I almost feel dirty writing out that title, but hey, I'm not the one who punned. Blame the home guru!
Yes, that picture to the right is Martha Stewart holding a ridiculously long hot dog (see it in its full-size glory at Just Jared). The dog is a 15-foot long model of the world's largest hot dog, which boasts an impressive 197 feet. However, while that's quite a meal to partake in, the real news comes in her punning comment:
For those of you who don't think length matters, I disagree -- especially when it comes to weiners. There's just never enough bites in a hot dog.
Reading things like this, I'd love to be able to spend a day chatting with her, when she doesn't have to be "on" and thinking of her carefully crafted image. I bet there's a tough, snarky woman under there who would tousle carefully folded napkins and burp with the best of them.
From 500 Snacks: Bright Ideas for Entertaining (1941), Culinary Arts Institute
I'm interrupting the semi-regularly scheduled Midnight Sausage series to share molded food images and recipes from my personal collection of early-to-mid 20th century cookbooks. There will be aspic. There will be mousse. There will be various gelatins. All will be semi-solid and of debatable degrees of edibility.
Please feel free to shimmy and shake your way to the comments section to share your very own magical, masticable molds of yore.
Another weekend has rolled around, and we all want to eat fun, weekend-y food. Though I'll eat a veggie dog every now and then, I'm not a big fan of regular hot dogs. If hot dogs are on your weekend menu, though, this is for you.
Al Dente has put together a list of five hot dogs that'll kill you, literally...you know, if you ate one everyday for a long period of time. Anyway, all the hot dogs look like a good occasional indulgence (and I stress occasional). Maybe if you deserve a treat this weekend, you could try one of the kinds of hot dog covered. Except the hamdog. I don't think I could recommend that one in good conscience, ever. Perhaps you should also avoid a lard dog, but I'll leave that up to you.
I remember once, while I was around 7 years old and playing at a friend's house, my mom stopped by with lunch for me (they were doing her a favor by watching me and she didn't want to impose on them to feed me as well). It consisted of a napkin-wrapped hot dog that she pulled out of her purse. I remember looking at with distaste, as the hot dog was wrinkled and grey, and the bun was also a sad affair. It was edible, but certainly not exciting. That experience colored my perception of hot dogs and it was years before I ate them with gusto.
Fast forward to the present day and I am singing a very different hot dog song. This conversion is in large part due to gourmet meat producer D'Artagnan's new line of exotic (and very tasty) hot dogs. They come in four varities - pork, beef, buffalo and duck and they are made from meat that was never treated with antibiotics or growth hormones. They are uncured, which means that they are nitrate-free. For all the fancy varieties of meat, they do still taste much like your classic hot dog. Larger than the traditional frank, they are filling, which means that while the pack only comes with four dogs, you'll only need to eat one to be satisfied, so there's plenty to go around.
I recommend eating them with potato salad and some good, whole grain mustard. Very tasty!
Well, the Fourth of July has come and gone once more, and that means so has one more Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest. According to Sports Illustrated online, the whole thing was quite a spectacle, and lots of fun.
The contest this year was won by American Joey Chestnut (not pictured*). A crowd of 35,000 watched and cheered, and apparently had to be entertained for about five hours before the actual contest. SI reported that there was a trampoline duo, a rock band from New Jersey, the "Bun-ette" cheerleaders, an actual on stage marriage, and a side contest for the kids (whoever stayed the cleanest while eating a hot dog won).
Sounds like quite a way to spend your Independence Day. The author of the article commented that most people only go to the contest once, and that's enough. I think I'd fall into that category. What are your thoughts on that?
Philadelphia Magazine writer Jason Fagone spent one year profiling some of the most divinely outsized personalities in the world of competitive eating. While Akron house painter Coondog O'Karma makes a midlife grab at glory via rapid-fire pizza consumption, Bill "El Wingador" Simmons attempts to reclaim Wong Bowl supremacy from 90lb Sonya "Black Widow" Thomas, and day trader Tim Janus dons the mantle of the mysterious Eater X, it all comes down to one shared hunger. They all want to win the Mustard Yellow Belt of International Hot Dog Eating Supremacy back from the Japanese who'd dominated the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog-Eating Contest nearly every year since 1997.
Back in July of 2001, that would mean beating the record of 25 1/8 set the previous year by Kazutoyo "The Rabbit" Arai.
Our intrepid pack of testers blind-chomped their way through fifty different franks, hot dogs and wieners in hot pursuit of the top tube steak in all the land. Not a single chicken, turkey or tofu dog made the final cut, while beef and pork reigned supreme. Did your favorite frank lead the pack?
Today for lunch I'm having a local, Maine made dog, W. A. Bean & Sons Red Hot, that I'm cooking up myself for a change. Beans meats have been made in Maine since 1860. Red dyed, natural casing dogs are big up here, but this was the first time I have seen Red Hot's. Meaty pork franks, very mildly spicy at first, then with a bit of back of the mouth heat later. I wouldn't call them very spicy, but they're pretty tasty, especially with some of my spicy onion sauce. So far they are some of the best dogs I've ever had.
Wass the deal with hot dogs in Maine? Wasses Hot Dogs that is. While I like hot dogs all year round, summer time is when I enjoy them most and lately I am having my annual summer hot dog fling. Around this time every year I go on a hot dog binge. I may drive many miles for my fix. I think that this year my mileage is even greater than ever. Just the other day I did an over 100 mile round trip so I could visit all three Wasses locations.
