Hot dogs

Last night was the finale of series 2 of The Killing. You were watching, right? Personally I'm a jumper-obsessed Killing addict (with a slight crush on Brix this series) and generally getting very into all things Scandinavian. Mr ‘Splorer and I even took a little trip to Copenhagen in November (top travel tip: fly to Malmö in Sweden – it’s much cheaper and Malmö’s main station is a half hour train journey from Copenhagen central station). Even in early November, it was pretty much the most Christmassy place I’ve ever been – everywhere you turned there was another Christmas market or other festive excitement. 

Eating our way around the city we discovered the wonders of (amongst other things) ...

... authentic Scandinavian cinnamon buns ...

 ... gløgg (mulled wine with fruit and nuts at the bottom) ...

... and the best hot dogs of my life from the stands on the street. 

So when we wanted a suitable snack to accompany the last two episodes of The Killing, I thought of hot dogs. Really good hot dogs with homemade buns and proper sausages and all the toppings. What could possibly be better? 

A quick Google got me to a Dan Lepard recipe for Onion seed hot dog rolls with fried onions and black onion seeds. I would really recommend the recipe for a really flavoursome, soft and chewy hot dog roll. I followed Dan's recipe exactly, so I won't write it out again. There's a total of 2 and a half hours of raising time, so not really for when you're in hurry, but it's really easy. Here's what it looks like: 

 

Then serve with ketchup, mayo, mustard, gherkins and crispy onions, which it turns out you can buy in little pots for that authentic Copenhagen feel to your hot dogs. Oh, and a bottle of Tuborg and, if you've got one handy, a fine Scandinavian detective drama. 

The great thing about these buns is that they have enough flavour to stand up against all those toppings. The challenge is now on to find a sausage that can do the same. I'm definitely going to have to eat a lot of hot dogs to sort that one out.