Chicago Style Mini Corn Dog Muffins

Good morning!.....Sort of.  I guess it is almost 11am.  It feels early though.  I am on a weird schedule that I would love to get off of.  I stay up late and sleep late.  And then I feel like half the day is gone by the time I get moving, which it is.  I guess I shouldn’t complain though….the kids sleep late too.  And by late, I mean 8am…not like noon or anything.  I know we will have to fix this once school starts again, but hey, it’s summer! 

That was quite the ramble wasn’t it. 

Anyhoo, my recipe today is a great one!  It is quick and easy, and kids love it!  I am going to show you how to make Chicago Style Corn Dog Muffins.  I have told you before, I love food on sticks.  And I especially love corn dogs.  But I never quite figured out how to make my own.  Deep frying anything with the stick already in it freaks me out.  How does it not burn?  I started making my corn dogs in muffin form a few years ago.  My kids thought it was the greatest thing ever, and I did too, mainly because it is so easy.  It is essentially just hot dogs in corn muffin batter.  Once you pop them out of the muffin tin, you have your own little corn dog that you can dip in ketchup and enjoy sans sticks.

The best part about muffin corn dogs is that you can add anything you want to the batter…..things that you wouldn’t be able to add to a regular corn dog.  Sure, you can add honey to a regular corn dog or even cheese, but you can’t add pickles!  I add pickles, tomatoes, onion, celery salt and poppy seeds…..just like a Chicago Style hot dog!  Yum!

You can also make these little babies for a great party appetizer.  Corn dogs are an international crown pleaser;)

For my recipe, I use hot dogs (duh), corn muffin mix, red onion, chopped tomato, chopped pickle, extra flour (which I will explain later), sugar, eggs, milk, celery salt and poppy seeds.

I use the cheapy muffin mix, but you can use whatever you like.  You can even make the batter from scratch if you are super chef.

I used red onion, which is actually frowned upon by true Chicagoans.  Sue me.  I prefer red.

Just FYI-a Chicago style hot dog is a hot dog on a poppy seed bun with tomatoes, pickles, onion and celery salt.  It is served with mustard, never ketchup.  I will break that rule too.  That’s just me though…..I’m a rule breaker.  And a lone wolf.

I chopped my hot dogs into coins.  It’s funny that I would use that word because I actually have a fear of coins.  I bet you didn’t know that about me.  Coins freak me out and make me feel sick.  Feel free to laugh at me and discuss my weirdness.  I ALREADY KNOW!

If you are using a mini muffin tin, you will want to chop these up pretty well.  Size matters people.

I fry my hot dogs up for extra flavor.  The browness makes for extra yumminess!

In this bowl is 2 boxes of muffin batter, 2 eggs, milk, sugar and flour.  I use a little bit of sugar to sweeten my batter.  I think this makes for a tastier corn dog.  The flour is to combat the wetness of the tomatoes and pickles.  Just a little extra binder.

The brown stuff you see is celery salt.  Every Chicago Style Hot Dog worth its salt (celery) has this.

Once I stirred that together, and the batter will be lumpy, I added my chopped tomatoes, onions and pickles.  And the hot dogs, obviously.

I mixed this all up.

I scooped my batter into a mini muffin tin.  My kids like anything mini, and I like pretending I’m at a cocktail party.

I sprinkled poppy seeds over the top to mimic a poppy seed bun.

These baked for about 10 minutes.  Once they cooled a bit, I popped them out of the tray.  Remember to grease your pans!

So cute!  And they taste just like a Chicago Style hot dog….and a corn dog.

If you don’t like Chicago Style hot dogs, you could obviously just make plain corn dog muffins.  You could also add honey to the batter, or cheese, etc.  Make these your own!  What does your family like?

So good!  And so good dipped in ketchup!  Sorry Chicago.

Look at that hot dog.  I swear it is 10 times better just because I browned the hot dogs.  This step shouldn’t be skipped.

I hope you make these for your family!  Your kids will love it!  I might even send mine over.

