A New Kind of Dog

As a child I never much cared for hot dogs. Perhaps they were too salty or to messy or a burger tasted so much better. I'm still not a fan of processed hot dogs, although I do cook them regularly to use as training bait for my now not-so-little puppy. He loves them. But recently I've been thinking - What if I could improve upon the classic dog and make my own version? So I've been experimenting and share the results with you today. So use your imagination and join me on this doggy experiment! I'd love to hear what you do to make a better dog.

My recipe calls for using a seasoned ground meat mixture shaped in the form of a hot dog and cooked over high direct heat on the gas grill. I use ground moose meat because we have a lot of it and the texture is lean and tender. Ground chicken, turkey or beef work just as well. In my first effort I shaped the dogs and went directly to the grill, but they fell apart. For my next try I shaped the burgers in the morning and kept them refrigerated placing them on the grill cold: they held their shape much better this time. For particularly tender ground meat such as poultry the dog could be shaped around a skewer for support - just remember to remove the skewer before serving.

Kaye's You Have Arrived Dogs
Ingredients:
1/2 small sweet onion
1 cup button mushrooms, cleaned & quartered
2 pounds ground meat of your choice
1 teaspoon You Have Arrived Grilling Blend
1 recipe You Have Arrived Que-Sauce (recipe below)

Place the onion and mushrooms in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until finely minced. In a large bowl place the ground meat, minced onion and mushrooms, Grilling Blend and 1/2 cup of the YHA Que-Sauce. Working gently with your hand combine mixture. Divide into 8 equal portions (about 5 ounces each) and shape into dogs. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour. Prepare grill to direct high heat and cook dogs, turning only once very gently. In the final minutes of cooking baste dogs with remaining YHA Que-Sauce. Serve with your favorite toppings with or without a bun.




Shop for the You Have Arrived Seasoning Blends

Per serving using ground game or poultry not including condiments or bun: 279 calories, 11g fat (3 saturated) 36g protein, 8g carbohydrate and 1g dietary fiber. 107mg cholesterol, 359mg sodium, 400mg potassium.

Per serving using ground pork not including condiments or bun: 329 calories, 25g fat (9 saturated) 20g protein, 6g carbohydrate and 1g dietary fiber. 82mg cholesterol, 319mg sodium, 434mg potassium.

Per serving using extra-lean ground beef not including condiments or bun: 296 calories, 20g fat (8 saturated) 22g protein, 6g carbohydrate and 1g dietary fiber. 78mg cholesterol, 330mg sodium, 431mg potassium.

Kaye's You Have Arrived Que-Sauce
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 small sweet onion, minced
1 teaspoon You Have Arrived Grilling Blend
1 (8oz) can tomato sauce
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
dash cayenne pepper
Finishing Salt & ground pepper

Melt butter in a small saucepan. Add onion and cook until tender. Add remaining ingredients and cook at a low simmer for 20-30 minutes until sauce thickens and flavors develop. Taste and season with the You Have Arrived Finishing Salt and ground pepper. Use as an ingredient in the dogs and also to baste grilled protein.