Anton's Winter Dining Guide 2/01/23 edition is published by Anton Media Group.

GAME DAY

History of Zorn’s

Best chicken wings

Cheese please

DINING

Preparing For The Big Chicken Wing Party?

Game day watchers are projected to eat more than a billion wings

BY ANTON MEDIA STAFF specialsections@antonmediagroup.com

Football fans might be surprised at the matchup, but one thing is not surprising: America’s love for chicken wings. This is never more apparent than on the final game day, when wings are at their hottest. Last year, Americans were anticipated to devour 1.42 billion wings while watching the the two final teams battle for the Lombardi Trophy, according the National Chicken Council’s (NCC) Wing Report.

“There will be no wing shortage,” said NCC spokesperson Tom Super. “Like almost anything else you buy right now, wings might be a little more expensive, but they’ll be stocked. I just wouldn’t wait until kickoff to be in line or order online.”

Last year, wholesale wing prices were down 19 percent from a mid-year high, according to USDA data. Retail wing prices are up about $0.30 per pound on average from the same time last year. Why the uptick? Many costs, like the price of chicken wings, have increased because of unusually high demand, record input costs, labor shortages that have reduced the supply of many goods, and government spending programs that have flooded the economy. Greater demand and less supply equals higher prices, ultimately resulting in the highest inflation that the country has seen in 40 years.

“Demand for chicken wings has been through the roof since the beginning of the pandemic,” Super added. “A shift from sit-down restaurants to takeout and quick service has boosted chicken wing consumption. Restaurants like wing joints and pizza places were built around takeout and delivery, and as long as people are sitting around watching TV and maybe drinking a beer, wings will remain in the game.”

To help meet increased demand last year, some chicken producers diverted birds traditionally marketed as whole birds for parts instead, like wings. More good news is the end-December frozen wing inventory totaled 73.2 million pounds, up 70 percent from last year, which should provide some cushion. Chicken companies, retailers and restaurants have planned ahead for the Big Game.

Maybe one day we can settle the debate over flats versus drums, but for now, editors at Anton Media Group, along with some of the most credible “Foodies” of the Facebook page Long Island Foodies, have shared their top picks for best local wings, in no particular order:

Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza

• 137 Old Country Rd., Carle Place; 516-877-7750

• 3430 Sunrise Hwy., Wantagh; 516-679-2625

• 8063 Jericho Tpke., Woodbury; 516-367-2625

Brews Brothers Grille

• 183 Franklin Ave., Franklin Square; 516-216-5008

Brooklyn Wing House

• 2441 Jericho Tpke., Garden City Park; 516-636-5191

Changing Times Pub

• 1247 Melville Rd., Farmingdale; 631-694-6462

Croxley’s Ale House

National Chicken Council

• 129 New Hyde Park Rd., Franklin Square; 516-326-9542

• 190 Main St., Farmingdale; 516-293-7700

• 7 S. Park Ave., Rockville Centre; 516-764-0470

EGP Oceanside

• 2823 Long Beach Rd., Oceanside; 516-766-9547

Elsie Lane

• 29 Jericho Tpke., New Hyde Park; 516-302-8412

• 295 Main St., Huntington; 631- 824-6236

Greek Xpress

• 182 New Hyde Park Rd., Franklin Square; 516-502-6126

• 59 Main St., East Rockaway; 516-593-4949

• 37 Great Neck Rd., Great Neck Plaza; 516-570-6814

• 437 S. Oyster Bay Rd., Plainview; 516-433-8070

Haunted House of Hamburgers

• 330 Fulton St., Farmingdale; 516-777-1031

J. Paul’s Terrace Cafe

• 239 Merrick Rd., Oceanside; 516-536-1806

Jackie Reilly’s

• 3964 Hempstead Tpke., Bethpage; 516-731-7544

The Main Event

• 799 Old Country Rd., Plainview; 516-935-5120

• 1815 Broadhollow Rd., Farmingdale; 631-522-1030

Majors Steakhouse

• 284 E. Meadow Ave., East Meadow; 516-794-6600

NY Flying Wings

• 554 Stewart Ave., Bethpage; 516-433-2463

Smokin’ Al’s

• 847 Merrick Rd., Massapequa Park; 516-799-4900

Spanky’s Food Factory

• 2458 Jericho Tpke., Garden City Park; 516-280-8440

Via Roma Pizza

• 1764 Merrick Ave., Merrick; 516-868-2311

Wings Over Farmingdale

• 221 Main St., Farmingdale; 516-756-9464

Zorn’s of Bethpage

• 4321 Hempstead Tpke., Bethpage; 516-731-5500

—Compiled by Christy Hinko

Lemon-Pesto Chicken Wings

Ingredients

4 pounds chicken wings, tips removed

3/4 cup store-bought basil pesto

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 lemon, zested and juiced

Preparation

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Place wings in a single layer on a baking sheet. Place in oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until wings are well browned and crispy.

3. While wings are roasting, combine pesto, red pepper flakes, lemon juice, and lemon zest (the peel without any of the white pith) in a bowl large enough to hold all wings.

4. When wings are finished, remove from oven and place in pesto mixture. Toss to coat well.

Nutritional information, per serving: 420 calories; 27 g fat; 7 g saturated fat; 5 g carbohydrate;

2 g fiber; 40 g protein. Serves four.

—National Chicken Council

A Delicious Long Island Heritage

The history of Zorn’s of Bethpage

Zorn’s has been making delicious homemade food since 1940 when Peter Zorn opened his first retail store on Long Island. His vision was to offer wholesome, made-from-scratch meals using the freshest ingredients that busy families could take home with them, creating one of New York’s first take-out services. We are proud to be listed on the New York State Historic Business Preservation Registry which honors businesses that have been in operation for at least 50 years and have contributed to their communities’ history.

In the 1930s, prior to the retail business in Bethpage, the Zorn family owned seven poultry farms on Long Island selling chickens and turkeys to wholesalers in Queens and the Bronx. At the time the Bethpage area was primarily farmland.

A short time after, he added his soon-to-be-famous southern fried chicken and bar-b-que spare ribs. This turned into a thriving take-out business. His menu kept growing as he met his customers’ needs. Before long he had a complete catering menu serving Long Island families all year long. Take-out meals and catering were new concepts in the 1950s and became very popular on Long Island. Many tried to imitate this concept, but Zorn’s Poultry Farms was always number one.

Today Zorn’s is owned and operated by Merrill S. Zorn, Peter Zorn’s only granddaughter, who grew up working in all aspects of the family business.

“We use the same recipes and cooking methods as my grandfather. Some of our traditions are looked upon as old-fashioned by today’s standards, but this is how we maintain our high quality and consistency. The value of our generous portions, personalized customer service, quality ingredients, and our family recipes have made our business a success,” said Merrill. “There is always a Zorn in the kitchen making sure that the original recipes passed down from my grandparents, are still prepared with the same quality and pride that they were 80 years ago!”

Zorn’s of Bethpage has transformed several times over the past 80 + years. For decades it was home to a functioning poultry farm and thousands of chickens and turkeys. In 2019, Merrill took on a massive undertaking by moving the entire business into a brand new 8,000 sq. ft. store at the same address in Bethpage. She was personally involved in the design of the new building and listened to customers’ ideas and suggestions

resulting in a beautiful new space with a dining area inside and out, as well as bathrooms for their patrons.

The new building pays tribute to the history of Zorn’s with historic photos and memorabilia used as décor.

“We kept our story alive not just for our family, but for our community and our staff, and we couldn’t be happier with how well the transition went, and all the love and support we were shown throughout the process,” Merrill added.

Inside Zorns retail store in the 1950s.

From left to right: Poppy and Nanna in the 1950s; Poppy with Merrill in the 1960s; and Merrill

Our new building on the original Bethpage property.

Skeeter.

From the original poultry farm in the 1930s, to our thriving retail store today.

Merrill was personally involved in the design of the new building and listened to customers’ ideas and suggestions.

