Super Bowl Taste Test: Chicago Style Hot Dogs

Posted on February 5, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
10 Count with Natural Casing

Components of my Vienna Beef Chicago Style Hot Dog Kit

The Super Bowl Taste Test almost didn’t happen, because of last week’s bitter weather in Chicago. My order from Vienna Beef sat on the tarmac for days till I finally gave up and started planning an alternative attraction. Then, late Saturday afternoon, the Fedex man dropped a box on my doorstep. It was the Vienna Beef order, and in perfect condition: still frozen but just barely.

Unboxing Hot Dog Kit

The Unboxing

Everybody should splurge on the Vienna Beef Hot Dog Kit at least once. It costs $41.95 (plus a reasonable shipping charge for a perishable item) and comes as either a 10-count natural casing Hot Dog Kit or 16-count Hot Dog Kit with skinless franks. You also get an equivalent number of their poppyseed buns plus celery salt, mustard, sport peppers and that legendary neon green relish. All you need to add at home is your own chopped onions, sliced tomato and pickle spear.

Vienna Beef Char Dogs

Char Dogs (notice how beautiful they crack open from the grill)

I ordered the natural casing dogs because the sausage itself was of primary importance for my Super Bowl Taste Test. I wanted to judge which was better: char dogs or steam dogs. I’d preferred the char version at Gold Coast Hot Dogs, but when I ordered the Vienna Beef rep informed me most Chicago hot dog stands steam, rather than grill, their product.

Steamed Vienna Beef Hot Dogs

Steamed dogs, still delicious

The game itself was boring, so there was plenty of time to devote to the taste test. My tasters told me they probably preferred the char dogs but by the slimmest of margins; some wouldn’t even make a commitment. But the forensic evidence told the tale. The char dogs were on a platter placed under the steamed dogs, yet they were the first to disappear. At the end there was only a lone dog remaining—and it was steamed.

Now that this is out of the way, I need to find a way to make those poppyseed buns at home. (I’ve never seen anything like them in a supermarket.) Both King Arthur Flour and Serious Eats have recipes, and they’re quite different. This should be fun.

Chicago Style Hot Dog

The finished product: Chicago Style hot dog, made at home

 

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Recipe: Super Bowl Cheese Rolls

Posted on February 2, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
Super Bowl Cheese Rolls

Super Bowl Cheese Rolls. Depending on your loyalties, the protruding piece on top could be the end of a Ram’s horn. Or the oozing cheese at right might be the back of a Patriot’s three-cornered hat…

Super Bowl Cheese Rolls couldn’t be easier to make, with these mods to my Acme Cheese Wheels. I made my own dough with 80% All Purpose Flour/20% Whole Wheat Flour but you could just as easily use a premade pizza crust dough. And instead of shredded cheese I used sliced deli cheese from the supermarket, which made handling easier. Makes 8 cheese rolls.

Ingredients:
Premade pizza dough from the deli case, approximately 12 oz
1/3 lb sliced deli cheese; I used a combination of Swiss and a cheddar spiked with Hatch chilis
Parmesan cheese for garnish

Super Bowl Cheese Rolls

Make a bunch, because these go fast.

Method: bring dough to room temperature. Stretch it out into a rectangle with approximately the same dimensions as an 8×13″ quarter sheet pan. (See the original recipe for assembly photos.) Layer cheese slices evenly across the entire surface, letting slices stick out on the long side. Roll up lengthwise into an 8″ roll. Using a serrated knife, cut into 8 pieces with equal thickness. Carefully transfer the slices to a Silpat or parchment paper inside quarter sheet pan, holding the edges tightly so the rolls don’t fall apart. Sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top of each roll.

Cover rolls with a towel and let rise 1 hour at room temperature until rolls have filled out somewhat. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Bake for 25 minutes till the cheese is thoroughly melted and the tops are brown. Serve warm.

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Recipe: Andersen’s Split Pea Soup

Posted on January 31, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
Pea Soup with Croutons

Andersen’s Split Pea Soup with optional (and recommended) croutons, plus a shake of Cavender’s Greek Seasoning

Andersen’s Split Pea Soup was an attraction in college days when I used to drive frequently between Southern and Northern California. I’d always order the “Traveler’s Special” which was a bottomless bowl served with their tasty Onion Cheese Bread. This winter’s bitter weather made me search out the recipe, which appears in the same version everywhere and doesn’t contain enough salt, a flaw which we’ve corrected. It has a rounded hammy taste without ham and I was surprised to discover the base version is completely vegan, though you can add ham if you like. Makes about 3 quarts.

