chunkier soup). Refrigerate for 1-2 hours, but you can serve as is if you’re hungry. Serves 4.

      Chef’s note: Before making this, make sure you have a loaf of crusty bread and a good summer beer such as Corona on ice. Now you’ve got a meal!

      Healthy, Ingredients, Recipes, Tailgating, Your Kitchen

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