Summer BBQ with the TJ Dog

The TJ dog (short for Tijuana dog) is one of my favorite guilty summer pleasures. Well, let’s be honest, I can eat these year-round. Our neighbors in Tijuana, Mexico are known for selling this delectable street food at a number of events, as you leave bars or concerts, or even when waiting in line at the border. Pretty much any occasion is appropriate, but more often than not, it’s a late night, sober you up a little before you heard home, kind of treat. There are now a few spots in San Diego that give homage to this brilliant dog, one notably called Barrio Dog (in Barrio Logan), but we’ll get to that review later.

The TJ dog is fairly simple - take a beef hotdog, wrap it on bacon, and add your favorite fixings! There are a couple of tips for making sure the bacon stays on and ensures a good eating experience. As summer comes to an end, I implore you to add these to your next BBQ and watch them disappear.

Ingredients:

All beef franks (Hebrew Nationals are my fave)

Thin-sliced bacon (you’ll need 1 piece for each dog)

Hot dog buns

Toothpicks

Toppings of your choice - here are some that I love:

Shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Chopped tomatoes

Chopped pickles

Spicy brown or yellow mustard

Mayonnaise

Salsa

Ketchup (I personally think this is a sin to add ketchup to a dog, but let’s be honest, the kids love it and some weirdo adults too)

Hot peppers

Chopped onions (white or green)

Making your bacon-wrapped dogs

The key to making these dogs pop is to cook the bacon about half-way prior to wrapping it around your beef franks. I am now a huge fan of cooking bacon in the oven - I like the ease, and the reduced mess and it cooks pretty evenly, though sometimes I pop a few pieces back in to crisp them up.

The bacon.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and evenly space out the bacon pieces - ideally not letting any of them touch each other. I would normally cook about 18-20 minutes for crispy bacon, so for this recipe I cook the bacon for about 8-10 minutes to get it to that half-way point. Set aside to cool.

When the bacon has reached a temp that’s okay to handle — take one end of a slice and using a toothpick, secure it to the end of the hot dog. Wrap it around the dog (allowing some space between) until you get to the other end of the dog. For ideal cooking, make sure the toothpicks are aligned in the same direction. They are probably not going to look perfect, but that doesn’t matter, I promise deliciousness will ensue no matter the state of your wrapped dogs!

To “cook” meaning, brown the hot dogs, use your favorite method. We now have a BBQ so when making these again I will throw ‘em on the grill. But a skillet works great too. Cook the dogs over medium heat until the bacon has reached your favorite level of crispiness.

Pull the toothpicks out and drop in a hot dog bun (I like to toast mine a little in the oven), add your favorite toppings and enjoy!!