Oct 14 2010

The Heart Attack Grill

Dan and I spent the past weekend on a mini getaway to Arizona. The real reason behind the trip was to attend a friend’s wedding, but we planned a few other things while there. It was the hubs wish to go to a place he had read about on the Internet. The Heart Attack Grill in Chandler, Arizona. We were staying in Chandler, so we thought we’d give it a try. We checked into the resort and then headed out on a mission to clog our arteries with calorie laden food.

A Heart Attack Grill branded ambulance was parked right outside of the restaurant. The place was located in a strip mall parking lot and kind of looked deserted. The front doors were painted white with red warning signs everywhere. “Taste worth dying for” – etc. We both kind of looked at each other and laughed. We walked through the front doors and it was much like a Quentin Tarantino movie set.

You thought I was kidding? You can see the menu on the poster – that is all they have. Huge burgers cooked with butter, flatliner fries, full sugar soda, beer and unfiltered cigarettes and did I mention scantily clad nurse costumed waitresses? or that it had nurse mannequins?

We sat in chairs at the burger counter. It took me a few seconds to realize that all of the patrons were men…and that they were all wearing hospital gowns and wristbands. Our nurse/waitress approached us with her T and A hanging out of her nurse uniform and told us that we needed to gown up. She walked behind us and asked us to put our arms into our gowns as she tied them at our necks – seriously?

Oh yes, didn’t pass up that photo op. Our nurse was happy to take our photo as evidence that yes, I did indeed go to a strip club/burger joint with my husband. Hah! – no stripping, but there might as well have been.

Next on the agenda – a trip to the flatliner french fry bar. A guy dressed  in surgeon scrubs was working the fry cookers – 100% pure lard, awesome.

They had ketchup, mayo, mustard, jalapeños and a few other condiments at the fry bar.

They were delicious! You could go back as many times as you wanted – we both got two trays full.

I tried not to make it uber obvious that I was taking a million photos, but I wanted to share my experience with all of you. See? The things I do for this blog… 😉

I had to get a shot of our wristbands.

I stuck with the single bypass burger and Dan got the double bypass. Just for reference, the Quadruple bypass is approximately 8000 calories. No that’s not a typo. The burgers were really juicy and the potato buns were fabulous. It was the full sugared Mexican coke that really helped all of the grease go down, lol!

Dan took a photo of us in the mirror across the bar – something about this photo just makes me laugh.

I even took a picture of the reciept…

Obama’s cut – nice. There was so much more in the restaurant that I didn’t get photos of – a wheel chair so you could wheel your friends around the restaurant, a blood pressure machine – a scale – meals are free for customers over 350 lbs. – your nurse has to weigh you in. Milkshakes are made with pure buttermilk/fat and beer is served out of rolling coolers in the center of the mirrored counter/bar area. It truly was an experience to remember and yes, I am definitely the BEST WIFE EVER!

I wanted to share photos from the rest of the Arizona trip, but attaching beautiful resort photos and my friend’s wedding photos to burgers, fries and T and A just didn’t seem appropriate – I’ll save it for tomorrow’s post.

We had an amazing time, but I definitely missed cooking and blogging.

Permanent link to this article: http://foodiddy.com/?p=1842

Oct 08 2010

5 Ingredient Sweet and Savory Wings

I’ve had a lot going on this week and really was feeling overwhelmed with deciding what I was going to be cooking/making for dinners and the blog. I decided to let Dan choose. I gave him the two latest Food Network and Rachael Ray Everyday magazines to start. We have very different likes and dislikes. I’m all over anything veggie and he goes straight for meat and potatoes. I knew the outcome would most likely be “out of my comfort zone” – but I was up for the challenge.

I was right, manly meat dishes were selected. I made a grocery list and off I went to purchase supplies. First up on Dan’s wish list – Sweet and Savory Chicken Wings, part of Rachael Ray’s take five ingredients recipes. This recipe was submitted by magazine reader Gail Jenner from Etna, CA.

The 5 Ingredients:

3 Pounds Chicken/Party Wings
1 Cup Pineapple Juice
1 Cup Soy Sauce
1.5 Ounces Lemon Flavored Jello – kind of weird, but just wait…
2 Tablespoons Poppy Seeds

I cut the recipe in 1/2 and used just over a pound of wings. Let me take this opportunity to share that I have never cooked wings before. I am not a wing fan. I am not a dark chicken or dark turkey meat fan at all. So this was definitely a change for me.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the pineapple juice and soy sauce and stir.

Add the marinade to the wings and let sit for 15 minutes. I put my Ziploc of chicken/marinade in the fridge for a few hours while I ran errands.

