[abefroman]

Originally Posted by chicagostyledog

Is your father aware of this?

Abe Froman Sr.? The sausage king of chicago?

[chicagostyledog]

Originally Posted by abefroman

Abe Froman Sr.? The sausage king of chicago?

No, I'm referring to BRH, the king of BBQ sauce.

[bluezebra]

shel how did they turn out?

[shel]

Originally Posted by bluezebra

shel how did they turn out?

They were OK, although the one in the cast iron skillet was a scosh dry for my taste. A little less time in the oven and lower heat might do the trick. The pup on the rack was a little more moist, and if I do this again, that's how I may do them.

Comparing them to a stove top technique, in which the pups were simmered until completely heated through and then left for a few minutes in a dry pan to crisp the skin slightly, the stove top method resulted in a dog more to my liking. Next time I'm going to just simmer them, per a suggestion by chicagostyledog.

I keep thinking of Sabrett's dogs from the carts in NYC, and the pups sold by Frank, the hot dog guy who sold the dogs from his truck by the park near my house when I was a kid. Twenty-five cents would get a hungry kid a dog with the fixin's and a bottle of belly wash - usually cream or root beer. And Frank was such a cheerful, friendly guy ... a, memories of youth.

Shel

[Mezzaluna]

the pups sold by Frank

Perfect name for a Sabrett's seller!

[bluezebra]

Yeah Shel the cart dogs are awesome. I heart Sabrett's. I think they taste much different though, than the Boar's Head natural casing franks. I don't so much care for the BH dogs in a water bath to heat em. I've never tried cooking em in the oven before. I have griddled them (often) on top of the stove on a cast iron griddle and love them the best that way. The only way I love them more is on the grill.

The Sabrett's though are awesome in the water, on the griddle and the grill! Lord I wish we could get them down here. They beat a Nathan's dog or Hebrew National with one leg and a tail tied behind their back!

[shel]

Originally Posted by bluezebra

Yeah Shel the cart dogs are awesome. I heart Sabrett's. I think they taste much different though, than the Boar's Head natural casing franks. I don't so much care for the BH dogs in a water bath to heat em. I've never tried cooking em in the oven before. I have griddled them (often) on top of the stove on a cast iron griddle and love them the best that way. The only way I love them more is on the grill.

The Sabrett's though are awesome in the water, on the griddle and the grill! Lord I wish we could get them down here. They beat a Nathan's dog or Hebrew National with one leg and a tail tied behind their back!

I dislike Hebrew National, and it's been so long since I've had a real Nathan's, as opposed to what's sold in the supermarkets here, that I canm't recall what thy taste like. The BH seem pretty nicelybalanced compared to the pups I've taste-tested recently, but there are a few more still to try. One problem is that I've yet yo find the ideal bun for the BH dogs. See, the pups are skinny (seven to a pound v six for some other dogs) and my favorite bun is a little too large, to full-figured, for such a skinny dog, resulting in an out of balance bun to dog relationship. The bun might be fine if I were to load it up with lots of condiments - the extra space would be welcome. But I like my dogs simple - mustard, kraut or maybe onion, and maybe some relish. That leaves a lot more bread than's needed. I found a bun at Trader Joe's that's not too bad. The size is perfect, but I'm still undecided about the taste. It's good, but it may not be the best choice ... gotta try more buns.

Finding the perfect setup is not as easy as I though it would be.

Shel

[AndyG]

Originally Posted by shel

Tomorrow I'm going to bake something in the oven, and I also want to have a couple of dogs for dinner. These are Boar's Head, with the sheep skin casing.

Shel

Saw the title of the thread and whew, was relieved after actually reading your post. No Oscar Meyer, thank goodness. Don't mean to offend anyone, tho.

[shel]

Originally Posted by AndyG

Saw the title of the thread and whew, was relieved after actually reading your post. No Oscar Meyer, thank goodness. Don't mean to offend anyone, tho.

IMO, Oscar Meyer are terrible franks, as are many other "supermarket" brands. But that's just my opinion and my preference. However, a lot of people eat them and seemingly enjoy them.

Shel

[bluezebra]

Shell you're not gonna like this, cuz you don't want to make your own pasta...but I have quit buying hotdog buns and make my own. They are sooo easy to make. Taste miles better. And, you can make them any size you want!

