Restaurant Spotlight - Superdawg

The northwest side of Chicago has a classic 1950's style "hot dog joint" known as Superdawg. It's actually been around since 1948 and probably has not been updated since then.  It has a vintage atmosphere, with the drive-up stalls that you can pull your car into and order off the menu from your car.

The menu is straight-up diner fare with a heavy emphasis on Chicago-style hot dogs, polish sausage and similar items.  Their french fries are crinkle-cut and touted as being "never frozen," in fact you can hear a recording of one of the founders of Superdawg on their website FAQs tell you about their fries.  Whatever the case, they're delicious and you get a bunch of them with your order.

Their items are served in individual boxes that fall right in line with the whole 1950's theme of the place.  What's most noticeable, however, is the cult-like devotion that its patrons have to the place.  My good friend Barry has been a fanatic for Superdawg since he was 9 years old and he says he's never ordered anything but the Superdawg.

The original Superdawg is tantalizingly close to O'Hare airport about 1 mile north of the Kennedy Expressway off the Nagle Av. exit. They've now branched out and have a second location further out in the Northwest suburban Wheeling.  Both locations have the same vintage atmosphere and the same menus.

It's definitely worth a visit when you're in Chicago!

Favorite food spotlight - Sodium-Free Chicken Bouillon

I am one of those individuals whose family health history dictates limiting my sodium intake, so I am always on the lookout for salt substitutes.  Table salt (sodium chloride) has a fairly simple chemical composition - one molecule of sodium (Na) and one molecule of chlorine (Cl), and its effect on the body is also fairly simple.  

Sodium promotes fluid retention, so people who work outside in the summer might take salt tablets to prevent dehydration if they perspire heavily.  Sodium also raises your blood pressure, so it's probably something everyone should minimize.

There are salt substitutes that work well, and almost all of them are made with potassium chloride (KCl).  That seems to work well since the potassium molecule is chemically similar to the sodium molecule. Some people claim that they can taste the difference, and maybe they can, but for me the taste is similar enough that I like potassium-based salt substitutes.

That said, I'm highlighting Herb Ox brand chicken bouillon because of the way it's packaged. It comes in a little box and has little individual packets with enough bouillon for a cup of broth.  It's seasoned with potassium-based salt substitute so it truly is sodium free.

What's really handy is that the bouillon is powdered (so it's not a hard cube), so you can sprinkle it onto your food or into a pot while you're cooking. I like to sprinkle it onto omelettes and it gives it a really flavorful boost. The little packets are about as big as Equal or Splenda packets and they're that easy to rip open and sprinkle. It's available at Harris-Teeter with the canned and dried soups.

Another brand that is similarly packaged and also sodium-free is Wyler's (also sold as MBT brand), which Publix supermarkets carried when we shopped there in Tampa.  Both brands also come in a beef version - also sodium-free!

Hit the mark with an egg in a hole

Egg in a hole with a diamond-shaped hole.

One of the breakfast favorites at our house is the egg in a hole.  It's amazingly simple and somehow different from the routine in a way that makes it special. At its simplest, it's a hollowed out piece of bread with an egg fried in the middle.  Here's how it's done:

• Take a piece of bread (I prefer the wide-pan whole grain varieties) and spread one side with butter or margarine.
• Place the bread in the pan with the buttered-side down.
• Spread the other side with butter or margarine.
• Cut out the shape of your choice - circle, square, triangle or diamond - and place the cut-outs in the pan to the side of the main piece of bread.
• Put the pan onto the stove and turn the heat on high, letting the first side get a head-start on the egg to get nice & crispy.
• After a minute or two, crack the egg over the hole and slowly pour some of the egg white into the hole so it pre-cooks slightly and helps keep the egg all together in the hole.
• Once that pre-cooked layer is down, dump the rest of the egg into the hole.
• Turn the heat down and let the egg slowly cook in the hole.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Once the egg is mostly cooked and not runny, flip it over and try to get the back side of the bread crispy.
• Remember to flip over the cut-out pieces of bread as well.
• Serve with the little bread cut-outs.

Lilly was the one that brought the egg in a hole to our breakfast repertoire, having learned it from her Aunt Cilla on a beach trip. Alex informs me that his boy scout troop knows this as "Bullseye Eggs." If you haven't served an egg in a hole at your house yet, give it a try some time as a nice surprise.

Enjoy!