Stuff it yourself!!

I love this time of year!!  Barbecue season, and nothing is better then walking down the protein aisle of your favourite grocery store and seeing the hundreads of different types of hot dogs/ smokies that are available for the grill.  Now i'm no Bobby Flay when it comes to the grill, but I like to think that I can hold my own, so I decided why not give making stuffed hot dogs a try. So digging into the memory banks, I remember a show once on the food network that did a bacon wrapped hot dog, so here's what I did.

First find a good sized dog, usually the type that come in the 6 or 8 pack, a little longer and a little thicker then your standard 12 pack dog.  Once you have that, split the dog right down the middle like so

2nd, pick your favourite cheese. Anything will work. be as creative as you want. For this one I just went with a standard marble cheese. Slice it just thick enough to fill the space in the hot dog

Now I know these look pretty good already, and you might have the urge to just throw them on the grill as is, but what makes everything better...... that's right BACON

Now these are perfect!!!! The bacon not only being a tasty addition to this dog, also serves a dual purpose, the bacon will also help to keep the cheese in place as it starts to melt.
So there are several options for cooking these masterpieces, but for both I find there is one necessary step. Get them on a baking tray.  If you decided to grill them, preheat your barbecue, then turn one side to low and keep the other on high, place the tray on the low heat side, and use indirect heat to cook these through. remember if you try to flip these, you will lose most of the cheese. Your other option, and yes this makes them a year round treat, is to set the oven to broil, and throw them in the oven for a couple of minutes.

Either way, once the cheese has started to melt, and the bacon has started to crisp, these are ready to go. Usually your standard hot dog bun will be too small for these beauties, so try to look for a sub or sausage bun, again the fresher the better, match with your favourite side and ENJOY!!

Hope you enjoyed this little non-restaurant break from my travels, so now, if there is a recipe, or a restaurant that you are passionate, or curious about, please just comment on my blog, or tweet me @awat56, and I will test it out and blog on it for you.