Cleveland Burning River Dog
Cleveland sits on the "North Coast" of the nation, at the juncture of Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga river. 1969 was the year of the infamous burning of the Cuyahoga, which became a Cleveland cliche and the name of a beer of the local Great Lakes Brewery. Cleveland is home to a large, predominantly Eastern European population, and has various areas of ethnic concentration. If you leave my house on the East side of Cleveland and head downtown, one of the areas you will pass through is Murray Hill - home of Little Italy. My hot dog represents these two aspects of Cleveland's rich history, and gives a nod to our own CLEVELAND ROCKS Drew Carey.
The bun - Italian roll, of course.
The toppings:
- Onion caramelized in pepper-infused olive oil
- Red bell and green serrano peppers sauteed in peppered oil with garlic
- Kalamata and Spanish olives, along with artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes and pepperoncini sauteed in olive oil
- Tomatoe paste thinned with a touch of spaghetti sauce
- Asiago cheese, and a sprinkling of chives, capers and oregano
- Ball Park frank
- Bacardi 151 Rum
Was that everything??? I think so....
Let's start with just a couple of prep pics...
Kind of hard to tell, but the dogs on the right had channels cut into them before cooking, while the dogs on the left were left whole to have channels cut into them after cooking. I wasn't sure how these would cook up, but needed a way to contain the flammage so the house didn't burn down. Also, I wasn't 100% sure if the flammage would even work. At any rate, the rum was poured into the channel after everything was assembled, and then was lit.
Skip to presentation pic - things got rather messy with the assemblage... enough said.
Cleveland Burning River Dog
The beginning of the burning:
More gratuitous burning pics:
And a couple close-ups:
Did I eat this with my hands? YES! Did I have to wash both my face and hands afterwards? You Betcha! I salute you, Cleveland!
PS - TB, TB, oh ye of little faith....