Been here before, but then, what Portlandian hasn’t?  Waiting on a biz meeting in downtown, ambled through Pioneer Courthouse Square and grabbed a polish sausage to soothe the savage b(r)east prior to the meet.

“It is what it is” people are fond of saying these days, and Jean’s certainly fits in that category.

Value pricing, suitable product, the only exception I noted to Jean’s on this day, was her offer of the “traditional Chicago hot dog.”

Something has gone amiss in Jean’s education of said animal.  Any hot dog aficionado knows the intimate details of constructing a Chicago style dog.  If you don’t, check out the blueprints on Vienna Beef’s website.

Jean’s version includes ketchup (!!!) mustard, mayo (!!!), onion, kraut, sour cream and applesauce.  Judging by the two last condiments, maybe Jean knows of a Chicago in Germany?

Anyway, of no matter.  My polish with yellow mustard was just fine.

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Not a review, per se,  just a note that if you’ve been running all over the Portland metro area looking for a genuine Vienna Beef hot dog from Chicago, look no further than Jamie’s Chicago Dogs cart at 2nd and Main in downtown Hillsboro.

As far as I know, Jamie is the only guy peddling Vienna dogs in all of Oregon!  Jamie is on site from 10-3 M-F, weather permitting.  He’s got the real deal poppy seed buns, too, and if you’re not in the mood for a regular dog, try one of Vienna’s polish sausages.   Jamie’s whole story is here.

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I have opined on my take on AM/PM Mini Mart ready to eat foods in the past, my opinion hasn’t changed – adequate hot food, great value proposition.

There are few dollar menus that can beat the proposition AM/FM has to offer – two hot dogs for $1.50, two larger dogs or burgers for $2.50.  It’s a “dress your own” affair with a condiment bar that offers pickle chips, relish, mayo, mustard, ketchup, jalapenos, cheese, and chili.  Some stores have diced onions as well.

My affair with this food started in Los Angeles in the mid-80s, occasionally I would grab two burgers for breakfast (seems like they were 2/ $1 at the time, IIRC,  and while the price has edged up a little, the quality has improved by light years. (Not that they were bad then, just that heat and eat technology has improved.

I had a dog and a burger yesterday, $2.50.   The ultimate of “dining in on  the hood’.

I like ‘em.  So sue me.  ”Hey kids, wanna go out to dinner?”

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Now how I have missed this place? In the parking lot of Whole Foods on SE Burnside, Franks A Lot has been dishing up specialty dogs for years – long before the whole Portland food cart craze.

We were in the neighborhood, biding our time waiting on Portland’s extraordinary garden consultant, Sara Pool, to plan the annual Burgerdogboy condiment garden.  We planned to meet for snacks or dinner, but I was feeling a might peckish, and Mrs. BDB suggested she buy me a dog to tide me over.

Who was I to argue?

Offering a myriad of my favorite types of dogs and toppings, I opted for P&S (my initials, but also “plain and simple”) and went with the big beef dog with a schmear of yellow mustard, and nothing else.

It was absolutely delish!  Thanks a lot, Franks a lot.  I’ll be back!  Often.  Might even consider moving to your ‘hood!

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(by Kat Stromquist, New Orleans-based correspondent)

As a Chicago ex-pat, I had long looked forward to sampling the wares of Dat Dog, an upscale hot dog stand in the revamped Freret Street corridor of New Orleans.

I’m serious about the “stand” part: just six or seven tables are crammed in and around the storefront, and last night, every single one of them was packed with customers. The restaurant’s planned move across the street, to a more spacious location, will apparently come just in time.

Their menu, suspended above a takeaway counter ordering setup, features all sorts of interesting sausages and their origins (German brats, crawfish sausages from da bayou, even a veggie dog from the mythical land of Oxymoron), traditional and more unusual (wasabi, andouille sauce) toppings, and a few fry-related sides.

I ordered my classic beef weiner with tomato, onion, and Creole mustard, with a side of fries. My companion surprised me by going for the “chef’s choice,” leaving things up to the hot dog gods, and chili cheese fries. My dog came wrapped in a pillowy sourdough bun, with diced tomatoes rather than sliced, and chives in addition to regular white onions. The chef chose jalapenos, Creole mustard, onions and cheese to adorn my companion’s German brat.

The thick-cut fries left a little something to be desired – they were soft in some places and too crunchy in others. But the dogs were warm, generously topped, and grilled to perfection. And aside for a little snafu getting our order out, the service (attended to by both the reported owner and the employees) was both friendly and vigilant.

At a bargain price (about $20 for two), Dat Dog would be a great place to go on a casual date, if you can get past the awkwardness of saying “weiner” in front of someone you barely know. I’ll stop in next time for “Chicago Dog Fridays.”

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I had my cap set on some natural casing hot dogs the other day; after all, I had just received a new shipment of Skyline Chili in the post, and I needed something to slather it on!

