Game Day Snack Week 7 - Sweet n Tangy Dogs

So this week is definitely an easy snack, and halfway cheating on being creative. My husband and I only had Saturday to get him a new baseball autograph at a show for a picture he has been doing, pick up our baby stroller before they sold out of the one we wanted, pack, get my husband a hair cut, have him pick up his new glasses and have our exterminator come to do an outside soil treatment to keep the house safe from pests for the next year. Sounds like a lot, huh?

Since we're going on our last minor jaunt before I can't travel much anymore, we had a lot to cram in on one solitary weekend day. So I needed this week's recipe to be easy.

I found this AWESOME recipe for a delicious sounding watermelon slushee (sans alcohol for me) that I wanted to try but we didn't have watermelon in the house and I just didn't feel like going to buy some (especially since it is so overpriced now because it is not watermelon season!) So that recipe will be done another time. It would have been easy to make for the afternoon but oh well.

SO instead, I used my dinner from Friday night to be my inspiration. I had turkey dogs (hot dogs for people who don't eat turkey dogs), so I found a way to dress it up into something more unique, and add some fruit into it as well! My combination turned out tasting fantastic.

I had a cheddar and red grape hot dog. YUM!! I always like having cheese on my hot dogs, so that was nothing new. We had a bunch of red grapes in the house because I have been on a grape kick, so I sliced a few up.

After the hot dog was cooked, I put a thin layer of ketchup down, then some grapes, then a little more ketchup and then some shredded cheddar. This combination resulted in a very sweet and tangy taste and I definitely enjoyed it.

I knew the fruit would work from when I made the Surf Dogs back in the summer of 2010 and those had pineapple on them. And it is a good way to sneak some fruit into a fussy little one that doesn't want to eat healthy!

I could also see finely dicing some onion and sprinkling that on the dog as well.

This is obviously very easy to make, and can be made on the road if you have all your ingredients prepared. (like chopping grapes and onions and bringing them already cut). You can use it on mini cocktail wieners or full sized dogs.

It's a fantastic game day food.

So, enjoy your football games this week! And if anyone has any requests or ideas for something they would like to see, leave a comment or go to the Facebook fan page and leave a suggestion!

And sorry for the lack of creativity but vacation calls. Next week I will have a special Halloween treat!

Baked Corn Dogs...

Well, when I started this blog I said I was going to talk about the good, the bad and the ugly. The stuff I have put up so far has been good. I promise. My husband won't really eat stuff to be polite when I make it, and he'd tell me if it wasn't great, or needed more salt or pepper or whatever. But the other day, I definitely had "an ugly." The recipe below was definitely my most ambitious, and messiest, project to date.

Going with my love for hot dogs, and the fact that I still had a bunch of cocktail wieners left over from when I made the Surf Dogs, I wanted to try making baked corn dogs. I wanted to do them baked in an effort to try and be a little healthier. I searched the Internet and found some recipes. Ultimately I chose this one, from MarthaStewart.com:

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled + a tiny bowl set aside for dusting hot dogs.
2/3 cup yellow cornmeal ( I ended up using white because we had it in the house and research told me they were interchangeable)
2 teaspoons baking powder
salt and pepper (the directions gave amounts, but after trying them, this is definitely a season to taste thing!)

2/3 cup milk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vegetable oil

4 big hot dogs or about 12 cocktail wieners

your favorite condiment for serving

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 F

Line baking sheet with parchment paper and spread a little shortening over it so it won't stick

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper (the salt and pepper is where I suggest you season to taste. I needed a lot more of each). Make a well in center; add milk, eggs, and oil. Mix just until combined.

Insert an ice-pop stick into one end of each hot dog, leaving a 1 1/2-inch handle. (Those were the actual directions. I didn't have any ice-pop sticks in the house, PLUS I was using the cocktail wieners so I just wanted to try and make little nugget type things).

Dust with flour; tap off excess. Using handle, rotate each hot dog over bowl as you spoon batter to coat evenly. Place on sheet; bake 5 minutes. Remove from oven. Using a spatula, reapply batter that has slipped onto sheet. Return to oven; bake until golden, 20 minutes.


Now... my baking sheet was anything but pretty, as you can see from the picture. The batter was SO sticky that I was having a hard time making things into nice pretty nuggets and I was just happy if the entire cocktail wiener was covered in dough. So everything was just a little blob on the baking sheet, wherever it fell.



It baked up okay; I probably would have put it in for 5 less minutes. But then I tasted it...it wasn't gross...but... there wasn't much taste. The dough needed something else.. a spice or more salt and pepper. Plus, the baking takes away from the fried goodness of a true corn dog. I used ketchup with it which definitely helped the situation and gave the nugget more taste...so I will be able to eat these for lunch or something one day.

If anyone has any tips or tricks for working with sticky dough... or if they have a good baked corn dog recipe, please send them my way!!

But next time...I think I will try making a true corn dog, even if they are fried!

Back to Hot Dogs

So...back to my love for hot dogs. One night for dinner a few weeks back, I just couldn't figure out what to make. My husband wasn't that hungry and just wanted pancakes. I didn't.

So, I settled on my tried and true hot dog (well, turkey dogs). I needed a little flair though... so I chopped some romaine lettuce, heated up some leftover baked macaroni and cheese I had made with veggies in it, and used both to top my hot dog with along with ketchup.

Sounds gross? Maybe to some. But it was delicious! I like putting cheese on my hot dogs anyway... I usually use ketchup and some shredded cheddar. But I wanted to be creative and it turned into a fabulous fun dinner. Classy? Heck no! But delicious as anything :-)

Surf Dogs

I LOVE hot dogs. I really do - there's nothing better or more satisfying sometimes. It bugs the living sh*t out of me that my husband won't touch them. Something about a traumatic experience choking on one as a kid. Please. Recently my Food Network magazine had a whole spread on yummy ways to dress up your hot dog. I was so excited! When we were invited to a block party, it was my perfect opportunity to try one out. I chose the "Surf Dog." It seemed like a refreshing choice for a hot (and I mean like, over 100 degrees hot) day.

The recipe called for grilling the hot dogs with a teriyaki glaze and then topping them with a mixture of chopped pineapple, red onions, scallions, red bell pepper, cayenne, salt and pepper. Here is how I changed the recipe.

First, I used cocktail wieners for a more appetizer-like dish. I mixed soy, teriyaki and worcestershire sauce in a pot and boiled the little cocktail wieners in there for a few minutes, poking them with toothpicks so the flavor would become infused into the dogs. Then, I made the toppings into a salsa. I used crushed pineapple and finely chopped red onions, scallions and red bell peppers. I mixed it all together in a bowl and instead of cayenne, I used paprika, sea salt and black pepper.

I cut regular sized hot dog buns into thirds, placed the cocktail wiener inside and topped it with my salsa mixture. Voila! The dish went over well at the block party and everyone was intrigued at this new way to eat a hot dog. Try it out!