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Chicago-Style Hot Dogs

Chicago-Style Hot Dogs

By Eric Kim

Dane Tashima for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.

Time

15 minutes

 

Often described as “dragged through the garden” — referring to all of the vegetable toppings — this hot dog is a joy to eat in honor of the Windy City.

A proper Chicago dog is an all-beef frankfurter (such as Vienna Beef) in a poppy seed bun, topped with yellow mustard, neon-green sweet pickle relish, chopped white onion, tomato slices, a dill pickle spear, pickled sport peppers and celery salt. This stovetop recipe is very forgiving, and there are ways to adapt: No poppy seed buns? Just sprinkle a pinch of loose poppy seeds over regular hot dog buns slathered in melted butter. No neon-green sweet relish? Stir a drop or two of green food coloring into regular sweet relish. If you can’t find Chicago-style sport peppers, then sliced pepperoncini works in a pinch. Don’t skip the celery salt; its herbal lightness makes these dogs shine.

Featured in: Welcome to Chicago, Hot Dog Town, U.S.A.

 

Ingredients

Yield: 4 servings

  • 4tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 4split poppy seed hot dog buns
  • 4all-beef hot dogs, preferably bun-length
  • Yellow mustard
  • ¼cup sweet pickle relish
  • 1small white onion, small-diced
  • 1small tomato, halved and thickly sliced lengthwise
  • 4dill pickle spears
  • 4 to 8sport peppers
  • Celery salt

 

Preparation

  • Step 1

In a large skillet over medium, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Without splitting them in half completely, gently flatten the hot dog buns and place them seam-side up in the pan. Move them around to catch all the melted butter and cook until very lightly toasted at the edges, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove the buns and set aside.

  • Step 2

Raise the heat to medium-high and add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter to the pan. When the butter is melted, add the hot dogs and cook, rolling occasionally until all sides are browned and looking crispy, 3 to 5 minutes. (See Tip if grilling.)

  • Step 3

Place the cooked dogs in the buns and top each with as much yellow mustard, relish and onion as you like. On one side of each dog, place a couple of tomato slices; on the other side, place a single pickle spear. Top with as many sport peppers as you can handle. Generously season with the celery salt and serve immediately.

Tip

  • If you’re grilling, just cook the hot dogs over direct medium heat until charred and blistered in spots, 8 to 10 minutes, and meanwhile toast the buns over the open flame as well, about 30 seconds.

 

 

ENJOY SUMMER’S ENDING AND FALL’S BEGINNING FROM ALL OF US AT JOHNSON’S SIERRA LIFESTYLE TEAM!

 

Smoky White Bean and Beef Sloppy Joes

Smoky White Bean and Beef Sloppy Joes

By Sarah DiGregorio

  • YIELD4 servings
  • TIME20 minutes

This update on the kid-friendly classic uses half the meat as a traditional sloppy Joe recipe, but retains the qualities that everyone loves: a tart-sweet savoriness and a quick cooking time. You can substitute ground pork, turkey, lamb or plant-based ground meat for the beef; the key is to use a protein that’s not too lean. A little fat helps carry the flavor of the meat through the entire dish. (If you use plant-based meat or you only have lean meat on hand, add another tablespoon of olive oil or your preferred fat.) The addition of adobo sauce from a can of chipotles imparts smoke, with just a hint of heat. (If you’d like a spicier version, by all means, chop up one or two of the chipotles and add them.) The leftover chipotles keep for at least two weeks in the fridge or indefinitely in the freezer, and they are a welcome addition to many dishes, like chicken tacos or chili

 

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  •  Kosher salt
  • 1 red, yellow or orange bell pepper, finely chopped
  • ½ pound ground beef, preferably 85 percent lean
  • 1 packed tablespoon light or dark brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder
  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin
  • ¾ cup canned or jarred tomato purée
  • 1 tablespoon adobo sauce (from canned chipotles in adobo)
  • 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
  • 1 (15-ounce) can cannellini or pinto beans, drained
  • 4 hamburger buns, preferably potato buns
  •  Tomato slices and pickle chips, for topping

 

PREPARATION

  1. Warm the oil in a large (12-inch) skillet over high heat. Add the onion, season with 1 teaspoon salt, and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 5 minutes.
  2. Stir in the bell pepper, then spread out the vegetable mixture and let it cook undisturbed for about 1 minute. Stir well and repeat, letting the vegetables cook undisturbed for another minute or so at a time. You want the onions and peppers to get softened, seared and browned in spots, about 5 minutes total.
  3. Push the vegetables to the sides of the pan, making an empty spot in the middle of the pan, and add the ground beef. Season the beef with a pinch of salt, and smash it flat with a spatula, letting it cook undisturbed for 1 minute until brown underneath. Break up the beef with the spatula and cook 1 to 2 more minutes, until completely browned with no visible pink spots.
  4. Combine the vegetables and beef, then add the sugar and tomato paste, and cook for 1 minute to toast the tomato paste. Add the garlic powder and cumin, then the tomato purée, adobo sauce and vinegar. Stir in the beans. Reduce the heat to medium and let simmer to thicken slightly, about 3 minutes.
  5. Meanwhile, toast the buns.
  6. With a fork, roughly smash some of the beans to thicken the mixture. Taste and add more salt if necessary. Serve on toasted buns, topped with tomatoes and pickles.

