Weekend Cooking -Remembering the Nonas

Beth Fish Reads sponsors this weekly meme where we foodies can chat about cookbooks, cooking gadgets, recipes, or anything else gustatory. Be sure to stop over there to find other terrific weekend cooking posts.

Smart cooks realize that the easiest cookbook to use is the Yellow Pages and the handiest appliance in the kitchen is the telephone. ~ Miss Piggy

If you don't do Yellow Pages, phones or Take-Out Taxi, you can still rely on your Nona. One of my fondest memories is having my grandmother pull a fresh fig off the tree, break it open, and stuff the inside out fruit dripping with sweetness and juice into my mouth, and then show me how to lick my chin to catch it all. So I don't think she would have thought much of Miss Piggy's philosophy.To my grandmother, food was life.  Not just the preparation and serving, but the growing, harvesting, preserving, and to a lesser extent the shopping, kept her going.  In fact, although I have fond memories of rolling, squeezing, peeling, chopping, cutting, tasting, picking from the garden. I don't think I ever went shopping with her until I was in my late 20's when  my sister brought her for a visit from Baltimore to Long Beach California where we were living.  We were having good some Navy friends to dinner and Nona wanted to make gnocchi.  Off we went to shop.  She made little turned up nose faces at much of the produce, and almost all of the meats, but we managed to get enough decent (but certainly not perfect) ingredients.

So I really appreciated the sentiment and story in this memoir cum cookbook celebrating food as a way of life.  The residents of the town of Campodimele Italy, a small town in the mountains between Naples and Rome, are noted for their longevity.  Tracey Lawson, an English teacher who had been living in Tuscany heard of the village and set out to learn more.  As she says on the back cover:

I came to Campodimele hoping I might learn how to live longer, but discovered something much more important -- how to live well.

 For over three years, she visited with the residents, was allowed into their pastures, their gardens, their vineyards, their olive orchards, their kitchens, their cantina, and their hearts.  By observing, then working as she was instructed, she was able to see the value in living off the land, eating seasonally, but still preserving the bounty for times when fresh was not available.  She pressed olive oil, made sausage, shelled beans, picked various greens, made goat cheeses, rolled pastas, and climbed mountain roads with 80 and 90 years old residents to tend the goats, pick the olives, and call the hens home at night to roost.

Her month by month description of food, recipes and traditions brought back many memories of the Italian kitchen of my Nona, and gave me a deeper understanding and appreciation of the hows and whys of many of the foods.  It held a few surprises.  The inhabitants of Campodimele, who regularly live well into their 90's, use very little salt, but are very generous with peperoncino, a red chili pepper they grow, dry and sprinkle liberally on everything.  I don't remember that ingredient in my grandmother's repertoire, (although my mother assures me that the shaker of red pepper flakes was ALWAYS on Nona's table) and she did love her salt.  It's a perfect example of regional differences.  Each area used what grew well there and was readily available.

Subtitled The Lifestyle of Longevity in Campodimele, Italy, it's a treasure of a book - particularly if you love Italian food, have an Italian ancestor, or just want to learn, as Lawson says, "to live well."  It's yummy, it's interesting, and it's a definite plus for your food collection.  Even if you don't want to try the recipes, the philosophy of living off the land, living simply, and looking at your food as an enjoyable gift will light up your reading and eating day.

Weekend Cooking - Emeril's Latest Yummies

Beth Fish Reads sponsors this weekly meme where we foodies can chat about cookbooks, cooking gadgets, recipes, or anything else gustatory. Be sure to stop over there to find other terrific weekend cooking posts.  


Continuing on with our look at egalleys of cookbooks, I'm doubling up this weekend.   I've been drooling over another great one I wouldn't mind having on my shelf.  It's

Sizzling Skillets and other one pot wonders

Author: Emeril Lagasse

Publisher/Format: William Morrow Cookbooks ARC - egalley 304 pages

Year of publication: 2011

Subject: One pot cooking

Genre:  Cookbook

Source: ARC from publisher via Net Galley

Once again, the engaging Emeril Lagasse gives us a menu of amazing gusto from a variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds.  They range from simple combinations of ingredients that most will have on hand, to more intricate mixtures of spices and techniques that may be new to users.  In all instances, he gives tips about using different ranges of the same ingredient with indications of how those will impact a recipe. As an example, he points out that different brands and types of blue cheese will each yield a very specific flavor and that some are much stronger than others.  He wisely advises the cook to use a blue cheese you like.

