Friday, June 15, 2012

gourmet hot dog picnic

I'm not really into the idea of hot dogs and sausages. At some point a few years ago I wrote them both off completely on account of the saturated fat and nitrates. That was until recently, when I started buying them from reputable local butchers. Now I allow them once in a blue moon and they are always a real treat. Our latest picnic at Lakeside Park yesterday found us barbecuing foot longs for a Gourmet Hot Dog Smorgasbord. These dogs are what sliders are to hamburgers. One foot long made three mini dogs where we taste tested several of the July/August issue of Everyday Food magazines suggested toppings. 
From left to right - Frank & Beans, Mexican Charred-Corn Dog and Banh Mi Dog. 
The one stand-out was the Banh Mi. We had all the ingredients around from our Vietnamese Steak Sandwiches from a couple nights ago (Nuno and I are hooked on these sandwiches and it makes perfect sense to work them into a hot dog). I'm disappointed that all the pineapple and red onions were used on our Hawiian pizzas the previous night because I think the Hawaiian Dog would have been delicious as well. Over our picnic, we came up with lots of new hot dog toppings that might work, so if we decide to do this again we'll try and share some of our own concoctions.
I made a side of Marinated Zucchini with Mint from Everyday Food Light and - it was just terrible. To think of the time it took to make this it was a huge disappointment on every level. I took this as a sign to just go ahead and indulge because as much as I canceled hot dogs from my diet, I just as avidly reject chips. But we decided to have Tostitos & salsa with this dinner and thank goodness we did since the zucchini side was so rank.
This is Owen's second time trying hot dogs (the previous time was at a birthday party). As you can tell he has no idea how to eat one with the wiener in one hand and bun in the other.
He even got to enjoy some Tostitos along with his cucumber slices as a side. Summer picnics are all about fun with a bit of indulgence.

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