Score Big With

Buffalo ranch popcorn

Nothing blasts the winter blues like gathering your favorite fans to watch the Big Game.

Good friends, a giant flat screen TV and fantastic food make it worth everyone’s while to come out of hibernation. Remember, though, under those football jerseys and team tees is your beach body — and yes, Memorial Day is just three short months away.

Happily, there are options that will get you swimsuit ready without skimping on Game Day flavor. Of course, there’s always the standard veggie platter (skip the dip!). But gathering with friends to watch the Big Game is a time-honored tradition that comes with its own special menu, at the top of which is an American favorite: Buffalo wings.

Named for their birthplace of Buffalo, New York, these bad boys are a staple of Game Day gatherings everywhere. But six of them will set you back more than 400 calories. Add ranch or blue cheese dressing and in you’re in for at least a couple hundred more.

This year, shake out the fat and calories by pairing spicy Buffalo taste with another American classic: popcorn.

A healthful whole grain (fiber), naturally low in fat, popcorn delivers the satisfying crunch your guests crave. This easy-to make Buffalo Ranch Seasoning Mix lets you sprinkle the crowd-pleasing flavor of wings on top of a heart-healthy snack that won’t bring regrets on the scale come Monday morning. Touchdown!

Blazing Buffalo Ranch Seasoning Mix

Perfect for game time and super easy to make, you’ll be the hit at any tailgating party. Yield: about 2 tablespoons seasoning mix

Ingredients

1 tablespoon ranch dressing or dip mix (from a 1 ounce package)

1 tablespoon seafood spice mix (or celery salt)

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon powdered sugar (or sugar)

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon vegetable oil

6 quarts popped popcorn

Cooking spray, optional

Directions

In a small bowl, blend ranch dressing mix, spice mix, garlic powder, powdered sugar and cayenne pepper. Sprinkle with vegetable oil and blend until well incorporated. Place popcorn in a serving bowl and spray lightly with cooking spray. Sprinkle seasoning mix over popcorn to taste and toss. Store leftover seasoning mix in an airtight container for future use.

Nutrition Facts

45 calories

2.5 g total fat

0 g saturated fat

0 mg cholesterol

35 mg sodium

5 g carbohydrates

1 g fiber

0 g sugar

1 g protein

20 mg potassium

—The Popcorn Board

How To Cut And Serve Cheese

How to cut cheese may seem obvious, but there are many ways to improve your cheeseboard with a bit of creativity around your cheeses. Here, we’ll explore some ways to cut your cheese and the possibilities it opens up. But to get started, we recommend watching Chef Greg Gable’s video on how to make a perfect cheeseboard (www.cheeselovershop.com).

Choose an appropriate knife to cut your cheese

Different cheeses require different cutting techniques, to keep the cheese’s shape intact. For example, hard cheese needs to be cut with a sharp knife (or you simply won’t manage to cut it). However, if you try to cut a soft, ripened cheese with a sharp knife, the rind may stick to the edge, and your cheese may end up losing its shape. For soft, ripened cheese, use a knife with no edge, such as a butter knife. In the same vein, a crumbly cheese tends to stick to the blade, even with hollow-edged knives. The best way to keep its shape intact and ensure better visual appeal is to use a wire slicer.

The horizontal cut, both appealing and practical

Often, cheese is cut into slices, pretty much like a pie. However, you can choose to slice it horizontally, which gives you three main benefits:

• It makes the creamy paste more apparent, which gives a unique visual appeal, for example, to Saint André cheese.

• It allows some hard rubs, such as a granola rub, to be used on your cheese;

while this type of rub doesn’t normally stick to the rind, it will stick to the paste of your cheese.

• For your gratins and the like, a horizontal cut allows the rind to be spread more evenly, for a better crust.

If you want to cut your cheese horizontally and still serve it in a practical format to your guests, you can combine the two cuts, and cut the cheese into slices after separating the two halves. This combination is appealing for the flower-shaped Dorothy’s cheeses, in order to make beautiful petal-shaped slices.