The culinary influences include Creole, Cajun, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, Indian, Thai, Korean, Japanese, and Vietnamese.  He features some of my favorites, but each has a new twist that has me aching to try them out.  Among those are  the southern style chicken & dumplings where he uses a different blend of ingredients but the same technique for dumplings in a recipe that I've used for over 35 years; his Braciole which he suggests doing in small individual rolls instead of the one huge rolled round steak I've been used to.  I love his take on lasagna - using wonderful fresh ingredients that are perfect for this time of the year -- butternut squash and Italian sausage.  The Portuguese pork and clams is going to be a hit in our family -- we love pork and we love clams, but who would have thought about putting them together.  And speaking of Portuguese (I do often...I married one!) the recipe for Chorizo and Potato Quesadillas will be particularly tasty made with the portuguese version of Choriço.

To me, one of the strengths of the book is the layout:  recipes are divided by the cooking vessel to be used.  All too often, I find myself looking at a recipe, paying lots of attention to the ingredients, and then realizing too late that I don't have a pot the right size to make the one that has just struck my fancy.  In this volume you begin by seeing how it will be cooked, and then looking to see what goes into the pot.  Different, but at least to this cook, a great perspective to have. There are recipes for Skillets and saute pans, Casseroles and baking dishes, Dutch Ovens, Big Pots, Woks, and Slow cookers. In short there's something for everyone in this one.

The recipes are clear and easy to follow. Emeril's little asides are priceless--it's like having him right there next to you as you cook. The photography is outstanding, and even shows up well enough on a black and white e-reader. In color, the shots are yummy. The only problem with the book is that I will never be able to decide which of many recipes to make. We can only eat one at a time, and I'd like to make at least 10 of them right now!

Another great one to put on your Christmas list, or to gift to your favorite cook.
Thanks to publisher William Morrow Cookbooks for the opportunity to review via Net Galley.

Weekend Cooking - Christmas Cookies? Already?

The World's Greatest Christmas Cookies

A collection of cookie recipes,  decorating ideas, and inspirational thoughts from the contributors.

Publisher/ Format: Barbour Publishing Company, e galley 160 pages

Year of publication: 2011

Subject: Christmas Cookies

Genre: Recipe compilation

Source: Net Galley

Net Galley has offered several cookbooks for review recently, and since Christmas Cookies are a special weakness for me, I was delighted to be able to take a look at this one.  I had best state up front that I collect cookie cookbooks, and over my forty plus years of marriage and moving around the world, I've been through an extensive assortment of recipes.  But by now, I've settled on about two dozen all time favorites that I know I can count on to be fun to make, easy to store, and (most of all) well received by all who stop by to share holiday cheer, or to whom I send them as gifts every year.

So even though I'm pretty settled on my list, I'm also always looking for something new, delicious, and relatively easy to make.  (I gave up trying to be Martha Stewart a long time ago).  I would not buy this one for myself since I have most of the recipes that appeal to me already in my files.  But I definitely would consider this one as a gift for someone who is just embarking on setting up housekeeping, a young parent who wants some easy to make recipes to make with children, or someone who is not a cookbook collector but who loves cookies.

The format is excellent - each recipe is easy to read, colorfully typeset, the pictures are crisp, clear and yummy, and none of them threaten to overwhelm the baker with complications.  I especially like the "Sweet tips" sprinkled throughout the book.  Several of them were new to me (such as placing a slice of apple in a container of cookies that are beginning to get a bit dry---I've done that for brown sugar but never thought about it for cookies!)

The recipe for Potato Chip Cookies looks like a busy Mom's dream - crushed chips, a can of sweetened condensed milk, coconut and peanut butter.  Mixed up and dropped on a greased cookie sheet, these can be done in about 15 minutes start to finish!

Bar cookies are another favorite of mine, and living up here in cranberry bog heaven, those Cranberry Paradise bars look really yummy.  We also grow a lot of rhubarb up here, and the Rhubarb Squares looks like a good recipe to use up that last bag of frozen rhubarb to make more room in the freezer!

