Cooking In, Lunch, Quick PostKerry Alaric Cheeseboroanchovies, anchovy, basil, beef, bun, butter, cheese, cilantro, dog, dogs, fish, garlic, grated, haute dog, haute dogs, hot, hot dog, hot dogs, mayo, mayonnaise, mozzarella, orange, paprika, Parmesan, pepper, pesto, pickled, ricotta, roll, salami, sauce, shrimp, smoked, sopressata, sriracha, toasted, vinegar, wasabi, white, wineComment

Dogs Days of Summer

Cooking In, Lunch, Quick PostKerry Alaric Cheeseboroanchovies, anchovy, basil, beef, bun, butter, cheese, cilantro, dog, dogs, fish, garlic, grated, haute dog, haute dogs, hot, hot dog, hot dogs, mayo, mayonnaise, mozzarella, orange, paprika, Parmesan, pepper, pesto, pickled, ricotta, roll, salami, sauce, shrimp, smoked, sopressata, sriracha, toasted, vinegar, wasabi, white, wineComment
Haute Dogs| with Pesto, Sopprasota, Ricotta, Italian Cheese Spread with Scallions, Anchovies | with Butter—Sautéed Shrimp, Wasabi Mayo, Pickled Orange Peppers

I'M NOT THE FIRST PERSON to use the above wordsmithery to headline a column or post on hotdogs. Neither am I the first person to decide to dress up a hotdog.

But as hotdog season springs upon us this upcoming Memorial Day weekend, I decided to have my crack at what is now so important a trend that even name chefs such as Wylie Dufresne and David Chang have jumped into the signature tube steak pool.

So, skillet-grilling two of Thumann's excellent beef & pork hot dogs (in casing), I put one in a toasted bun lined with pesto (yes, again) and sopprasota slices, topped it with a blend of ricotta, smoked mozzarella, parmesan cheeses with chopped scallion greens, and a couple of anchovy fillets.

The other got put into a likewise toasted bun, and got topped with extra large shrimp sautéed with garlic in butter, wasabi mayo (mayo, wasabi sauce, and a dash of fish sauce), pickled orange pepper slices, sriracha sauce, and cilantro, reminiscent of the Fatty Dog I had last fall at the Fatty Crab.

Both were tasty; the Italian-themed one serving up some nice homey and familiar old world tastes, the other a cornucopia of textures, temperature, flavors, all of them brightly explosive, almost, with neither of the hotdogs' toppings overwhelming or masking the well-seasoned, snappy, juicy meat.

Makes me believe still that my idea for a fully realized, internationally-cuisined hot dog and sausage place called Mega Dog, whose spec menu I created last summer, and can be viewed here.

Bun Apple Tea!

.kac.

Haute Dogs | with Pesto, Sopprasota, Ricotta, Italian Cheese Spread with Scallions, Anchovies | with Butter—Sautéed Shrimp, Wasabi Mayo, Pickled Orange Peppers