On a foil lined (Don’t leave this step out) baking sheet, arrange the wings in a single layer. The recipe tells you to pour 1/2 of the marinade over the wings – I didn’t feel right about that step, so I whipped up a second smaller batch of soy sauce and pineapple – I don’t like using marinade after the meat has been removed from it. So I dumped that chicken marinade, mixed up the small second batch and poured it over each wing on the baking sheet.

The next step is to break out the lemon Jello. Sprinkle the chicken with half the amount and bake for 30 minutes.

Flip and sprinkle with the remaining Jello and the poppy seeds and then bake until browned – another 30 minutes. Mine actually only took about 20 additional minutes.

The Jello sugar and soy mixture really bakes into a sticky mess – no worries, I was able to remove the chicken with tongs. Trust me, it looked much prettier after plating.

I broke out the photo friendly dishes, some colored placemats and had my little photo shoot before dinner.

The entire house smelled delicious.

I am happy to report that they were a huge hit. Dan really liked them a lot. I was surprised at how much I liked the citrus/sweet combo. They were super juicy and I think I may be over my fear of wings. We both agreed that they would make the perfect party appetizer – so easy to make.

Dan’s choice worked out well for both of us. I can’t wait for the next few choices – they are definitely not what I would normally eat or cook, woohoo for trying something new!

Permanent link to this article: http://foodiddy.com/?p=1823

Oct 06 2010

Roasted Corn Quesadillas w/Pineapple Mango Salsa

This Roasted Corn Quesadilla recipe is once again courtesy of Chef Gigi and my Southwestern Fiesta Cooking Class. I definitely got some good rotation recipes out of the class. Quesadillas tend to be a “go to” order item at restaurants for me – It’s not often that I buy packages of burrito size flour tortillas, so I rarely make them at home. That my friends is going to change. The co-op has some pretty amazing all-natural flour tortillas and a good tortilla is key. Even though roasting/grilling is involved, we learned that it can all be done on the stove. Perfect for fall and winter months when it’s not ideal BBQ conditions in most places. I’m slightly spoiled here in CA, but it’s nice to have indoor options.

The Ingredients:

3 Ears of Fresh Corn – You could substitute 2 Packages of Frozen Corn or 2-3 cans of Green Giant Niblet Corn
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1/4 Cup Red Onion – small dice – A sweet white onion could also be used
1 Cup Canned Black Beans – drained and rinsed – could sub with pinto beans
1 Small Can Diced Ortega Chilies – could roast a poblano pepper for more char flavor
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Pinch of Ground Cumin
1 Pound Jack Cheese – shredded
1 Pound Yellow Cheddar Cheese – shredded
1/4 Cup Scallions – small diagonal slice
Chopped Cilantro to Taste
4 Burrito Size Flour Tortillas
3-4 Tablespoons Butter – for cooking tortillas

Directions:

Roast the corn on grill or under broiler until lightly charred. It can also be roasted right on the gas stove burner – just make sure you turn the cob frequently. Somebody asked if frozen corn could be charred… a student in class spoke up and said he had successfully roasted/charred frozen corn by placing it in a sauté pan at a very high heat – fresh out of the freezer – it’s important that it’s rock solid frozen, if it’s defrosted at all, it won’t work. Interesting… I supposed you could also just buy Trader Joe’s fire roasted frozen corn. 😉

In a sauté pan, add the oil. When heated to high/hot; add the onion and sauté until translucent. Add the black beans and chilies. Season with salt, pepper, cumin and Tabasco sauce – or any hot sauce you like.

In a bowl – mix the cheeses with the scallions and cilantro.

Heat up a large frying pan on medium heat. Add about 1 tablespoon butter and swirl in pan. Add one tortilla, spread with 1/4 of the cheese/corn/bean filling. Heat on med-low heat until melted and then fold over in half and cut into 4 pieces.

Serves 4 or 8 appetizer portions

Grilled Pineapple and Mango Salsa

1 Fresh Pineapple – sliced into 1/2 inch rings to grill – no need to remove the core, it’s a personal preference – I didn’t mind the core, others did
1 Mango or 1 Cup Frozen Mango Chunks – small dice
1/4 Cup Red Onion – minced
1 Roma Tomato – seeded, small dice
1 Tablespoon Fresh Lime Juice
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1/4 Teaspoon Chili Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Fresh Ginger – grated
Salt to Taste
Cilantro to Taste – if you aren’t a cilantro fan, you could use parsley or green onion as well

Grill pineapple on BBQ or under the broiler and let cool; then small dice. Add all other ingredients together and season to taste. You could easily add chopped jalapeño if you wanted it to be a little spicier.

I loved the flavor of this salsa and look forward to making it for future quesadillas or to top fish or chicken dishes, it was amazing.

Permanent link to this article: http://foodiddy.com/?p=1812