 

Elena Ruz Sandwich

Elena Ruz Sandwich

By Christina Morales

  • YIELD 1 sandwich
  • TIME 10 minutes

Kelly Marshall for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Roscoe Betsill. Prop Stylist: Getteline Rene.

During the late 1920s or early 1930s, the Cuban socialite Elena Ruz Valdés-Fauli asked for a sandwich with turkey, strawberry preserves and cream cheese in a soft medianoche roll at El Carmelo restaurant in Havana.

The sandwich was an original request — it didn’t yet exist on menus in Cuba — but it eventually became something of a beloved national dish. Like other popular Cuban dishes, it combines the sweet and the salty. Some Cuban chefs say that it lends itself to adaptation and experimentation with other jams and sandwich meats. It’s best enjoyed with plantain chips and a Cuban soda, such as Materva or Ironbeer.

Featured in: A Socialite Invented This Quintessential Cuban Sandwich

 


INGREDIENTS

  • 1 Cuban medianoche roll or a brioche hot dog roll (5 to 6 inches long)
  • 2 tablespoons cream cheese, softened, plus more as needed
  • 3 ½ ounces sliced turkey breast
  • 1 ½ tablespoons strawberry preserves, plus more as needed (see Tip)
  • ½ teaspoon unsalted butter

 

 

PREPARATION

  1. Slice or split the bread roll in half to fill as a sandwich. Spread a 1/3-inch-thick layer of cream cheese on the bottom half. Lay turkey neatly on top of the cream cheese. Do not overfill the sandwich. Evenly spread jam on the top half of the bread and sandwich with the bottom.
  2. In a pan over medium-low heat, melt butter, swirling to evenly coat the pan. Place the sandwich bottom side down in the pan and press it with a spatula or a cast-iron skillet. Heat to warm the sandwich, until the bottom is lightly toasted but not burned, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Flip the sandwich and repeat with the other side. Remove from the heat, cut the sandwich in half at an angle and serve immediately.

Tip

  • If you have leftover cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving, feel free to substitute for the preserves. You can also swap in guava jam for the strawberry preserves.

 

Don’t hesitate to call The Sierra Lifestyle Team for evaluations of your home’s value or to tour homes on the market you have an interest in. We are here for you, and Alisa (almost) always answers her cell phone, 530-559-4871.

 

Dulce de Leche Icebox Cake

Dulce de Leche Icebox Cake

By Laurie Ellen Pellicano
  • YIELD 8 to 10 servings
  • TIME 30 minutes, plus 6 hours’ chilling

 

Joel Goldberg for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. Prop Stylist: Paige Hicks.

Icebox cake, so named because it sets in the fridge or freezer, comes together with a little mixing and stacking.

All it needs after that is time to chill, making it ideal for hot days. This version combines store-bought sandwich cookies with dulce de leche whipped cream for a cookies-and-cream meets salted caramel flavor. If you’d like, garnish with crumbled cookies.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 ½ cups heavy cream
  • 1 cup crème fraîche or sour cream
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  •  cup store-bought or homemade dulce de leche
  • 1 (10-ounce) pack (about 40) thin chocolate sandwich cookies (such as Oreos)

 

Ingredient Substitution Guide

PREPARATION

  1. Line a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with a double layer of plastic wrap, pressing it into the corners and leaving several inches of overhang on each side.
  2. In a large bowl and with an electric mixer, beat together the heavy cream, crème fraîche and salt on medium-high until stiff peaks form, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer 2 cups of the whipped cream to a medium bowl and stir in the sugar. Add the dulce de leche to the remaining whipped cream in the large bowl and beat on medium-high for 1 to 2 minutes until stiff peaks form. Season to taste with more salt.
  3. Using a spoon, flick small dollops of both cream mixtures across the bottom and sides of your lined pan. Using a spatula, smooth it into a ¼-inch layer along the edges and bottom.
  4. Cover the bottom with 8 cookies, gently pressing them into the cream. Flick more small dollops of both cream mixtures across the surface of the cookies, then smooth the surface.
  5. Press a row of cookies upright along the long edge of the pan. Generously scoop the whipped creams using the cookies, alternating flavors, and press them upright against the vertical row. Continue forming rows until the pan is full. Tap the pan against the counter to settle the cookies into the cream. Cover the cookies by flicking the remaining cream across the surface, then smooth it out.
  6. Enclose the loaf in the plastic overhang and freeze until completely firm, at least 6 hours. The cake will keep frozen for up to 1 month. To serve, unwrap the top of the loaf, invert the loaf onto a platter, remove the pan and plastic and slice with a serrated knife.

 

 

WISHING YOU A HAPPY, HEALTHY & COOL FALL FROM ALL OF US AT JOHNSON’S SIERRA LIFESTYLE TEAM!

 

PEACHES, PEACHES, PEACHES!!

