Hot Dog Contest Anyone!?!?

Sooooo, I love hot dogs. No reason to hide it. Some of you out there may frown upon the lowly hot dog, being that it's bits and pieces of this and that. Well guess what... that's pretty much what every sausage or ground meat is, but I digress. Covered in chili, microwaved with ketchup, or hot off the grill with kraut, I don't discriminate. So if any of you think you're man enough, lets see those hot dogs!

Deep Fried Hot Dogs with Goat Cheese and Habanero Relish

So my entry in the contest, which I currently enter into without any known competitors, are these beauties. A never deep fried a hot dog, so I wanted to try it. Simp left some dank goat cheese at my house and I wanted to use. I like hot stuff, so this is what I came up with, think Tempest (you cool people out there know what I'm talking about.)

So basically I deep fried a couple Nathan's hot dogs, which turned out OK, I think I prefer grilled though. I topped them with some of that lovely goat cheese, some habanero relish I made (recipe to follow), and some crispy bits of bacon. Bottom line- these were pretty frickin good. In hindsight I could have added something with a little sweetness, such as mango ketchup or even a drizzle of honey. The habanero relish was quite fiesty and definitely regretted it the next day, much like the tempest.

Habanero Relish

2- Habaneros (less or more to your liking)

1/2- Red onion

2- Cloves Garlic

1/2 Red Bell pepper

1- teaspoon or so of sugar

2- tbls or so of white wine vinegar

salt

Add all the ingredients to a food processor and blend to your hearts content. Boom- Habanero relish.

Poached Eggs on Toasted Baguette with Goat Cheese, and Black Pepper Vinaigrette

I couldn't let these ingredients go to waste so I made my Sunday brunch on Saturday. This was awesome. I will be making this next time I have overnight guests.

Ingredients
•Baguette, sliced lengthwise*
•Olive oil, to brush
•Salt and freshly ground black pepper
•3 ounces fresh goat cheese
•2 thinly sliced heirloom tomatoes
•4 large eggs, poached
•1 cup micro arugula
•Black Pepper-Tarragon Vinaigrette, recipe follows
•Fresh chervil leaves, to garnish
•*Cook's Note: Not the super skinny kind of baguette
•Black Pepper-Tarragon Vinaigrette
•1/4 cup white wine vinegar
•1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
•1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh tarragon
•1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
•1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
•1 teaspoon honey
•1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

DirectionsHeat a grill pan and broiler.
Brush the halved baguette with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Put the bread onto a hot grill pan and grill cut-side down over high heat. Remove the grilled bread and spread the top of the bread with the goat cheese. Place the bread under the broiler and broil until the cheese is lightly golden brown. Top each slice of bread with a few slices of tomato and a poached egg. Cook's Note: Break the yolks on the sandwich.
Put the micro arugula in a bowl and toss with a few tablespoons vinaigrette and season with salt and black pepper. Top each egg with some of the greens and drizzle with more of the vinaigrette.
Vinaigrette:
Whisk together the vinegar, mustard, tarragon, and salt in a medium bowl. Slowly whisk in the oil, until emulsified. Whisk in the honey and black pepper.