The Connecticut Hot Dog Tour

I won’t be eating another hot dog anytime soon.

On Saturday, I completed the Connecticut Hot Dog Tour. A group of men, including my husband, organized a tour of 10 famed hot dog joints in the state (a bonus eleventh one was thrown in spontaneously). These guys don’t mess around. They had an official tee-shirt and soundtrack, and we traveled in style on a party bus. And we had hot dogs. Lots of hot dogs.

 

Janice, a woman on the tour, agreed to split dogs with me. Most of the men ate all of the full dogs, with some “tapping out” when they needed to.

1. Rawley’s Drive-In, Fairfield

The Order: Works, with “mustard, relish, kraut, and bacon,” $3.00.

The Verdict: Delicious dog, with a good contrast between the tangy kraut and the crunchy bacon. This was a great start to the tour.

(Click on a picture to view it larger.)

2. Super Duper Weenie, Fairfield

The Order: Georgia Redhot, a “¼ lb. spicy Southern sausage with sauerkraut, mustard and our own sweet relish,” $4.25.

The Verdict: This big boy was delicious too. The sausage was split and grilled and served piping hot with excellent toppings. We were on a roll.

 

 

3. Danny’s Drive-In, Stratford (Spontaneously inserted)

People insisted we had to try Danny’s nearby, and it was inserted into our tour.

The Order: Bull Dog, with “spicy chili and fried onions,” $3.95.

The Verdict: I liked this all right at the time, but I soon started worrying about the spicy chili not sitting so well with a long day of half-dogs ahead. The group’s mood seemed to lag on the way to the next stop. The consensus seemed to be that we should not have  inserted this extra dog into the tour!

 

4. Glenwood Drive-In, Hamden

The Order: Hot dog, with mustard and hot relish put on at the counter, $3.95.

The Verdict: This was the winner of the day, an excellent char-broiled dog with a toasted bun and great hot relish. Many people on the tour voted this one the winner.

5. Top Dog, Portland

The Order: Orleans Dog, with “a hot and sweet relish,” $2.70.

The Verdict: My husband, a Portland native, tried to warn the tour against this stop. It was not a favorite. The owners were very sweet and friendly, and you can’t beat the décor, so that almost made it worth a visit.

6. Doogie’s, Newington

The Order: The Doogie Dog, “One of my Best Ever Creations. Caramelized Onions & Dijon Horsey Sauce,” $3.59.

The Verdict: A nicely-charred, delicious dog, and the toppings were a refreshing change after having a lot of spicy chilies and relishes. One member of the tour ordered—and put away—a two-foot dog.

Interlude in the Park

We were all greatly restored by a visit to the lovely Stanley Quarter Park in New Britain and a walk around the pond.

7. Capitol Lunch, New Britain

The Order: Hot dog, with “mustard, onions, sauce,” $1.75.

The Verdict: I liked it, and I remembered it fondly from my college days. The group, though, seemed unnerved by its strangely black sauce. And I didn’t remember it looking like that.

8. Blackie’s, Cheshire

The Order: Hot dog, with corn relish and mustard at the counter, $1.75. 

The Verdict: I had been here before and had liked its famous relish. It didn’t disappoint.

9. Frankie’s, Waterbury

The Order: Hot dog, “French with spicy cheddar cheese,” $3.49.

The Verdict: Nice dog, nice sauce. This was a tasty hot dog, and there were a lot more varieties that looked promising. This late in the day, though, people sort of slouched when they saw the size of it.

10. Al’s Hot Dogs, Naugatuck

The Order: Hippo Dog, “cheese, chili, kraut, bacon,” $4.49.

The Verdict: Pretty good, but enough, already. I think this bad boy would have been more appreciated earlier in the day.

11. Merritt Canteen, Bridgeport

The Order: Brutal Dog, “Georgia Red Hot with Chili,” $4.00.

The Verdict: This was so hot, so spicy, such a brutal end to the night. I suspect it was good, but my lips are still burning too much to tell.

End of the Night

This was a great tour with a great group of people. The men had a much tougher time than the women, who were splitting dogs. This end of the night quote by Chris P. summed it up well at the last stop: “Don’t touch me!” On the way home, he explained: “I feel like E.T. at the end of the movie when he was all gray and his heart was fading.”

