The banter on what is (or what isn’t) a hot dog is one for the ages. I’ve dedicated a section on this site to dogs of various regions, and I will continue to. In a continuing effort to bolster my position that the hot dog is in fact a canvas, we’re going to paint us a hot dog with pizza flavor. Should be a quick one, because we’re not really going too fancy.. just fancy enough.
The Prep Table
After having to wear a suit for the day, I was ready to get back to being myself. Threw the cowboy boots on, the cut off shirt, and got to defrosting the hotdogs/buns. Besides the hot dog debate, is the pizza debate, so we’re going to piss off a couple of factions with this one. We’re going with pineapple pizza hot dog. Send all hate mail to: info@forensicbbq.com
Did a half-assed spiralization on the hot dog, thin sliced the ingredients (basil, onion, pepperoni). Bought some crushed pineapple and we’re going to do this. We have a small playing field, so we gotta make due with what we got. First up, we’re going to cook the dog, then make the bun a little more fancy, then top it all off.
The Process
If you’re going to cook a hot dog with the RecTeq, you gotta somehow split the dog. If you’re cooking wood fired, you want to impart as much of that flavor as you can. Exposing some of that ultra-processed innards lets it eat up a little bit of that flavor, so we want that to happen. Sometimes I’ll do a lengthy split, sometimes I’ll quick split (spiralize) like I did here. Just open it up for a wood-fired cook – that’s all I’m saying. Get it cooked and ready up the bun.
Brush on the melted butter and throw some garlic powder on there. You know I’m going to use that ForensicBBQ Roasted Garlic Powder – that thing is magic everytime it’s used. Get our garlic bread “crust” not completely baked in, but cooked enough for the second cook.
Pulled the bun from the grill and threw some pizza sauce it. Then put the hot dog on, and then layered it with mozzarella/provolone shred. This it was time for the onion, pepperoni, pineapple, and an italian oil drizzle. And of course, some freshly cut basil from MrsForensicBBQ’s plant. Cook this until the cheese is melted and we’re ready to eat.
The Result
The freeze, defrost lost some of the hot dog bun, but it’s no excuse.. this dog was way overpacked. Needed a fork to take all this in. Each bite was exactly as described – a pizza and a hot dog. It was good – can’t say I’ll throw it into regular rotation, but good nonetheless. It was filling, perfect for a weekend evening. Stay tuned, I got at least two more hot dog creations on the way!