I posted about this on my blog if you want to go get the recipe. Mulligan Stew Me

[shel]

Originally Posted by bluezebra

Shell you're not gonna like this, cuz you don't want to make your own pasta...but I have quit buying hotdog buns and make my own. They are sooo easy to make. Taste miles better. And, you can make them any size you want!

I posted about this on my blog if you want to go get the recipe. Mulligan Stew Me

Thanks, but I really don't want to get into baking right now. The current kitchen doesn't lend itself to baking - and my messy way of baking. FWIW, I used to bake bread, make pasta, muffins, and the like, and enjoyed doing it. Did everything by hand, too - no stand mixers or electric mixers, or pasta machines. It was very enjoyable.

I'll never forget the first pasta I made, putting the egg into the well of flour, kneading by hand, rolling out the dough, and cutting it into strips, not all quite the same width. Very "rustic" but just as tasty as the pasta we made with machines. And kneading bread dough was such a pleasure, being at one with the ingredients. Alas, circumstances preclude all that now.

BTW, although I mentioned this privately, a public mention seems in order: you've got a nice blog site

Shel

[bluezebra]

Hi Shel thanks for your kind comments about the blog. I wish I could figure out the tech diff you're experiencing with the comment section. It has something to do with type incompatability I think. I think you perhaps don't have the font loaded on your computer, the trouble is that the code on the back end with all the if=then statements for type is very hard to make sense of so I can't just go in and change it quickly... but I haven't forgotten and read more about it each day. Hopefully I will have a fix soon.

Back to the baking...I feel for you and know how it is to be in a kitchen that is unconducive (is that a word lol?) to cooking! Especially when you love to cook! I too make all my baked goods by hand (for the most part), I don't have the muscle strength anymore (right now because of health issues) to do the whipping parts that my hand mixer or stand mixer does for batter type stuff or egg whipping etc. But I make my pastas and doughs through hand combination. And the feeling you described about the pasta of the pride and satisfaction you feel is truly incredible. And so hard to communicate! I feel that same satisfaction with all my things like the pasta, buns, breads pitas and flour tortillas I'm now doing. Just the fact of being able to be self-sufficient and not eating all the preservatives present in most of those items is so freeing. LOL, I have Stinky (my sourdough starter) hungry right now and my biggest problem is deciding what flavor of sourdough I'm going to make today so I can go get the levain started! Hahaha. Such issues huh?

Anyway, wish I could help ya out with the buns, although I would be tempted to make some for you if you would pay for the freight. I think it would take overnight or 2 day for them to still taste fresh though, since again, no preservatives! I'd feel safer doing dry ice and overnight service. Prolly isn't worth it though!

[shel]

Originally Posted by bluezebra

Hi Shel thanks for your kind comments about the blog. I wish I could figure out the tech diff you're experiencing with the comment section. It has something to do with type incompatability I think.
[...]
And the feeling you described about the pasta of the pride and satisfaction you feel is truly incredible. And so hard to communicate!
[...]
I have Stinky (my sourdough starter) hungry right now and my biggest problem is deciding what flavor of sourdough I'm going to make today so I can go get the levain started! Hahaha. Such issues huh?
[...]
Anyway, wish I could help ya out with the buns, although I would be tempted to make some for you if you would pay for the freight. I think it would take overnight or 2 day for them to still taste fresh though

I suspect that you're right about the font. I again went to your site and viewed the source code, but couldn't find anything conclusive. Might have another go when I have more time.

The first thing I ever baked was a rich, dense, whole wheat loaf. All that can be said is that the experience was zen-like. At one with the ingredients and the experience. And of course the house smelled soooo wonderful from the rising and baking of the bread.

I brought sourdough starter back from Alaska with me, and have been able to get other starters locally ... you might be surprised at how many local artisan bakeries there are around here, many of which sprang (sprung) from one of two sources: Alice Waters and the great Cheeseboard, across the street from Chez Panisse.

I'll get back to you privately about the buns. I'd like to exhaust the options here first. Thanks for the thought/offer. It's not so much that there are no tasty buns here, just gotta find them the right size for the BH franks.

Shel

[ShoeMaker]

Originally Posted by MuskyHopeful

Was meant to be somewhat of a joke, though they're not bad. Unless it's wrapped in something, I can't really see a reason to cook a hot dog in a hot dry oven. Let us know how the big experiment turns out.

Kevin

LOL ... my kids love blanketed pigs As for plain dogs, I prefer to grill, with broiling being my second choice (I absolutely can't stand boiled hot dogs - heck, I'll use the microwave before I'd boil 'em