Other ways to present your cheese

Some cheeses are better served whole, to be cut at the table. However, most cheeseboards look prettier if the hard cheeses are pre-cut. Depending on the shape of your slices, the best choice for presentation may differ. For rectangular cheeses, present your slices spread in an arc, like a fan of playing cards. For triangular slices, try stacking them up—just make sure that every edge faces the same way for a better effect.

Gable is the research chef for Savencia Cheese USA. Visit www.cheeselovershop. com to read more from Gable.

—Savencia Cheese USA

ASK ABOUT CUSTOMIZED PACKAGES

Valentine’s Day Getaway

ROMANTIC ROOM PACKAGES

Available: February 10 – February 14, 2023

COUPLES RETREAT $499 *

• Deluxe King or Double Bed Accommodations

• Prix Fixe Dinner for Two

• Rose Petal Turndown

• Bottle of Champagne

*Dinner reservation is required.

ROMANCE PACKAGE $349*

• Deluxe King or Double Bed Accommodations

• 50-Minute Swedish Couples Massage

• One Bottle of Champagne

• Rose Petal Turndown

EVERLASTING PACKAGE $449*

• Deluxe King or Double Bed Accommodations

• 50-Minute Swedish Couples Massage

• Prix Fixe Dinner for Two

• Rose Petal Turndown

• Bottle of Champagne

*Dinner reservation is required.

For reservations and information call (516) 773-2000 or visit www.innatgreatneck.com

30 Cutter Mill Rd., Great Neck, NY 11021

Heart Healthy Treats For Valentine’s Day

BY TINA MCGEOUGH specialsections@antonmediagroup.com

Who doesn’t love sharing a sweet treat with a loved one on Valentine’s Day. With February also being American Heart Month, here are a few ways you can show your loved ones, and their hearts, some love with sweet, heart-healthy ideas.

Dates

For candy bar lovers—stuffed dates can taste like your favorite one.

To make them, simply split the date in half and remove the pit. Stuff the inside with peanut butter and drizzle the top with melted chocolate. Then, sprinkle on peanuts and pop into the fridge until the chocolate has hardened.

The combination of fiber, protein and healthy fat can also help make a meal or snack more filling and satisfying, and you’re getting all three here. You can swap out the peanut butter for any nut butter of choice or for an allergy friendly swap, use sunflower butter.

Dates can also be used to make betterfor-you brownie bites.

Blend dates with oats, nut butter and

cocoa powder for a chocolatey treat with less added sugar than your typical brownie. Plus, you’ll also be getting some hearthealthy fiber from the dates and wholegrain oats. Many whole grains, including oats, contain a type of fiber, called beta glucan, which may help lower cholesterol levels.

another Valentine’s favorite, but often contain ingredients that our hearts don’t love, such as added sugar. Instead of chocolate frosting, frost your cupcakes with chocolate hummus.

Chocolate hummus is rich, creamy and has that delicious chocolatey sweet flavor you’re looking for, but nearly three times less added sugar than a typical chocolate frosting.

You can also use chocolate hummus as a sweet dip for a snacking board. A mix of berries, almonds, pretzels and chocolate hummus is a fun way to pair sweet and savory treats.

Fruit Dessert

Blueberry Pie Foil Packet can be made in less than 20 minutes.

Mix blueberries, applesauce and cornstarch in one bowl, and olive oil, cinnamon, granola and salt in another. Spoon the blueberry mixture into cooking spray-lined aluminum foil and top with granola mixture. Fold the foil over the filling and cook in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes, or until the blueberries have burst.

Granola: The first ingredient in this granola is whole grain oats which are a heart healthy pick. Many whole grains, including oats, contain a type of fiber, called beta glucan, which may help lower cholesterol levels.

Blueberries: Berries are packed with heart-healthy fiber and antioxidants.

Hummus

Sweet treats like cake or cupcakes are

About 80 percent of Americans don’t meet recommended fruit intakes, so fruit-forward desserts are a great way to satisfy a sweet tooth, while also bumping up daily fruit intake. This simple

Ha m a ntasch-A-Thon

—Tina McGeough is a registered dietician for Stop & Shop.

