The Hot Dog – A Food Group of Its Own
Written by:
Roscoe |
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Pizza, burgers, and dogs. You’d be hard pressed to find a guy who’s favorite foods don’t include these three. A good hot dog is hard to beat. Operative word here: good. Yes, you can find a hot dog just about anyplace, the markets are full of packages of supposedly all-beef franks that are so good for you you’ll never die. And that’s part of the problem: they keep trying to sell us these dogs that are good for us.
WHO CARES?
You don’t eat a hot dog ’cause you want to get healthy. You eat a hot dog ’cause it tastes good and it’s fun. At least that’s the idea.
SAUSAGE
That’s what a hot dog is: meat or pork and fat and spices and anything else that’ll make it taste good ground together and pumped into a (hopefully) natural casing and smoked or not. Sure, you can substitute chicken or turkey for the meat, there are plenty of great gourmet sausages out there. Trader Joe’s sells a whole lot of them.
THE LOCAL BUTCHER SHOP
That’s the best place to find a good dog. No matter where you live, you probably don’t have to go very far to find a butcher. And every butcher in the country, maybe the world, will have his own hot dogs. Club Roscoe believes these guys are heroes. Support ‘em. They’re a dying breed. Pretty soon the government will tell us that butchers are responsible for global warming, and they’ll tax them and us all to death. Wouldn’t you rather die from eating a good hot dog?
ROSCOE RECOMMENDS:
If you can’t find a local butcher, there are plenty of good commercial dogs out there. Costco sells good sausage, and there are Costcos, or Sam’s Clubs, just about everywhere. Here in Detroit we are blessed to have so much good sausage it’s difficult to make a decision of which to choose. They’re hard to find, but Eckrich makes a fantastic dog called the Little Kielbasa. Kowalski’s Stadium Kielbasas are great. Dearborn makes a good dog, and all three have websites where you can order their stuff.
THE FUN PART: COOKING YOUR DOG
Plenty of ways to do it. Roscoe grills his on the barbecue year round, even in the dead of winter in Michigan. But if you’re not quite as brave and tenacious as Roscoe (not many are), there are still plenty of ways to get a good dog inside. George Foreman says he invented his Lean Mean Fat Reducing Grilling Machine for healthy cooking. Don’t believe it for a second. He invented it so you could grill a good dog right there in your house. Cast iron grill pans are especially good for dogs. And there are all kinds of electric grills. All great for searing sausage.
STEAM IN BEER FIRST
It’s pretty simple, just empty your favorite beer into a pot (sample it first, or better yet, have one yourself), then throw in the dogs. You can add onions (better yet, sautee’ ‘em in oil before you dump in the beer), garlic, Worcestershire, Cholula, or anything else you think will make it taste better. Put the burner on medium and when the liquid starts to bubble, turn it off. Whenever you’re ready, transfer the dogs to your chosen mode of grilling, and… grill away. When the dogs are seared, or the casing starts to crack, you’re there.
A GOOD BUN
Very important. Roscoe likes a whole wheat bun, toasted lightly, believing it melds perfectly with the richness of the meat and fat content of the dog. But if you’re a purist, use what ever bun you like. Steam ‘em or just pop ‘em in the microwave for a couple seconds.
CONDIMENTS
There seem to be a whole lot of people out there who want to tell you what to put on your dogs. They’ll tell you what you can put on, and what you can’t. Roscoe tells all of them to take a hike.
PUT WHATEVER YOU WANT ON YOUR DOG
Some clown in Chicago says he won’t serve your dog with ketchup and you like ketchup on it, go somewhere else. Or better yet, serve your own dogs at home. The toppings are endless. Roscoe’s favorite is beer mustard and red cabbage (old family recipe to come). But you can’t go wrong with kraut and onions and chili and cheese and relish and… well, you get the picture.
HOT DOGS ARE GOD’S WAY OF SAYING HE LIKES US
Roscoe says it, too.
A whole wheat bun?? Really!? Give me Wonder Bread or give me death
Okay, Pitmaster, here we go: when in doubt, or in need of a ruling, or just to have some good ‘ol plain fun, Roscoe’s rule is: DO THE TASTE TEST. The Club Roscoe test kitchens will open any time, day or night. You bring your Wonder Bread (do they even make that stuff anymore?) and I’ll bring a decent bun. Granted, it’s hard to find a decent bun in this town. Wonderful bread, lousy buns. The same goes for roles. Let me know if you’re bringing Wonder Bread for your pulled pork, I’ll bring something good, and we’ll start the taste test right there.
It’s on my friend. In all honesty nothing beats a good roll for a dog but for pulled pork we have tried everything from onion rolls to gourmet breads and the plain white bread roll works best everytime if you make a classic pulled pork sandwich. Meat with vineger dressing, your favorie sauce and some cole slaw. Now if we could find some rye hot dog rolls, some kraut and some mustard that would be a slice of heaven.
I am with you, Roscoe! If I want to put ketchup on my dog, I am going to. I myself don’t prefer a roll as much as a bun, but no bread for this dog here. I like the idea of steaming it in beer. I’ll have to try that.