PEACHES, PEACHES, PEACHES!!

 

Still time to grab fresh peaches from the growers. This recipe has a trick, is easy…and so good!

 

Peach Cobbler 

RENEE ERICKSON A BOAT, A WHALE & A WALRUS

Original Boat Street Café owner Susan Kaplan handed this recipe down to me when I took the reins, and although it’s changed over the years, it’s still a favorite.

The method is a bit unusual: I dress unpeeled juicy peaches with lemon zest, then smear the batter on top, followed by a dousing of sugar and a bit of hot water. The result is a delicate crackly crust unrivaled in the world of cobblers. Use the same crust to top summer berries, if you prefer.

YIELD

8 servings

ACTIVE TIME

30 minutes

TOTAL TIME

1 hour 40 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

    • 10 large peaches (about 4½ pounds), unpeeled, cut into 1-inch chunks
    • Zest and juice of 1 large lemon
    • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
    • 2 cups sugar, divided
    • 1½ cups (about 192 grams) all-purpose flour
    • 2 teaspoons baking powder
    • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
    • ¾ cup whole milk
    • ½ cup hot tap water
    • Heavy cream, for serving

 

PREPARATION

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
    1. Put the peaches in a 9-by-13-inch (or similar) baking pan or gratin dish. Pat the peaches into a roughly even layer, then, using a zester or a Microplane, zest the lemon evenly over the fruit and squeeze the lemon juice evenly over the top.
    2. In the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and 1½ cups of the sugar on medium speed until sandy, about 1 minute. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt, and beat again for another 30 seconds, until all the flour is incorporated and the mixture is evenly crumbly. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add in the milk. Increase the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
    3. Plop the batter in 6 large blobs over the top of the peaches. With an offset spatula or small knife, carefully spread the batter evenly over the fruit, so it’s no more than about ½ inch thick in any one place.
    4. Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup sugar directly over the batter. Drizzle the hot water evenly over the sugar, using it to melt the sugar into the topping. (Use it all. It’s a strange method, but it works.)
    5. Bake the cobbler for 70 to 80 minutes, or until the top is browned and cracked. (A toothpick inserted into the topping should come out dry—be sure to check in a few places.)
    6. Let the cobbler sit for about a half an hour to firm up before serving warm in big bowls, with heavy cream poured on top.

 

 

Meatball Subs

Meatball Subs

 

By Ali Slagle
  • YIELD4 servings
  • TIME30 minutes

 

In this classic Italian American sandwich, tender meatballs drenched in tomato sauce are tucked into crisp rolls then buried under a blanket of gooey cheese.

It’s a messy sandwich no matter how you build it or bite into it, but wise construction can help: First, hollow out the rolls a bit so the meatballs have a place to sit. Then, use the leftover crumbs to make the meatballs, which will keep them light. Finally, toast the rolls to prevent them from getting too soggy with sauce. Of course, some crispy-gone-soggy bites are welcome, just as the cheese pulls, sauce drips and messy fingers are, too. They’re all part of the experience.

Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 (6-inch-long) sub, hero or hoagie rolls, split lengthwise but still attached on one side
  • 1 egg
  •  Kosher salt and black pepper
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled
  •  Extra-virgin olive oil, for greasing
  • 1 pound ground beef (at least 15 percent fat)
  • ½ cup finely grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
  • 2 tablespoons chopped basil leaves, plus more for serving
  • 2 cups marinara sauce (homemade or from a 24-ounce jar)
  • 4 slices mozzarella or provolone

 

PREPARATION

  1. Heat the broiler to high with a rack no more than 6 inches from the heat source. (See Tip if you don’t have a broiler.) Using a fork, scrape out some of the interior of the rolls until you get about 1 cup bread crumbs. Add them to a large bowl along with 1/2 cup water, the egg, 1 teaspoon salt and several grinds of pepper. Finely grate 1 garlic clove into the mixture, then stir to combine. Let sit for 5 minutes.
  2. Lightly grease a large (12-inch), oven-proof skillet with olive oil. To the bread crumbs, add the beef, Parmesan and chopped basil. Stir with your hands until combined, avoiding overmixing. Roll into 12 balls (about 2 heaping tablespoons/2 ounces each) and place them in the prepared skillet as you go. Broil the meatballs until browned and nearly cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes.
  3. Move the skillet to the stovetop. Add the marinara sauce, stir to coat the meatballs, and warm over medium-low heat while you toast the rolls: Place the rolls on a baking sheet, cut-side up, and broil until lightly golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Rub the cut sides of the roll with the second garlic clove.
  4. Divide the meatballs and sauce among the rolls, then top with mozzarella. Broil until the mozzarella is melted and browned in spots, 1 to 2 minutes. Top with more grated Parmesan, basil leaves and black pepper.

Tip

  • If you don’t have a broiler, you can make this recipe using a 450-degree oven. The meatballs will take about 15 minutes to cook through (or you can sear them on the stove), and the bread-toasting and cheese-melting will take 2 to 4 minutes each.

 

WE JUST MADE THESE SUBS…YUMMY & EASY!!