There are a few drawbacks to this one.  Cookbooks, by their nature, are meant to be browsed. There is no Table of Contents - although that may be simply a function of the egalley - I hope one appears in the finished product.  There's a great index, but I shouldn't have to go to the back of the book to browse.  AND....................about 25% (I didn't do an exact count) of the recipes don't have pictures.  Sorry Barbour publishing, but cookies need to have pictures.  It's the picture that grabs a cook.  I don't have the vaguest idea of what the "Italian Christmas Cookies" are supposed to look like.  The ingredients and instructions don't sound like ANYTHING any of my Italian relatives every made for Christmas, and I certainly don't think I've ever seen a recipe like them in any of my numerous Italian cookbooks.  So that one for me would be destined to remain a mystery forever - I'd never even consider it.  And that may be a shame.

Over all, this is one to consider if you like cookies, or are looking for a good not too expensive addition to your cookbook collection, or for a nice gift.

Thanks to Barbour Publishing and Net Galley for making it available.

For other Weekend Cooking, take a look at our Host: Beth Fish Reads.  There's always a great range of yummy reviews, recipes, and all things foodie to whet your appetite. 

Weekend Cooking - outdoor style

Beth Fish Reads sponsors this weekly meme where we foodies can chat about cookbooks, cooking gadgets, recipes, or anything else gustatory. Be sure to stop over there to find other terrific weekend cooking posts.

I hadn't planned to do a weekend post, but circumstances presented me with a perfect opportunity.  Last week I read Katherine Hall Page's delightful book Body in the Gazebo and mentioned that the recipes in the back was also a wonderful addition.  This morning, since I had a couple of nectarines approaching their sell-by date, I decided to try her recipe for "Fruit Breakfast Puffs" on page 250.  These are essentially popovers with 1/2 a peach or nectarine or other fruit in the middle.

I got up at a decent (for me) hour, pre-heated my oven to 400°F, melted the butter and poured it into the tins, peeled the nectarines and plopped them on top the butter, whisked up the easy egg/flour/milk/OJ/sugar batter, and poured it over the fruit.  I opened the oven, popped them in, shut the oven door, and was reaching to set the timer for 20 minutes, when

PLOP.THUD.

DEEP SILENCE of an ominous variety decended on the world. 

WE HAD NO POWER.

The ceiling fans stopped, the TV went off, the lights went out, my gas oven shut itself off, and I really didn't appreciate my alarm system shrilly beeping and blinking to tell me the obvious.  I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that Popovers were NOT going to POPUP in a dead oven.

On to plan B....................

When we moved to Maine, I was reluctantly convinced to purchase a gas grill for outdoor cooking, and have been enjoying it (and blessing whoever talked me into it) since.  So, we decided to experiment.  We lit off the grill, put the pan of pop-pops on the middle shelf, and 10 minutes later ------VOILA!

Fruit Breakfast Puffs à la gas grill.  They were scrumptious.  I'd like to give you the entire recipe, but I don't like to quote copyrighted stuff w/o permission, so go read the book, make the popovers and enjoy!

PS...obviously the power is back after 3+ hours, at least in time to watch the SOX!!

Weekend Cooking - Trolling for Maine Goodies

Beth Fish Reads sponsors this weekly meme where we foodies can chat about cookbooks, cooking gadgets, recipes, or anything else gustatory. Be sure to stop over there to find other terrific weekend cooking posts.

We've been blessed this week with spectacular weather, and have another week forecast.  Our blueberry crop here in Maine is ahead of schedule and we are all over dosing on gorgeous vine-ripened tomatoes, the smell of rosa rugosas, and lots of fresh seafood.  And the Lobster Festival is coming this week.

Last weekend, we took our visitors to the Owls Head General Store where they featured "The Best Hamburger in Maine" -- a designation awarded by the Food Network and I'm not going to argue with them.  It's called the 7 Napkin Hamburger.  I think we managed to keep it at 10!

That's also where we discovered the Blueberry Pop.  It's absolutely delish!

So come on up---the lobster's great, but we have other stuff too.  Now to kick back with a good book to enjoy the seabreeze.

Weekend Cooking - Guests are Cooking!

Last week I indicated Guests were coming.  This weekend, it's even better because guests are cooking!  Beth Fish Reads sponsors this weekly meme where we foodies can chat about cookbooks, cooking gadgets, recipes, or anything else gustatory. Be sure to stop over there to find other terrific weekend cooking posts.

