Favorite Hot Dog Cooking Technique

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cooking technique vs enjoying eating technique

for cooking, I prefer the following methods, in order listed:

1) Good ol' fashion hot dog roller. There's something wonderful about how the heated rollers cook the dog to perfection, keeping all the juices right inside where they belong until that first "snap" when you bite into it!
2) Steamed, in a steaming basket over a pot of water. I love steamed doggies! like the roller, the steaming method keeps all the juices where they belong, inside the dog.
3) boiled with kraut! This is an old new years day tradition for my family. My mother would always cook up a pork roast with saurkraut and add in several hot dogs. They'd split and burst, but that just allowed the flavor from the kraut and the seasonings to permeate the doggy. She'd also puncture the dogs first to allow the juices from the pork and kraut to soak in. Of course this was served over real mashed potatos, not instant.


now, how do I enjoy eating a perfectly cooked doggy? 3) above gives one way, but my all time favorite is...

... The Texas Tommy!

You need a big hot dog, or two dogs for this recipe. We'll go with the two dog version for this recipe.

2 hot dogs, cooked to perfection then sliced lengthwise
1 large torpedoe roll, freshly baked. (italian sub roll is the best)
2 - 4 slices of cooked bacon
cheese whiz (name brand, imitators will be shot on sight).

1) Cook up those doggies and split them down the middle right after cooking, preferably seconds before serving.
2) split your roll down the center
3) spread cheese whiz on each side of the roll. thin layer will do, its just glue
4) put a slice of bacon on each side of the roll
5) place your four halves of doggy on the roll, two on each side overlapping the center. stagger the overlaps if possible to avoid a big bulge in the center. yes, this means you may need to cut one doggy half in half.
6) in the center of the roll between the doggies, spread a healthy layer of cheese whiz.
7) if you're a bacon fanatic like I am, take those extra two strips and crumble them and spread in between the two sides of doggies, in the center of the roll.
8) pop the entire thing under the broiler to heat the cheese and put a nice crisp on the dogs. maybe 2 minutes
9) fold the roll together, sealing the two sides.
10) cut in half, or 3's or 4's depending on how big the roll is and your eating preference.
11) eat and enjoy.

A texas tommy also is good with white american cheese instead of cheese whiz, so I really love both ways. I went with whiz here because its easy to spread and has a great taste explosion. feel free to mod the tommy from its pure state, but it won't be a true tommy. :P

note for all you jersey girls and boys, I based this recipe on one of the BEST tommy's i ever ate, from a stewarts stand on the Ocean City, NJ boardwalk. I modified it a bit to include a fresh roll and a bit more bacon, plus the center bacon crumbles, but otherwise its spot on from the stewarts version.

How else can you make a fantastic dog?

This has of course been said before, but cook it on the stovetop with a can of Bush beans (there exists no other), chopped into nice bite sized pieces. When my mom was in the hospital giving birth to my fantastic siblings (and myself), each time dad was left at home alone to feed everyone. What did he make? Pork and beans! :) A true man, although not a chef in any sense of the word. He was a construction worker, so pork and beans at least kept us fed! Not to mention the great memories.

Lastly, I have one more favorite way to take our friend the hot dog and make it into something different!

Remember years ago, back in the 80's...I don't know if they make them anymore, but there was a brand of hot dog called the...

...Frankenfurter! I think that was the name at least, but all web searches aren't being my friend today.

Here's the jist...you have a hot dog with a hollow tunnel down the center, and its filled with cheese or chili, or both! When you bite into it, you get the great doggy taste with a blast of chili/cheese!

I found a pretty easy way to duplicate this. Although I like the concept of cooking a cold dog pre-stuffed, the results are usually messy as the insides bubble out. So here's what I reccomend:

1) take a cooked dog, preferably done with a cooking method that doesn't curl or split the dog. you may want to handle it with a hotpad holder, as it workes best if the dog is hot.
3) using a large soda straw(wide being the desired feature) impail the dog and push the straw through to the other end.
4) fill a ziplock bag with a chili mix (small particles) cheese mix, or a combo of both. it helps if the mix is warm, but not hot. the seams on the bag may become questionable if pushing through a hot mix. Snip of a corner of the bag with a scisors, making an improvised piping bag.
5) fill the dog by placing the cut corner from the bag into one opening and inject, holding the seam tightly to prevent leaks. it sometimes helps to inject from each end instead of trying to force it all through from one side.
6) with your stuffed dogs prepared, you may wish to heat them to get the center done. a microwave works well for this. pop the dogs in the microwave enough to heat them, but not so long that the insides bubble out.

the entire purpose of this recipe using cooked hot dogs and warmed filling is to keep the center from being cold while the dog itself isn't. hopefully there's enough residual heat in the dog to heat the mix. if not, a quick micro-zap is easy and quick.

That's pretty much it for my improvised post on how I like my doggies. I'm a big fan of hotdogs, and a very particular eater. Personally I stick with all beef dogs or kosher dogs. There's no taste better than an all beef dog without anything added. no cheese, no strange spicies...

In the grocery isle, there used to be this low grade of hot dog that had the most amazing taste... it was cheap, but it was all beef. Bar-S. Now they only stock the meat dogs, and I won't touch those with a 10 foot pole. Redners used to carry the 3lb kunslers beef dogs and offer them up at least once a month for 4 bucks, if you buy 5 total products in their 5 for 19.95 promotion. Now all they have are the cheap hatfield meat dogs.

So I"m saying...beef doggies for the win! spiced up all meat dogs can't compare. If you're trying to loose weight, don't eat hot dogs. <grin>

-Matt F, Gourmet.
life long foodie taking back the Gourmet title.
 
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