Deep Fried Hot Dogs

In an earlier post, I mentioned that my husband and I are trying to watch what we eat and get in shape for an upcoming trip. After a particularly hard day at work, I decided on the drive home I wanted to eat something comforting and I didn’t care how it was going to affect the "diet". My choice of yummy goodness: deep fried hot dogs.

I'm fairly certain that the idea came from an episode of Triple D - Diners, Drive-ins and Dives (if you haven't watched this show, might a make a huge suggestion - START!)

Deep frying the hot dog adds a nice snap to the skin or if you by Nathan's Hot Dogs (YUM) a crispy skinless hot dog. The process is easy: plug in your fry daddy, let it heat up, pat the hot dog down with a paper towel to dry it off before gently placing them (I kept it to two at a time) in to the hot oil and let them fry. Nathan's hot dogs will go directly to the bottom of your fryer and will pop up in almost exactly 2 minutes. Once they pop up, continue to fry for 2 1/2 minutes -you will notice a difference in the hissing of the oil and that is when you should take them out and place them on a few paper towels to get excess oil off.

Proceed by using your favorite toppings to create a terrific tasting hot dog. I topped one of mine with Taylor’s Chili http://www.taylorschili.com/, grilled onion, shredded cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream. The other hot dog was covered with sauerkraut, grilled onion and mustard. Now I am not a fan of sauerkraut but my husband loves it on his hot dogs and brats. I decided to go ahead and bite the bullet and try some on my hot dog. Much to my amazement – I loved it!



Another suggestion comes from my brother Wayne, a concoction that he created for his business "Pick'n 'N' Grinn'n BBQ" - The Hairy Dog - hot dog covered in pulled pork and cheese. Is your mouth watering yet?

Enjoy!

BBQ rolls

I love BBQ and I love rolls, so when I saw BBQ rolls (rolls stuffed with BBQ) on "The Best Thing I Ever Ate...BBQ" the other night, I had to try making them. I mean why not. I have a terrific yeast roll recipe given to me by a good family friend, Nancy Goodson and the great book How to Grill by Steven Raichlen. What did I have to lose?

Mr. Raichlen’s recipes have never failed me – of course sometimes I fail the recipe. I used the Basic Barbecue Rub (I have it pre-made and waiting for my every beckon call in my spice cupboard) for my Boston Butt. Rubbed the spices all over the piece of meat and let it dry marinate in the refrigerator over night.

This morning I did my normal prep work– browned it on all sides and placed it in my small roaster, fat side up, shoved it in the oven at 275˚ and left for the day. I was concerned with being gone all day and not being able to add a sauce or mop the meat to keep it moist.

When I took the meat out of the oven, it looked terrific. I let it rest for 10 minutes while I prepped the dough. When I picked the meat up with my tongs and the meat gave –it gave a lot - a horrible picture flashed through my head, the turkey carving scene from “Christmas Vacation”. Remember? Chevy Chase pokes the knife into the turkey and a puff a smoke comes out?

Luckily for me, I had not recreated the scene. The meat gave because the fat had rendered resulting in some of the most delicious, moist pulled pork I have ever made.

Add this glorious meat to the sweet yeast rolls and you’ll be doing the happy food dance like I was during dinner. My husband was laughing at me and asked me if I needed some time to myself. LOL

Here are both recipes. I highly suggest that if you like to make BBQ or want to but don’t think you can, that you get Mr. Raichlen’s book(s) and use them.

Pulled Pork
1 Boston Butt (I did not use the bone-in)
Dry rub with “Basic Barbecue Rub” http://www.barbecuebible.com/featured/howtogrill/basic_barbecue_rub.php
Your favorite barbecue sauce

Brown meat on all sides including the ends and place in small roaster, fat-side up in a 275˚ oven. Let the meat cook for 6 to 8 hours.

When you take the meat out of the oven or off of the grill and let it rest for at least 10 minutes. Pull the meat apart and let it cool a little. Add a light coating of your favorite BBQ sauce to the meat before stuffing in to the yeast rolls.

Yeast Rolls
By Nancy Goodson
1 c. milk
½ c. sugar
1 tsp salt
½ c. butter or marg.
1 pkg. dry yeast
¼ c. warm water
1 beaten egg
4 c. flour
Melted honey butter

Scald the milk. Add sugar, salt & butter to the milk. Stir until melted & sugar is dissolved, let cool but don’t let the butter set on you. Dissolve yeast in the warm water. Add beaten egg. Add cooled milk mixture. Add 2 c. flour & mix until smooth. Add rest of flour and mix well. Cover and chill for several hours – up to 3 days in frig. Divide dough and roll in to balls. Hollow out the dough ball and stuff some of the pulled pork in to the dough. Pinch the dough closed over the meat. Allow rolls to rise until doubled. Baste with melted honey butter.

Bake for 8-10 minutes at 425˚ or until rolls are fully baked.

TIPS: Use your hands to toss the pulled pork in the BBQ sauce. Do not mix the meat a lot otherwise the texture becomes something that you probably will not enjoy.

Let the dough sit in the refrigerator at minimum 3 hours.

If your rolls are not doubling in size, place them in your oven on the lowest temperature setting possible – mine goes as low as 150˚. Keep an eye on them; you are not baking them at this point just trying to make them a little fluffier.

Flour you hands when working with the dough.

Your dough balls should be no larger than a pool table ball.

Enjoy!!