You can put almost anything on a Hot Dog, and I do, including Potato Salad!
Why stop at mustard when there is ketchup and mayonnaise in the fridge, too. An LA Street Dog has all three plus bacon, sauteed onion, bell pepper, and a fat jalapeno chile. I call it a FreewayPileup Dog.
I like greasy chili on my wieners, and a pile of sour sauerkraut soaks it all up.
Is wrapping a slice of fried baloney around a Hot Dog too much?
It's all good, and myHomemade Potato Salad Recipe is so rich and sumptuous you'll want to cover your Hot Dog with it.
I've never tried the combination of Potato Salad on a Hot Dog until I had a summer patio party with plenty of leftover Potato Salad (too much grilled meat, I guess).
I add a little mustard, chopped onion, and pickle relish to my mayo-centric Potato Salad, so there is a bit of familiarity to typical Hot Dog condiments.
Other Potato Salad ingredients are chopped celery and boiled egg with plenty of black pepper. Check out my Homemade Potato Salad Recipe in the video below.
I like to steam my wieners, but you can grill or fry them. I also steam the Hot Dog bun for a minute, but do watch carefully as the bun can get soggy really fast. (Because I often buy day-old buns, they can be dry, so a little steaming brings them back softly.)
To assemble, just top a cooked hot dog and bun with a pile of Potato Salad. Hmm, I wonder what a warm, meaty (or vegan) chili would add? I guess that's for the next Hot Dog recipe to find out?
Hot Dog with Potato Salad - VideoPlay it here. The video runs for 4 minutes and 14 seconds.
Hot Dog - Any type, like beef, pork, poultry, or vegan. There are cured and uncured, with no nitrates.
Hot Dog Bun - I like to steam mine. Okay to grill or serve right from the bag.
Potato Salad - About 2 heaping tablespoons per hot dog, or enough to top a hot dog.
Directions
Hot Dog - I place a steamer basket in a pot with an inch or so of water. Add the wiener(s) and bring the water to a low simmer, then cover the pot. I like to steam mine until plump, about 5 minutes. If you are steaming a lot, then check the water level to refill as needed.
I also steam Hot Dog buns until pillowy and soft. I put a bun or two right on top of my steamed Hot Dogs, cover the pot, and steam the bun for a minute or so. A quick grill on the stovetop softens them quite nicely, too.
Assemble the Hot Dog, and top it with a couple of tablespoons of Potato Salad.
When I accompany my wife to her childhood home in Levittown, Pennsylvania (26 miles from Philadelphia), I like to patronize local eateries. Under the Pier is a local restaurant landmark, opened in 1971 and still serving tasty seafood. Read on and take a culinary deep dive with Linda and me.
In these days of $50 (2 mixed drinks and 2 appetizers) Happy Hours, it's nice to just sit down at a local old school restaurant and find cheap drinks and seafood...any time of day.
Check out my tastful photo story below for a deliciously edible dinner tour of Under the Pier. And, continue reading to get all the details with yummy photo illustrations.
We started with a large platter of Steamed Mussels with a small container of melted butter. They were just enough for two. The Mussels were tender, plump, and briny. I find them milder and easier to eat than Fried Oysters and Steamed Clams. However, I do love raw Oysters and chewy Fried Clams.
We both ordered a platter of broiled and baked seafood. Being on the East Coast, I got a cool Long Island Iced Tea. Both servings were loaded with seafood, served simply with tartar and cocktail sauces. Nothing fancy here.
My wife's Broiled Flounder with Coleslaw and Fried Potatoes (Sea Chips) cost $13.95, while my Broiled Combo of Flounder, Cod, Scallops, Shrimp, Stuffed Shrimp, and Green Beans was an incredible $26.95. Plus, a Long Island Iced Tea for only $8.95 --- good value for tasty seafood and drinks.
Broiled Flounder
Broiled Seafood Combo
I especially liked the Scallops, which were large and tender. Same with the fillets of Cod and Flounder. Cod is firmer than Flounder.Shrimp two ways, broiled and stuffed, were done well.
