The Ranch BLT Dog

Printable version

I was watching Micheal Chiarello’s Easy Entertaining on Cooking Channel recently and he was preparing a ballpark feast for a little league team. He cooked hot dogs two different ways, one was heated in water and was fried. It made me crave a perfectly cooked hot dog. I have had a couple of grilled hot dogs this summer but they were burnt to a crisp, or should I say absolutely murdered by the cook. I guess some people can’t bring themselves to pull hot dogs off the fire until they are shriveled and charred.

I decided it was time for me to enjoy a gourmet dog. I put the hot dogs in a pot with cold water on the stove, brought them to a simmer then turned off the heat. It made for wonderfully cooked hot dog that retained moisture and made a little snap when I bit through the casing. Instead of the typical relish, onion and mustard, I decided to get crazy and make a hot dog “club” or basically a dog with a BLT on it. Restaurants try to get fancy and call sandwiches “club” when in reality it just means that they’ve added bacon, lettuce and tomato.

Joining the BLT on this dog is a special sauce that can make any sandwich mouth watering. It’s a mix of ranch dressing and the pickle brine from bread and butter pickle chips. The two combined are unbelievable. I made it as an experiment and can’t wait to make it a again. The combination of ranch with the tart yet sweet pickle juice is unbelievable. I highly recommend trying it on your next sandwich - no matter what else is on it. I had to hold myself back from just grabbing the bowl and guzzling it down.

BEHIND THIS BITE
This is the first recipe I have shot with my new tripod and reflector. I have changed things up a bit so I could get those really nice shots that use artificial lighting from behind the subject. As I have said before, I have worked hard on becoming a better photographer. Each shoot I learn a little more. I still have a long way to go but after styling and shooting the dogs I looked at the lot of pics and thought they were really starting to glow like the great food photographers I respect so much. Enough about that though, I need to get busy and prepare to shoot what I’m eating for dinner tonight.

Eat well, cook often ...