BACON

BACON-WRAPPED HOT DOGS

Per serving:
1 hot dog *
2/3 ounce chunk cheddar cheese **
1 slice bacon, thin sliced recommended

Split the hot dogs in half lengthwise but not all the way through. Open up flat. Cut each piece of cheese into 2 or 3 little sticks and insert into the slits as shown in the photo below. Take a strip of bacon and wrap it around a hot dog from one end to the other. Adjust the bacon so that it is evenly distributed along the length of the hot dog. Place them on a foil-lined baking sheet and broil on the top oven rack until the bacon is crisp. Watch them closely after the first couple of minutes so that the hot dogs don't burn.

* The carb count will vary depending on the brand of hot dogs you use. The Oscar Mayer bun-length hot dogs that I used only had about 1 carb each. Hebrew National, Nathan's, Boar's Head and Oscar Mayer all make hot dogs that have about 2 carbs or less each.

** It took about 2 ounces of cheese for three hot dogs.

Per Serving: 269 Calories; 24g Fat; 14g Protein; 1g Carbohydrate; 0g Dietary Fiber; 1g Net Carb

I've seen this idea many times before but when I saw someone on Food Network make them on TV recently I was inspired to give them a try. I did have a problem with the recipe as written. I was sure that the guy on TV cooked his under the broiler but the recipe from the Food Network site said to bake them at 425?for 10 minutes. I had a feeling that the bacon wouldn't get done in 10 minutes with normal baking and I was right. It wasn't even close to being done. Of course by the time I realized that it wasn't working well, the cheese was already melted quite a bit. I ended up broiling them for a couple more minutes but the bacon never had time to get crisp. I had to take them out of the broiler before the hot dogs got too black around the edges and all of the cheese had oozed out.

So, I've changed the recipe instructions to broil them instead of baking them but I can't say how long they'd take. I'd guess it might take about 5 minutes or just check them every minute or so. I enjoyed them very much and they tasted as good as they looked. I only wish that they didn't make hot dogs and bacon so awfully salty or I might eat them more often. I don't have a problem with sodium, I just don't like eating such salty foods. Click the photo to see a close-up.

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