WK Cheeseburger Eggrolls ~ RNW

I was struck with a strange sense of inspiration one day - I wanted to create something unique, something not done before. At least, something I've never seen before anyway. I searched the Interweb to see what was out there, but didn't find anything. I know it exits somewhere, but for me, this was my first creation. That's right, East meets West in the Wing King Cheeseburger Eggroll with Fry Sauce.

INGREDIENTS

• eggroll wrappers
• ground beef
• cooked bacon, chopped
• onion, chopped fine
• garlic, chopped fine
• salt & pepper
• cheese, marble in this case, shredded

INSTRUCTIONS:

This creation was going to need some sort of dipping sauce. After watching a Guy Fieri Drive-Ins, Dinners and Dives marathon on the Food Network earlier in the week where a burger joint (The Burger Bar at Roy, UT) made fry sauce for their burgers, I thought it would be a great accompaniment. . .

When all was said and done, I had a ton of these. A full package of wrappers left a tower of CBE's.

Using the deep fryer created crispy, golden eggrolls that looked (at least to me) just like something you'd get from your local Canadian-Chinese establishment. I just wish I had the little red and white boxes.

While they looked Canadian-Cantonese on the outside, they were clearly cheeseburger on the inside. I was afraid the cheese was going to ooze all over the place, but it acted like a great binding agent.

The overall taste was pretty underwhelming, especially for my spice-needing palate. I only seasoned the beef like one would with a normal beef patty, with onion and garlic as light hints. And you know what, it tasted like boring ground beef with subtle hints of garlic and onion.

The fry sauce created a different dimension that was definitely needed. It was cool, creamy, and basically turned this into a big mac.

WHAT WOULD I DO DIFFERENTLY NEXT TIME? Well, there are a number of things. First, I would totally rev up the spice on the meat itself, even adding some chopped jalapeno to kick it up. But that's about it. Oh, and I would jazz up the Fry Sauce too. I'm thinking some wasabi thrown in to really meld East and West.

I'm happy with the overall product, and hopefully will make this one of many signature dishes!

More photos over at the Wing Bucket.

BLOGIVERSARY YEAR 3: The Best & Worst of 2008

Time flies fast, and 2008 went by quickly! There's been a lot of movement on the part of the Lord of the Wings - and that can only mean one thing: lots of wings!!!!

It also brings us to our Blogiversary tradition of the Lord of the Wings Blog's Best and Worst guide of 2008. We've ate some great wings, and we've eaten some bad wings. Throw in some other food and events, and it's been quite a run.

So here is a quick recap of mainly the best ( I prefer to dwell on the good rather than the bad) of the past year. The reviews are based primarily on my scoring system, or just my general feelings from this past year that I reviewed, not my overall faves. Everything can be improved, and this should be seen as fun and educational!

BEST OTTAWA WINGS

BEST TORONTO WINGS
BEST ONTARIO WINGS
BEST USA WINGS
WORST WINGS

BEST NON WING

BEST HOT SAUCE
BEST WING CHIP

BEST WING RECIPE
BEST NON-WING RECIPE

BEST EVENT

BEST FEST

BEST ARTICLE

BEST OTTAWA WINGS

#1 - PJ Quigleys -excellent wings, plain & simple

#2 Wild Wing's - lots of flavours (even if they are commercial), and meaty. Both times.

#3 The Pizza Shop - good take out

#4 Patty's Pub - classic pub wings done well

#5 Paesano's Pizzeria - another good take out wing

Overall Ottawa has had mediocre wings. I have not been impressed. But thankfully there are a few gems out there.

BEST TORONTO WINGS

#1 Crown & Dragon Pub - great little pub with lots of wing flavours

#2 Sneaky Dee's - I waited too long to try these big wings

#3 Gino's Pizza - new wings and new sauces

I left Toronto after 7 years - but I still made it back to try a few more places. I miss the wing selection Toronto offers.

BEST GENERAL ONTARIO WING

#1 King Edward Pub - great little pub, remote, but they just revamped their wing sauces

I actually didn't get to many wing places in general Ontario. Hope to change that in 2009.

BEST USA WINGS

#1 Flying J Truckstops - wings in a bag . . . I'm stretching here.

I have to come clean - on my only trip to the USA, I only had wings from these trucker outposts. So, they win by default.

WORST WINGS

#1 Bruyere's Restaurant - wow, I can't believe that wings could be this bad. Slimey and gross.

#2 Fat Albert's & Ralph's - they used frozen store wings. What a rip off.

#3 Greek 2 Go - forgettable

#4 Royal Oak - a classy chain pub should try much harder

#5 Wingstop (Pizza Hut) - weird chemical sauce . . .

Just when I think I can't meet a wing I won't like, I find one or two that stand out. #1 & #2 were some of the WORST wings I have ever had.

