Child of the Wild Blue Yonder: baked

Southwestern Black Bean Burger

baked 1:14 PM

The curse has been lifted: the Cubs won the 2016 World Series! Being from the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago this is kind of a big deal to me; okay, it's a pretty huge deal. I'm sure a lot of you guys can agree, we've been waiting a long time for this! The minute the Cubs won, I was overwhelmed with nostalgia, and with nostalgia comes craving. In honor of the Cubs, we made Chicago-Style Hot Dogs.

Josh and I have been baking all of our own bread for almost a year now... why? Mainly because of the way that my apartment smells while the bread bakes. So here's how to make poppy seed hot dog buns that are meant to be used for some Chicago-style dogs.

And of course, I'm going to include all the toppings that you'll need to put together your own crave-worthy Chicago-Style Hot Dog.

Poppy Seed Buns

-1 Cup Milk

-2 and a half tsp Yeast

-1/4 Cup White Sugar

-3 Cups Flour (may need a little extra to

achieve correct dough consistency)

-2 Eggs (one is for egg wash)

-4 Tbsp Butter (softened)

1. Warm the milk until it is about 110º F, no hotter than that, it's meant to supplement your yeast, not kill it. Sprinkle the yeast on top of the milk in an even layer and swirl it around. Let it sit for anywhere between 5-10 minutes, or until the yeast activates. I just warmed the milk in my microwave in a measuring cup, sprinkled the yeast on top of the warmed milk, and set it aside, covering with a paper towel. (Use a kitchen thermometer to check the temperature of the milk.)

2. Mix the sugar and salt, once the yeast has been activated by the warm milk, add it to the sugar and salt, and mix.

3. Add one egg, and the softened butter, (make sure your butter has been softened to about room temperature) mix everything together. The mixture will probably remain pretty clumpy from the butter at this point.

4. One cup at a time, add the flour. Add the first cup, and mix the dough mixture until it is smooth. Then add the second, and continue mixing and add the third cup. At this point, if you are making this bread by hand or without a mixer you'll probably end up having to knead in the dough. Add a little extra flour until the dough reaches a proper consistency. (It shouldn't be sticking to your hands, and should be smooth, and elastic.)

5. Grease a bowl with either oil or butter, and place the dough ball in the center, flip it to coat both sides. Set it aside for an hour to an hour and a half, wait for the dough to double in size.

6. Weigh out 8 dough balls of equal weight. On a floured surface, roll out each dough ball to be about 5 inches long, 3 inches wide, and a half inch thick. Place the dough horizontaly in front of you, and fold the bottom half over the center line, then fold the top half over the center line. Take the edges and fold them underneath the dough. Set them on a oiled baking sheet and let rise for another hour. (If you don't have a kitchen scale, roll out all your dough and split it into 8 equal portions)

7. Pre-heat the oven to 375ºF. Crack an egg, use the whites only, add the whites to a bowl with a 1/4 tsp of water, and mix it together. Use this as an egg wash, brush a light layer of the wash to each bun, and sprinkle with poppy seeds. (After the dough has risen)

8. Bake the buns for 10-15 minutes, or until they have turned golden brown. Place on a cooling rack for 10 minutes, or until they are cool enough to handle.

This is how you should fold your buns!

Buns with egg wash, before allowing them to rise a second time.

Baked, and ready for action!

Homemade bread isn't as hard as one would think, and it's also super satisfying when everything is said and done! The hardest part is waiting patiently for your dough to rise. Stick it out, I promise it'll be worth it.

Chicago-Style Hot Dogs are an easy way to dress up a hot dog, and make it something worth craving.

All you'll need: Poppy seed buns, all beef hot dogs, sport peppers (I couldn't find sport peppers anywhere, so I substituted them with hot pickled chili peppers. If you can't find sport peppers, replace it with a pickled pepper of your choice), sweet pickle relish, yellow mustard, diced white onion, Kosher dill pickle spear, and tomato, and a sprinkle of celery salt to finish it off.