Bacon & Salsa Hot Dogs

Hello, boys and girls!

Welcome to cooking with Varun! Sometimes I do things I'm not proud of (no, this one does not involve a girl), and this was one of those times. Back in 2010, when I was living in Melbourne, Australia for a bit, for work, a couple of office friends and I planned a trip to the Gold Coast to go hit the theme parks it is known for. I had a good friend, Littlest Little Finger, who lived in Brisbane, whom I hadn't seen for some time, that I wanted to catch up with, and since she was fairly close to the Gold Coast, we compared schedules and made a plan. 

My friends and I landed at the Gold Coast on a Friday, picked up our rental car, and made our way to our hotel at Surfers Paradise where we spent the day walking around the town, eating, and having races on the still chilly beach. (I won. Obviously.) On Saturday morning, we headed to the Warner Brothers Movie World, where we met Littlest Little Finger and her roommate, and after greetings and introductions were made, geeked out over all the rides on offer! After hours of riding the Superman themed rollercoaster, the Batman themed ride, the countless others, and screaming ourselves hoarse, we took a break to grab a bite and buy some mementos. I was immediately drawn to a really cool t-shirt featuring 'The Flash', that I promptly purchased, and then sat down and watched the live action shows at the park for the remainder of our time. As the sun sank lower and lower on the horizon, we bid our goodbyes, and headed back to our hotel.

Fast forward to a few weeks later, after having lovingly hand washing my Flash tee the first time, I accidentally put it in the washing machine the next time after I'd worn it, causing some of the chest print to come off, ruining the t-shirt completely. I was absolutely horrified, and after berating my stupidity for the next few days, I resigned myself to the fact that apart from somehow tapping into the Speedforce to go back and stop myself from committing this most grievous error, I had no option but to accept the fact my t-shirt was.. gone. As I silently mourned the t-shirt and our brief but precious time spent together, I overheard an older colleague speaking to someone about a vacation to the Gold Coast. My ears pricked up, my heartbeat skyrocketed, and the gears in my head shifted as I hatched a diabolical plan. Over the course of the next few days, whenever I saw my colleague, I hard sold the idea of visiting the Warner Brothers Movie World to him. It was already a fantastic place mind you, so I didn't have to try very hard, but I did everything in my power to lead him to believe that if he didn't visit, he would be akin to the record companies that didn't sign The Beatles. Not only that, I even persuaded him to carry my less than wearable tee with him and exchange it for a new one, and if they asked, deny that it had ever seen the inside of a washing machine, failing which, to just pick me up a new one. Miraculously, the ploy worked, and a week later, I was strutting down Swanston street in my brand new Flash tee doing an occasional little skip. 

Also, thankfully, my colleague did really like the place so my conscience (and karma) were clean!

What does this have to do with hot dogs, you ask? Well, the bite we had post our rides consisted of really big (but not nearly as delicious as these) hot dogs, and so here you go!

For my Bacon & Salsa Hot Dogs, you will need the following:

Frankfurters/Sausages	6
Hot Dog buns	6
Streaky bacon	6 rashers
Onion	1 small
Tomato	1 small
Jalapenos	15-20 (from an easily available jar)
Ketchup
Mustard
Oil

Prep:

1. Finely chop the onion.
2. Finely chop the tomato.
3. Finely chop the jalapenos.
4. Pop them in a bowl.
5. Squeeze on the lemon juice.
6. Mix them all up.
7. Voila! Salsa!

Method:

1. Turn on the gas.
2. Bung a pan on.
3. Add in a teensy splash of oil.
4. Roll in your frankfurters/sausages.
5. Cook until almost bursty.
6. Turn off the gas.
7. Take the franks out of the pan.
8. Let them cool for a few minutes.
9. Grab a rasher or bacon and a cooked frank.
10. Wrap the bacon around the frank (winding it round and round from end to end).
11. Secure the ends with a toothpick.
12. Repeat till all the franks are wrapped.
13. Turn the gas on again.
14. Pop the wrapped franks in.
15. Cook until the bacon starts to get crispy (not too crisp!).
16. Grab your hot dog buns.
17. Toast the buns in the greasy pan to soak up all the flavours.
18. Pop your franks in the bun (remove the toothpick!).
19. Squirt on some ketchup.
20. Squirt on some mustard.
21. Generously spoon on the salsa.
22. Serve.
23. Stuff face.
24. Bask in the glory of your successfully executed dish.

Tip: Throwing on some grated cheese wouldn't be the worst idea.

And remember, overeating is a myth. A full tummy is a happy tummy!