The Green Beans were firm, of the frozen type, which means not mushy from the can.
I vowed to return for another meal. A week later, I had an appetizer of raw Littleneck Clams, followed by an Olde English Fish 'N Chips for $14.95.
The Littleneck Clams have little chewy nubs, unlike softer raw oysters. I'm not used to raw clams, but I'm learning to like them.
Made with Cod, the 3 crunchy batter fish fillets were flaky and moist. The fried potato rounds, or Sea Chips, were fine, crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.
My meal was served with a side of Coleslaw that is light on the mayonnaise. I got a $2 mug of Yuengling draft beer to wash it down with. (Try finding a mug of beer anywhere else at this price, especially a local Pennsylvania beer like Yuengling, made by America's oldest brewery.)
Under the Pier has received "Best of" accolades from local publications and websites for its cuisine.
The decor has nautical tchotchkes and cute placemat art decorations on the walls. The service is fast and friendly.
They have an extensive menu - can't guarantee they will have everything listed, but you will find plenty to your liking. It is cash only, so leave your credit cards behind.
Daily Lunch Specials are very cheap, and draft beer is $2 a mug! I don't know how long these prices will hold, but I'll be back for more! It's like an all-day Happy Hour.
99 thanks to my wife, Linda, for turning me on to Under the Pier. If you are in the area, I highly recommend a visit -- tell them a cheap$kate called The 99 Cent Chef sent you.
Keep checking back, I have more East Coast good eats and restaurant/deli reviews on the way!
Labor Day is a day of rest for us working nine-to-fivers, yeah right! Well, don't sweat it, I'll do the heavy lifting with a wheelbarrow full of tasty recipes for you to choose from. And this Penny Pinching Proletarian has all the photo-illustrated cooking instructions laid out for my visiting toilers, with some videos sprinkled in at no extra charge. Labor Day Weekend is made for cooking!
Smoking Pastrami
For this final summer holiday here at the Instituteof Penny-Pinching, I'm getting out the BBQ grill for a backyard blowout. So read on and click on any highlighted recipe name below, and you'll be directed to my original blog post recipe page of eats, illustrated with yummy photos.
Let's start with the main meat course. This Chintzy Hash Slinger cooks with chicken because it's the cheapest.
And dark meat is the best bargain. I can even get boneless and skinless chicken leg quarters on sale for around 99 cents per pound at my local Latin market. They also sell 10-pound bags of plain whole-leg quarters for less than a dollar per pound.
Use your favorite BBQ sauce for a traditional red, whiteand blue backyard poultry cookout. I just season cheap chicken pieces with salt and pepper and slather on the BBQ sauce. Before serving, slice into the thickest part of the chicken piece to make sure the juices run clean - no pink or red is allowed!
Next to chicken, pork is one cheap protein, and I like to smoke it. Smoking thick, meaty Country-style Pork Ribs are a favorite. I boil the ribs until tender (you can also wrap them in foil and oven-roast), then throw them on the grill for an hour of smoke. This is a tasty shortcut to traditional all-day smoking. My blog postshows you how to smoke pork ribs 2 ways.
If you like a rack of ribs, then watch my video below for an eyeful of deliciousness. The video recipe featuresPork Spare Ribs, and I've used this recipe for Beef Ribs, too.
What helps drive this great nation's economic engine is our mosaic of industrious cultures, so why not get multiculti and try my recipe for a grilled Thai-style Chicken Satay with a Peanut Dipping Sauce.
The Japanese version of grilled Shish Kabobs is called Yakatori. And the Japanese like to grill it all, even chicken livers. If that is too pungent for you, it's okay to substitute liver with cubes of firm fish like salmon or halibut, and chicken fillets. Everything tastes better when served on a skewer.
Chicken Satay - ready for the grill.