Ingredients:
2 quarts water
2 c dried split peas
1 celery rib, coarsely chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
1 small onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
¼ t ground thyme
1 pinch cayenne
1 bay leaf
2 t Kosher salt (1 t if using ham)
¼ t ground black pepper
Optional: ½ c chopped ham (Benton Country style or equivalent recommended)

Method: rinse the dried split peas, then combine all ingredients in a pot and heat to boiling. Reduce to a fast simmer and cook for 30 minutes or until peas are completely tender. Cool slightly then remove bay leaf and purée in blender. Serve hot.

Note about reheating: Andersen’s Split Pea Soup does not reheat well in the microwave, for some reason. You need to warm it up on the stove, adding a little water to restore original consistency.

I find this soup tastes best with a shake of seasoned salt. As I recall, Lawry’s was offered at the restaurant but this time I used Cavender’s Greek Seasoning, a legitimate choice because the product is sold in Andersen’s online store.

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Recipe: Andersen’s Onion Cheese Bread

Posted on January 29, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
Onion Cheese Bread

Andersen’s Onion Cheese Bread

I had forgotten about Andersen’s Onion Cheese Bread until I started researching the main attraction at the Andersen’s Pea Soup restaurants in various California locations. This bread is a wonderful mashup of crunchy poppy seeds, chewy onion fragments and mellow cheddar cheese and other dairy products. It’s served on the side so you can dunk it in the soup or spread with butter and eat on its own. Adapted from this recipe which says it originally appeared in the Modesto Bee.

Ingredients:
6 T dried milk powder
1 T dehydrated onion (you can substitute 3 T chopped fresh onion but dehydrated preferred)
1 T honey or sugar
2 t or one packet instant dry yeast
1 ½ c lukewarm water
4 c all-purpose flour
2 t Kosher salt
2 T softened butter or other shortening
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese (add more if you like)
2 T poppy seeds

Method: combine water, onion, honey/sugar, dried milk powder and yeast in the bowl of your mixer. Stir to combine, then wait about 5 minutes till it starts to froth. Add other ingredients and mix on first speed 2 minutes or until thoroughly combined. Knead 7 minutes at second speed, adjusting hydration as needed; this is a fairly dry dough which should clear the sides of the bowl and clump around the mixing hook.

Cover the dough and let it rise 1 hour at room temperature until it has expanded noticeably. Punch it down then transfer to appropriate baking pan: this recipe will fit one full-size bread loaf pan, two 9×4 mini-loaf pans (my choice) or can be proofed in a basket and baked in dutch oven or on a baking stone. If using a pan, lightly butter the bottom and sides before adding dough.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover the dough with a towel and proof until risen about 30-50%, which will take an hour or less at room temperature. Bake 45-50 minutes or until brown on top. Cool on racks then serve warm.

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Nibbling at the 2019 Winter Fancy Food Show

Posted on January 24, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
Greuenbroeker Cheese

Greunbroecker blue cheese is amazing: when it’s sliced the white sections turn yellow in a few minutes, signaling it’s ready to eat. Distributed by World’s Best Cheese, so I’m hoping I can get my friends at Putnam Market to order some. Spotted at the 2019 Winter Fancy Food Show.

Once again the Winter Fancy Food Show was a garden of earthly delights. They’ve remodeled Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, taking out whatever separated the North and South Halls, so the venue seemed even more forbiddingly enormous than on my last visit.

Plant Snacks

Plant based everything!

The biggest trend was definitely plant-based everything, typically derived from obscure medicinal plants cultivated by various native peoples, often with probiotic benefits. I did an interview with the CEO of Kuli-Kuli, the moringa people, and will report on them separately. Baobob and Yaocan root also in evidence.

As always, I found a few oddities lurking in the outer aisles, like Salted Egg potato chips. Why not? They tasted like eggs, but salty.

Salted Egg Potato Chips

Salted Egg potato chips

Several vendors offered rustic flatbreads… robust doughs mixed with lots of seeds and dried fruits, then rolled or extruded thin and baked. Gave me some ideas for my own baking projects: make some sourdough then put it through a pasta roller.

Rustic Flatbreads

Rustic flatbreads

The Japanese pavilion had on display some of the most ridiculously marbled Wagyu cuts I’d ever seen. You would need a note from your cardiologist to try these, but fortunately they were not offering samples.