>We had the potential for a disastrous visit here when my daughter, who drove up from DC arrived Wednesday just an hour ahead of one of the most monstrous thunderstorms we've had in the six years we've lived here. She had just enough time to get to the fish market, buy the lobster and rolls, and get back before the heavens opened.  Over 4" of rain fell in less than two hours, washing out both ends of the road into our house.  We didn't lose power, but did lose the sattelite links to both TV and internet...no big deal, lobster rolls, homemade cole slaw,blueberry iced tea and some homemade brown sugar cookies she brought with her were all we needed before we all settled down with the cats and read our good books.

Luckily, the road commissioner got one end of the road opened in time for the arrival of  our dear friend from Texas who flew into Manchester NH and drove up....bad news is his bag forgot to change planes, so it went to Buffalo NY. Never fear. Daughter made a few of her famous gimlets, we had a delicious pulled pork that had been 'smoking' in the slo cooker for over 12 hours, along with a fresh from the garden lettuce and tomato salad, and again all was well with the world.

This morning, I awoke at 6:00AM to the incredible smell of baking cinnamon rolls...homemade, gooey, and scrumptious.  I have told her she may not leave ever.  She and goddad are off to a local distillery to buy more gin (they make a cranberry gin we're all anxious to try), and then we'll grill buffalo steaks out on the deck, to enjoy along with fresh green beans, insulata caprese (again from our garden) and potato salad.

Now to tie this whole thing in with books, we've been leafing through daughter's copy of Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails, from the Alamagoozlum to the Zombie and beyond.  A fun fun fun book that son-in-law gave her for Christmas last year.  It has the recipes and stories behind 100 rediscovered drinks. It begins with a history of the drink - who knew cocktails were originally served in the morning?- gives some thoughts about various 'bumps' on the road to acceptance and usage such as the temperance movement, prohibition, war rationing, and then the general evolution of attitudes about alcoholic drinks in general, and those risque mixed drinks in particular.

I love some of the recipes, but don't think I've found one yet for which I had all the ingredients.  However, I do remember enough of my world travels to be able to say (in keeping with my Tutu moniker) Okole maluna!  Enjoy your weekend.

Weekend Cooking - food magazines

  Beth Fish Reads sponsors this weekly meme where we foodies can chat about cookbooks, cooking gadgets, recipes, or anything else gustatory. Be sure to stop over there to find other terrific weekend cooking posts.  Today, I'm adding a discussion of cooking magazines. We don't do many magazines anymore...they're expensive, and we don't have time to read them, so they pile up until they become out of date, and then I guiltily throw them into the kindling pile for the fire. I do however, love to cook, love to have new recipes to inspire me, and keep current subscriptions to three which I shamelessly recommend. And NO............ I'm not getting any free issues or subscriptions from the publishers. (I should be so lucky!)

These three always arrive within three days of each other, and provide me with enough new recipes until the next issues arrive in about 8 weeks. In no particular order, here they are.  Links take you to their home pages where there are tons of recipes online (they have great RSS feeds) and free issues available.

CuisineAtHome is a short (only 52 pages this issue- on nice heavy paper) gorgeous spread of incredible photos, great ideas, and a wonderful website to supplement the paper mag.  Today's issue provided me inspiration for tomorrow's Sunday brunch:Baby Dutch Babies with preserved berries (can you say yorkshire puddings stuffed with berries, sauce and topped with iced or whipped cream?); Sunday dinner (stuffed flank steak), and several other unique takes on ordinary food, e.g., Margherita pasta, and some decadent steak sandwiches. There's a short and sweet, will illustrated 2 pager on preserving berries, and incredible spread entitled "Backyard Bruschetta Bar", an article on heirloom tomatoes, and NO ADVERTISING.  I have gotten so many 'out-of-the-box' ideas from this magazine, that I can't imagine giving it up. In the last year or so, they have also started included nutrional information with each recipe. It also comes three-hole punched so you can put it right into a binder, and has an index they send periodically.