Sunday, March 5 - 10 AM-4 PM

Come bake our famously delicious hamantaschen. OUR DOORS ARE OPEN TO ALL!

Please scan the QR code to let us know you are coming.

Drop in any time on Sunday from 10-4 Special Hours

10 am Mini & Me (the pre-school set)

Every child that signs up will receive a special Purim crown and make their very own Hamantaschen!

11 am Bubbe & Me

Bring your grandparents, grandkids or we’ll supply you with one (but just for an hour)!

1 pm Margarita & Me

Come for a cocktail or a mocktail.

Port Jewish Center is a warm and welcoming Reform congregation, 20 Manorhaven Blvd., Port Washington, NY

Bringing The Goods To Market

Local farmer’s market moves indoors for winter

BY CHRISTY HINKO chinko@antonmediagroup.com

Although winter has been overly kind this season, the weekend farmer’s market in Great Neck has moved inside the Great Neck House through the end of March in order to help vendors continue to bring the goods to market. Shoppers are showing their appreciation for this sheltered event by continuing to frequent the market, week after week.

The venue may be small, but there is no shortage of neat treats and cool finds such as doggie bandanas, kitty bowties, essential oils, farm-fresh vegetables, intriguing horseradish blends, barbecue sauces and rubs, baked goods, gourmet pickles and cheeses, specialty coffees and local honey.

Some of the recent vendors include:

• Brian’s House of Spices

• All Baked Up of Sayville

• The Illegal Baker of Huntington

• Zippy Pets

• Qua Zay Culinary Services

• Italian Wife Bakes of Brooklyn

• The Cheese Guy of Yonkers

• Koltuk’s Honey, LLC

• Dobler Farms of Deer Park

• Horman’s Best Pickles of Glen Cove

• Diesel Cold Brew of Brooklyn

• Johnny Breads

• Brooklyn Essence, LLC

It is seemingly so popular with vendors also, many on a bi-weekly rotation, in order to accommodate all of the selling space requests. If you find something you love, check with the vendor to find out their next scheduled selling date, to coordinate your follow-up shopping adventure.

The indoor winter market, a collaborative event between Great Neck Park District and Deep Roots Farmers Market, runs Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. through March 26 at Great Neck House (14 Arrandale Ave., Great Neck).

Visit www.gnparks.org for details.

Horman’s Best Pickles

Brooklyn Essence, LLC

Koltuk’s Honey, LLC

The Cheese Guy

All Baked Up

THe Illegal Baker

Photos by Christy Hinko

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Most Popular Cuisines In America

A new study has revealed that Chinese food is the most internet-searched cuisine in the United States, according to Google search data.

The research, conducted by experts at www.foodfirefriends.com, analyzed Google search data related to the 40 most popular cuisines in the world in different U.S. states, to find out what cuisines Americans search for (and eat) the most.

1. Chinese food

Known all over the world, Chinese food is certainly one of everyone’s most loved

cuisines. With an average of more than 3.35 million searches per month in the U.S. only, Chinese is Americans’ absolute favorite food.

2. Mexican food

With an average of 1.22 million Google searches in the USA, Mexican is Americans’ second most favorite food. Known for its spices and hot sauces, this cuisine is sought-after and appreciated globally.

3. Thai food

Thai food is third in the ranking. With

more than 823,000 monthly Google searches in the USA, Thai remains one of Americans’ first choices when it comes to foreign cuisines.

4. Indian food

Registering an average of 673,000 Google searches, Indian food is the fourth most Googled food in America.

5. Korean food

Another Asian cuisine features in fifth. Showing an average of 246,000 Google searches in the U.S., Korean food is the

fifth most popular cuisine in the States, followed by Japanese (with an average of 201,000 Google searches per month in the U.S.), and soul food (201,000).

Greek, Italian and Hawaiian food follow in the ranking with an average of 165,000, 165,000 and 90,500 searches in the U.S.

The study was conducted by foodfirefriends.com, which is dedicated to helping users grill and barbecue better, by offering practical guides, recipes, and advice on all aspects of outdoor cooking.

—Food Fire Friends