Wagyu Beef Assortment

Heart attack on a plate

Azuma Foods International, a foodservice distributor of Japanese seafood salads, had an interesting display of seaweed salad: tinted neon green (the way we usually encounter it), with natural colors and untinted, side by side. Tasted exactly the same, of course.

Seaweed Salad

Seaweed salad comparison

The first day at the show I developed some kind of flu-like feverish symptoms and powered down the Immunity hemp elixir shot from Lumen (which, unlike most CBD products apparently, is pressed from the whole hemp plant rather than made from extract). I felt surprisingly restored the next morning. Then tried the Restore which had me shaking as if I’d downed a fistful of amphetamines, so I guess it’s not a placebo.

Lumen Hemp Extracts

Lumen hemp extracts

Then there were the mochi ice creams from several sources. I’m not a fan of this bean cake masquerading as a dessert, but have to admit it tasted better frozen than at room temperature.

There were some grumbles from exhibitors about supply chain problems due to the current trade wars, but attendance was good and the hall was close to full, so the 2019 Winter Fancy Food Show can be deemed a success.

Mochi Ice Cream

Mochi Ice Cream

Note: click on any thumbnail to see a much larger rendition of the visual.

In our next post: ridiculously high-end (and expensive) artisanal chocolate.

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Cleveland Kraut: best taste at Fancy Food Show

Posted on January 22, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
Curry Kraut

Curry Kraut from Cleveland Kraut

We’re just back from the Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco and will have several reports over the coming days. But this is too good to wait. The (subjectively) best thing I had at the show can be found not in some frou frou emporium or celebrity chef’s kitchen…. But at Walmart. We’re talking about Cleveland Kraut.

I happened on these guys randomly in a cheese aisle at the show. The specific best thing was their “classic” caraway kraut which was probably the most well-balanced sauerkraut I have ever tasted. There were many, many pickle vendors at the show but most were disappointing. Most of the wares were vegetables preserved in a vinegar brine, vs naturally fermented. Which is ironic because probiotics and other gut-food was a huge trend elsewhere. And the Kraut brothers with their “raw & probiotic fermented foods for all” were right there at the head of the curve.

Walmart Kraut

Cleveland Kraut facings at Walmart

The Cleveland Kraut guys make maybe a dozen varieties, of which maybe 8 were in evidence when I beat a path to my local Walmart in Saratoga Springs, NY. It’s under $6 for a pound which is more than a can of processed stuff but less than you’ll pay for a small curated jar of artisanal kraut. They have hit a sweet spot in delivering a quality product that tastes good but is exceptionally well priced.

Last night I tried the “Gnar Gnar” which I assumed was some kind of Cambodian mountain pickle but in fact is derived from “gnarly” and is described as a “Cleveland take on kimchi”. It is indeed spicy, garlicky, almost too powerful… Gnarly. This morning’s breakfast was Curry Kraut with jalapeños, carrots, ginger and turmeric… perfect. Beet Kraut is waiting in the fridge then it’s back to the store.

We have previously remarked on the surprising variety available at Walmart and this is a good example. One wonders what a small company which has already managed national distribution was doing at the Fancy Food Show in the first place. The answer, of course, is to introduce their product to people like us. Go to your local Wally World and try some now.

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Breakfast Cheeseburgers, aka Cheeseburgers for Breakfast

Posted on January 17, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
Breakfast Cheeseburgers

Breakfast Cheeseburgers, ready for their taste test

When I was in college they would serve burgers in our (pretty awful) dining hall on Saturday at lunchtime. I would make up several extras and squirrel them away in my dorm room (my roommate loved this) and enjoy throughout the week. More recently, I have documented that Texas Schoolburgers suffer no loss in quality when served the next day. So what if we set up a deliberate test to have cheeseburgers for breakfast and see what develops?

A very important caveat: this will NOT work with burgers that have “sauce” on them (aka thousand island dressing) like those served at the White House. These mayo-based dressings might well turn into a salmonella factory left for hours at room temperature or inadequately chilled. Rather, I am talking about the classic Texas burger with mustard, pickles and a generous amount of onion as well as lettuce and tomato. The vinegar in the mustard and pickles seeps into the bun and deepens the experience. The onion (raw) increases its funkiness and flavor appeal. The processed cheese, immutable as a diamond, reflects the glow of the other ingredients. What’s not to like?

