Hot dog diggity

In the cleverly titled volume "Man Bites Dog: Hot Dog Culture in America," Bruce Kraig takes a look at the American hot dog phenomenon, giving the history and folklore behind the foodstuff that became "quintessential public dining treats - long before the rise of hamburgers - sold on streets, at fairs and festivals, at picnics (weenie roasts) and in fast-food venues."

Not surprisingly, sections on how hot dogs are actually produced, with descriptions of "high-speed choppers" used to blend meat trimmings, spices and other ingredients "into an emulsion or batter," can be less than appetizing. Talk of industrial sausage machines and the "hazards of butchery" also proves difficult to digest. 

But chapters on the simple pleasures of eating hot dogs and the ways they can be served pull readers back in. 

A fully-loaded Chicago dog, for example, "has mustard, bright green relish, chopped onions, tomato slices, pickle slices and small sport peppers jammed onto the bun." And currywurst, first popular in Germany, is "covered in a sweet-hot sauce" and "served on paper plates." 

Photographer Patty Carroll includes numerous images of old-school hot dog stands and pushcarts, helping to illustrate this sometimes disturbing but always bright tribute to an American food classic.  

(A version of this review appeared originally in Publishers Weekly.)

Second-term pie

Whether we are better or worse financially, philosophically, socially or emotionally, we still need pie. And pie is what we have, without the meringue.

Sweet Potato Pie
from White House executive chef Cristeta Comerford

Dough

1 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. lemon zest
2 egg yolks
2 1/2 cups flour

Filling

3 sweet potatoes
4 sticks cinnamon
5 star anise
1 orange, quartered
2 Tbsp. melted butter

Custard

3 cups crème fraiche
4 whole eggs
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt

Honey meringue topping

3 egg whites
2 cups honey, reduced by half

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

For the pie dough: Cream the sugar and butter. Add the dry ingredients and gently mix. Incorporate the vanilla extract, lemon zest and egg yolks. Form into a ball and let rest in the refrigerator.

Roll the dough to fit a 12-inch tart pan. Top with parchment paper and cooking beads and bake blind for 12 minutes. Set aside to cool.

For the sweet potato puree: Bake the whole sweet potatoes and all the aromatics on a sheet tray at 350 degrees F until tender. Scoop the meat and pass through a chinoise. Set aside to cool. In the meantime, mix the custard base and fold into the cooled sweet potato puree.

Pour into the cooked tart shell and finish cooking until set, about 35 minutes.

For the honey meringue topping: Whip the egg whites until stiff and incorporate the hot reduced honey. Top the cooked sweet potato pie and broil until the meringue gets a toasted color. Makes 8 to 10 servings.