Pic of the day 10/27 friday Plattsburgh Dog's

These look real good!
I especially like the bun they are served in!
I wonder if I can find them in a local bakery here.
I would love to put one of my maple leaf franks in one.
(Following is the description by Mr. Stern)
In the foreground is a wienerless sauceburger, signified by the toothpick -- nothing but chili sauce. In the background is a standard Michigan, including the red hot. Note the buns, which are unique to the region. At first glance they look like standard Northeast split tops, but they are closed at each end, forming a trough -- all the better to hold dog, sauce, mustard, and onions."
- Michael Stern

My understanding is that the buns, like Michigans themselves, are unique to the Plattsburgh area.

Figures...Keeping the good stuff to themselves.
I might try to make my own if I can find a recipe for them.
Great photo, though!
I think I may make it my desktop/background photo!
Oh yes.. That looks nice there!

Would look a lot better with a load of sports peppers on those suckers !

While on my quest for recipe for those buns, I came across this article from December 2005.
I couldnt find any update to see if they brought them back.
Anyone out there know?

-----------------------------------
http://www.pressrepublican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051231/TODO/205080301/-1/TODO06

Red-hot topic
Buns switch has Michigan fans in an uproar
By: DANIEL P. BADER
Staff Writer
December 31, 2005
PLATTSBURGH — Local michigan-stand owners are red hot over the discontinuation of the specialty roll they traditionally mount their dogs and sauce on.

Ever since the michigan — a hot dog with special sauce and, sometimes, onions — was brought to the area by Jack Rabin for his Nitzi’s stand on Route 9, the popular fast food has been served on the special michigan roll baked by Bouyea-Fassetts Bakery.

"They’ve decided they’re not going to make the michigan (rolls) anymore," said Arnie Pavone, owner of Arnie’s Restaurant.

Now, only a couple of weeks after the change, the supply of rolls is all gone.

"I personally don’t think it’s right," Pavone said. "They’re a tradition here in the North Country; they’ve been famous for years."

He and his son, Glenn, ran Nitzi’s after Rabin retired. Arnie bought the place because he wanted to keep the tradition alive.

"People come back year after year looking for a michigan hot dog. It’s part of the history of northern New York," he said.

"I was really upset about it. The bun they’re giving us now doesn’t even hold the hot dog. If you try to bury the onions underneath, there’s no room for the hot dog. It’s ridiculous. ... Why they decided not to make it anymore I don’t know."

Representatives from the bakery in Plattsburgh and Vermont and from George Weston Ltd., the U.S.-Canadian company that now owns Bouyea-Fassetts, wouldn’t comment on the change Tuesday.

Carolyn Bucci has worked at the second-oldest local michigan stand, Clare and Carl’s Restaurant on Route 9, for 18 years.

"It’s an issue because they’re not as deep," Bucci said of the buns.

"Here’s a perfect example," she said, holding up a michigan on one of the new, smaller rolls and showing where sauce had leaked out of the side.

"Right here is how you can tell," she said, pointing to the space between the bun and the paper hot-dog tray.

"The (old) michigan filled the tray — what a difference this is going to make."

"We all had known they were going to stop making the rolls," said Clare and Carl’s owner Terry Spiegel, whose restaurant can serve up between 1,200 and 1,500 michigans a week.

She’s not sure if the change in rolls is going to hurt her business.

"We’ve been doing michigans for 60 years, and all of a sudden we don’t have one of the main ingredients.

"It’s very difficult to make them with the smaller rolls."

Robin Weeden, owner of the Dairy Shoppe on Route 22 in Beekmantown, stopped by Clare and Carl’s Tuesday afternoon looking for the traditional square-ended, top-sliced buns. A Bouyea-Fassetts truck sped by as he was talking.

"It’s an ugly mess" with the new rolls, Weeden said. "It’s soggy; it’s wet. We tried steaming the bun, but it’s terrible.

"They’ve (Bouyea-Fassetts) cut back. It’s probably more efficient for them."

Weeden thinks the change will make his business look bad; michigans are his biggest seller.

"It’s a reflection on us. Customers think we’re trying to skimp and save.

"When they informed us they were going to make the change, I said, ‘What am I going to do?’ ... We tried cutting (the new rolls) on the side; we tried cutting them on the top — it doesn’t matter. ... Where are you going to put the sauce?

