Kicked Up Corn and Hot Ds

Tonight UD inspired me!  He reminded me that I have been wanting to try grilling corn on the cob.  I have always, always, always boiled it in a pot of water for 5 to 7 minutes.  Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.  So, I decided to start by making a compound butter with all the Herbs in my Herb "garden".

A little reminder of why I am pronouncing it Herb, rather than herb.  Please see "Side Note" after the first paragraph.

From left to right, there is thyme, rosemary, parsley, chives and basil.  Considering how how small they were when I got them, they have done really well.  And I use them all the time.

I decided to use all of them, with the addition of garlic, salt and pepper.  The two strongest are thyme and rosemary, so I am using less of them.

Basil is a very delicate Herb, so you will want to chiffonade it.  Stacking the leaves, rolling tightly and slicing with a very sharp knife.  This will result in beautiful green ribbons of basil.  If you were to finely dice it like the other Herbs, it would become bruised, and look very unappetizing.

You will need to plan ahead, so you can bring about a stick of butter to room temperature.

Put all the Herbs in the dish with the softened butter.  I probably have about a tablespoon of parsley and chives, a half tablespoon of basil, and a teaspoon each of rosemary and thyme.  There is also a clove of garlic, and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Mix it well.

Get every last bit of that Herby buttery goodness.  Place it on plastic wrap or parchment paper in a log type shape.

Roll it tightly so it mushes all together.  Once you have it rolled up, twist both ends to mush it even more.  Mush?  What up with that word?

I set some aside for the corn, and the rest I will refrigerate and use later on a grilled steak, grilled shrimp, or on delicious Herb crostini.

Now onto dinner.  One of UDs favorite meals is hot dogs and hamburgers.  Just ask Darling.  Every time we got together and grilled, UD would say, how about hot dogs and hamburgers?  Being the gracious hostess that she is, Darling would accommodate.  But Darling's husband J makes some of the best ribs around.  And Darling grills some mean steak tips.  Why did he always want hot dogs and hamburgers?  Well, now we are on the Rocky Coast, and Darling is 150 miles away.  I miss her.  And the rest of her pack.  So for UD and Darling, and the 4th of July weekend, tonight we are having hot dogs and hamburgers, minus the hamburgers. :)

I have the compound butter for the corn, but I also have plain butter at room temperature.  That's for the rolls.  I brush the hot dogs with a little Canola oil and season them with freshly ground black pepper.  They are already plenty salty for us, so I pass on adding that.

I coated the corn with the Herb-a-licious butter, and wrapped them in tin foil.  There was a discussion between us as to whether we should grill straight on the grill or wrapped in foil.  We decided to do the foil this time, and straight on the grill next time.  I will let you know which one we prefer.

The hot dogs went on the grill, which was manned by UD.

Oh, a tip on the hot dogs. Many, many years ago, Sister N introduced us to Deutschmacher hot dogs. You can usually get them in the deli department of the supermarket, and they are delicious. I was never a big fan of hot dogs, until these. So give them a try. I wouldn't recommend them to anyone who is trying to reduce their plastic use though, because they come individually wrapped in plastic. Pardon Sister E! 

Now you might be surprised, but this is exactly how we like our hot dogs.  Crispy and charred on the outside.  Yup, that's a thumbs up for us!

You may have noticed that I made mention of my sandwich abilities in a previous post.  Well one of the things I have come to realize, is that the bread, or roll can make or break a sandwich.  Let me speak to the ordinary hot dog roll.  It is squishy, plain and let's face it, boring.  But not when you add the magic ingredient of butter!

Using room temperature butter, liberally spread it on both sides of the hot dog roll.

Preheat a dry pan over medium high heat.  Add the hot dog rolls, and check periodically for golden goodness.  Flip it, and do the same to the other side.

UD cooked the corn for approximately 10 minutes and then pulled them off the grill.  It was delicious.  The corn had steamed in the Herb butter and was deliciously tender crisp.  As I mentioned, next time we will grill it unwrapped and let it get charred a little.  Then we will slather with the Herb butter. 

I actually don't want to talk about that any more.  I want to concentrate on this corn, at this moment.  Ahhh.  So good.

Dinner was simple, and a success.

A bientot!  See you soon.