Chicago Style Corn Dog Muffins

2 8.5 oz. packages Corn Muffin Mix

2 eggs

2/3 cup milk

1 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon celery salt

5 hot dogs, chopped and browned in a sauté pan

¾ cup tomatoes, chopped

¾ cup pickles, chopped

½ cup onion, chopped

2 teaspoons poppy seeds

Cooking spray

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees and spray 2 mini muffin tins (24 count) with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, stir together muffin mix, eggs, milk, flour, sugar and celery salt.  Batter will be lumpy.

Next, stir in chopped pickles, tomatoes and onion.  Gently fold in hot dogs.

Scoop batter into muffin tins, about 2/3 full.  Sprinkle tops with poppy seeds.

Bake at 300 degrees for about 10 minutes, or until lightly browned on top.  Once cooled, remove from muffin tins.

Makes 48 mini muffins.

Pulled Pork BBQ Enchiladas

Good morning!  I am up and at ‘em early today.  Well, early for me.  The girls have been sleeping late since they are out of school so it is hard to motivate to do anything in the morning.  Mostly, I watch Sons of Anarchy on Netflix while I wait for them to wake up.  Have you watched it?  It is an amazing show.  I can’t believe it took me this long to start watching it.  God bless the good people at Netflix.

Back to food…..My mom showed me this amazing find from Costco about a year or so ago.  I never really go to Costco for the same reasons I try not to go to Target.  I spend way too.  Also, who needs 150 yogurt cups.  I guess if I had a huge family I could see going more often, but a family of 4 probably doesn’t need to hit the Costco too often. 

Anyway, this is the amazing find….the goods, if you will;)

Have you had this?  It is pulled pork that you just have to re-heat in the microwave.  It is smoky and tender with little bits of charred pieces throughout.  You add your own sauce, so this just screamed out to me.  I happen to have access to some pretty good BBQ sauce.

I bought some last week, and I decided to try a new recipe with it.  I made Pulled Pork BBQ Enchiladas, and they were amazing.  They are the perfect meal to feed a crowd, and they also freeze like a champ.  This would be such a great meal to give to a new mom or someone else that deserves a good hearty meal.  Let me show you how I made them.

Besides the pulled pork, I also used corn, black beans, shredded cheese and red onion.

And tortillas, enchilada sauce and Gourmet Rooster Smokehouse Bacon BBQ Sauce.

I know that corn tortillas are typically used in enchiladas.  I use flour for two reasons.  The first is that I like flour tortillas better.  My kitchen, my rules;)  Second, I think that enchiladas are easier to make with flour tortillas.  They roll better.  Corn tortillas fall apart so easily and when you make enchiladas with them you have to dip the tortillas in oil and enchilada sauce just to make them pliable.  With flour, you skip those steps.  I’m all about ease.  I think that is due to my extreme laziness.  Seriously, I’m lazy.  I’m having a hard time even writing this when I could be watching Sons of Anarchy;)

I kid.  I love to write for you.

In this bowl is corn, black beans, cheese and BBQ sauce.  I used a can of corn.  If you are super fresh and natural, feel free to use fresh corn.  Again, I’m lazy.  But I did manage to rinse my beans and drain my corn.  Just barely.

Next, I added about half the package of pulled pork and mixed.  This pork smells heavenly.  You would never know that I didn’t have this outside in a smoker for 8 hours.  Well, you would know if you were in my backyard seeing as though I don’t have a smoker.  But you get my point.

Mixed.

I also whisked together a can of enchilada sauce and more BBQ sauce.  If I wasn’t feeding kids I would have probably gone with Smoky Chipotle BBQ sauce, but Smokehouse Bacon is an excellent choice too.

I used a 13x9 pan for these enchiladas.  I lined my pan with foil for easier clean-up.  I poured enough of my enchilada/BBQ sauce in the bottom of the pan to cover it.  Since my tortillas don’t get dipped in the sauce, I need sauce on the top and bottom to make the enchiladas nice and enchilada-ey.

Now I’m ready to roll, literally and figuratively.  I spooned filling down the side of a tortilla, probably about ¼ to ½ a cup.  You will see when I show you my full pan that I was a little aggressive on the first….it is fatter than the rest.  You will find your rhythm.

See?  Fatty on the left. 

I packed about 8 into my pan.  I came out pretty even as I only had a smidge of filling left.  I ate that to take care of that problem.

I poured the remaining sauce all over the top, making sure to cover everything.  I sprinkled cheese over that, and then red onion over the cheese.

