Wingin’ It: Chicago Bears

As the Buffalo Bills prepare to face a new opponent each week, fans take on the age-old arch-nemesis know as “hunger.” Never fear, Buffalo Rumblings has just the playbook to take down this foe. Each week, we’ll dive into enemy territory to scout their signature moves and put a “Buffalo” spin on it. Translated, each week we’ll share a themed recipe based on who the Bills are playing, including a custom wing sauce to go with each dish. Our opponent this week:

Chicago Bears

Chicago Style Hot Dog: I know there was some expectation of sausage this week. I’ll be blunt. I’ve seen nothing to suggest that Chicago does anything special with sausage. What is that? Sauerkraut? Crazy! The hot dogs on the other hand are very special. Said to have been “dragged through the garden,” these meals on a bun include a colorful array of toppings. The only gripe is that Chicago stops after they get through the vegetable garden. We’re gonna wing it up by taking a trip through the herb garden too.

Chicago-Style Hot Dog

Serves: 6-8
Active Time: 25 Minutes
Total Time: 30 Minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 2 Tbsp water
• Poppy seeds
• Sausage buns or mini sub rolls
• ¹⁄₄ tspn garlic powder
• ¹⁄₄ tspn thyme
• ¹⁄₄ cup hot sauce
• 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
• Hot dogs*
• Sweet pickle relish
• Yellow mustard ( you can make this more “Buffalo” by using a certain horseradish mustard)
• Finely chopped white onions
• Tomatoes; sliced or cut into small wedges
• Pickle spears
• Celery salt

Buns

Chicago dogs go on poppy seed buns which may be hard to find. Here’s how to make them:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine egg and water; mix thoroughly to make an egg wash.
2. Brush a thin coat of egg wash on buns/rolls; sprinkle with poppy seeds.
3. Place on baking pan; bake 5 min.

Wing sauce

A Chicago dog usually has peppers. We swap these out for hot sauce and start our trek through the herb garden.

1. Add garlic power and thyme to small saucepan over MEDIUM heat; cook 1 min.
2. Add hot sauce to pan. Continue heating 2 min, stirring constantly.
3. Add butter and turn off heat. Stir until mixed thoroughly.

Hot Dogs

Look, I’m not giving you instructions for this. Cook the dang hot dogs already!

1. Add hot dog to bun. (I won’t tell you how to cook a hot dog but this I’m fine with?)
2. Add relish, mustard, tomatoes and onion; top with a pickle spear.
3. Drizzle wing sauce over all; sprinkle with celery salt.

Wingin’ It Tips:

*Chicago-style is an all beef dog. Western New York has some pretty great hot dogs and you can definitely sub in your favorite brand. In the pictures you may have noticed two different types of dogs. Both were delicious.

The Beer: We’ve done each of the Zubaz cans separate. It was time for them to hang out and get to know each other.

Beer products provided by Labatt USA. Please drink responsibly.

Coming soon!

The Bills head to New York City-ish to take on the Jets. Surely they have exciting foods we can make and improve on in the New York City-ish region.