Natural casing hot dogs are my favorite, but not America’s – less than 5% of the hot dogs sold in the US coming in casings (sheep intestines, usually).   People that prefer NC dogs like the “snap” one gets when biting in to the dog; an additional plus is the casing locks in flavor and juices.  I enjoy both attributes of this type of wiener.

Being as the masses like the skinless dogs, that’s what you’ll find in most groceries.  I had to hit four stores before scoring my dogs the other day.  Store # 3 usually has Boar’s Head in the deli case, but they were out, so it was on to Sheridan Fruit Market; Sheridan whips up about 30 different kind of sausages on site their meat counter, I figured franks would be among them.

I figured wrong.  But Sheridan also has a separate deli counter, featuring New Jersey’s Thumann line.   They had a pack of weenies just for me.   The Thumann’s natural casing beef wieners are a bit over-sized – six to a package, and retail for just north of $7, a bit spendy for a grocery dog.    But you get what you pay for.

And Thumann’s packs a punch of flavor.  Most of America’s hot dogs are rather bland affairs, I’ve heard people describe them as “basically rolled up bologna,” but Thumann’s follows a more traditional “old world” recipe, and the delicate flavor of the combination of herbs and spices is quite evident, and enjoyable.  The “snap” is great.

Most hot dogs we purchase are pre-cooked, and thus require only reheating at home.  Natural casing dogs require a “gentle” reheating, so as to not split the casing open during the cooking process.   You’ll hear many different methods of doing this, whether it’s boiling water, shutting it off, and letting the dogs take a hot water bath for five minutes;  slow grill;  simmer; steam.    For today, I did low and slow in a skillet.

I like the Skyline “chili”, and I have that word in quotes, because in a fair amount of the country, you’ll see a product like this referred to as “hot dog sauce.”  The Midwest version is usually minced ground beef in a tomato-based sauce, with herbs and spices.  Ohioans like some cinnamon in the mix.   In the Deep South, you’ll find onion-based sauces.

I prefer the Midwestern style, as it was what I was first exposed to, at my all time favorite go-to dog place, Deluxe Coney Island in Duluth.  The Duluth version doesn’t include cinnamon, but today, in Portland, Oregon, at 330 AM in my kitchen, the Skyline Chili was just what the doctor (some doctor, somewhere, certainly not mine!) ordered!

Skyline Chili

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Once upon a time, in the not too distance past, someone, somewhere, decided the city of Los Angeles needed to give its blessing to “an official hot dog for L.A.”

Time passed, the public was lobbied, people voted, and the powers that be proclaimed “the official hot dog of Los Angeles is a bacon-wrapped hot dog!”

And so it was ruled, and so it became the law of the land.

Hoffy seized the opportunity to combine two of their top products from the manufacturing line – high quality hot dogs, and high quality bacon, and produce the first grocery store available bacon-wrapped dogs for the home cook.

We sampled Hoffy’s bacon dogs this week, and are pleased to say the results of our tests…….superb!

Hoffy has taken an over-sized skinless wiener and wrapped it in their excellent bacon, you only need heat in a skillet or on the grill for a delicious and different treat.

What makes it so good?  Well, for Mrs. Burgerdogboy and I, we both like that the bacon took the dog to a new level in flavor, and added a depth to the taste.  The crispiness of the bacon also gives the hot dog some crunch/snap of it’s own, even tho it’s a skinless frank.

Preparing these at home worked best for me when I paid attention to two things:  1) beginning the cooking process with the side of the hot dog DOWN that has the loose bacon end.  That way it won’t unravel at an inopportune time.  The other step I took was to mind the stove during the process, rotating the dog numerous times to insure that the bacon was cooked evenly.  Not paying attention could lead to some lopsidedness in the bacon doneness factor.

An excellent product, Hoffy people.  We’re sure it’s going to be a huge success, in Los Angeles, and wherever Hoffy products are sold.

If you can’t find them in your local store, ask the store to stock them regularly.  While you are waiting, order some from Hoffy’s site online.

Here’s a pic of what these bacon babies look like just before consumption!

(Ed. Note: products were furnished to us by manufacturer).

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There are as many ways to cook a hot dog as there are recipes and formulations to manufacture them.

Most hot dogs come to grocers pre-cooked, and virtually every “skinless” hot dog falls into this category.  All-natural, uncured, and other varieties have not been cooked or smoked at the factory, and thus require heating at home before being consumed.

Every single consumer has a preference for the way they like their hot dogs cooked, whether one chooses steaming, boiling, pan-frying, deep-frying, or grilling.  Many people believe the correct way to “cook” a hot dog with a natural casing is to place the sausage in a stove top pan with water, bring the water to a boil, shut off the burner, and let the dog sit in the hot water for 10-15 minutes.

My personal preferences run the gamut – I like them all ways, but usually pan-fry them or go with some variation of the hot water above.

With a natural casing dog, you never want to using too much heat, or too long in the heat, as casings (usually lamb intestines) are delicate, and the very point of using a natural casing is to keep the juices in and ready to ‘snap’ with each and every bite.  Rupturing the casing during the cooking process will spoil that experience, and flavor and internal savory juices will run out of the dog before you get a chance to consume it.

