Tag Archives: New Jersey

New Jersey Italian Hot Dogs

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So this week started out with two Irish classics.

But I gotta go back to the food I love most. Sorry folks. Another Italian dish coming up today.

But this isn’t just any Italian dish. This is an Italian-American New Jersey original.

Italian Hot Dogs.

Ever been to Jersey? Ever heard of Jimmy Buff’s? If you answered yes and then no, call up whoever you were visiting in New Jersey and say “Hey, forget about it! You didn’t take me to Jimmy Buff’s?”

If you can’t get back out to Jersey anytime soon, no worries. You can make the awesomeness that is an Italian hot dog at home.

Just a few simple ingredients:

3 green bell peppers, diced

2 yellow onions, sliced into half moos

2 yukon potatoes, cut into 1 inch chunks

hot dogs

Italian bread (no hot dog rolls!)

olive oil

salt

pepper

spicy mustard

Preheat the oven to 400 and line a baking dish with foil. Toss the potatoes into the dish, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss into the oven for about 20 minutes. The potatoes take longer to cook so we’re giving them a head start.

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Remove the potatoes and add the peppers and the onions, seasoning with more salt and pepper, and adding another touch of olive oil. Stir everything up, then back into the oven for another 15 to 20 minutes.

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You want the onions to brown up and the peppers to blister a bit.

At Jimmy Buff’s they actually fry this mixture, but 1. roasting is less messy and 2. it’s slightly healthier and 3. you don’t have to babysit a pot of oil.

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When the veggie mix is nice and cooked, get your hot dogs ready. You grill them or broil them. DO NOT BOIL THEM! You need the char on the dogs and boiling will just leave them rubbery and sad.

And Nobody wants a sad hot dog.

Okay ready?

Italian bread.

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Spicy mustard

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Hot dog

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Potato, pepper and onion mix.

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Nom.

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Caprese CousCous Stuffed Tomatoes

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It’s in the air.

You can smell it.

You can feel it.

Fall is coming.

There’s that hint of a chill when the sun goes down that has me grasping at summer.

And to me, summer is a bowl of peaches and some ripe juicy Jersey tomatoes. While I would be satisfied with peaches for dinner, I know my fiance would not.

So I turned to Giada DeLaurentiis’s cookbook and found a lovely recipe for tomatoes stuffed with rice.

I used my creative license and switched out the rice for couscous and so was born Caprese Couscous Stuffed Tomatoes!

One of the best things at an Italian restaurant in the summer is a caprese salad with ripe, bright red tomatoes and fresh mozzarella.

I took that concept and, instead of layering it nicely on a plate, decided to stuff it into a tomato.

For this recipe you will need

  • Tomatoes (I did 2 per person plus one extra as a lunch for someone the next day)
  • Couscous (I used the quick cook kind because, well, who wants to use long cook couscous?)
  • Basil
  • Mozzarella
  • Black pepper
  • olive oil

Preheat the oven to 350.

Prepare the couscous according to the package directions and set aside in a bowl.

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Cut the tops off of the tomatoes.

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Run your knife carefully along the edge of the tomatoes and then use a spoon to scoop out the insides. Be careful not to pierce through the bottom.

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Squeeze the seeds and pulpy bits into the couscous. You can chop up some of the insides as well, but don’t do too much.

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Tear some basil leaves and add to the couscous and tomatoes. Drizzle with some olive oil and add a grind of black pepper. Mix well.

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Stuff the mixture into each of the tomatoes. I overfilled a little bit. Place the tomatoes in a foil lined baking dish. Look no clean up!

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Top each tomato with a slice of mozzarella cheese.

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Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes until the cheese melts over the top.

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And there is a caprese salad that is a meal by itself!

Mangia.