As for me, I’ll be going vegetarian for a while.

A footrace? Really?

The Route

The Soundtrack, by Randy S.

#69. 101 things in 1001 days. Visit at least three “Road Food” places I have never been to.

(Almost all were on Road Food's site, with good info and photos: Rawley's, Super Duper Weenie,  Glenwood, Top Dog, Doogie's, Capitol Lunch, Blackie's, Al's, and Merritt Canteen.)

Go to New York for French Fries

We had a fun day in New York City. First stop: the Grand Central Oyster Bar for a pan roast, a deliciously rich and decadent soup. We had ours with oysters and scallops.

Oyster Pan Roast and Harpoon Oyster Stout

We walked through Times Square and went to the Discovery Times Square Pompeii exhibit.

We took the subway down to the East Village.

A Good Friday procession

We had Belgian fries at Pommes Frites.

 

There are a large selection of sauces. So many choices! We tried:

• Sweet Mango Chutney Mayo
• Smoked Eggplant Mayo
• Peanut Satay
• Pesto Mayo
• Cheddar Cheese
• and good ol' ketchup

The eggplant sauce was my favorite. There are many more sauces to try if we ever make it back. (I'm looking at you, Pomegranate Teriyaki.)

Nearby, we stopped in the historic McSorley's Old Ale House, a crowded, noisy pub with sawdust on the floor. The only beer to order is "light" or "dark."

Subway fun

101 things in 1001 days.

#94. Eat french fries topped with sweet mango chutney mayo.

#100. Have another oyster pan roast at Grand Central Oyster Bar.

Macadamia cherry chocolate vegan cake pops

My entry in the vegan raw cake pop challenge:

Macadamia cherry chocolate vegan cake pops

1 1/2 cups raw macadamia nuts

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

pinch salt

3/4 cup dried cherries

10 medjool dates

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

I started with a cached recipe from here and switched up the ingredients.

I made a faux cream cheese frosting using Toffuti Better Than Cream Cheese, Earth Balance Spread, vanilla extract, and sweetener, based on a recipe here.

I ground up the macadamia nuts with the salt and cocoa. I mixed in the cherries, dates, vanilla extract, and a little water, until it stuck together and could be formed into balls.

I formed the mixture into balls and froze them. 

I then applied the faux cream cheese frosting and froze them again.

They were good. I liked the cake more than the frosting, though. 

Vegan Culinary Crusade

(Update: the frosting is not raw because the ingredients were cooked during processing, so my entry in the contest is without the frosting. A simple icing would work well for a topping.)

Here is a beautiful round-up of all of the entries. Congratulations to the winners!

#15. 101 things in 1001 days. Make vegan cake pops.

Homemade hummus

It was easy and tasty to make my own hummus. I used this recipe from Oh She Glows.

I combined chickpeas, tahini, garlic, lemon, salt, pepper, and hot sauce in a food processor until smooth. I added a little olive oil and paprika to the top. I removed most of the skins from the chickpeas first, until I lost patience and dumped the rest in.

And I completed another thing on my list:

#77. 101 things in 1001 days. Make my own hummus.

Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce: Eating at Louis' Lunch

We squeezed into the crowd of wall-to-wall people to wait our turn to eat a hamburger at Louis’ Lunch in New Haven. Reportedly, the American hamburger was invented here in 1900 when a man in a hurry rushed in and asked for a meal he could eat quickly, and Louis Lassen threw a broiled beef patty between two slices to bread for him to eat on the go.

The wait is quite a bit longer now as Louis’ Lunch has become a Connecticut landmark. My husband and I had potato salad while we waited and were lucky to get one of the tiny adorable booths that seat one person on each side.

The atmosphere of the place was very friendly, with the waitresses joking with the cook and the customers. The wait was about an hour—very long for 3 p.m. on a Saturday—but it seemed much faster for the regulars who were fit in between the other orders.

The burgers are made from beef that is ground fresh daily and broiled vertically on both sides at once in a cast iron grill.

The burgers were juicy and tasty. They are served on toast, and the only garnishes allowed are cheese, onion, and tomato. No ketchup; no mustard; no pickles!

 "Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce..."

#76. 101 things in 1001 days. Eat a cheeseburger at Louis’ Lunch.