Spice it up Hot Dogs

BY MALLORY FRAYN

The humble hot dog is an oft-forgotten choice, either reserved for feeding the kids in a pinch before soccer practice, or while on-the-go at a sporting event, or after a late night out.

However, there’s no reason it can’t be incorporated into your staple meal rotation, taken up a notch with a different bun, cooking, and condiment options. Especially now that the month of September tends to stay warmer and warmer even as we enter fall, it’s an opportunity to keeping grilling and enjoy outdoor time, so the dog is the perfect meal option to go for. And because it is a prepared meat product and most of the cooking is already done for you, it affords you the opportunity to put your resources into other aspects of the dish rather than slaving over the hot dogs themselves. When it comes to choosing your dog, there’s no judgment. Sure, you can find a fancy, artisanal product, but sometimes all you want is the gold-standard, all-beef wiener. Whatever your preference, all the tips below can apply. You can keep it vegetarian if that tickles your fancy, or go with a chicken or turkey dog. The dog itself is usually going to be fairly neutral in flavour, so you can add a wide variety of toppings without things clashing.

To Bun Or Not To Bun

Classically, the hot dog is served in a soft, white bun, and while we are all for tradition, many other farinaceous products can play the role, or shall we say, roll.

Baja-style flour tortillas, like the ones at Calgary’s Fresh Adilla, are pliable yet sturdy, to contain a multitude of Mexican-inspired condiments. Pita is also an option, whether you choose to fill the pocket itself, or roll up the works falafel-style. You could even whip up a batch of pancakes for a breakfastoriented hot dog feast, serving it a la the McGriddle, with plenty of maple syrup. Basically, if it’s bread of some form, it can probably act as the vessel for a hot dog.

Want to avoid gluten altogether because of an intolerance or just preference? Try serving your dogs in a lettuce wrap, using either iceberg or Bibb varieties. Cutting the hot dogs into chunks may make this option easier to eat. You could even serve the works family-style, allowing everyone at the table to assemble their own wrap with the toppings of their choice.

Boiling Is Boring

Because hot dogs are technically already cooked, and are simultaneously difficult to overcook, it makes them a good candidate for a wide array of cooking methods. Most will opt to boil or grill, and there’s nothing wrong with either, but you don’t need to limit yourself. Roasting in the oven with a goodly amount of olive oil, herbs, and garlic is one way to infuse more flavour. If you go this route, scoring the dogs ever so slightly is a good idea so that they do not rupture. They won’t take long either, particularly if you use a hot oven (think 425º F or so) and broil to finish to help char the exterior.

Deep frying is another method to experiment with. Even if you don’t own an actual deep frier, you can shallow fry them in a cast iron skillet or Dutch oven, both of which do a good job of holding heat. Why not try a carnival inspired dog and even batter the works first? Tempura or beer batter are both great choices and will create an awesome textural contrast to the hot dogs themselves. If you’re feeling particularly ambitious, making your own corn dogs is a fun activity to do with kids, and much tastier than the ones you get out of a freezer box.

Let’s say you do opt for boiling; you don’t have to use just water. Instead, you can make a court-bouillon, which is basically a quickly cooked broth for poaching a variety of foods, traditionally seafood. All you have to do is add in a stock cube, herbs of your choice, shallot, and some lemon, and simmer your dogs in this until they are done. From there, you could serve as is, or finish on the grill or under the broiler for some extra flavour.

Get Your Condiments In

Ketchup, mustard, and relish are all reliable classics, and sometimes, they are all you want. Other times, spicing up your dog with the kitchen sink of condiments is the direction you want to take things. Before pulling out random ingredients and dousing them on, it’s helpful to first think of a theme, so that you’re mixing compatible flavours. The theme could be centred around international flavours, or even taking inspiration from another dish and applying it to the dog. For example, an easy one could be a BLT dog, topped with plenty of mayo.

According to a recent survey, Albertans are apparently above the national average when it comes to their love of pizza-style dogs. If you’re not familiar with the concept, the gist is that you load up your dog with pizza toppings like tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and pepperoni, and then broil the works, bun and all, until it resembles somewhat of a pizza. The only thing left to decide is whether you feel confident in your capacity to devour it all with your hands, or need to call in the help of utensils.

If we go back to the three basics: ketchup, mustard, and relish, they serve as a nice guideline for how to create balance with alternative ingredients. Ketchup offers sweetness, but also some umami notes, and could easily be substituted for a tomato jam or

Mustard is both sour and spicy, and so subbing it out for something like kimchi or horseradish is very doable.

Relish adds sweetness too, but also texture and pickled notes, so sauerkraut or pickled, shredded carrots could stand in. Putting it all together, you could do a trio something like barbecue sauce, grainy mustard, and grilled pineapple salsa. Don’t be afraid to get creative. You can always taste the flavour together before doctoring your hot dog, so if they don’t work, you’re not wasting too many ingredients if you want to restart.