Hot Diggity Dog!

I like hot dogs. I hardly ever eat them, but every once in a while I actually crave them. There's just something about a big, juicy hot dog with onions, relish, ketchup and mustard that really tastes great.

So I was pleasantly surprised when a rep from the Hoffy hot dog company (they provide the hot dogs for Pink's, Cupid's, Chronis and more) contacted me (via my blog) and asked if I would like to sample a new line of healthier, lean beef franks it was marketing. They are beef franks with 80% less fat than regular hot dogs; about 1.3 grams of fat and 28 calories per ounce (not bad!). In the interest of full disclosure, they did not ask me to blog about it, though of course it was suggested. And yes, they were free. But, had I not liked them, I would have probably just chosen not to blog about them at all, because really what's the point?

In any case, I decided to take them to work and cook up a few dogs for my coworkers. The only problem is that our building does not allow cooking of any kind, unless it's in the microwave. And we all know what happens to hot dogs in the microwave (think meat shrapnel everywhere!). So I filled up a Tuperware with boiling hot water from our coffee tap, and placed the hot dogs inside then put the lid on. It was a form of poaching, if you will. It only took about 5 minutes to heat the dogs all the way through, and soon enough the coworkers were raiding the kitchen and preparing their plates.

Hoffy sent me two sizes: the regular frank and the jumbo frank. I opted for a regular, on a whole wheat and sesame bun. I topped it with onions, relish, ketchup and mustard. It was very good, and didn't taste "diet" at all to me. At the same time, I probably eat hot dogs twice a year, so my hot dog palate could probably use some work. But it tasted very good; not too salty, good texture and nice flavor.

Coworkers Joey and Tony opted for the jumbo dogs. It was obvious they liked them because after finishing the jumbos, they each had another regular-sized dog (neither is Kobayashi but they can eat!). Alex had a couple of hot dogs and raved about them as well. All three guys said they really enjoyed the franks and would have never known they were less fat, but were happy that they were. Jose, who usually only eats chicken sandwiches, actually tried one, regular-sized hot dog and also stated that he liked it (<--this is a HUGE deal; Jose never eats anything besides chicken sandwiches from CPK). Coworker Lily had a couple of the regular-sized franks and she, too, really liked them and said it tasted like a real hot dog. I mean, it is a real hot dog, but you know what she means.

All in all it was a very nice lunch. For me, hot dogs always bring back memories of my childhood, since we used to eat turkey franks for lunch somewhat regularly. To find a beef frank with less fat and the great flavor of a beef hot dog was a surprise, and I want to thank Hoffy for letting us try them out for free.

Joey, giving his "thumbs up" approval, would also like to thank Hoffy, and his mom, and his wife, and his two children, and his co-workers....okay, Joey, your 15 minutes is officially up!