Lunch on the Run

The next time someone tells you to stop spending all your money on restaurants, remind them that every home cook needs inspiration. Cookbooks are nice, but there's nothing like trying a professional's creations to really get the creative juices flowing.

On a recent visit to Chicago, I had the pleasure of visiting Franks n' Dawgs, a hot-dog establishment that serves house-made sausages of all varieties, including 5-spice duck sausage, turkey and date sausage, and even a trout dog!

Now, I don't have quite the setup to start creating my own sausages, but it's pretty easy to find interesting sausages at the grocery stores these days- chicken with apple and chicken with feta are two of my favorites. What I love about Franks n' Dawgs is that they've come up with all sorts of unique toppings for their dogs- the southern dog, for example, comes with a BBQ sauce and a crumble of cornbread.Why not take a chicken and apple sausage from the store and do the same? I bet it would be mighty tasty...

What other ideas do you have for dressing up sausages so that they're more than your typical hot dog?

My "charidable dog" - bratwurst with roasted potatoes, onions, and a nice mustard-dill sauce.