At this point, you can cover the whole thing tightly with foil and freeze.  When you are ready to bake, just let it sit out on your counter all day to defrost.

I was ready to eat, so I baked mine right away.  I baked this, covered with foil, for 30 minutes.  Then, I removed the foil and baked an additional 20 minutes.

These smelled amazing.  I could smell the BBQ deliciousness, but also the Mexican flavors. 

Yum.  These turned out even better than I was hoping for.  They smoky BBQ sauce works so well with the pork and enchilada sauce.  This was definitely a welcome change from plain enchiladas.

Chris loved it….my kids loved it…..Of course, I loved it.  It is food after all.

For you purists, you can make this with corn tortillas, but give flour a shot.  It is easier, and I think better.  You all know where to get Gourmet Rooster BBQ sauce now, right?

Pulled Pork BBQ Enchiladas

1 pound Kirkland Smoked Pulled Pork

15 ¼ ounces corn, drained

15 ½ ounces black beans, rinsed and drained

3 cups shredded Mexican Blend Cheese, divided

2 cups Gourmet Rooster Smokehouse Bacon BBQ Sauce, divided

28 ounces Enchilada Sauce

½ cup red onion, chopped

8-10 flour tortillas

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, stir together pork, corn, black beans, 1 cup of BBQ sauce and 1 ½ cups of cheese.  Set aside.

Line a 13x9 pan with foil.  Whisk together enchilada sauce and remaining BBQ sauce.  Pour enough sauce into the bottom of the pan to completely cover.

Fill each tortilla with about ¼ cup to ½ a cup of filling and roll tightly.  Fill pan with rolled and filled tortillas.  Cover with remaining sauce.  Sprinkle on remaining cheese and red onion. 

Bake enchiladas, covered with foil, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Remove foil and bake an additional 20 minutes.  Let cool slightly before serving.

Makes 8-10 enchiladas

Roasted Red Pepper Gazpacho with Garlic Lime Shrimp

Hi guys.  How are you?  It’s hot here.  Like burning depths of hell hot.  I think it is supposed to be over 100 degrees every day this week.  It is supposed to be 103 on Thursday, which is fantastic since I have a Farmer’s Market is Sparks.  Everybody wants to sample BBQ sauce when it is a bazillion degrees, right?  No, you say?  You’re right.  I’m not looking forward to it.  Although I do get to be in the shade so it should be a cool and breezy 95 under my tent/canopy thing.  I shouldn’t complain, I guess.  At least I’m not in Vegas;)

Since it was so hot, and since I have been at so many Farmer’s Markets….I decided to make gazpacho yesterday.  Do you know what gazpacho is?  It is a cold, tomato and other veggie soup.  It is Spanish in origin.  And it is good. I jazz mine up a bit by roasting my red peppers.  This gives the soup a smoky taste that works so well with the sweet tomatoes and cool cucumbers. 

I barley used the stove to make this soup, so there was no unnecessary heating of my house.  Plus, I got to use my Farmer’s Market bounty.  Let me show you what I had to work with….

I got this all at the Summit Farmer’s Market in South Reno.  Beautiful tomatoes, red bell peppers, little Persian cucumbers, fresh garlic, basil and a shallot…….Isn’t it pretty?  And I’m not even normally a huge veggie fan, which you all know, but something about seeing it all at a Farmer’s Market makes me want to eat it.  My veggies were grown in Yerington, NV and Yuba City, CA.

Like I said above, I barley used the stove….but I did use it a bit.  I roasted my peppers on my gas grill.  If you don’t have a gas grill, feel free to use your broiler, or buy a jar of roasted red pepper.  But don’t skip the roasted red peppers.  That is what gives this gazpacho its yummy flavor.

I just set the pepper directly on the burner.  I let it cook on each side until it was charred and blistered.  Paisley came out and asked me if I was cooking bacon, and Addy asked if I had started a campfire.  No to both.  I still think it is strange that she asked me if I started a fire in the house….as if that is something that I might do.  But yes, this will smell a bit.  Not in a bad way, more in a bonfire sort of way.

Once the peppers were charred all over, I put them in a zip bag to steam for a couple of minutes.  This will help loosen the skin.