The other night I had a rental car in San Francisco, a rare thing, and picked up some In-N-Out burgers made to my custom formula before I was ready to eat them. In-N-Out uses whole leaf lettuce, and this tends to cool down the burger as the hours pass. The burger was definitely not as good as it would have been enjoyed hot off the griddle. But I’d picked up a third burger to try as cheeseburger for breakfast. Here’s what happened the next morning, after I divided the cold sandwich into thirds.

Breakfast Cheeseburger

Breakfast Cheeseburger #1

Breakfast Cheeseburger #1: I removed the leaf lettuce with the thought that the cool lettuce is part of the appeal at In-N-Out. Microwaved 30 seconds on high, then restored the lettuce. Result: without the density of the lettuce, this burger started cooking vs heating which was not what I wanted. Got some nice pan juices running onto the plate. Cheese, which is barely soft when it comes from the burger place, started to melt. Tasty, but too much a departure from a fresh burger.

Breakfast Cheeseburger

Breakfast Cheeseburger #2

Breakfast Cheeseburger #2: shredded the lettuce like they do at Burger House in Dallas, which makes the best burger I have encountered, then microwaved 30 seconds on high (with the lettuce in the sandwich). Result: delicious, as good as eating fresh the night before.

 

Breakfast Cheeseburger

Breakfast Cheeseburger #3

Breakfast Cheeseburger #3: did nothing but take the final third of the cold burger and popped it in my mouth. Result: delicious. The burger and cheese had the mouthfeel of a cold meat loaf in a sandwich, and the cold vegetables set it off beautifully with crunch and tartness. Tied with #2 for my favorite.

The bottom line: Cheeseburgers for breakfast are a thing!

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Let’s just put oregano on everything!

Posted on January 15, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers

If you order the magnificent Italian Mix sub at Roma Imports in Saratoga Springs, the last thing they’ll do is shake on some dried oregano. Likewise with the surprisingly good #2 regular ordered “Mike’s Way” at the Jersey Mike’s chain. And we’ve taken to doing the same thing with salads at my house. Instead of composed dressings like my Skinny Vinaigrette, we just add some olive oil and balsamic or red wine vinegar, liberally incorporate salt and pepper, then finish with a shake of oregano.

This spice also figures prominently in many Italian-influenced dishes, like the tomato pies we were comparing recently. It’s also a key add-in to menudo, that legendary Mexican hangover cure. We even found a recipe for a lemon-oregano shortcake. And when I was holed up in a hotel room in a kitchen this past weekend and needed to cook an emergency kebab dinner, which spice did I go out and grab at Trader Joes? You guessed it, oregano.

Oregano Plants

Fresh oregano plants. I find the taste too mild and refer the dry stuff. Photo by Garitzko, via Wikipedia Commons.

Oregano has a bitter, herbaceous flavor profile that turns savory foods into something more complex. If you don’t have dried herbes de Provence or marjoram in the house, oregano will work just fine and its bitterness makes it an acceptable stand-in for dried (not fresh) basil, mint or shiso. You can’t use it to generate heat, nor for that distinctive licorice flavor of fennel, nor for sweets which have their own menu of spices. But for the minimally stocked kitchen and the lazy cook, oregano goes a long way.

I have in the past gone out of my way to purchase Greek oregano (which has a lemony topnote) and Mexican oregano (which seems to be more flavorful, maybe because I buy it at Penzey’s and it’s fresher) but to hell with that. Now I just have a great big jar of McCormick’s oregano purchased at a big box store, and if I don’t get enough flavor I can shake on some more. (My jar looks like the one above, which you can buy with free shipping as an add-on item at Amazon, except mine is already half empty after a few months.)

2018 was a tough year, and 2019 is shaping up to be equally challenging. Let’s simplify where we can. Starting with oregano on everything.

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Rating Chicago airport hot dogs

Posted on January 10, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
Gold Coast hot dog

Chicago airport hot dog from Gold Coast in the Midway food court… maybe not the best ever but pretty pretty good.

[See UPDATE at the end.] Chicago takes its hot dogs seriously. This includes the Chicago airport hot dogs served to travelers at O’Hare and Midway who never get on the L and see the city first hand. I usually connect through Midway early in the morning on my way to the west coast and I grab a dog with the works at Gold Coast Dogs in the food court. I have no idea how it stacks up against the very best neighborhood hot dogs, but judged against a universal standard of hot dog goodness it’s excellent. The sausage is generous in size and nicely charred on the grill. The bun is soft, but sturdy enough to stand up to the fillings. And the condiments are just what you want and expect: mustard, neon green relish, onion, two sport peppers, a pickle spear and a shake of celery salt at the end.

