What's For Dinner?

In this historic age of Covid-19 home quarantining, with restaurant and bars shuttered down for the near future, I like everyone else, have been cooking almost every meal at home.
You may be asking yourself why this is a big deal?
Because My Guy and I eat out nearly every single night.

I don't tell you this to brag or to sound pompous, I tell you this because since the kiddos left the nest, our lifestyle is such that we both work and enjoy a dinner out that has been prepared for us. No dishes and no clearing the table. Don't get me wrong, I love to cook and when I do, it's always a treat, but it's a rare occasion indeed.

But it wasn't always this way. Back in the day, when Frick and Frack were little, I used to make dinner every night. After the morning school rush, the kids safely tucked onto the school bus, I would call my friend and commence our usual conversation. "What are you making tonight?", and we bounced culinary ideas off each other and let the inspiration flow.

Back in those 'olden' days we didn't have the internet to look to for inspiration. No Pinterest, no food blogs, no wealth of recipes at our fingertips. Nope, we only had our good old recipe box filled with family recipes and cook books for guidance. So cook at home, I did and it's a pleasant but distant memory. I can't really remember any family favorites from back then, other than my home made spaghetti and meatballs and tacos, which are still in the rotation on those rare occasions that I do cook, but these days I am left to my devices. Literally, hello my trusty iPad.

And you know what?
I'm killing it!

Yup, so far, dare I jinx myself, I'm on a roll! Even My Guy, who is the PICKIEST eater in the world, a fact that has been well documented through the years here at The Daily Dandy, is loving everything I have cooked! And I've added caterer to my list of skills because I'm sending dinner over to my parents, who live next door, almost every night. But I think the silver lining in all of this madness that our life has become today is that we eat dinner together, at the set dinner table every night.

Fritters (my son's girlfriend who lives with us, and her name is an inside joke) and Frick set the table and we all clear the table and clean up, together. It's a silver more valuable than any sterling you can string on your neck or adorn on your fingers. It's the true familial bond that illustrates the age old adage 'Food is love".

Yes love. Its is what's for dinner....

Taco Bell

Tonight is taco night in our house.

The thing about taco night is you think about it all day long until the time comes to bite into the juicy, meaty concoction. Nothing says lovin' like a spicy, delicious taco. My kids love to stuff theirs with all their favorites and My Guy has come to like them too. 

We make two different kinds in our house: chicken and beef and we serve lots of delicious fixins'. I buy the Gordita Kit from Old El Paso and season the chicken from the recipe on the box. I may or may not add diced onion and use chicken broth instead of water when I cook the chicken. But when it comes to the taco meat, my kids like it just the way the taco Gods intended; plain and spicy. We always have two kinds of "shells": soft and hard. Frick likes hard shell and My Guy likes soft shell. I like to use a lettuce wrap for my "shell".

The toppers are crucial in my house. We dice tomato, (has to be super small) shred lettuce, and of course shredded Mexican cheese. We also crush nacho cheese Doritos to sprinkle on top, sour cream guacamole and salsa, and recently we discovered a spicy Chipotle Ranch dressing that is a fantastic taco topper and now a staple on our taco night. 

The last constant on our taco night is unconventional and started out as a bit of an accident, but it is always there. We make couscous. Sometimes the couscous goes on top of theTaco and sometimes it's a side dish, but it's a constant on our dinner table on taco night. It's a great way to get my family together at the dinner table, which is becoming increasingly difficult these days. For that, I am grateful.

Is it dinner time yet? Suddenly I'm really hungry. 

Hot Diggety Dog!

It's the second word in the old classic advertising campaign for American car maker Chevrolet,

"Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet."

Hot dogs are as American as all of those beloved things, and a summertime staple on everybody's grill. How you like your hot dog can be compared to how you like your coffee, right?  Mustard, onions, ketchup (must be Heinz) and relish are the classics, but there is a new wave of foodies that are challenging and old American classic. 

Celebrity Chef Rachel Ray showed us how to dress up the hot diggedy dog in new and exciting ways on GMA this morning! She prepared 7-Layer Hot Dogs with such ease, and set my stomach churning and yearning for this delightful  take on-what?- designer hot dogs?

Rachel Ray's 7-Layer Hot Dogs

Ingredients

1 cup canned spicy vegetarian refried beans

Half palmful ground cumin

4 Jumbo hot dogs (butterflied open only if crisping on griddle)

(Cooking Spray, if crisping)

4 good quality hot dog buns

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup shredded pepper jack cheese

1 cup corn chips, such as Fritos, lightly crushed

1 cup crema

Guacamole

1/2 small red onion, finely chopped

Juice of 1 lemon

Juice of 1 lime

Salt

2 avocados

1 large jalapeño chile, seeded and finely chopped

Small handful of cilantro leaves, finely chopped

1 large or 2 medium cloves garlic, pasted or grated

Pico de Gallo

2 to 3 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced

1/2 small red onion, finely chopped

1/2 jalapeno chile, minced

A couple tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped

1 lime, zested and juiced

Salt and pepper

Cooking Directions

For the Guacamole

In a medium bowl, douse the onion with the citrus juices. Salt liberally and let stand 10 minutes. Scoop the avocado flesh into the bowl. Add the jalapeño, cilantro, and garlic and mash with a fork until fairly smooth. Adjust the salt.

For the Pico de Gallo

In a small bowl, add the plum tomatoes, onion, chile,cilantro, lime juice and zest and season with salt andpepper.

For the Hot Dogs

Place a medium pot of water over high heat and bring to a simmer. Turn heat to low, add hot dogs and cook until heated through. This will only take a few minutes. If crisping the dogs, place a griddle or skillet over medium high heat and spray with cooking spray. Add the hot dogs cut side down first to the pan and cook until crisp, about 1 to 2 minutes. Turn over and crisp the other side for another minute.

To assemble:

Slather some refried beans on the inside of the bun and add a sprinkling of the cheddar and pepper jack cheeses. Place a hot dog in the bun and top with some crushed fritos, guacamole, pico de gallo and dot with crema.

Holy guacamole! I know what's for dinner tonight. Rachel the great, also served up several other options for creating a hot dog smorgasbord. Check these out:

Seattle Dog

Spread the hot dog with cream cheese, then top it with grilled onions and sliced jalapenos.

Pastrami Reuben Dog

Wrap the hot dog in pastrami, layer on a slice of Swiss cheese, melt. Top with sauerkraut and Thousand Island dressing.

In a Pickle Dog

Top the hot dog with pickle relish, cucumber wedges and dill pickle wedges. Sprinkle with celery salt.

Pimento Cheese Dog

Spread the hot dog with store-bought pimento cheese, then sprinkle with crushed buttery crackers, such as Ritz.

It looks and sounds soooo fun! I'm serving 7 layer and Pastrami Ruben Dogs tonite!

I'll let you know how they come out...