Day off = Lunch at Hot Doug's

One of my favorite things to do on a week day off is visit the mecca of encased meats, Hot Doug's. If you are a carnivore and you live in Chicago, you need to know about this place. The owner and chef is Doug Sohn, a Kendall College Culinary graduate. You don't normally use chef and hot dog stand in the same sentence, but you will soon understand.

Hot Doug's has limited hours, Monday through Saturday, 10:30 - 4:00. The first four times we went was on a Saturday, and the lines were out the door and around the block. Then we went during the week. The first few times, no wait. While Fridays seem to be the busiest day of the week, the wait is only about five minutes as opposed to the Saturday wait time of up to an hour. Doug himself works the counter, taking your order with a smile and occaisionaly a wisecrack. Despite the crowds, he and his staff find a way to remain well-tempered and helpful.

Friday and Saturday only, Hot Doug's serves Duck Fat Fries. These are worth any wait in my book, though aren't for everyone. We went with some friends one time and taste tested both regular and duck fat fries. It was almost split as to who liked which better. Needless to say, their regular fries are outstanding too. The duck fat adds a richer, creamier flavor to the fries. You must try.

Regardless of the fries, the sausages are what will keep you coming back. If you don't eat meat, be warned, you will only have two choices; the Veggie Dog and the Veggie Corn Dog. This makes it difficult for Babette to share my enthusiasm, as she only eats fish. We requested Doug make some fish sausages to expand. His response was that while it is more difficult to make and store fish sausage, he is experimenting with smoked salmon and lobster sausages.


Now, back to the sausages. Today, being a weekday away from work, I made the trek down. Every week they have a Celebrity Sausage, named after the celebrity du jour. My first visit I had a Sauternes Infused Fois Gras Sausage with truffle sauce. I still have dreams about the flavor combinations. This celebrity sausage was named after Alderman Joe Moore, the miguided Chicago alderman who initiated the city wide ban on fois gras. (We'll address this ban and ethical issues relating to foie gras in a later post.) Today's celebrity sausage was the Yvonne DeCarlo, honoring the passing of Mrs. Herman Munster herself, which is an Atomic Bomb Spicy Pork Sausage with Chipotle Dijonnaise and Pepper-Jack Cheese. They also have a weekly game sausage. Today, there were two. Headlining was the Cognac-Infused Smoked Pheasant Sausage with Truffle Sauce Moutarde and Fromage D'Affinoise. The second game sausage, at the bottom of the specials list, was the Smoked Alligator Sausage with Spicy Remoulade and Blue Cheese.

Now if you know me well enough, you know that it would be absolutely impossible to for me to get only one sausage at a place like this. I ordered the Smoked Pheasant sausage yet passed on the Yvonne DeCarlo (too spicy) and the Smoked Alligator (Alligator is for Taste of Chicago and visiting my Uncle in Florida). I opted for the Catalonian Pork Sausage with Saffron Rouille and Manchego Cheese.

While the Catalonian Pork Sausage was the wild card, it was by far the best of the two. Nice, smoky flavor, a little tougher, and not as salty or fatty as most pork sausages. It was similar to a Spanish Chorizo in texture. The Manchego cheese was a brilliant idea, bringing the slightly briny flavor into the sausage. The Saffron Rouille was a light mustard that had only faint saffron taste. The Smoked Pheasant sausage was a disappointment. While still very good, it was a bit too top heavy in flavors. The creaminess of the D'Affinois and the intensity of the Truffle Sauce Moutarde really overpowered the Pheasant. I took a few bites of just the sausage, and found it to be excellent, but far too subtle in flavors to pair with the monster taste of the ingredients.

Of course, to round out my meal, I ordered the Duck Fat Fries, which were, strangely, too salty. I managed to finish them, how, I will never know. I also put my support into the place by buying a Hot Doug's T-Shirt. I was disappointed to find that they were out of extra large. I brought the large home and tried it on. My two sausage and duck fat fry lunch made the large too small. I guess I will have to return it soon. Darn. Maybe they will have an XXL by then to go with my next order.