Eating Well is another short but sweet (88 pages - lighter weight paper) publication I love. Published only 6 times a year, it focuses on healthy eating by presenting not only great recipes, but easy to understand, (although not dumbed down) articles about various issues affecting our food and our health.  This month, there's a well-researched special report entitled "The Future of Milk".  Worth the price of the whole issue.  August's pages also have me drooling over Zucchini Salad with Saved Parmesan (we're having this one tonite), 5 recipes for weeknights requiring only 5 ingredients each, ...... Not only does EW give you a complete nutrition breakdown, they often give hints on how to prepare the recipe for two (especially appreciated by this retiree couple).  And their focus on nutrition is that there are really NO foods off limits.  By judiciously combining foods, flavors, and adjusting portions, you can enjoy food and enjoy life.  For instance, one of my favorite recipes this month is "Brown Sugar and Toasted Almond Ice Cream".  YUM YUM.  They also feature heirloom tomatoes, a farm produce picnic, korean cooking, corn (several great ideas there like Corn and Basil cakes), and 'shorts' on multi-vitamins and 5 foods that good for your skin. I'll end this love fest by saying that EW's Cookbook "Eating Well serves Two" makes a great gift for newleyweds: my daughter-in-law assures me she consults it often.

And finally,Cooking Light: the one I'd choose if I had to say "Ok, I could only afford one."

This one comes monthly (I think actually 11 issues/yr) and has articles about aspects of a healthy lifestyle in addition to food.  This month I was particularly thrilled to see my aerobic exercise program validated by an article here "I tried it: Water Aerobics."  They have beauty tips, household tips, and the current one features how to choose healthy food at a Thai restaurant.  Again, nutritional information is available for every recipe, along with tips on where to find ingredients, acceptable substitutes, etc. 

The current issue (July 2010) has such yummie sections as "Super Fast - 20 minute meals" (5 gorgeous chicken or seafood salads perfect for summer); "10 Things to know about melons"; a section called "Dinner Tonite" where they even give you a shopping list for the recipes; "Less Meat More Flavor" - a great primer on grilling just in time for summer, and  "Building Better Lighter Burgers" -another great grilling piece. Every month there's a "Cooking Class" with great illustrations: August features Summer fruit cobblers - I can't wait for our blackberries to ripen. 

Looking at all three, I'd have to say my favorite article is Singapore Spice and Smoke, (in CookingLight). When we lived in Japan, we had the good fortune to be able to visit Singapore several times - often on our way too or from Bangkok, Penang, etc.  Eating in Singapore CarPark food courts are some of my fondest memories of that beautiful city/state.  The food was cheap, HOT HOT HOT (like spicy), the beer was always COLD COLD COLD, and by staking out a table, and finding an urchin waiter who wanted to earn some good tip money, we could sit with friends and eat for hours, enjoying a variety of food, (some of which we never really knew what it was - but it was soooooo good.)The article this month brought back those lovely memories.

So if you can't decide what to cook, stroll through one of these and try something new. Expanding your food horizons doesn't have to expand your waistline.

Weekend Cooking

  Beth Fish Reads sponsors this weekly meme where we foodies can chat about cookbooks, cooking gadgets, recipes, or anything else gustatory. Be sure to stop over there to find other terrific weekend cooking posts.

Today I'm chatting about  canning and measuring food.  We picked the last of the spring rhubarb crop early this morning, and two days ago I stopped at one of our local farm markets and treated myself to 4 qts of gorgeous, sweet, red, juicy local strawberries. Hubs is a big fan of rhubarb, and I enjoy few things more than slavering thick viscous strawberry preserves on my morning English muffin.  So we picked the hottest (so far) day of the year to do some canning. 

It was close to 80 when we started, and to put some context into this equation, we don't have a kitchen or living room or dining room, we have a GREAT room. So when you heat up the kitchen, you are essentially heating up the whole house (works great in Maine winters.) We do thank goodness have a "shotgun" arrangement where the front door and back patio door to the river are lined up, so when you open both, you get a great whoosh of air--if anything is moving.  We also have big ceiling fans, and lots of windows on the river side of the house.  However, we do NOT have air conditioning.  So the great big pot boiled away on the stove - first sterilizing jars and lids, and then water bathing jars yums. And the adults boiled away in the steamy air.

Yes it was hot but it was worth it.  Blogs don't do taste testing very well, so you'll have to use your imagination.

