Cooking Made Easy with Jim, a cooking show on the radio. After winning some
cooking contests, Scott Richards thought it would be a good idea for me to start
talking food. The show brings in guest cooks and chefs with their recipes, and
many of my favorite recipes. Every year, the radio station publishes a collection
of the recipes, with proceeds going to charity.
Tomorrow, we'll get another visit from a really good guy, Chef Dave Porter from
Phillips World Cuisine Buffet. Dave has been on the show more than anyone else.
He started coming in and giving us seafood cooking lessons, and now brings in samples
from the incredible food at Phillips. The entire staff gets excited when he comes through
the door with his red cooler, filled with everything from clams and mussels to mac n cheese
to sushi and Korean steak.
I still give out a recipe which we post at www.wezv.com and tomorrow, it will be hot dog chili.
I've been working on a hot dog chili/sauce recipe for years, and while I won't say it's perfected
yet, it's pretty dang good. In the July 1st edition of the Sun News, there is a great article about
hot dog chili ( http://www.thesunnews.com/living/food/story/961741.html ).
One of my interests is studying regional food preferences, like the different styles of pizza,
barbecue and yes, hot dogs!
Chicago is known for it bizarre blend of vegetables (dragged through the garden, they call it)
New York for their many hot dog carts, and the Carolinas are home to the Carolina dog...meaning it's topped with chili and slaw. The classic Carolina dog, in it's truest form, is
simply mustard, chopped onions, chili and slaw. It's an incredible combination of textures
and flavors, yet so many people from other parts of the country find it odd.
In the Carolinas, we eat slaw on our barbecue sandwiches, hot dogs and hamburgers.
A buddy of mine from Detroit came to visit, and swore we put slaw on everything!
He tried it himself, and now he can't eat hot dogs without slaw. ..another convert.
I've noticed that in the northeast hot dog havens, the frank itself is most important.
All beef, kosher brands are often gobbled down with just mustard. But in the Carolinas
I believe the toppings are more important...thus you'll find the wiener itself is not the star
of the show, merely one of the players. Finding the right combination of wiener, slaw and
chili is crucial. That's why I've been working on this recipe so long. I like this with the kind
of slaw you get at Kentucky Fried Chicken best.
With the Fourth of July cookouts coming up this weekend, we'll talk about this tomorrow morning, and post the recipe for the chili at www.wezv.com
hopefully by tomorrow afternoon.
enjoy!
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