Smokey Weiner Is A Delight In The Mouth

I have been bringing dishes to our monthly poker game pot luck for years now. Last month is the first time I came home with no leftovers. What did I make? Peking duck? Lasagna? Coq au vin? No. Hot dogs. We had, among other things, a hot dog bar. What I did differently from regularly cooking hot dogs is smoke them. Just for about an hour on the smoker and a hot dog becomes something altogether different. Try it.

Peeling Tomatoes

You may ask, why would I want to peel a tomato? If you are making salsas or sauces, sometimes the skin adds a bit of unpleasant texture or taste. If you have ever just grabbed a tomato out of the garden or off the store shelf, and tried to peel it, you probably ended up cursing the poor thing out. To easily peel tomatoes, you will need the following:

• Tomatoes
• A freezer
• A pot of boiling water
• A cold water bath
• A knife
• A bowl for the peeled tomatoes
• Someplace to put the skins

Freeze the tomatoes. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Dump the frozen tomatoes in for about 30 seconds. Then transfer them (a kitchen spider works great for this) to a bath of ice water and let them sit for another 30 to 60 seconds. At that point, the skins will slide right off, or perhaps need a little prodding by slitting one side of them with a knife.