Grilling works best if you’re going low and slow.  A number of fast and casual food establishments drop dogs and sausages in the deep fryer for a moment, in the quest for efficiency.   As with any deep-fried product, the quality of the end result is going to be dependent upon the quality and cleanliness of the oil, as well as the temperature of the fryer.

With raw sausages, at home (like Italians and brats), I parboil them and then finish them in a frying pan or on a stovetop griddle.  You can add flavor to some milder sausages by putting onions, or herbs in the boiling solution; some people also make boiling solutions from beer or other alcoholic beverages.

With Hoffy’s Bacon Wrapped dogs, my greatest success came with a relatively low temp skillet/griddle on the stove top, and paying special attention to continually rotating/turning them so that the bacon would be cooked evenly and to a perfect doneness.

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This week we begin a spotlight series on regional brands.

Hoffy is a brand name known to Los Angelenos for over 75 years. Chances are, if you’ve eaten a natural casing hot dog at a restaurant in L.A., it came from Hoffy.

The world-famous Pink’s uses a specially formulated dog from Hoffy, for example, and Hoffy sells a “Hollywood Original” hot dog in a grocery pack.

The Hollywood Original is the first Hoffy product we tried this week.  An all-beef, oversized dog ( 5 in a 12oz package), the dog comes in a natural lamb casing.

Hot dogs in natural casing, tho making up only about 5% of the US grocery store sales, are a favorite among true hot dog lovers.  Being packed in a casing, (as opposed to the regular mass consumption hot dogs in the US, which are referred to as “skinless”), the natural casing offers resistance when you bite into the sausage.  Consumers call this “snap”, which is derived in the sausage trade from the rough translation of the German work “knack”.

(The German noun Knackwurst—which, in English is sometimes corrupted as knockwurst—comes from the German words knacken (“to crack”) or knackig (“crisp”). This refers to the swelling of the sausage during cooking, so that the skin becomes pressurized and balloon-like, and tends to “pop,” often exploding the juices, when bitten into.)

In addition to beef and water, the Hoffy Hollywood original has a bit of corn syrup, flavorings, and paprika, and comes in at a very low 2 carbs per dog, if you’re prone to watching carbs.  This is a fairly traditional “hot dog” recipe.

Today, of course, “hot dogs” (franks, wieners) can be found with a myriad of ingredients and/or meats.  Turkey dogs, chicken dogs, all pork, all beef, vegetarian.  At home, on a rare occasion, we cram casings full of a variety of seafood and herbs, great for summer grilling.

Having consumed 10,634,127 hot dogs in my life (est.), I think the Hoffy Hollywood Original is a superb dog, which will appeal to most consumers.

I’m a hot dog “purist” and keep my condiments to a minimum, on last nite’s pups, I went for yellow mustard, diced onion, and dill pickle chips.

A peculiarity in the Burgerdogboy household, while I insist on premium hot dogs, my taste in buns runs to the least expensive in the store at any one time.  So rarely am I paying more than a buck for a pack of buns.

The oversized Hoffy fills the standard bun (and more) as seen below.

With an all beef recipe, mild flavor, and great “snap”,  Hoffy Hollywood Original will become a dog of choice at our household, and they should be in yours, as well.

(Ed. note:  Hoffy products sampled were furnished by the manufacturer).

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The Hoffman Brothers Packing Company was founded in  Southern California in the 1930s by three siblings and thrived for decades.  Hoffman produced sausages and other processed meats from their factory in Vernon, CA, and were well-regarded suppliers to grocers and restaurants around SoCal.

By the late 1970s, the industry had changed significantly, and larger concerns were dominating the industry, producing a great deal of pressure on the mom and pop operations.  In another lifetime, I personally poked my nose in dozens and dozens of small sausage manufacturing facilities in Louisiana, many of whom started in a kitchen or garage, and grew into multi-million dollar operations.  I saw the effect of the large corporate squeeze on operators of this size.

In an attempt to vertically integrate before the phrase was even coined, Hoffman invested in a hog slaughtering facility in Nebraska.  The deal went south, and coupled with the death of the company patriarch, Hoffman piled up a mound of debt and filed for bankruptcy protection in 1993; they filed under Chapter 11, which allows a company to keep operating while reorganizing or attempting to find a buyer.

Hoffman chose the second option, and in 1995 found a savior in  in Square H Brands, Inc., a company formed by the principals of a number of other successful food companies, including the founder of Kal Kan, Stagg Foods (canned chili) and Palisades Foods.  The principals of the companies were all members of the Hirsch family.  The were joined by Henry Haskell, who still serves as President of Square H Brands.

The quartet was determined to bring the meat processor back to its former glory days, and to date, it sure seems like they are on target to do so.

(Here’s a sidebar on how to cook a hot dog at home).

(Information for this post was compiled from a variety of sources, on and offline).

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