This post has been a long time coming. This weekend, we hosted a BBQ at our house as part of the Summer of Internet Freedom. Internet Freedom is nice and all, but really, it was just an excuse to fire up a batch of burger dogs. What's a burger dog? I'm glad you asked. A burger dog is delicious snack that solves two critical problems: 1) Burgers are too big. Especially at BBQs with lots of delicious food, burgers should be snacks, not meals. And 2) you should only have to buy one kind of bun, really. And since hot dogs will never fit on a hamburger bun, there you have it. So, a burger dog is a small hamburger made to fit in a hot dog bun. It's really quite good. Here's how you do it: 1) Make the patties. Start with a small handful, roll it roughly to the shape of a hot dog, and then flatten it out by slapping it gently with your fingers and shaping the edges. As a guide, a properly sized burger dog, pre-cooked, should take up the width of your first three fingers, and extend from the your fingertips down to the inside of your palm. Pre-cooked, a burger dog is maybe 1/5 of a pound (my 3 lbs of ground beef produced 15 burger dogs).
2) Grill it. Since burger dogs are relatively thin, you don't need to grill them for very long. Over a medium-high heat, I grill for several minutes, without flipping, until the juices start to come through the top. Then, a single flip. Then, grill for a few more minutes, adding 1/2 slice of american cheese (or a whole slice, cut in half and then staggered lengthwise, if you're feeling cheesy) at the end.
3) Deck it out. The most important topping for a burger dog is a sandwich-sliced kosher pickle. They (magically) happen to be exactly the length of a hot dog bun. I also prepare tomatoes and onions -- half-cut, then sliced thinly. This one has everything:
4) Enjoy. So delicious! And since they're small, you can totally have two! Our hand model is none other than Jake Shapiro, proprietor of Public Radio Exchange (and fellow lover of Internet Freedom).
That's it! Burger Dogs FTW!
- Loading comments...