Monday, December 08, 2008

Channeling my inner Ben Matlock ...


It's no secret that I love Nathan's with-casing hot dogs. Until today, I'd never had a Nathan's Cheddar Cheese Beef Franks hot dog. I'd seen 'em in the "dog section" of my local Publix, but I'd never even thought about giving 'em a try. You see, I'm pretty loyal to them Nathan's with-casing hot dogs. Did I mention they're my favorite hot dogs?

I visited my local Publix this afternoon to pick up a few things, none of which were hot dogs. I just happened to pass the dogs and luncheon meat when something I seen out of the corner of my eye caught my attention: Nathan's Cheddar Cheese Beef Franks, buy-one-get-one-free. I couldn't pass up a deal like that ... and, boy howdy, I'm glad I didn't (pass it up, that is).

I was never a big fan of cheese-infused hot dogs when I was a kid. I guess that's 'cause pre-packaged "cheese dogs" were a menu staple at my elementary school. I'm pretty sure the hot dogs were made out of soybeans and sawdust, and I don't even want to think about what was in that cheese. All I know is the wrinkly-looking things smelled like holy hell after they came out of the microwave. That was enough to turn me off of cheese dogs for a long, long time. Hell, it's amazing that I didn't develop a lifelong revulsion for hot dogs after smelling and looking at those wretched meat-and-cheese tubes in a bun.

Well, Nathan's cheese dogs are nothing - and I mean nothing - like the cheese dogs of my youth. They were full of Nathan's beefy goodness, as one would expect, and they were infused with a semi-sharp cheddar that provided a perfect balance of cheese and dog. That is, there wasn't so much cheese that you couldn't taste the dog; and, likewise, Nathan's signature mixture of beef and spice didn't make me say, "Where's the cheese?" I guess what I'm trying to say is this: I had me one hell of a hot dog tonight. Actually, I had two.

Usually when I eat a hot dog, I top it with chopped onions, a quality mustard, or some Heinz Piccalilli Pickle. A Nathan's Cheddar Cheese Beef Frank is so good, it don't need none o' that. Indeed. I ate my Nathan's cheese dogs with no adornment other than a bun. And I kinda felt guilty about eating the bun.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I know you are a Canadaphile. If you like meat-and-cheese, go online and order something from Piller's. My granddad worked for Piller's for 39 years. Until I was twelve I didn't know it was possible for meat to come from anywhere else other then the Pillar's plant.