BEST NON-WING RESTAURANT

#1 The Works - what a burger place!

THE BEST HOT SAUCE

#1 Tortuga - hot and flavourful. Might be hard to come by.

BEST WING CHIP

#1 Snyder's - not so much a chip, but a damn tasty chicken wing pretzel

I reviewed a number of chicken wing flavoured chips this year, but nothing stood out for me.

BEST WING RECIPES

WK: Hot Dill - LJ suggested mixing the two, and they became an instant hit.

Guest: Dude & Julie Mid Autumn Wings - what a tale!



BEST NON-WING RECIPE

#1 WK Buffalo Butter Chicken Leg Drumsticks - ok they are close to a chicken wing, but they are not!

#2 WK BBQ Big Mac - mmmm, burger on the bbq.

#3 WK Buffalo Turkey Wings - not so tasty, but an awesome experiment

So many recipes tried this year, now that I'm outta rez and into a real kitchen.

BEST EVENT

#1 Getting on DUFF's II WALL OF PAIN - second attempt with success, and a great cheer section.

BEST FEST

#1 London Ribfest - such a great event - please don't be over!!!

The only other Fest was Greekfest in Ottawa, and it was passable. At least in terms of food.

BEST WK ARTICLE

#1 Chicken Wing Classification - understanding chicken wings.

BEST AUDIENCE

#1 YOU - Thanks for sticking with the Lord of the Wings Blog. You, the citizens of the Wing Nation are THE BEST.

==========================

My goals for 2009 are more wings more wings more wings. I want to try wings across Ontario and abroad. More wing recipes. More articles. I want to get some more organization done. I'm excited, and I hope you are too!

Cheers,

The Wing King

==========================

Best & Worst of 2007
Best & Worst of 2008
==========================

WK New Years Eve 08-09 Pizza

New Years Eve requires something special - and for LJ and me who were staying in (too cold in the Capital to go out), a thin crust pizza was called for.

On went my new apron, and it wasn't long before I was covered in flour! I made one for LJ and one for me, and my instructions are for mine (hers was minus a few ingredients).



INGREDIENTS:

• pizza dough (I used frozen from a Loblaws)
• pizza sauce
• flour
• mozzarella cheese (and some marble)
• spicy calabrese salami
• bacon (cooked)
• onion
• hot sauce
• garlic powder

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Kneed, toss, flip the dough. And roll with a rolling pin in flour. Over and over. Until the pizza is super thin. That is the key to thin crust. Get it? Good.
2. Spread pizza sauce - THIN - unless you like it thick. I like it thin. Add a few splashes of hot sauce (I used Frank's Buffalo).
3. Sprinkle some garlic powder.
4. Add cheese. Ottawa style says cheese goes on last, but I prefer it on the bottom, reserving some for a smidge on the top.
5. Add rest of toppings, sprinkle the last of the cheese on top.
6. Bake in oven at approx 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Enjoy when cheese is melted and slightly golden.

My pizza on the right, LJ's on the left. Hers has mushrooms (gross) and Ottawa style cheese.

Getting ready for the oven.

So very thin - notice even the thin sauce - a key to not overpowering the pizza.



DONE - through the magic of blogovision.

LJ's with melted cheese and tasty looking bacon. MMMMmm bacon.

Ewwww mushroom. I'd rather have crab juice.

Mine, looking tasty.

The crust was nice and this, right amount of sauce, spicy meat, crispy salty bacon.
This was my favourite pizza I've ever made.

WHAT COULD I HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY? Well, I think other than some other toppings, like actual pepperoni, or jalapenos, not much. For making pizza myself, my new rule is THIN THIN THIN. Thin crust, thin sauce. But lots of cheese can't hurt.

Happy New Year from the Wing King!!!!!!!

Ewwww, mushrooms!

Family Holiday Get Together

Back after a long holiday break . . . ok it wasn't so much a long break but a period of time without the internet in which to jazz up these photos and add them to the blog.

I am not a big fan of the holidays - and yes I say holidays and not X-mas, because there are several 'holidays' going on, you cultural imperialists. But the one great thing about this time period is lots of food. Sure, I don't really get much in the way of wings . . . but I do get some tasty treats:

TOP LEFT: Holiday M&M's - we always have this in our house. This year, however, they were mint and I did not enjoy that. But they looked pretty.
TOP RIGHT: Succulent ham on the 25th. My preference.
MIDDLE: The Big Meal: ham, stuffing, coleslaw, pickles, peas, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potato, turkey and cranberry.
BOTTOM LEFT: Turkey. Its been done before.
BOTTOM RIGHT: Family potluck - I got some ribs, wings, seafood dip, spicy deviled egg, pinwheels, and shrimp crackers.

