Monday, May 05, 2014

Hot dog inna a bun (or my organised disorganisation)

I'll let you into a secret - I LOVE children's films so if we are having a quiet day I like to pop on a film, today it's Tarzan and watch it with them while munching on hot dogs and popcorn. That is until I stumbled upon this recipe for sausages baked in buns  http://thetummytrain.com/2011/06/27/best-sausage-buns-period/
which produces fantastic hotdogs baked in the buns but takes ages and really needs to be prepared In advance. This requires organisation on my part (a rare and usual happening) and to find this out you have to read the recipe through to the end, which I didn't when I tried to make them last year. I missed 3 and 1/2 films while I struggled in the kitchen! Luckily the boys has opted to watch back to back herbie films so I wasn't missing much.. Unfortunately they we're absolutely de-ruddy-licious and so requested every other film evening. I caved and made them a few more times (all the time quietly cursing the preparation which I did simplify a bit but not enough to make these a viable regular recipe), but ever since I've been on the lookout for an easier alternative.

I have been using this recipe http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/40-minute-hamburger-buns for quick rolls for a year or so - it's really quick and easy. It can be adapted by chucking herbs in, or popping cheese on top. I also add an egg wash on top which makes no difference to the taste but improves them aesthetically. Why I never thought to to combine the two until now, I'll never know!

Hotdog in a bun

1 batch of 40 minute hamburger bun dough
1 jar of 8 hot dogs
1 egg
Flour
Salt, seeds or other toppings

1. Heat oven  to 425 or 200 (sorry don't know the gas mark equivalent)
2. Tip the can of sausages into a colander and leave them to drain and dry out a bit. If the sausages are wet it's harder to wrap them in bread.
2. Pop oil, sugar and yeast in the bowl of your food processor and leave for 5 minutes
3. Add flour salt and egg and knead for around 5 minutes until a smooth dough has formed then turn out onto a lightly floured surface. At this point the recipe says to let it rise for 10 minutes but I found that it next step takes just over 10 minutes anyway so I just crack on. 
4.Form it into a ball and divide into 8. 
5. Form each section into a sausage roughly the same length as the sausages. Then squash until roughly twice as wide and the diameter of the sausage. Place the sausage in the middle of the dough and pull the sides up and fold the ends in. Pinch the seams to seal them, then place seam down on a baking sheet. If the sausages are still quite wet, this step is made easier by lightly coating them in flour. (This may not be a problem for others but slippery sausages and slippery dough is a bit of a juggling act when done one handed!)
6. Brush with beaten egg then sprinkle with a topping of your choice. My hubby and I like a sprinkle of each salt, the boys prefer poppy seeds.
7. Bake for around 12 minutes then serve straight out of the oven with ketchup/mustard to dip.

These are just delicious  and the bonus? When I made them today, the boys had only just decided on their choice of film as I was pulling them out if the oven! Of course, there is a downside - there were so yummy they were gone within minutes of the opening credits so I was then banished the kitchen fir popcorn...

I will certainly be making these again but I can think of several variations I'd like to try - lightly fried onion in with the sausage, grated cheese sprinkled on top, condiments inside and various com biting of those. I let you know how it turns out!

Pictures to follow once my laptop is fixed

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