Comfort food

I have a list of many things that are comfort foods. How many people have french fries, crab, and ALL Greek foods as comfort food? Last weekend, I was trying to remember the last time I made home-made french fries cooked in the deep fryer. I could not remember the last time I made them, so what was I to do, but make some. My love for french fries can pretty much be explained in the title of the blog. You may want to read the first post for more details. For me, I use Idaho baking potatoes for my fries and ALWAYS, ALWAYS, use fresh vegetable oil. I'm sure the Varsity doesn't use fresh oil (and I like their fries), but I know my grandfather (Papa) always used fresh oil. After making a huge plate of fries sprinkled with sea salt, I suddenly remembered a segment I saw on a cooking show about deep fried hot dogs. Well, I don't eat hot dogs but once or twice a year, but I thought that while the kitchen smelled of fried food, I may as well deep fry a hot dog too. I will say that a hot dog grilled over charcoal is my favorite way to cook a hot dog, this is by far a close second. It was delicious.

Given that we may have had Irish steak and kidney pie or pear-plum jam in our pantry as a kid, I'm not the usual ketchup and mustard on a hot dog person. I'm always looking for different "toppers". I always use mustard no matter the additional toppings. So my current creative hot dog topping was Swiss cheese, sliced dill pickles, fresh tomatoes, mustard, and banana peppers. After that creative mix, I realized that the possibilities are limitless! It was a good combination believe it or not. Oktoberfest is just around the corner, so I'm sure I will have a German Frankfurter with delicious sauerkraut in the next month or so. I just couldn't open the container for just one hot dog, or I would have eaten most of it by the forkful... and I already had my plate of fries. Yes, I'm sure I'll be making my own sauerkraut blend with caraway seeds, onions, etc... when the time comes for Oktoberfest. Now, finding someone to finish the Guinness after I have the one sip.

What is your favorite method of cooking a hot dog? What are your favorite condiments on a hot dog? Let me know via the comment link. I'll be sure and give it a try.