New England Style Street Fair Dogs and a Coke

As I prepared for today’s share, I found myself deep in prayer. Dear Lord, I’ve never suceeded at making New England Hot Dog Rolls before, please let this time be a charm. Saint Honoré, patron saint of baking, do what you can to guide me.

I first saw New England Rolls featured in a recipe for Lobster Rolls. I can remember as a kid there were hot dog buns sold in the grocery store that were split open at the top rather than the way we see them today, split along the side. I didn’t know it then, but those are New England Style Rolls. When you think about it, splitting the bun at the top makes a lot more sense. I don’t know about you, but when I open a hot dog or sausage roll, I leave one side “hinged”, and that becomes the bottom. It keeps the food from falling out. I don’t know when or why stores stopped carrying the top-split buns. They need to bring them back.

Kiddo set me up with an Amazon Prime account about eight months ago. Originally I wanted to have an account so I could watch movies that weren’t on regular cable. (I became temporarily obsessed with the 2011 film A Bird of the Air. There was something about Lyman’s need to find answers to questions only he was asking that resonated in me in ways I cannot explain. That and the quirky librarian, Fiona. She reminded me of me when I was a teenager – which says a lot about her personality since Fiona was a grown woman.) Eventually I wandered onto the retail side of Amazon and it was like this whole new world opened up. Not only could I find everything I’ve ever wanted at my fingertips, but even more stuff that I didn’t know existed. So I ordered an New England Bun Pan. That was last October. It sat on a shelf for a while. Owning the pan is a lot like my 86 individual tea cups – I love the idea of having each and every one of those cups, but I haven’t a clue what to do with them.

My first attempt as baking New England Style Buns was a flop and a half. Turns out, my yeast was old. Then the holidays came along, and after that project around the house (thanks in part to Amazon) such as changing all the light switch covers, door knobs and cabinet pulls.

The next thing I knew, it was time to move the raised planter boxes and start the spring garden. We’ve planted 4 varieties of Tomatoes, 2 of Tomatillos, 10 types of Pepper Plants (from somewhat mild to insanely hot) and 7 different herbs. Can’t wait!

Finally, things slowed down again and it seemed time to give baking yet another try. I decided to take my inspiration from National Have a Coke Day and serve up some amazingly delicious Dakota Dogs. And that meant another attempt at baking split-top rolls.

New England Style Street Fair Dogs
New England Buns
Olive Oil as needed
3 cups Flour
2 teaspoons Instant Yeast
2 tablespoons Sugar
1/4 cup Powdered Milk
1/4 cup Cornstarch
1 teaspoon Salt
2 tablespoons Butter, softened
1 large Egg
1 cup lukewarm Water
1 Egg, beaten for wash

Oil a bowl for the dough to rise in, set aside. Lightly grease New England Bun Pan, set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook combine flour, yeas, sugar, powdered milk, cornstarch, salt, soft butter and a large egg. Warm water, pour 1/2 cup of the water to the ingredients to start, mix until dough is elastic and shiny, about 5 minutes. Add more water, a little at a time, until the dough is smooth, soft and comes away from the sides of the bowl cleanly.

Transfer the cough to the prepared bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a damp, clean tea towel. Allow dough to rise in a warm, draft-free environment until doubled in size, about 2 hours. Once risen, cut the dough into 10 equal pieces.

Note: To be precise, weight the dough, then divide into `0 equal portions.

Roll out each piece of dough so that it is approximately 4-inches by 6-inches Tightly roll up the shorter side to form a tube-shape. Pinch the seams to seal, place sealed-side-down in the prepare roll pan. Cover the pan with plastic wrap, place in a warm, draft-free environment. Let rolls rest another 45 minutes to an hour, or until doubled in size yet again.

Heat oven to 350-degrees. Lightly beat egg for the wash, brush buns with egg was. Place pan in the heated oven to bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Let the puns cool in the pan until cool enough to handle comfortably. Remove buns from pan, cool completely on a wire rack. Gently pull buns apart before storing or using.

See, sometimes our prayers are answered . . .

Street Fair Dogs
3 Street Fair Dogs or Dakota Sausages
1 Yellow Onion
Ketchup as desired
Yellow or Spicy Mustard as desired

Place dogs in a cast iron skillet with water enough to cover the bottom of the skillet about a half-inch deep. Cover; steam over medium heat for 20 minutes. Remove cover, continue to cook in the skillet until the liquid as evaporated and the skins of the dogs begins to blister.

Note: Once steamed, dogs can also be finish on a grill.

While the dogs cook, peel and thinly slice onion. Place in a skillet, grill in the pan until beautifully browned. Keep warm.

When ready to serve; split top of the buns open. Split sausage in half to better fit into the buns. Nestle dogs in the buns, top with grilled onions and desired condiments.

Serve with desired side such as baked beans, potato salad or French Fries. Serve with a coke or your favorite beverage.

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Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.