Some funky coloured, whole wheat flour, holiday cookies with royal icing and gold balls. Oh ya. And don't forget the giant cookie on the bottom left. Go leftover dough!

Go to the WING BUCKET for more photos!

TOP LEFT: rainbow birthday cake from mix
TOP RIGHT: rainbow punch with coloured ice cube containers - it was tasty whatever it was.
MIDDLE: AJ and her cake - happy b-day!!!
BOTTOM LEFT: Bill's Pizza in T'burg. Its usually awesome, but not so much this night.
BOTTOM RIGHT: More cake and ice cream!

TOP: shrimp dip - poorly executed by me. I should have had a recipe and less sour cream.
MIDDLE: Egg Nog - my whole reason for tolerating jingle bells
BOTTOM: Shrimp Crackers - my family's tradition. Ritz, Cheeze Whiz, Cocktail sauce, and shrimp. It may not be high brow, but its awesome!

SWISS CHALET ~ Ottawa ON

If there is a Canadian-born restaurant tradition here in the great white North, it has to be Swiss Chalet. It is an institution of rotisserie chicken. I still have the jingle from the 80's in my head
"Always so good for so little". But here's the kicker - my family never ate at Swiss Chalet.

Never. Ever. It was one of those places where I would hear other kids talk about their experiences, and the 'chalet sauce' was soo good. Then I went to one and I finally understood my parents: what was the big deal? The chicken is pretty plain, and the 'sauce' is just a gravy that I wasn't all that keen on. After that, the mystery of Swiss Chalet was over and I really didn't go back.



But about two years ago at a family gathering my cousin-in-law Nikki became interested in my chicken wing work and was like, "you have to have their wings." I took it with a great deal of scepticism. Swiss Chalet makes great wings? Hmmmmmmm, its possible.

Niki is a lot of fun. But don't mess with Nikki

Then a year ago, at another family gathering, she asked if I had gone again. I had not. I had to try it she said. Well, another year went by. Two weeks before our next family gathering, I was like, I better get down there before I get in trouble for a third year in a row.

Of course, I picked the holiday season to go, and the place was packed. I got there just before they opened. There was a line-up to go inside. And more people waiting in their cars for the doors to open. Once I was in, in about 15 minutes, there wasn't a seat available. And everyone was ordering the 'Festive Special' - a quarter chicken dinner with cranberry, stuffing, side (potato product) & five Lindor chocolates.

First off, I ordered a Mountain Dew. Not many establishments here in Ontario have MD on tap, and it makes me think of being a kid when MD barely existed in Ontario, and trips to the USA where I could get the green drink pretty easily. And free refills to boot!

I wanted something fresh and green, and the Greek salad spoke to me off the menu. The salad came dressing on the side with lots of lettuce, but a little skimpy on the feta cheese.

I enjoyed the salad, but it didn't take long for my main course to arrive. So . . . would they live up to Nikki's hype?

2008 THE SCORE 3.0: Swiss Chalet ~ Ottawa

STYLE:	dusted (Garlic Mesquite coated), deep fried
PRICE:	$9.49 for 8 wings
SAUCES:	§ mild § medium § hot	0/1
HEAT:	a little bite in there
SIZE:	large to jumbo – very meaty but not mutant meaty like some places jumbo wings.	3/3
WETNAP FACTOR:	just enough sauce on them to be called wet	1.5/3
CRISPINESS:	nice crunch biting into the wings	2.5/3
FLAVOUR:	cayenne pepper sauce is tasty but not unique	2/3
SIDES:	veggies and a lot of blue cheese	2/3
CLEAN UP:	napkins, bone plate and finger bowl (oooh fancy)	3/3
WING NIGHT:	none	0/1
OTHER:	free refills on pop (ya Mountain Dew)
TOTAL:	surprisingly good wings	14/20

My first thought: whoa, these are big wings. I couldn't believe that they were a jumbo wing.

The wings are dusted in their 'garlic mesquite' coating, which gives them an extra crunch. I couldn't get a great sense of the garlic or mesquite, but that's mainly because the wings are sauced well. But the chicken was not only jumbo, but meaty.

I got hot for my sauce (as hot is the highest they go). It was pretty mild, but it was a tasty cayenne based hot sauce. It's clearly for a generic audience because no one would be in pain. But I did like the sauce.

It also came with a giant side of blue cheese dressing. It was VERY creamy, and I think it was more mayo than blue cheese. The celery and carrot sticks were thick cut and made for easy dippin. Also a classy touch, a finger bowl and the end of the meal to rinse of my chicken wings off my hands.

FINAL SCORE: Well, I was pleasantly surprised. Jumbo wings. Nikki, you were right, they were more than worth checking out. 14/20

Swiss Chalet
2930 Carling Avenue, Ottawa (and other locations)
swisschalet.com