Let's Be Frank

Posted by Frank Samperi
Frank Samperi, Senior Program Manager at marthastewart.com, joins Dinner Tonight to guest blog about the Great Hot Dog Cook-Off. 

I had the pleasure of attending the third annual Great Hot Dog Cook-Off last weekend in a beautiful Brooklyn backyard.

Competing cooks vied for the title of top dog, and the proceeds benefited the New York City Food Bank. I was on hand to do some serious eating!

Who'd have expected to see so much variety in a hot dog?

In the running were a tequila-spiked alligator chili dog topped with sour cream, chives, and crushed Fritos; a Chicago-style hot dog with tomatoes, bright-green relish, gherkins, and celery salt on a poppy seed bun;

the Dirty South Dog with grits, bacon, and cheddar; and the Mac Daddy Dog, butterflied with mac and cheese, wrapped in a blanched collard green leaf.

Prizes went to a Oaxacan-style chorizo mole chili dog served on a corn tortilla with peppers and queso fresco;

a Vietnamese-inspired veggie dog with cucumber, pickled carrots, cilantro, and mayo on toasted French bread; and the OK Dog, with goat cheese and mango-jalapeno relish, topped with a cream sauce, seasoned ketchup, and dill mustard, all on a potato roll.

The final prize went to the Thanksgiving dog: a stuffing-wrapped frank, baked in a puff pastry and served atop mac and cheese. All this served with gravy! To quote my eating companion, Dave, "If these hot dogs were movies, this one would be Lawrence of Arabia."

Chef secrets prevented me from coming away with any recipes to share, but here are a few favorite EDF recipes so you can have your own hot dog cook-out. Enjoy!

THE RECIPES:
Baked Corn Dogs
Midwestern Grilled Bratwurst Sandwiches
Onion Rings
Chili Oven Fries

The Great Hot Dog Cook-Off was cohosted by tedandamysupperclub.com's Kara Masi and noteatingoutinny.com's Cathy Erway.

Comments

[Kara]

Thanks for the great review Frank! I'm always impressed with the creativity of the chefs, they keep out doing themselves each year. I'm glad you enjoyed the event, and the hot dogs! Hope you can come back and join us for supper club sometime soon!

[lpatrin]

I really enjoyed reading this review and the photos were great. I recently wrote an article on pairing wine and hot dogs on my blog (see the whole feature at www.talklifecarvercty.com) Kids love hot dogs and grilling them is a summer ritual at our house. My oldest son has an affinity for hot, spiced up dishes and recently requested chili cheese dogs for dinner. My husband and I happened to be drinking a Rosemount Estate Shiraz (2004) on this lazy Saturday afternoon. We also had a pot of chocolate chipotle chili simmering on the stove. The Chili was savory and spicy with just the right amount of sweetness (from the addition of chocolate). While eating we discovered that with each sip of wine the spice of the chili cheese dog was heightened. It was a great culinary surprise for me. It was not a pairing that I had ever entertained before. I would like to try some of the combinations you mentioned soon and see what pairs best with them!

[Margaret]

What, no Not-Dogs or Tofu-Pups? Seriously, though, what creativity, even with the lowly hot dog. I love that two included mac and cheese (to my mind everything tastes better with that on board).

[Erika Pitera]

I'll be honest - I'm one of those people who isn't exactly fond of hot dogs, but this review really goes to show how creative you can get with a relatively simple ingredient or concept. I'm particularly intrigued by the Vietnamese-inspired veggie dog on French bread! I wonder if it tastes anything like banh mi.

[esung1]

Those are a lot of hot dogs!

If I ate hot dogs, I'd probably want to try the Oaxacan-style chorizo mole chili dog.

Awesome that the proceeds went to the NYC Food Bank.

[Regan]

Those beautiful photos make me wish I liked hot dogs. Maybe I do...

[Cathy]

Thanks so much, Frank!
Margaret: Yes, there was a category for veggie dogs, too! And Tofu Pups even made an appearance in a Japanese-style maki roll! (See here: http://noteatingoutinny.com/2008/07/06/if-i-were-entering-the-great-hot-dog-cook-off-take-2-the-maki-dog/)