"Everyone is in the same boat," Weeden said. "We need to find another supplier."

Brothers Stephen and Mike Farrell own three McSweeny’s Red Hots restaurants, one of which is the old Nitzi’s stand.

"It hasn’t affected us at all yet," said Stephen.

When he and his brother were informed of the change, they were given a few alternative choices to build their michigans on.

"The rolls are a little smaller," he acknowledged.

"It was just a business decision."

But he agrees with the other michigan sellers that the rolls were a tradition.

"We are definitely disappointed we’re going to lose the roll."

Arnie, for one, isn’t going to stand for the change.

He’s simmering over the sauce not staying in the bun, and plans to contact Sen. Ronald Stafford and Assemblyman Chris Ortloff to try and roll back the change in the buns.

Then I saw this editorial by the same paper.

http://www.pressrepublican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051231/TODO/205090301/-1/TODO06
Bouyea Fassetts Bakeries..
Hmm.
I remember buying bread with that name in Mass and Maine.
Looks like the Michigans original roll is gone forever.

I thought it was Plattsburgh, NY. Did not know there was a Plattsburgh, MI.

John

quote:

Originally posted by John A

I thought it was Plattsburgh, NY. Did not know there was a Plattsburgh, MI.

John

It is NY... Not Michigan.. they call their local dogs "Michigans" there..
A common mistake.......

Looks like a plain old chili dog aka coney to me. They've been putting chili on hot dogs since I can remember here in Oklahoma. The bun is unique though... I like that idea.

I've never been to McSweeney's, but $11.50 for a pint of chili is way over priced. I don't care how good it is.

That's some seriously good looking chili in those buns. I like the large dice of onions, too. I've thought of serving chili like that but we don't have the proper buns either and it doesn't work well at all without them .

To add a few points here:

The "Michigan" sauce is NOT chili by any stretch of the imagination.

Many years ago I saw "Michigan" hot dogs on the menu at an A&W Root Beer stand in Gloversville, NY (about 160 miles to the south of Plattsburgh). I tried just one, it was awful.

What I've come to call the "Michigan Belt" covers Northeastern New York from Ticonderoga north to the Canadian Border and from the Shore of Lake Champlain west almost to Malone, NY. This would encompass an area roughly 90 miles by 60 miles. There are a few places in adjacent southern Quebec and along the Vermont shore of Lake Champlain that serve "Michigans" as well.

There is a store in Champlain NY (Borderview Grocery, a large deli/convenience store operation) that sort of mass-produces and packages Michigan sauce for resale. Many stores in the area carry this product in their refrigerated food cases. It's not Clare & Carl's nor McSweeny's but it's not bad either.

Wally
A life-long native (don't hold it against me!)of the Plattsburgh area.
Cornell '67 (not 1867!!!)

I'll take your word that it's NOT chili, but what is it?

Well the easiest answer (which anyone from the "Michigan Belt" would understand) is that it is Michigan Sauce. Seriously though, it is relatively simple but yet unique. It is based on hamburger, finely chopped, seasoned with all sorts of stuff (but the sauce that most establishments make likely does not contain chili powder) which most places keep secret. I've seen large bottles of Frank's Hot Sauce at Clare and Carl's, so that may be an important component of their sauce. Even though some sauces are sort of reddish/orange, they likely do not any tomato products either.

As I said, many, if not all, of the local recipies are closely guarded secrets. A few years ago there was a lawsuit involving the allegation that one place stole the sauce recipie that was the property of another. I'm unsure of the final outcome of this civil suit.

Hope I answered your question.

Wally

I Googled Michigan Sauce and what I found was many different variations that are similar to what I make. You're right... it's not really chili. Most chili I've seen on hot dogs is pretty nasty. Here is the ingredients to my recipe.

Chili Dog Sauce

1 - 1.5 lb ground sirloin
1 small onion, diced
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
4-5 shakes Worcestershire sauce
1 T red pepper flakes
1 heaping T chili powder
1 heaping T cumino
1/2 can or so tomato sauce
1/4 cup Head Country BBQ Sauce
Salt & Pepper to taste

quote:

Originally posted by BR

Most chili I've seen on hot dogs is pretty nasty.

You should leave Broken Arrow and head up to the State of Michigan for a taste test. I have to say, we have some of the finest chili sauce for dogs around! (And I dont have too many nice things to say about this state other then the Great and Inland Lakes along with camping).