Los Angeles has a bustling Koreatown, and I have had the pleasure of trying a few Korean BBQ joints. Enter one and you are enveloped in smoke from the tabletop grills, loaded down with marinated beef and chicken. I have my own cheap$kate version of Korean BBQ you can make for your next backyard gathering.
It's all about the marinade that mainly consists of garlic, soy sauce, and brown sugar. It's a potent combination you should try out sometime. Just click here for my Korean-style BBQ Chicken recipe. The photo below shows cheap, grilled boneless and skinless dark meat leg quarters.
If you are glued to the widescreen TV for a baseball game, then you can't go wrong with grilled tube steaks. Click here to see how I traditionally do them.
They are the easiest fast food to make, and you won't have to put in any overtime for my wiener vittles. I have a couple of unusual recipes I think you will enjoy. And it's easy enough to replace cheap hot dogs with your favorite specialty sausages - if you're the artisanal type.
I usually get my hot dogs with just relish and mustard, but sometimes I like to mix it up. Here in Los Angeles, we have a uniquely constructed wiener sold by entrepreneurial sidewalk vendors called the L.A. Street Dog.
You've never had a hot dog like this - it's the Roman candle of finger foods. In my video below, I grill the bacon-wrapped wiener on the stovetop, but it's even better sizzling on your BBQ grill.
Allow me to introduce you to a Currywurst, which is a sausage or hot dog that's grilled and topped with a spicy sauce consisting of ketchup, Worcestershire Sauce, cayenne pepper, and curry powder (dried cumin). This Berlin, Germany, delicacy started just after WWII as street food for British and American soldiers stationed there. It sounds like a weird combination of ingredients, but it works and it's so easy to make, so give it a go - it makes a great appetizer served with toothpicks.
Currywurst
Another Eastern European entree is made with grilled Sausages, Sauerkraut, and Beer. Now, these are ingredients that work well together! Again, I cooked this dish on a stovetop, but you can cook the sausages over an open fire for extra charred flavor.
To add some veggie crunch, try my bastardized version of a Chicago Dog. I can't get Day-Glow green relish out here in LA so I tweaked the Windy City's fast food classic by adding some bright green chopped lettuce along with traditional sliced tomato. Hopefully, Chicago tough guys will give me a pass for tweaking this culinary bad boy. And check out my wacky video below, where my Chicago Dog is the video punchline.
Hamburgers are a backyard grill favorite that almost every working stiff lusts after. And boy, do I have a meaty South of the Border spin with my Mexi-Turkey Burger.
It packs a lot of flavor with the main ingredient, Mexican chorizo, which has a deep-flavored red chile taste, spiced with paprika, Mexican oregano, and garlic powder. And you can use regular ground beef instead of poultry. Get out the salsa for my Mexi-Burger.
Attention all you breadwinners, I have the perfect meal between 2 buns, Smoked Pork Butt Sammies! For lovers of smoked pork, the following entree will have you asking for seconds and thirds. I like to smoke a whole pork shoulder (or butt) when I throw a Labor Day BBQ party.
If you have traveled the South, then you've run across BBQ Pulled Pork. Mainly served between buns and topped with BBQ sauce, this crowd-pleasing self-serve sandwich has it all: smoke,y tender pork that's seasoned with a dry rub of sugar and spice.
Pulled Pork Dry Rub
Click on any photo to see larger.
Just set out a tub of Pulled Pork along with hamburger buns, BBQ sauce, sliced onion, pickles, and Coleslaw, and get out of the way as the line forms. I have an easy gas grill smoking method you can see in my video below.
Pork Carnitas are my favorite tacos. While not done on a BBQ grill, it's still one of my go-to backyard holiday foods, so I gotta give you the recipe gratis, no charge. You can always give it a quick smoke pass to kick it up a notch. It really is the perfect party food because you get to sit back and let your friends do all the work and build their own tacos. Go to the following blog post to see some tasty Homemade Salsas for your taco - or scoop up with tortilla chips.
Carnitas Taco
And pork is still cheap these days, especially when it comes on sale at my local Latin market. So you won't break the bank feeding your lovers of all things porcine.
