Hot Dog Season

[Beau Geste (imported)]

One of my fondest memories of childhood, is the memory of weenie roasts around an open fire at picnics. Just thinking about it, I can smell the aroma of the roasting weenies (sometimes they were on a stick with a sharpened end, cut from a willow branch) and the cracking, spitting sound when they would split. Always tasted good to eat one of the weiners in a bun with mustard, while you stood near the fire and smelled the weenies that were still being roasted over the flames. Not sure why we don't do that any more. Maybe when we go to the mountains later this month.

Anyway, I recently saw part of the PBS show about hot dog stands around the country, and I thought I'd put a post about hot dogs in here and see what recipes other archive members have. My favorite one is for a "state fair hot dog" although it isn't the same as the ones you get from a Google search. The way we do a state fair hot dog in my household is, you start by dicing a couple of onions into relatively large chunks, about half to three quarters of an inch across, and also dicing tomatoes and bread and butter pickles (I generally use Mrs. Fanning's, but any brand will do) about the same size. You then put the onions along with caraway seed (The original recipe called for celery seed) into a large saucepan with the hot dogs. We use Oscar Mayer's hot dogs, other brands, of course, are fine. Put in enough water to barely cover everything, and cook on medium heat until the onions are clarified and lose their sharp flavor. Then add the tomatoes for a minute or so. You don't want the tomato chunks cooked through, only softened to about the same texture as the onions. Take the pan off the heat, and you can pour off the excess water (nice if you have a strainer lid) if you want to. We usually just leave the water in, and pick the dogs out with a fork and the onion-tomato mixture out with a strainer spoon. The mix is too juicy for regular hot dog buns, which will get soggy and come apart, so you have to use sandwich rolls. If I am adding a lot of the onions, I actually use a roll sliced from a California-style sourdough flute. You just put the weiner, the onion and tomato mix, and the diced pickles on the roll, and add mustard to taste. I like regular prepared mustard, some people prefer brown mustard. If you don't like boiled hot dogs, I guess the weiners could be grilled or browned in a toaster oven, but they do add something to the flavor of the onion and tomato mix. I think the original recipe called for a little tomato sauce in the onion and tomato mix, but we don't put it in.

I copied the recipe out of a cookbook years ago, and am not sure which state fair the recipe was from. Hot dogs are usually boiled in Chicago, so maybe it was the Illinois State Fair.

I think macaroni salad is better with this type of hot dog than potato salad. Also, chili beans or great northern beans with ham. Sometimes also cole slaw. Good with a fairly light lager, usually an import, maybe Beck's or Oranjeboom.

Curious as to what other recipes for hot dogs people have. For one of the state fair hot dog recipes on the internet, you started by putting the weiner in a chili pepper. Okay. . . . . On PBS, they showed a "slaw dog." Think I'll pass on that one. I think it's a southern specialty.

[Blaise (imported)]

The PBS documentary featuredthe Varsity in Atlanta. They have a great slaw dog.

At home during the summer, I use Cajun sausages for hot gods. I put fresh coleslaw prepared with fresh homemade mayonnaise from olive oil and lemon juice with a bit of mustard power. Vidalia onions are good with summer hot dogs. Regular onions have too much sulfur. I just mix them with the coleslaw.

I cook the sausages in the microware and then grill them in the George Forman grill. I use hoagie rolls because they hold up well with the sausages.

I used to serve them with Lowenbrau beer, like the ones at the old Frank and Stein restaurants.

For potato salad I dice a pound of new potatoes with the peel into small cubes. I boil them until the starch begins to break down but not too much. I blanch them to stop the cooking. The potatoes do not have a crunch to them, but they are firm. I mix with about a quarter cup of fresh homemade mayonnaise mixed with a couple of teaspoons of Dijon mustard. I add lemon juice and fresh ground black pepper, and half cup of chopped Vidalia onions. I cover with paprika when I serve the salad. This salad has firm potatoes and a fresh, light taste. You know, butter pickles are good in potato salad. But I like my recipe better without them.

In the winter, I boil Oscar Mayer weiners in beer and serve them on regular hot dog buns with chili and beans. Sometimes I add a little hot Cajun mustard.

Macaroni and cheese is terrific with winter hot dogs. In winter, I use dill pickles.

[StefanIsMe (imported)]

I do like hot dogs as well, kinda... its a situational thing, tho. Campfire = hotdogs.

However... I just can't see, hear, or say the word 'wiener' and keep a straight face

[Dave (imported)]

I would love a well-grilled hotdog, but my innards hates them and thus, I must do without. It's sad.

