Bacon Blue Cheese Dogs with Samuel Adams BBQ Sauce

I am always looking for a way to work my grills into dinner. If there is even just one part of a recipe that can be adapted for the backyard, I’ll make it work. So, when Samuel Adams and Chef David Burke teamed up for some unique takes on “pigs in a blanket,” I knew my Webers had their work cut out. These babies were going on the grill.

Looking for a unique and fun grilled appetizer? Look no further. This one is different and most importantly, certain to please.

Bacon Blue Cheese Dogs with Samuel Adams BBQ Sauce

Recipe by Chef David Burke & Samuel Adams, adapted for the grill by Mike Lang

Ingredients:

Sauce
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander seed
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoons paprika
1 cup honey
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups red wine vinegar
32 oz ketchup
1/2 cup soy sauce
12 oz chili sauce
1 cup Samuel Adams Boston Lager (about 3/4 of a bottle. Take a few swigs to get it in the ballpark)
1/2 bunch of cilantro
juice and zest of 1/2 lemon
juice and zest of 1/2 orange

The dogs
1 lb sliced bacon
1 cup blue cheese
2 teaspoons jalapeño peppers, minced
1 sheet of puff pastry
1 lb high quality cocktail frank
eggs, for egg wash

Instructions:

1. Preheat the grill 10-15 minutes and prepare it for indirect medium-high heat. My Weber Original Gourmet BBQ System Sear Grate worked great to support the delicate blankets.

The sauce
2. In a large pot on the side burner over medium-low heat, toast all of the dry spices (cumin, coriander seed, celery seed, paprika, chili powder). Once the spices are toasted (you’ll begin to smell their aroma,) add the honey and brown sugar, and cook until it begins to caramelize.

Once the mixture begins to caramelize, add the red wine vinegar, ketchup, soy sauce, chili sauce, and Samuel Adams Boston Lager.

Continue to add the lemon juice and zest, orange juice and zest, and reduce until the mixture thickens.

Season the mixture with salt, pepper and cilantro. Let it stand for two hours, then strain through a fine-mesh, conical sieve. Place in a serving bowl and serve between room temperature and warm as a dipping sauce for the Bacon Blue Cheese Dogs.

The dogs:

3. On a baking tray, grill the bacon over indirect medium heat at 375° F for about 12 minutes, until slightly brown but still pliable (which is exactly how I like my bacon!).

4. Before rolling the cocktail franks in puff pastry, mash together the blue cheese and minced jalapeño peppers.

5. Unfold the puff pastry. Crumble the mixture onto the puff pastry. Cut the puff pastry into 1 inch wide strips.

They should be wide enough to roll a cocktail frank and leave some overlap per frank. The size of the pastry strips is really “frank size dependent,” if you get my drift.

Place a piece of bacon on top.

Begin rolling the first Pig in a Blanket, leaving enough puff pastry to fold over and seal the cocktail frank. Continue rolling the cocktail franks in the puff pastry, cutting and sealing as you go.

6. Place the rolled Pigs in a Blanket, seam side down, on a parchment lined sheet tray, and brush with the egg wash (one egg beaten with one tsp of water).