I seldom cook with beef because it's just too darn expensive for this wage earner, but when I splurge, it's for steak. I just season it with salt and pepper, that's it. Believe it or not, 3-ounce thin-sliced steaks do show up at my local Dollar Tree stores from time to time.
Sometimes I'll finish a steak with a little BBQ sauce. But if you want to impress your guests, then try out my Carne Asada recipe. Ribeye (or any favorite tender cut) is marinated in cilantro, green onion, garlic, lime juice, and a little ground cumin. When it's hot off the grill, chop the meat for Carne Asada Tacos or a Warm Steak Salad.
Carne Asada Marinade
If you are smoking meat, get your hands greasy and throw on a slab of corned beef brisket for Homemade Pastrami. I always freeze 2 or 3 corned beef briskets when they are on sale during St. Patrick's Day week.
My Easy Smoked Homemade Pastrami recipe is as tasty as any Jewish Deli version - so says everyone I've served it to, and you don't have to leave me a tip. I think it's because the smoky flavor is more intensely fresh off the grill than from a deli where the pastrami has been sitting in the cold case for a few days. Hey, don't take my word for it, give it a shot, and get ready for an assembly line of high fives sure to come your way!
Seafood and a BBQ grill go together. For Grilled Fish, you have to have a delicate touch as fish is easy to overcook. But it's done quickly, so you won't smell too smoky slaving over the grill.
Grilling a whole fish is the easiest way to do it. Of course, your guest may have to work overtime to pick out fish bones, but all that effort will be worth it if you cook the fish my way.
I have a deep-fried Fish Taco recipe that's easily adapted for outdoor grilling. Just leave off the batter and grill the fish for a lighter and healthier pescado. Check out my recipe for all the details, including a cool Creme Topping.
A bag of tortilla chips and a light Seafood Ceviche made with budget fake crab is a chill appetizer to greet the guests with.
Seafood Ceviche
For my vegetarian friends working for a living, and who've gotten off the conveyor belt of meat, the following recipes are for you. My sister Denise has a fave veggie Eggplant Burger (and easy enough to BBQ instead of frying pan sauteing).
Eggplant Burger
Portabella Mushroom Burger
A tasty meat substitution is an earthy Portabella Mushroom Burgerthat's topped with grilled bell pepper and cheese (or use a cheese substitute).
Roast a few ears of corn to serve with the veggie burgers, or go a little further and make my Roasted Cream Corn.
It's all about the veggie sides when you have a BBQ patio party. You can simply drizzle a little olive oil and season any fave summer veggie to grill over the fire.
You gotta have Potato or Macaroni Salads when you grill meat. I have a colorful Peanut Coleslaw made with red cabbage. But a regular Coleslaw is good enough for me, like in the video below.
My Mom recently dropped by the cheap$kate kitchen and set off a flavor bomb: Cajun Potato Salad. It was so good I had to make a video to share her recipe with you.
If you are doing burgers, then you want fries to go with them, and my double-fried French Fries do the trick.
I like a pot of beans on the stove simmering while I'm grilling. Cook them the day before, and they taste even better the next. Be sure to set out a stack of bowls so your guests can help themselves. I like to have some grated cheese and minced onion on the side.
There is nothing better at stoking appetites than walking past the kitchen and inhaling the savory perfume of seasoned slow-cooking legumes.
Every holiday has its produce specials, so be sure to check out your local grocery flyers for all the holiday deals.
Labor Day is almost here, and this Parsimonious Culinary Artisan put in 12 hours, 8 days a week, cranking out the recipes for your use, royalty, and tax-free.
So get to work and click on any recipe name listed above and get all my tasty recipe details - it's the easiest and tastiest job you'll have all year!
For this final summer holiday here at the Institute of Penny-Pinching, I'm getting out the BBQ grill for a backyard blowout. So read on and click on any highlighted recipe name below, and you'll be directed to my original blog post recipe page of eats, illustrated with yummy photos.