[twaddler (imported)]

Mmm.. that state fair one sounds like a good recipe; I shall try it out today. Though I'm going to substitute some Koegel's instead of Oscar Meyer.

[Blaise (imported)]

I do like hot dogs as well, kinda... its a situational thing, tho. Campfire = hotdogs.

However... I just can't see, hear, or say the word 'wiener' and keep a straight face

Yes, I have the same reaction.

[Blaise (imported)]

My favorite one is for a "state fair hot dog" although it isn't the same as the ones you get from a Google search. The way we do a state fair hot dog in my household is, you start by dicing a couple of onions into relatively large chunks, about half to three quarters of an inch across, and also dicing tomatoes and bread and butter pickles (I generally use Mrs. Fanning's, but any brand will do) about the same size. You then put the onions along with caraway seed (The original recipe called for celery seed) into a large saucepan with the hot dogs. We use Oscar Mayer's hot dogs, other brands, of course, are fine. Put in enough water to barely cover everything, and cook on medium heat until the onions are clarified and lose their sharp flavor. Then add the tomatoes for a minute or so. You don't want the tomato chunks cooked through, only softened to about the same texture as the onions. Take the pan off the heat, and you can pour off the excess water (nice if you have a strainer lid) if you want to. We usually just leave the water in, and pick the dogs out with a fork and the onion-tomato mixture out with a strainer spoon. The mix is too juicy for regular hot dog buns, which will get soggy and come apart, so you have to use sandwich rolls. If I am adding a lot of the onions, I actually use a roll sliced from a California-style sourdough flute. You just put the weiner, the onion and tomato mix, and the diced pickles on the roll, and add mustard to taste. I like regular prepared mustard, some people prefer brown mustard. If you don't like boiled hot dogs, I guess the weiners could be grilled or browned in a toaster oven, but they do add something to the flavor of the onion and tomato mix. I think the original recipe called for a little tomato sauce in the onion and tomato mix, but we don't put it in.

. . . . On PBS, they showed a "slaw dog." Think I'll pass on that one. I think it's a southern specialty.

Your recipes sound tasty. I will try some of them. I had not thought about macaroni salad instead of potato salad. My mother mades a great potato salad that uses firm bits of potato. I make my own mayo with olive oil and lemon juice. A bit of black pepper helps. I don't like a mushy or overly sweet salad.

There was a restaurant chain named Frank and Stein. Light lager is good with beer in summer.

[Blaise (imported)]

I would love a well-grilled hotdog, but my innards hates them and thus, I must do without. It's sad.

That is sad. I don't know why hot dogs are tasty. When one considers that even the very best of them are finely ground and cooked to do away with whatever makes meat seem like meat, one wonders. I do like sausage type dogs. I think that hamburgers beat hotdogs.

[Beau Geste (imported)]

The Cajun sausage idea sounds interesting--I'd presume they have to be grilled. Any suggestions about what they are called in non-Louisiana supermarkets, or what the brand names are? Don't remember ever seeing anything sold here called "Cajun sausage." Occasionally, you can find Louisiana hot links, which are quite hot, and remind me of hot knackwurst.

Didn't really expect anybody to try the state fair hot dog recipe--I only put it in in the hope that it would get people thinking about their own hot dog recipes and post them. If you make the state fair recipe, make sure you don't overcook the onions and tomatoes--they can easily be cooked flat, in which case you have to add some malt vinegar or something else that adds flavor. Or, you can just cook up a new batch and save the overcooked ones to use in stewed tomatoes (has happened more than once.)

[Blaise (imported)]

The Cajun sausage idea sounds interesting--I'd presume they have to be grilled. Any suggestions about what they are called in non-Louisiana supermarkets, or what the brand names are? Don't remember ever seeing anything sold here called "Cajun sausage." Occasionally, you can find Louisiana hot links, which are quite hot, and remind me of hot knackwurst.

Didn't really expect anybody to try the state fair hot dog recipe--I only put it in in the hope that it would get people thinking about their own hot dog recipes and post them. If you make the state fair recipe, make sure you don't overcook the onions and tomatoes--they can easily be cooked flat, in which case you have to add some malt vinegar or something else that adds flavor. Or, you can just cook up a new batch and save the overcooked ones to use in stewed tomatoes (has happened more than once.)

I'll find out. I think that the label is Cajun but all are locally made sausages. Nothing really special. In other words, the sausages are really just sausages, sometimes with a bit heavy dose of spices. Knackwurst is about if not the same thing!

You are right about overcooking the onions nad tomatoes. I never ate the slaw dogs when I was young, but I do like them now. Just put some coleslaw on dogs and it is better than it sounds. I use the George Foremand grill to cook dogs and sausages.