We used to from SUNY Potsdam to Plattsburgh just for the dogs when I was in college.
Then to Burlington to party our brains out or head back via Saranac Lake or Tupper Lake for skiing or drinking.
ah, college. When I actually had time to travel 100 miles for a hotdog.

oh, and for the record, the Michigan sauce is not the only hot dog related item in NY named after another state, seemingly erroneously. In the Oswego, NY area and along that part of Lake Ontario, they call their chili dogs: Texas Hots.

To add to the confusion: Clare & Carl's original location (there is another about 6 miles away on the N.W. side of Plattsburgh) is about 2.2 miles from where I sit keyboarding this missive and their exterior neon signs say "Texas Red Hots", but inside the menu board says "Michigan Red Hots", so go figure. I can clearly remember back to 1952-53 or so, and I believe the sign has always said that. FWIW, the "other" Clare & Carl's has a more extensive menu, including breakfast and is open year round. The original location is open only from early May to about a week after Labor Day, darn it all!

Wally

What they call a Michigan in New York state is essentially the same as what we in Michigan call a Coney Island. Go figure.... The only difference is how the bun is cut, and if you can find bakery hot dog buns which are uncut, you can do the same thing. I'm glad to see they serve them without the hot dog. A place near me serves low grade boiled hot dogs, but has very good sauce. They seem a little put out when I order coneys without the hot dog.

The "Michigan" bun doesnt look like a regular one. There is something about the bread that makes it different....
I mean apart from the closed ends...
Just something about the dough.. almost looks like a kaiser roll type of bread. I dunno..maybe its my eyes.....Never seen or ate one, so it is prolly just me.

quote:

Originally posted by roossy90

The "Michigan" bun doesnt look like a regular one. There is something about the bread that makes it different....
I mean apart from the closed ends...
Just something about the dough.. almost looks like a kaiser roll type of bread. I dunno..maybe its my eyes.....Never seen or ate one, so it is prolly just me.

I'm with you Tara, they look like some sort of a potato bread bun to me.

John

Aside from being an unsliced "New England Style" hot dog roll, I don't think that there is anything unusual about the bread itself. In season, most stores in the "Michigan Belt" have "Michigan" rolls in their bakery sections. The buns themselves are not chewey or extra crusty or anyting such as that.

The secret to the buns, if there is one at all, is the fact that they are warmed in a "steamer" for several minutes before the final assembly process. Sometime, while sitting at the counter at Clare & Carl's one has to wait while the buns are properly "steamed" or warmed.

My daughter-in-law Missy makes homemade Michigan sauce which, while nothing like Clare & Carl's or McSweeney's, is nonetheless very good. Our fire department, South Plattsburgh, serves it's members and the occasional guest a meal after each monthly meeting. Missy's Michigans are always a big hit when we serve them.

Of course here in the North Country of NYS Michigans are one of the 4 food groups!!

Wally

Thanks for the information...
Maybe it is just that photograph that makes them look different..
No matter what.. They still look delicious.. It must be the chunky onions.....

The mention of the "chunky" onions brings up yet another issue. My opinion is that diced onions that are more finely chopped make a "Michigan" better. The larger chunks are ok, but not the same. In an effort to lower their overhead, a couple of years ago the folks that own Clare & Carl's made the decision to start uisng commerically prepared chopped onions. The pieces are smaller than those in the photo above, but, even though the owners deny it, the flavor is different. Once in a while they are unable to get "factory chopped" onions and resort to dicing thir own. And you CAN always tell the difference.

Wally

Let's see, I went through Mexico, Philadelphia, crossed the Indian River, drove through Bangor and I am looking for a Michigan.  Where am I?  Upstate New York, where else.
 
Just arrived in Malone, NY.  Holy Cow!!!  What a drive.  
 
Kissed a frog at Sansones Restaurant.  I should know better than go to an Italian place out in the boondocks.  If they served Italian food like that in Pittston.....right in the Susquehanna River, cement shoes included  You could tell how close I am to Canada, they had that pountang stuff on the menu..ya know...that French stuff that Tony Bad likes so much.
 
I know I am on the edge of the "Michigan Belt", but does anyone know a good spot in Malone for a Michigan?  For my return trip, I am going to crossover into Canada(brought the passport)at Cornwall and drive down 401 to 81south.