Hot Dog Truck - again

One of my best memories when coming to Stamford some 30+ years ago, was a hot dog truck on Atlantic St.
I had never seen a food truck at that time, but a dollar for a hot dog with anything on it seemed like a cheap lunch (and i did not have much money at the time).
The vendor retired or moved on, i never found out, but there were no hot dog trucks for many years.
There were other trucks, some operating out of restaurants or promoting them and then an onslaught of many food trucks came, started by Melt Mobile, initially promoted by the Food Network and Bobby Flay.
I loved what they did, but i had a hankering for a hot dog truck and there were none out of the dozen or so that popped onto the food scene.

To my delight, last year a hot dog truck appeared on Washington Blvd. by the Mill River Park.
The hot dogs were more expensive than 25 years ago (2 for $5), but they filled a notch I NEEDED!
They sold a spicy sausage also.
I liked their hot dog chili and all the other standard "fixins'" that you would expect for a hot dog.
The owner and operator would be quick to tell me that the dogs are Sabrett as is the mustard, but they are good!

They are still there on good days so a shout out to something very simple!

Grilling time

I have done this before, but refined the recipe.  It is not so simple now and it has a picture!

Cod on a Grill

·       1 package of bacon

·       2 pieces of Cod, trimmed and halved

·       1/2 teaspoon salt

·       1/2 teaspoon ginger

·       1/4 teaspoon hot pepper

·       juice of 1 lime

·       2 tablespoons chives or scallions, minced

·       1 tablespoon parsley, minced

·       1 teaspoon butter, soft

Mix the salt, ginger and lime juice together and slather the Cob pieces

mix the herbs and butter and place on one side of one piece of cod

place the second piece of cod on top and wrap completely in bacon

place in a removable wire rack

The grill must be a 2 tier grill

The charcoal should be getting white

add wood for some smoke just before placing the cod on the grill

The target temperature for the grill is 275 F

·       if the temperature goes above 300 F or

·       if the fire starts to flame

use these methods to reduce the temperature as the fat renders from the bacon:

·       use a pan of water to place between the cod and the fire

·       keep the grill closed and reduce the air flow

allow the bacon to cook to a soft doneness, it should not crisp about 20 minutes

Remove and serve

Cold Avocado Soup

Avocados are inexpensive and very good so for a hot summer day i give you:

Cold Avocado soup

·       2 avocados

·       2 tablespoon cilantro, minced (reserve one)

·       1 Tablespoon lime juice

·       1/2 cup sour cream

·       1 cup chicken broth

·       1 teaspoon salt

·       Corn tortilla chips

Cut avocados and place in a blender with every thing else.
blend on low until completely mixed.
Chill in the refrigerator until serving

serve over tortilla chips and minced cilantro on top

Accolades for a food chemist

The Food chemist who produced the flavors in this bag of potato chips has my respect.  He nailed the flavor, COMPLETELY!
Lately there has been a huge surge in artificial or extracted flavors in foods that do not usually have these flavors and i have been very disappointed.  I run into this bag of flavor and i think this guy needs a BIG bonus and the other companies need to fire the food chemists.
Most notable fail - Nathan's sour cream and onion pretzel - I will only say it is horrible.
Another fail was Lay's Southern Biscuit and gravy.
An honorable mention goes to a crab flavored potato chip (Cape Cod possibly was the manufacturer?), but its success was only okay (probably due to the use of Old Bay Seasoning) and paled in comparison to what 7-11 accomplished.

London Broil

 That cheap, tough, not fatty, dry cut of beef that no one in my house likes, but i fixed that

a three step process

1)  Dry rub ratio:

·      dry ginger - 1

·      garlic - 1/4

·      salt - 1

·      black pepper - 1

·      hot pepper - 1/4

2) injection - I ingredient Worcestershire sauce

        (i would have added bacon fat, but did not have any on

        hand, but that lead to step 3)

3) wrap in bacon

I left this in the fridge for 6 hours then grilled it at 275 F with the cover closed to prevent flare-up, flipping once after 10 minutes, cooking for another 10 minutes

Sliced thin after resting and it was awesome!

Baking Fried Chicken Livers

Needed ingredients

·       1 lb chicken livers

·       1 lb bacon

·       1/4 teaspoon tarragon, finely ground

·       ~ 2 tablespoons salt

·       1/4 teaspoon black pepper

·       2 cups flour

·       1 cup corn meal

Preparing the livers:

·       1 lb chicken livers

·       mixture of 1/2 apple cider vinegar - 1/2 water to cover the livers

·       2 tablespoons salt

rinse the livers

remove the connective tissue between pieces

place in a container with all of these ingredients for 2 hours

drain and rinse with water

drain

(this process removes much of the harsh, bitter iron and mineral flavor and is better than the traditional approach of soaking in a calcium rich product, such as milk)

coating for livers in a ratio:

·       2 flour

·       1 corn meal

·       1/4 salt

·       1/4 black pepper

·       1/4 tarragon

cook bacon till crisp and reserve fat

pre heat oven  to 375 F with the baking pan coated with a thin coating of bacon fat

coat livers and place into hot pan

bake for 10 minutes and turn over

bake for an additional 10 minutes

serve with crumbled bacon on top

an ingredient does matter!~

i did not have it and tried to substitute with something else, the pepper cured, hardwood smoked, Virginia bacon.  I used regular bacon and it added nothing, but the salad itself is so outstanding that it did not matter!

Lobster salad:

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup plain yogurt

1 tablespoon fennel bulb, diced

1 tablespoon celery stalk, diced

1 teaspoon minced tarragon (also in my garden)

1 1+ pound lobster, steam for 15 minutes and refrigerate till cold

Remove all the lobster meat (claws and tail and any juice)

cut lobster into 1/2 to 1 inch chunks.

mix well and salt to taste, keep cold

top with crisp pepper cured Virginia bacon bits