When you take them out of the bag, the skins will come right off with a paper towel.  I leave some of the char because I think that adds great flavor.

Roasting a red pepper really brings out its flavor.  It makes the peppers smoky, but still pretty sweet.  Roasting a bell pepper completely changes the flavor…..it is nothing like a plain raw bell pepper.

As for the tomatoes……

I like to take the skins off of the tomatoes, but that step is totally optional.  I prefer without, you may prefer you gazpacho with skins.

I cut the stems out of each tomato, and I also scored an “X” onto the top of each.  This will help the skins come loose after these tomatoes take a hot bath.

I dropped the tomatoes into simmering water and let them cook for about 30 to 45 seconds.  Then, I pulled them out and let them cool for just a minute.  Then, the skins peeled right off.  It’s like magic.  Weird, tomato magic.

As for the rest of the veggies, I peeled and cut my cucumbers into chunks, chunked up the shallot, took the basil leaves off of their stems and peeled two cloves of garlic.

I also used sherry vinegar, good olive oil and a lime in my gazpacho.  And salt and pepper but you know those two never make my pictures.

Everybody in the blender!  Now obviously, if everything doesn’t fit….do it in batches.  I started with everything but the tomatoes.  I made sure to add the oil, vinegar and lime to the batch with the cucumbers, basil, and peppers.  This will need the extra moisture to get the blender blending.  Once this was blended, I poured it into a bowl and went to work on the naked tomatoes.  Then, dump that in the bowl and mix it all up.

Isn’t that a pretty color?

Once everything was blended and mixed, I popped the soup into the fridge for about an hour.  This is a cold soup, remember?

I blended my soup till it was pretty smooth.  You can choose your own texture.  As with life, some prefer chunky;)

I top my soup with the tiniest bit of olive oil before serving.  But wait….I also have another addition that makes this gazpacho even more amazing.

I add shrimp!

I sautéed my shrimp in butter, garlic and lime juice.

Like so.

Are you kidding me?  Doesn’t that just scream summer to you?  The gazpacho is cool and refreshing, but sweet and smoky at the same time.  The shallot gives it an onion taste, but it doesn’t compete with the garlic.  And the fresh basil really tops this off.

And the shrimp?  Don’t even get me started.  The shrimp rocks.  It works perfectly with the gazpacho. 

Wouldn’t you love to serve this at a summer party?  You can serve it in shot glasses with just one shrimp on the side of the glass for a perfect appetizer.  So, so cute!!

Again, yum!  I hope you try this recipe.  If you can come to a Farmer’s Market in Reno or Sparks….the farmer from Yerington is right next to me;)

Roasted Red Pepper Gazpacho with Garlic Lime Shrimp

About 5 or 6 medium to large assorted tomatoes

1/3 cup basil

1 shallot

2 cloves garlic

4 Persian cucumbers

2 red bell peppers

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

Juice of 1 lime

¼ cup sherry vinegar

¼ cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling over top

Roast bell peppers directly over gas burner.  Place peppers in plastic zip top bag for 2 minutes to steam.  Wipe away skins with paper towels.

Remove stems from tomatoes and score an “x” onto the top of each tomato.  Drop tomatoes into simmering water and let cook for about 45 seconds.  Remove tomatoes from water and let cool.  Peel off skins.

Cut the vegetables into chunks.  Place vegetables into blender with olive oil, lime juice, sherry vinegar and salt & pepper.  Blend in batches.  Pour soup into a bowl and mix well if pureed in batches.  Chill for at least one hour.

Garlic Lime Shrimp:

½ pound tail-on, raw shrimp

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 clove of garlic, smashed

Juice of one lime

Melt butter in a sauté pan with olive oil.  Sauté shrimp with smashed garlic clove for about 1 minute until shrimp are pink and cooked through.  Squeeze in lime juice.  Serve with gazpacho.

Serves 8-10

Blueberry Pork Chops!

Happy almost Independence Day!  I love the 4^th of July.  I always have.  I used to love going to the parade in Clayton, CA.  It is such a cute, small town parade.  I am sure they have something like that here in Reno/N. Nevada….I just don’t know where.  We will sleep in (yay!) and go to a BBQ later in the day.  We will watch fireworks, of course.  That’s the best part!  I love fireworks!!

