Cheese Dog Logs

When we were little, my dad devised the ever magical cheese dog log. Today, I made them for community group, decided to document the process and share it with you.

Now, before you pass judgment, let me ask you a question: at a picnic or barbecue, have you ever eaten both a hot dog and a cheese burger? If you answered "yes," than this will not be any worse for your waste-line... because as you will see, there is no bun involved.

Enjoy, and even though these will not take you back to your own childhood, you may feel a little more carefree when you finish eating one.

Ingredients:
1 hot dog per person (I use Hebrew National)
1/3 pound hamburger per person
cheddar cheese
large flour tortillas
barbecue sauce



Step one:
Slice your hot dogs in half lengthwise. Slice your cheese in long and thin slices. Your ingredients should look like this:

Step two:

On a piece of saran wrap, roll out a scant 1/3 pound of hamburger meat until it is about 6 inches long and 4-5 inches wide.  It should be thick enough that it will hold together when cooking, but thin enough to not be overwhelming.  

Step three:

Stack your hot dog and cheese in the middle of the meat.  Notice how there is extra hamburger meat at the end.  This will allow for a good seal to form around the cheese and hot dog.

Now, keeping the saran wrap on the outside, roll the hamburger meat around the hot dog as tightly as you can.   Notice the extra meat that will overlap.  This will also allow for a better seal.

Twist the ends of the saran wrap tightly.  Remove saran wrap.  If there are ANY gaps, mend them with small bits of hamburger meat.

Step four:

Grill the cheese dog logs over medium high to high heat, just as you would a hamburger.  Turn them occasionally to get a nice sear on as many sides as possible but don't fuss with them.  If some split open a little bit, that is okay, everyone will survive.  Remember that the meat is fairly thin and that if it looks done all the way around on the outside, it is done on the inside.  We don't need to kill this meat a second time.  As the end of the cooking process grows near (no more than 10-12 minutes) brush barbecue sauce over each one, allowing the sauce to glaze each log.

Step five:

Slightly warm a small bowl of barbecue sauce.  Warm your tortillas until soft.  Place a barbecued cheese dog log in the center of a tortilla, top with a couple spoonfuls of barbecue sauce and roll like a burrito.  Cut in half if desired.  Serve!

I hope you enjoy!