How-to Make the Perfect Hot Dog!

This may be cringe inducing to some of you, but I love hot dogs.  When I was younger, I'd only have ketchup on my hot dogs, and my dad would encourage us to eat them by writing my brother's and my name on the hot dogs in ketchup.  Very cute.  Nowadays, I'll put almost anything on my hot dogs.  I've been dying to go to one of those hot dog shacks with all of the crazy toppings because I think I would just go WILD.  Absolutely wild.  In fact, I'm going to Wildwood this weekend for the annual Beach Ultimate Tournament and will be making a stop at this restaurant that I saw on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.  I'm already having trouble deciding what I'm going to get!

Alright, so this is what you need to do.  First, boil your hot dog in water, just to get it warm.

Then drain the pan, throw in some butter, and fry the dog until it's a deep red color.  This gets the outside really crispy and the inside stays juicy.  So good.  I recommend the Kirkland brand hot dogs, even if you have to buy 50 of them at a time from Costco.  

I love mine with sauerkraut and a pickle.  Yumm.  Also here's another little tip - put your toppings on the bottom.  I know, a little backwards, but it'll keep your toppings in place.  And be sure to have a fork handy for those pieces that do get away.

What are some of your favorite hot dog toppings?

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Posted by Ali B at 8:47 PM

Take a Look at What I Did...

So I had some friends over the other night.  I wanted to serve them food.  So I did this:

I melted a block of this:

And poured in a can of this:

And stirred it all together and served it with chips.

I KNOW.  Have any of you ever had Velveeta?  First of all, it's not even in the refrigerated aisle.  Second, the texture reminds me of that cornstarch/water solution you make to teach kids about solids and liquids. You know, how it's supposed to be like a solid and a liquid at the same time?  Something you eat should never have those qualities...

But in all honesty, it wasn't bad.  It was a little spicier than I had expected, so next time I think I'll just get regular Rotel.  Or maybe even go so far as to chop up real tomatoes.  And melt them with real cheese. But let's not get carried away here...

But honestly, if you're having some friends over for SNF and need to whip up something quick before the Saints game, this dip really isn't a bad choice.  And it's just as good cold as it is hot, which is what my parents and I learned as we were all eating it straight out of the fridge the next day...

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Posted by Ali B at 12:03 PM

The Perfect Grilled Cheese

I mentioned in an earlier post that one of my favorite uses for pesto is to combine it with mayonnaise.  Pesto mayo is a great spread on many different types of sandwiches, but my choice always and will be to use it on a grilled cheese sandwich.  I had never even heard of pesto mayo until I went to a cafe in DC with my roommate and she ordered this sandwich.  I ordered one as well after hearing her gush about it and I absolutely fell in love with it.  It's such a simple sandwich but the flavors combine together to make such a savory lunch.  While I was at school I was always dying to recreate it.  Unfortunately, I was without a food processor, so once I made pesto in my new processor at home I knew this was going to be the first thing I did with it.  I don't know if I'll ever put pesto on anything unless it's mixed up with mayonnaise.

The combination of basil, mayo, garlic, and cheese is so savory and the red onion and tomato give extra body to the sandwich.  I'd suggest mixing different types of cheese when making this sandwich to add more depth to the flavor.  I've been eating these sandwiches for weeks and would love to take the time now to show you how to make the perfect grilled cheese.

There are three tips to making the perfect grilled cheese:
- Use lots of cheese
- Keep the frying pan on medium - low heat
- Use lots of butter

So first, here's how you put the sandwich together.

Take your pesto mayo, which is just equal amounts of pesto and mayonnaise mixed together, and spread it on a piece of bread.

Layer with a piece of cheese (my favorite is white American cheese) and pieces of tomato.

Layer with a second piece of cheese and slices of red onion.

Layer with a third piece of cheese and spread more pesto mayo on the second piece of bread.

Melt about 1/2 tbsp of butter in a frying pan over medium to low heat.  When the butter begins to bubble, place the sandwich in the frying pan.

Spread butter on the top piece of bread and when the underside is golden brown flip the sandwich and cook on the other side.  Leave the stove on medium - low heat so the sandwich cooks slowly and all of those layers of cheese have time to melt.  At this point, you can also cover the pan with a lid to allow the steam to melt the cheese.

Remove from heat and enjoy!  You're welcome.

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Posted by Ali B at 1:50 PM