Now about measurements.  Many of the recipes I perused had fruit measured in pints, some in pounds, and some in cups.  I know we used to have to memorize that stuff in school, but face it fans, that was almost 50 years ago, and this brain is not computing cups=quarts=pints=pounds too well.  Besides, I was trying to listen to an audio book while I did this.  So, I pressed pause on the audio, went to my friendly computer, and found two marvelous sites with great downloadable pdf charts - one of which is now firmly attached to the side of my frig with a magnet saying "maine defends the right to arm bears"....

Anyway, here's the printable chart and here's a great site for helping do conversions by simply filling the one you have and clicking to see it convert.  It's an online form that doesn't show well here, but bookmark it--it will be a great help.

And here is my favorite:  I really didn't need any of these today, but found it quite amusing.  After all, you never know when I'll have to figure out how many firkins are in a gill, or how many tablespoons are in a hogshead!

Liquid Measurements 

In the United States, liquid measurement is not only used for liquids such as water and milk, it is also used when measuring other ingredients such as flour, sugar, shortening, butter, and spices.

	teaspoon	tablespoon	fluid ounce	gill	cup	pint	quart	gallon
1 teaspoon =	1	1/3	1/6	1/24	- - -	- - -	- - -	- - -
1 tablespoon =	3	1	1/2	1/8	1/16	- - -	- - -	- - -
1 fluid ounce =	6	2	1	1/4	1/8	1/16	- - -	- - -
1 gill =	24	8	4	1	1/2	1/4	1/8	- - -
1 cup =	48	16	8	2	1	1/2	1/4	1/16
1 pint =	96	32	16	4	2	1	1/2	1/8
1 quart =	192	64	32	8	4	2	1	1/4
1 gallon =	768	256	128	32	16	8	4	1
1 firkin =	6912	2304	1152	288	144	72	36	9
1 hogshead =	48384	16128	8064	2016	1008	504	252	63

Now here's how I made the Rhubarb Chutney--perfect on pork, grilled chicken or fish or with Indian curries and vindaloos.

4 cups (1.5 lb) chopped rhubarb
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup mixed dried fruits (I used cherries, blueberries and strawberries)
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp freshly grated ginger
1 tsp dried mustard
1/2 tsp ground coriander

Put all that in a big pot, bring to a boil, and then cook, stirring frequently until the rhubarb gets soft and pulpy. Spoon into sterilized jars, and waterbath for 12 minutes.

Enjoy your summer weekend.  Glorious days like this are far too few, and we're thankful to have the opportunity to enjoy them. Bon appetit!

Weekend Cooking

I'm late getting on this train, but with as much food posting/tasting/talking as I do, I'm hopping onboard.  Beth Fish Reads sponsors this weekly meme where we foodies can chat about cookbooks, cooking gadgets, recipes, or anything else gustatory. Be sure to stop over there to find other terrific weekend cooking posts.

This weekend marks 'official' the beginning of 'summah' here in Maine. While it's still chilly compared to temps down south, our skies are that gorgeous clear blue, and the air is fresh and invigorating.  We returned from our recent trip south to visit family and found ourselves longing for (what else?) lobstah!   In fact, I hadn't even finished my question "Lobster Ok for dinner?"  when hubbie was smiling and shouting "YES" across the room. So after running errands, picking up the mail, and mowing the lawn, we headed for our nearby seafood shack (only 3 minutes away!), picked out two big bubbas, watched them go into the steamer, and came home to add some fresh cole slaw, and a big bowl of melted butter to enjoy the most delicious seafood ever hatched in the sea.

Imagine our surprise when we realized we both were suffering from "eyes bigger than tummy" disease!  Aw shucks, that leftover lobster now becomes lunch today.  The lobster roll is perhaps the most famous dish sold in Maine and I often buy an extra lobster just so we do have enough left for sandwiches next day.   There are as many varieties and recipes for this simple sandwich as there are mommas who serve lunch.  As with the crab cakes I enjoyed so much last week, for me less is more.

You need nothing more than a tiny bit of chopped celery, your favorite mayo, some good lobster meat and a good roll.  Forget all the fancy-smancy additions and permutations you see in various articles, TV shows and cookbooks.  This is the real deal.  We use those wonderful New England style hot dog rolls which I'd never seen until I got to Maine.  Our mid-atlantic rolls open from the side.  New Englanders open from the top. Whichever bun you use, the result is mouth-watering, tummy filling, and soul satisfying.
 
These are so beloved that even McDonald's has them on the menu in Maine.