ricketyclick

“Sure, most hot dogs will kill you slowly with their high levels of fat, salt, cholesterol, sodium, and cancer-inducing nitrites. But if you want to expedite the process, take a bite of these deadly dogs.”

The Ham Dog looks pretty tasty:

Yes, that’s a hot dog wrapped in hamburger and covered with chili and cheese. I think I’d use a bun-sized kielbasa instead of a plain dog, but the idea is good.

On a related note, for breakfast yesterday, I had bacon and eggs with onions&red peppers and bread fried in the grease. I think for lunch, I’m just going to have fried onions and peppers.

These were leftovers from the bacon & onions & peppers I charcoal-grilled with an Angus burger the night before. Next time I’ll take a picture.

I’ve been working in my Dad’s garage over the last couple of weeks, and eating at my Mom’s table. Accordingly, I’ve stopped losing weight.

Now, dammit, somebody I can’t find Grim links to the perfect steak sandwich. I could eat three of these things.

“Half a cup of Worcestershire sauce.” Butter, butter, and more butter. What more do you need to know?

tsp Bacon Grease

1/4 Onion, chopped

1 clove Garlic

4-5 slices Cheese

Melt bacon grease and brown onion, garlic in small frypan. Cover with cheese, melt until brown. Flip and brown other side.

Let cool until you can pick it up and eat it.

It would probably help if you had the patience to grate the cheese rather than simply slice it.

Gods, why did we ever think you needed to clutter this up with bread?

I recently posted a recipe for a bell pepper soup.

The soup is very robust–savory and tangy, but not spicy. The relatively short cooking time allows the flavors to mingle some, but the individual pepper pieces retain their character and firm texture.

I’ve since made a larger batch under my mother’s tutelage; here’s the result:

Makes 5 to 6 servings
4 red bell peppers OR 2 red and 2 yellow
1-1/2 small onions
5 to 6 garlic cloves
3 strips bacon
1-1/2 tblsp beef base paste (Better Than Bouillon ™)
5 cups water
1 tblsp Worchestershire sauce
1 tsp thyme
1 bay leaf (optional)
1 parsley frond (optional)
1 tsp basil (optional)
1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar

Chop the peppers and onion into 1″ squares (spoon-size).
Mince garlic.

I expect some people will want to include green peppers as well, but I prefer the less bitter red and yellow varieties. I like the reds the best, and might use them exclusively for myself but the yellow or orange adds visual appeal.

Use a purple onion for even more color.

Chop the bacon into 1/2″ chunks. Fry until just barely crisp, then strain out the bits; retain for later.

Mom suggested the trick of using the kitchen shears to chop the bacon.

Saute the onion in the bacon grease until almost transparent, then add the peppers and garlic and saute until the peppers begin to soften.

Mom and I considered adding celery, even carrots. In the end, we decided that anything like that started down the path to ordinary vegetable soup.

Thin the beef paste with a little bit of water in the measuring cup so it will mix well, then top off the cup and add it and the rest of the water to the vegetables. (Frankly, I’d've used only 4 cups of water; I like a strong stock. But that’s why I had Mom, to provide a reality check: she thought that made it too salty.)

The Better Than Bouillon beef base lives up to its name; it’s very good. Reading the labels, regular dried bouillon (cubes or powder) is essentially fillers with beef flavoring, while the BtB is beef stock with seasoning reduced to a paste. In my first attempt, I used chicken stock, but the beef stands up better against the peppers.

Add Wustershustershire and other seasoning, as desired.

Thyme is the most important seasoning; I might use as much two teaspoons.

A bay leaf wouldn’t hurt, particularly if you made this in a slow cooker over 4-6 hours. Half an hour isn’t really long enough to leach all the goodness out. Hm, I guess you could start the stock early, and let the bay simmer for a while longer….

Mom grows her own parsley; she snipped it up, so I have no real idea how much went in, or how that would translate to parsley powder. So, about a frond.

I’m very fond of basil, but Mom and Dad–not so much. I think I’m going to try to grow some basil this year, so I’ll report on that another time.

Bring to a boil, then let simmer, covered, for 15-30 minutes until the peppers are al dente–firm but not crunchy.

Just before the finish, add the bacon bits and balsamic vinegar

I like this with pumpernickel toast instead of crackers.

Adding the bacon near the end keeps it from going limp. The vinegar will boil off if added at the start.

Half a cup of balsamic vineger makes a pretty tangy soup. Mom and I, both pickle people, liked it that way; I could have gone for as much 3/4 cup. Dad would have preferred no more than a 1/4 cup–but Dad has a rather bland tongue.

Wine might be an interesting alternative to the vinegar.

I originally speculated about using the slow cooker, but I’ve decided it’s not necessary, and might make the peppers and onions lose their identities.

A riff off a suggestion from my Mom. Thanks, Mom!

Makes one serving
1 red bell pepper OR 1/2 red and 1/2 yellow
1/2 small onion
1-2 garlic cloves
1 stalk celery, chopped (optional)
1 tblsp olive oil
1 tsp bacon fat
2 tblsp Balsamic Vinegar
1-2 tsp chicken stock paste or 2 bullion cubes
1 cup water
splash Worchestershire sauce
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning

I just threw this together for the first time today, so it still needs a bit of adjustment, particularly the seasoning.

Chop the peppers and onion into 1″ squares (spoon-size).
Mince garlic.

I expect some people will want to use green peppers, but I prefer the less bitter red and yellow varieties. I like reds the best, but the red and yellow combo is visually appealing.

Actually, this first time I used shallots, which I’ve never used before. Frankly, I can’t tell ‘em apart from onions, which are a lot cheaper. A purple onion would add even more color.

Sautee gently in oil and fat (or use all oil, or fry up one or two strips worth of bacon) until onion is transparent and peppers begin to soften.

Next time I’ll probably throw in some celery. I like to pull the strings out, and I’d want it pretty well cooked, so I might sautee it first, then add the onions and peppers.

A carrot probably wouldn’t hurt, but now you’re dangerously close to plain old vegetable soup. Like the celery, I’d want the carrot pretty thoroughly cooked.

Thin the paste with a little bit of water in the measuring cup, then top it off and add it to the vegetables.

The water amount is, frankly, a guess. What I really did was to add water to cover the vegetables, then a bit more.

Or, just use a cup of chicken stock if you have it on hand. The Better than Bullion base is very good, though; I’ve also used the beef version. They’re both excellent for adding flavor to many recipes. A teaspoon in a cup of boiling hot water sooths a sore throat.

Add balsamic vinegar, dash Wustershustershire, other seasonings to taste.

Wine might be an interesting alternative to the vinegar.

Bring to a boil, then let simmer, covered, for 15-30 minutes until the peppers are al dente–firm but not crunchy.

I recently acquired a crock pot; I suspect this would be really good prepared that way. The crock pot wants at least two quarts, though, which is about 8 servings of this recipe, so I’ll do a bit more tweaking before committing to that much.

Mom’s original suggestion was to simply sautee the peppers and onions together as a side dish. I want to work with that, too. I’m thinking maybe a dab of sour cream on top….