I’m not going to give you another 4^th of July recipe today…..I am sure you already have your menu picked;)  Right?  You all totally plan ahead…..I am sure.  I do, however, have a kick-ass summer recipe for you.  You don’t even have to turn on your stove.  Ok, you do if you want to make homemade croutons.  You can skip that and used bagged ones if you absolutely don’t want to turn your stove on.  Are you dying to know what the recipe is?  Is the suspense killing you?

This, my friends, is a blueberry pork chop salad.  I know, I know…it sounds weird.  Just trust me.  I marinate the pork chops in a delicious blueberry and mustard marinade.  Then, I grilled them and served them over a salad filled with shallots, cucumbers, goat cheese, fresh blueberries and a yummy blueberry dressing.  It was so crazy good.  You will want blueberry pork chops all the time.

I was telling my mom about this recipe and she was skeptical, in true Carol fashion.  But the pork really works well with the sweetness of blueberries and the tang of mustard.  I love the sweet with the tangy.  And blueberries are super abundant right now, so why not take advantage. 

The first step is to make the dressing/marinade.  I used garlic, a shallot, Dijon mustard, olive oil, apple cider vinegar and blueberry preserves.  You can also see my pork chops above.  I used boneless chops that were on the thinner side. 

These will grill super-fast, and they were also crazy cheap!

I chopped my shallot pretty finely.  I think a shallot is milder than an onion, but nobody wants a huge piece in their dressing.

Everyone in the pool!

Once I whisked the olive oil in….this was ready.

Oh yeah, I also seasoned this with salt and pepper which didn’t make the picture.

I put my chops in a re-sealable plastic bag and covered the chops with about half of the dressing.  I marinated this all day.  I popped the bag in the fridge and just let it go.

Isn’t the color pretty?  I love blueberries…they turn everything a really pretty purple.

I poured the rest of the dressing into a container and popped that in the fridge also.  Make sure that you do not mix your dressing used for marinating and your dressing that will top the salad.  The two shall never meet and mingle.  In fact, once the marinade has served its purpose, I toss it.  You can’t eat it as it could have nasty little pork germs in it.

I grilled my chops on my indoor grill.  Once again, it was too windy to BBQ here.  I swear our new house is in a giant wind tunnel. 

I grilled these for about 5 minutes.  If you are using your outdoor grill, I would say these would be done in about 8 minutes total, 4 per side.  Try not to overcook your pork.  Pork chops get a bad rap for being dry, but if you are careful not to overcook them….they don’t get dry.  I take mine off a smidge early because they will continue to cook while they are resting.

In the meantime, I did make some homemade croutons.  I happened to have some sourdough bread, so I had no choice but to make some.  Homemade croutons from sourdough bread are the best and ridiculously easy.

All I did was toss my cubes into a combination of butter and oil.  I added some garlic salt and pepper and browned the cubes on both sides.  These are heaven in a bread cube.

I chopped some more shallots for my actual salad and some cucumbers.  I also rinsed some fresh blueberries.  You can add whatever you like on your salad.

I used mixed greens and some goat cheese too.  I sliced my pork really thin and topped my salad with the pork and dressing.  Oh man, this was a good salad.  Everything worked together perfectly…..the pork, blueberries, goat cheese, etc.  I felt light and healthy eating it.  And the best part was that I didn’t have to heat up my kitchen!

These pork chops would be fabulous on their own, using the dressing as a sauce….you don’t have to make a salad out of it.  But doesn’t a salad like this feel so summery?

Don’t be a skeptical Sue like my mom….try this!  You will love it!

Blueberry Pork Chops

2 tablespoons shallot, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

¼ cup Dijon mustard

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

¼ cup blueberry preserves

¾ cup olive oil

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

1 to 1 ½ pounds boneless pork chops

Whisk together shallot, garlic, mustard, preserves, vinegar, salt, pepper and olive oil.  Pour ½ of this mixture over pork chops.  Marinate pork chops for at least 4 hours in the refrigerator.  Pour remaining dressing into a container and chill.

Pre-heat grill.  Drain marinade off pork chops and discard.  Grill pork chops for about 4 minutes per side or until cooked through.  Serve with chilled dressing.