Eric was sick last week. I felt so bad, the poor guy was sneezing and coughing up a storm! Since I was home all week (and for the whole summer...ah, love the life of a teacher!), I decided it would be nice to give him a taste of home, literally. Let me jump back a few steps here: recently in town, a new fast food place opened up: Bad Dawgs Hot Dogs. Eric was super excited about this new place because they featured a Chicago style hot dog; having spent many years in Chicago, Eric couldn't wait to try his beloved hot dog in his new hometown on Long Island. I, of course, took this new place opening as a personal challenge. With the help of Collin, my brother, we spent over an hour in the supermarket trying to get the perfect ingredients for my Chicago style dogs. What's in a Chicago style hot dog? White (or Vidalia) onions, chopped up; a sweet relish; dill pickle spear; yellow mustard; tomato wedges; celery salt; and of course, a Vienna beef hot dog. Oh, and you can't forget the poppy seed bun, which by the way, is no where to be found in my local markets, and sport peppers. I walked around the market for a good twenty minutes yelling, "What the #$@! are sport peppers?!" I wasn't so lovely about it. I found a website which said to substitute peperoncini 's (which Eric actually liked better!), so it all worked out. When he got home from work I had displayed on the counter all the ingredients, which you see in the picture. I made him guess what was for dinner, and he was thrilled when he figured it out. We made them and he was so happy to have them that he forgot about his cold altogether!
Flash forward to last weekend, Eric and I were out late in town and passed by Bad Dawgs. He decided to stop in and try their Chicago style dog. The people there were super nice and very excited to be working there; they even had authentic sport peppers and a poppy seed bun! However, Eric took one bite of the dog and was underwhelmed. He claimed mine were better! Score one for New York girl making Chicago style dogs! I have to say, making the dogs was pretty cheap (all the ingredients were under $20) and pretty healthy...it's all just variations of pickles, tomatoes, onions, and mustard. I was proud of myself for copying something famous and getting it somewhat right! Have you ever made/had a Chicago style dog?
