"Hot Dogs" with a Thai Twist

I've been really awful. You see, Sweet Paul gave me my first blog awards about a month ago and I have yet to announce it or pass them on! It just keeps slipping my mind! Plus, I knew it needed a great recipe to do it justice! So, Paul, I do apologize and they do mean so much to me! I am passing each on to a blog that is well-deserving of the honor!

The I love your blog award goes to Gwendolyn of Patent and the Pantry! I love your beautiful food photos and retro style!


The Brilliante Weblog 2008 gets passed to Gattina of Kitchen Unplugged! This international woman of mystery is truely brilliant, and her vibrant colors and great compositions never fail to inspire!


I love both of these blogs, so do check them out! And now for the recipe...

Hot dogs are great off the grill, snug in a soft bun with a little coleslaw or sauerkraut. But they're just not that special. This takes your normal dog to another level. It starts with a fragrant Thai Sub Roll, topped with a layer of warm, spicy, sweet and nutty slaw and topped off with charred gourmet Thai chicken sausages. Serve alongside grilled zucchini and summer squash that's been marinated in Thai dressing and you've got all new inspiration for your Sunday cookout!

Thai Sausage Rolls Dressed with Warm Peanut Slaw


1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 Tbsp peanut butter
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
2 Tbsp lime juice
1 tsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp sriracha
3 Tbsp sugar
1/2 large head Napa cabbage, finely shredded
1/4 cup chopped peanuts

4 Thai chicken sausages
4 Thai Sub Rolls

Combine vinegar, peanut butter, sesame oil, lime juice, soy sauce, sriracha and sugar in a large nonstick skillet and bring to a simmer over medium heat until peanut butter has "melted" into sauce. Add cabbage and cover. Cook, stirring occasionally for 15-20 minutes, or until cabbage has softened. Toss with peanuts before serving.

Grill chicken sausages over high heat until well charred. Slice buns down the middle. Pile in the Kraut (slaw?) and top with a sausage. Serve immediately.

Thai Sub Rolls


3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp ground ginger
1 packet instant yeast (also labeled Rapid Rise)
1 cup thai stock (Wegmans makes a great one - alternatively blend 1 cup chicken stock with 1 tsp Tom Yum paste)
1 Tbsp grated lemongrass
2 tsp sriracha

1 egg, beaten
2 Tbsp black sesame seeds


In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, blend together dry ingredients. With the mixer on low, slowly add in stock, sriracha and lemongrass. Kneed the dough for 5 minutes on low speed. The dough should be soft and smooth. Form into a ball and transfer to an oiled bowl. Wrap loosely with oiled plastic wrap. Let rise one hour.

Separate into 4 to 6 pieces, depending on the size you like your rolls. I like to match their length to the length of the sausages I'm using. Sprinkle part of your counter (or parchment paper if you prefer) with cornmeal. Form the dough into an oblong roll and transfer to prepared surface. Let rise another hour. With 1/2 an hour to go, preheat oven to 450 F with a pizza stone in the middle.

Brush the rolls with egg wash, sprinkle with sesame seeds and place on the preheated pizza stone. Mist the oven walls with water. Bake for 5 minutes, reduce heat to 400, and mist again. Let bake until golden brown, 10-15 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.

Tribute to Coconut Lime

As the lovely Rachel of Coconut & Lime approaches her 700th post, I'd like to recognize her for being an outstanding member of the foodie community. Her creativity is boundless and her site is simple and beautiful. I first came across it over a year ago (I don't even remember what brought me there in the first place). It was the first food blog I ever read and I was immediately hooked. I was already an avid cook, but it inspired me to start this blog. Lots of my early posts were modeled after hers until I found my own style. I still look to her site to reflect on my own pictures and posts, as well as for inspiration. My name, Vanilla Basil, was the result of a brainstorm of two ingredients that express my cooking personality, just as coconut and lime immediately tell you what a bright and intriguing person Rachel is. I also feel a culinary connection to her since she is a local Baltimore blogger, and I know many of the places she mentions in her chronicles.

So here's to Coconut Lime! This is a slightly sweet - slightly savory ice cream inspired by Thai flavors. There are two coconut elements (milk and syrup) and two lime elements (kaffir leaves in the ice cream and zest in the swirl). I've also noticed her frequent use of mangos lately, so that element completes this tribute.




Thai Coconut Ice Cream With Mango Lime Swirl

1 cup heavy cream
1 14 oz can light coconut milk
1/2 cup light rum
1 tsp coconut syrup or extract
1/2 cup natural cane sugar
2 large kefir lime leaves
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
1/4 tsp salt
3 large whole green cardamom pods
2 tsp grated lemongrass
6 egg yolks
1/2 recipe mango lime swirl

Combine all ingredients except for egg yolks in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer for 2 minutes. Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks in a stand mixer until pale and frothy. Slowly add 1/2 cup of coconut mixture to egg yolks while the mixer is on medium speed. Pour egg mixture into saucepan and cook until thickened, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and chill for at least 3 hours, until very cold.

Add to an ice cream maker and freeze until soft set according to manufacture instructions. Fold in mango swirl by hand and freeze for 4 hours, or until hard.




You will only need 1/2 of this recipe. The remainder can be used as an awesome frozen mango margarita mix, or you can make more than one batch of ice cream.

Mango Lime Swirl

1 15 oz. can mangoes in light syrup, pureed in a blender until smooth
(canned really works better than fresh in this application)
the zest and juice of one lime
2/3 cup natural cane sugar

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and chill until very cold.



Postscript (6/14/08): This ice cream won the coconut lime bloggiversary contest and the heart of my future mother and law. It's a real showstopper!