When your wife hits 100 posts on her blog, she gets a night off from cooking. In case that first sentence didn't clue you in, this is Sous Chef Brian giving you the goods for a day. Nine times out of ten, when Rose isn’t cooking we order in or go out somewhere, but this is one of those one out of ten times where I end up making something. There is a reason why I don’t cook much. I’m really not all that confident with it. It’s not that I can’t cook… really I can do a few things around the kitchen, but there is always the potential that I’ll add something or forget a key step that ruins a meal. So usually the best things I do are simple. So I had a simple plan to make one of my favorite things to get out, the Mexican hot dog.
Many of our favorite local spots have offered some version of it. For a while I was terrified of it, but after I tried one I was hooked on them, and if I see one on the menu someplace it’s really hard for me not to get one. For those of you who don’t know, a Mexican hot dog is a hot dog but with bacon wrapped around it and topped with the some combination of mayo, jalapeños, onions, tomato, salsa, and cheese (usually Cotija, but it could be cheddar). Sounds crazy right? CRAZY GOOD YO!
My version is as follows:
First, throw some hot dogs in the oven. We usually go with Hebrew National, because we at least know they hold themselves to some kind of standard.
While the dogs were a'cooking I spread a thin layer of Vegenaise on the buns. Note that since I used Vegenaise instead of mayonnaise this is completely healthy meal.
Next, I made up some bacon. Since we like our bacon crispier than most, I didn’t wrap the bacon around the hot dog as per the traditional Mexican technique that was surely passed down from the Mayans.* I think I’ll try the wrapping technique next time, but with a slice of bacon in every bun there was always that wonderful bacon flavor in every bite.
With no tomato on hand, I was a little worried that the dogs might be a bit dry. With that in mind, I quickly threw together a sauce that was equal parts ketchup and brown mustard. Then I added as much hot sauce as I was comfortable with - and then I added some more.
Once the dogs were up, I threw them in the buns and topped them with the sauce, jalapeños, freshly diced yellow onion and cheddar cheese. All that's left is for you to snarf it down.
This got a rave review from Rose, which is good because she would never make these (or at least, she'd never tell y'all that she made them).
That's all I've got this time. See you all in some arbitrary amount of time...
That's all I've got this time. See you all in some arbitrary amount of time...
* I’m now convinced the whole 2012 Mayan Calendar end of the world thing is based on the Mayans foreseeing Americans finding out about the hot dog wrapped in bacon just a few years prior 2012 and bring about their own fatty demise, while dragging the rest of the world down with them. I mean, that makes sense right? **
** Did I just footnote a footnote? You're damn right I did. I’m drunk with power! Anyway, here’s a New York Times article on the Mexican hot dog. Apparently, it wasn’t passed down from the Mayans. Whatever.
There is still time left, but not much. Enter now!
There is still time left, but not much. Enter now!