Come on in 'The Kitchn'
Each week we round up our favorite posts and recipes from our friends at The Kitchn.
This week, the Kitchn teaches us how to make Chicago's trademark hot dog—the ketchup-less one with cucumber slices and celery salt on a poppy seed bun. Seriously, no ketchup.
Also on the Kitchn, home-curing corned beef for St. Patty's, kale chips, photos of Pierre Hermé's kitchen, and fish recipes for lenten Fridays.
- How To Cure Corned Beef (In Time for St. Patrick's Day): Curing beef is fairly simple: You rub the beef with spices and salt and let it sit in the fridge for seven to ten days. Get crackin' before next Tuesday.
- Kale Chips: How To Eat a Bunch of Kale in One Sitting: After about five minutes of prep and fifteen in the oven, you'll have a bowl full of crispy kale chips.
- Kitchen Spotlight: Pierre Hermé's Paris Kitchen: Photo tour of the macaron god's sleek apartment.
- Fish on Fridays: Seafood Recipes for Lent: Though it's really hard to turn down that steak taco or meatball sub, observant Catholics have many options before Easter.
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7 Comments:
Sorry Chicago, but no thanks. A hotdog shouldn't be hidden undder so much stuff. All a good hotdog needs, is mustard and onions(ketchup is a no,no). It almost seems like Chicago is trying to had a bad tasting under all that crap.
Two things N.Y. has them beat at. Hot Dogs and Pizza.
Raiders757 at 6:51PM on 03/12/09
love me a good chicago dog (which only seems to happen while in Chicago)
Kim Nyland at 10:34PM on 03/12/09
Raiders 757... don't knock it if you haven't tried it. Theres' just something about the combination of condiments that just tastes so good together.
It might not look good in the photo but man its about as good as comfort food gets. I have had plenty a NY dirtywater dog & they're fine. Gimme a Gene & Judes 'Rubberdog' wrapped in paper with home cut greasy fries any day! Hey make it two!
tinytim at 10:45PM on 03/12/09
Well, I've tried it and didn't like it at first. I live in N.J. and a Chicago native moved near me and opened an authentic Chicago Hot Dog joint also selling Italian Beef. Everything imported from Chicago. After awhile I sort of aquired a taste for this style of dog, but had to be in the mood for it. The Vienna Beef dog isn't as tasty or well seasoned as Sabrett, Nathan's, Best (my persoanl favorite from Jersey, not Best Kosher which is no longer being made), Boars Head or others, but blends in well with the other ingredients. A New York/New Jersey style beef dog would overpower everything else and throw it out of balance.
Personally, I prefer the salad on the side. Our hot dogs are made to enjoy the flavor of the meat with a little mustard only or a minimum of toppings. We also have quality German style dogs made with beef and pork, which is rare in Chicago. These dogs are high quality, but in a completely different style with a different spicing. Many from Chicago have only experienced dogs while in N.Y. that have been boiled at streetcarts and are bland from sitting in the water all day. These are not indicative of the better dogs. A Sabrett served at Papaya King or a Nathan's from Coney Island is infinitely better than a lukewarm, bland Sabrett that's lost it's snap from being in the water too long. Where I live in N.J. there are some carts that prepare what we call "dirty water" dogs to where they are fresh, hot, and delicious while retaining their snap.
Although people in Chicago claim boiling or steaming is the "authentic" way of preparing a dog, this isn't true everywhere. Char grilling or griddle frying (like they do at Nathan's and Papaya King) better brings out the flavor of the dog.
Tatse and preference is largely determined by where you grew up and what you were exposed to. There are exceptions. I know of 2 Chicago natives who moved to New Jersey and love the deep fried pork based dogs at Rutt's Hut better than anything in Chicago. I also know of people from N.J. who moved to Chicago and prefer their dogs.
I'll take a quality natural casing dog (kosher or German style depending on mood) lightly grilled and topped with mustard only. If you don't start with a quality dog, it doesn't much matter what you do to it. If you do have a quality dog, it doesn't need all the extra crap to mask it's flavor.
hotdoglover at 8:42AM on 03/13/09
See, now if THAT were really the true periodic table, I might not have failed Chemistry.
juliebugsmama at 10:43AM on 03/13/09
Thank you...for some reason the places the serve it in Indiana and Michigan like to add diced cucumber????
Sigilum at 11:34PM on 03/14/09
I recreated this combination at home with a beef hot dog from the butcher and it was decent. I am not sure what Vienna Beef tastes like, does it have a casing? I like a nice snappy natural casing beef dog that is well seasoned. The combination of toppings, despite seeming like it was dreamed up by a twice-baked stoner, tasted pretty good. Would love to try an authentic version some day.
Kismetized at 12:57AM on 03/21/09