America’s First hot dog… small (can you find the dog?) and sad.

When planning my current trip, I discovered Southwest has eliminated its ALB-SNA itinerary so I had to fly United and go through O’Hare. This opened some new hot dog opportunities. I strode off the plane, searched “hot dogs” on Yelp, and found several places that were within walking distance. The nearest place was “America’s Dog” so I got there quickly and ordered the Chicago dog. What a disappointment! It was a much smaller frankfurter to begin with, and the ingredients, though they were all there, were arranged haphazardly on the bun. And it was a terrible value at $6.49…. as I recall the Gold Coast dog was a little over $5. The only positive thing was that it left me so hungry I realized I could eat another hot dog for breakfast, and did.

Kiosk Hot Dog

Kiosk hot dog was better, but suffered the effects of the steam table.

I went off in search of “Chicago Style Hot Dogs” but that place is not where Yelp says it is, nor is it where the signage on the airport wall says it is. Perhaps it has gone out of business or morphed into a deep dish pizza place? I ended up (and mistakenly checked in) at one of several kiosks that are operated by a single server who assembles the dogs off a steam table. The server gamely put the ingredients through their paces. She even added some slices of cucumber, which I had never seen before. (They didn’t add much.) But the steam table meant both the bun and the dog were flaccid.

Looking at the morning’s experience with Chicago airport hot dogs, I marvel at the variability that can be encountered in a simple tube steak. I am going to stipulate, and I will wait for Chicagoans to tell me I am full of lake water, that the dog absolutely has to be grilled to a crackling brown (close to black) crust. And it needs a sturdy bun that won’t fall apart when you eat it.

Like many people who discover they enjoy cooking at a young age, I once fantasized about opening a restaurant as a way to make people happy. A hot dog restaurant was one of my ideas. I would offer endless variations—my favorite innovation was a curry dog with mayo and mango chutney—and they would be cheap, nutritious and filling. Certainly a Chicago dog would merit a place on the menu. It’s not easy because you have to get that special neon relish (which, as I discovered when making Texas Schoolburgers, is more than just relish with green food coloring) and you need sport peppers (which aren’t actually a thing) with just the right degree of hotness.

A guy tried a hot dog business in Saratoga awhile back and it failed quickly. His Chicago style hot dog cut corners, and was unsatisfactory. You need the real thing. And grill that dog, dammit.

UPDATE: shortly after this post was written, I was able to procure the fixings straight from Vienna Beef and did a taste test during the Super Bowl. You can read about here. In other news, Gold Coast Dogs at Midway did not survive the pandemic and was replaced by a stand that says Vienna but turns out an inferior product.

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Hacking the secret McDonald’s menu through online ordering

Posted on January 8, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers

Secret McDonalds menu turns $1 cheeseburger into something tasty.

Fast food places are promoting their online ordering, through a browser or a proprietary app. Nothing wrong with that. And I’ve discovered that you can hack the online ordering system to create a secret McDonald’s menu which would be difficult to pull off when you’re standing at the register.

Secret McDonalds Menu

My secret McDonalds Menu order

Case in point: the hacked $1 cheeseburger. Click it into your shopping cart in the app and click “customize”. Add extra onions, pickle and mustard, minus ketchup and add lettuce and tomato. Walla! You’ve got a reasonable facsimile of a Texas cheeseburger for a more-than-reasonable $1.20. (Upcharge for the lettuce and tomato.) If you’re worried they won’t put on enough mustard, go the condiment section and add a serving of honey mustard or hot mustard to your order for a cost of $0.00.

This works because there is a system in the store that prints a perfect order ticket, ready for processing. As opposed to standing in front of the minimally trained order taker who is punching buttons and may or may not make a mistake. (Even at In-N-Out, which is proud of its off-the-menu specialties, my custom order is wrong maybe 10% of the time.) Plus the people behind you in line are getting more and more irritated.

Secret McDonalds Menu

The order!

Another online ordering hack is my custom sub at Jersey Mike’s: I start with the #2 regular (best combination of value and flavor in my opinion), request it “Mike’s Way” which means oil, vinegar and oregano, then add crushed pepper spread, jalapeños, banana peppers and pickles. The meat and bun are swamped by the delicious veggies making me think this sandwich is good for me. (Probably not.)

McDonald’s secret menu? Jersey Mike’s secret menu? What’s your online ordering hack?

Jersey Mike Hack

Hacked #2 regular at Jersey Mike’s

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