Wasses Hot Dogs have been an icon in Mid-Coastal Maine for over 35 years. With three outposts in Rockland, Thomaston, and Belfast; they have sold millions so far and there is no end in sight. I have been familiar with the Rockland and Thomaston locations because I lived near them the past year. I would stop by in Rockland to have one for a snack and to keep my energy up as I toured the countryside researching articles and consulting. It was only the other day that I finally made it to the Belfast location. Well, the places may be different, but the dogs are the same, great. I love the snap of the natural casing franks, grilled in peanut oil and sauteed onions until browned, and served up in a soft, steamed roll. Condiments abound: sauteed onions, regular or spicy mustard, regular or spicy relish, local Morse's sauerkraut, chili, cheese, and bacon. (There's also ketchup for your dogs, but I believe that that's kid stuff.)
One of the things I like about Wasses is the balance of condiments to the hot dog. there is just the right amount so that the condiments add to the taste and experience, but don't overwhelm it. I have several favorites. When I want a meal in one dog, I get spicy mustard, bacon, cheese, and chili (above, right.) If a light snack is called for then I order one with spicy mustard and sauteed onions (above, left.) If I need some spice it's time for spicy mustard and spicy relish (above, center), and if I need something tangy I go for the Morse's sauerkraut.
I have been eating Walter's Hot Dogs in Mamaroneck, NY ever since I worked around the corner for a few months after High School. I was a truck driver for a medical supply warehouse and delivered to hospitals all over the NYC Metro area. I was waiting for my 18th B'day to roll around so I could get a job in a wine shop, but had my hot rod to maintain, so any job was a good job, and I have always liked to drive.
I would start early in the morning, so my day would end just after what everyone else called lunchtime. For me this was great because by that time the lines for lunch were gone at most places, and it was easy to get something quick just about anywhere. One place I stopped by almost every week was Walter's.
It's situated in one of those roadfood meccas, styled like a Chinese Pagoda with a copper roof, built back in 1928. Walter's dogs are served up by the hundreds and the thousands every day since they first opened in 1919. Long lines at lunch and dinner mellow out a bit in between. The dogs themselves are a very mild frank, butterflied, the split dogs are grilled in a secret sauce on each side until they are lightly browned and starting to curl and served on a toasted bun.
The usual way to order is with the spicy relish, which is basically a mix of brown mustard and relish. On the side a small basket of fries, onion rings, or sweet potato puffs, and to drink it's mandatory to get one of Walter's famous shakes or malteds made from their own ice cream. I would usually have three or four dogs at a time, being a growing boy who was skinny as a rail and with a fast metabolism. Last time I was there a year ago I could handle two and a shake, no fries, and was full the rest of the day.
AOL Health Editor Katherine Steinberg submitted the photo above for inclusion in the Midnight Sausage series, but we thought it was worthy of a post all its own.
"As I was wandering the streets of London foraging for food, I came across something even more foreign to me than the British slang -- the hot dog hamburger, or the 'express special'. It was so strange that I had to take a picture. I'm not sure what about this makes it faster than your average meal, but I do know that it comes with fries. But don't get too excited, judging by the recent price dip, it won't be popping up in your local deli anytime soon."
Has anyone seen or sampled this frankenfood in London or elsewhere? We'd love a first-hand account.
Grilling and the summer season go hand-in-hand. So it's only natural that, once Memorial Day arrives, you break out the grill and the coals and the burgers (or, if you're me, the latter is of the faux variety).
But what if you're not too keen on that lighter fluid/coal taste on your food, and you don't want to invest in a gas grill? No problem - get yourself a Baja BBQ Firepack from Mike and Maaike. It's a great eco alternative to your typical grills, (46,200 tons of lighter fluid are sold each year, and they emit 14,500 tons of VOCs, or Volatile Organic Compounds, which can deplete the ozone layer and are generally unhealthy for our lungs).
So, how does the Baja BBQ work? Simple: Light the chemical-free, 100% recycled and biodegradable paper pulp container that contains 2 pounds of charcoal. It burns down on its own and after 15-20 minutes, you'll have a pile of charcoal that will perfectly grill your meat, veggies, or dessert without any of the added chemicals or gross lighter fluid taste.
I know that this is the web and just about anyone can publish something on a site, but I think we have to draw the line somewhere. I call that line "wiener soup."
This recipe is over at cooks.com. Here it is in its entirety. I have to admit it made me laugh out loud when I saw it:
Weiner Soup
1 pkg. wieners 3 cups water
Combine weiners and water in a two quart saucepan. Bring to a boil until weiners are cooked. Throw the wieners in the garbage. Serve soup.
Maybe you can serve this to guests at your cookout today.
I have pretty basic tastes when it comes to hot dogs. Give me a hot dog and a bun and maybe some mustard and I'm good to go. But this recipe from Cooking For 2 seems rather interesting.
They're called Red Dogs, and they're turkey hot dogs that are cooked with currant jelly and Dijon mustard.
I almost feel dirty writing out that title, but hey, I'm not the one who punned. Blame the home guru!
I know that this is the web and just about anyone can publish something on a site, but I think we have to draw the line somewhere. I call that line "wiener soup."
I have pretty basic tastes when it comes to hot dogs. Give me a hot dog and a bun and maybe some mustard and I'm good to go. But this recipe from Cooking For 2 seems rather interesting. 
New York Times Magazine's food issue
Chicken McNuggets frolic at New York City pet store
Eat your broccoli orbs! 
