April 27, 2013

K-9's Italian Hot Dog


It's Doctor Who Saturday! And guess who we're featuring today? Probably my number 1 favorite character in the entirety of time and space: K-9!
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Can I just tell you guys a secret? I love robots. I think they're adorable. When I was a little girl, R2-D2 was my favorite. I had a little R2 gigapet. (Remember those things?) Except it was really upsetting because you had to shock him when he was bad, and I never wanted to do that. So R2 pretty much did whatever he wanted. Kind of like in the movies, actually.

You know what else I love. Dogs. Well, all animals really. I'm an animal lover. But there's just something about a dog.

And when you put the two together: epic squee!
K-9 with the first 5 doctors. Because K-9 is BAMF

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Now, I actually haven't watched much of classic Who (I know. I fail as a fangirl), so my first introduction to K-9 was in the episode School Reunion, which also brought back one of the most beloved companions, Sarah Jane Smith.

And let me tell you, when I first saw K-9, it was love at first sight.
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Sarah Jane and K-9

Not only was he an adorable robot dog with a good measure of sass, but in that first episode I saw with him he pretty much singlehandedly (pawedly? doggedly?) saved the Doctor, Mickey, Rose, and Sarah Jane. And he was willing to sacrifice himself to do so.
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So in that one single episode, I fell in love, I squee-d, I cried, and then I squee-d again when the Doctor fixed K-9.

It was an emotional roller coaster, let me tell you that.
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So. Much. SQUEE!!!

So my original thought for K-9 was to do a sort of replica made out of bread, wrapped around a hot dog. That's my favorite way to make hot dogs, and I thought it would be fairly easy, since K-9 is such a simple, blocky, shape.

It really wasn't. Although I did get one that kind of looked like Falcor from the Neverending Story.

I'm really exposing all my geek today, aren't I? K-9, it's all your fault.
That's my K-9 from ThinkGeek. Isn't he just the cutest?

Anyway, do you know what I just recently realized? That Italian hot dogs are a strictly New Jersey thing. I mean, you might find them in Pennsylvania or New York (cultures tend to bleed a bit in the tri-state area), but not like in New Jersey where you can get them at any pizza joint or burger place.

So for my K-9 post, I decided to do an Italian hot dog. Not that K-9 really has anything to do with New Jersey. Or hot dogs. Or Italians. Or that he eats. He's a tin dog, it's a hot dog, you can see where I'm going with this.
An Italian hot dog is just a hot dog with fried potatoes, peppers, and onions. Spread some deli mustard (spicy brown) on a torpedo roll, or a chunk of Italian bread. Hot dog buns are far too wimpy. Get yourself a quality hot dog- all beef, natural casings, no mystery meats here, please. Sausage works, too. Then grill or fry or cook it on a skillet. No boiling. This is a Jersey dog, it's hardcore. Cook up some peppers and onions just until soft. Fry up some potatoes- or, if you want to be lazy, you can do what pizza places around me do, and just use French fries. Layer it all in the prepared roll, then fuhgeddaboudit and stuff it in yer face.
For the rolls, I actually bought refrigerated Italian bread dough, and shaped it into 4 rolls before baking. Then I prepped the other ingredients while it was in the oven, so when I fixed it all up, every thing was hot and fresh and yum. And then I had to take pictures. Sometimes being a food blogger kind of sucks, you know?

But then I totally had to chow down so I could show you a picture of the inside. Totally imperative.
So it's a hot dog. And K-9's a tin dog. They're not really related except that if I had a K-9, he could totally cook the hot dog for my with his little shooty nose laser. He has a laser in his nose. Bet you didn't know that could ever be adorable. But it is. Because K-9.
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Italian Hot Dogs {Printable Version}
Yield: 4 hot dogs

Ingredients
2 large potatoes
2 bell peppers
1 large onion
4 quality hot dogs (all beef, natural casings preferred)
Vegetable oil
Salt
Deli mustard
4 torpedo rolls, or 1 loaf Italian bread, divided

Directions
Peel the potatoes and slice into thin rounds. In a large skillet, heat just enough vegetable oil to coat the bottom over high heat. Add the potatoes in an even layer and cook on either side until golden brown, 1-
3 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels, and salt lightly if desired. Reserve about 1 tbsp. of the oil, and
discard the rest.

In the same skillet, cook the hot dogs over medium heat until browned, turning occasionally to cook
evenly. Remove and cover to keep warm.*

Cut the onion and peppers into strips and add to the skillet. Cook on medium-low heat until softened to
your liking.

Slice open the rolls and spread generously with mustard. Line with the fried potato rounds, and add 1
hot dog, and peppers and onions to your liking. Serve hot.

*Or grill the hot dogs, if you'd prefer.

Recipe adapted from various sources
And because this is my new favorite gif in the entire world:
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