I think the hot dog gets a pretty bad rap. Granted, it may not be the healthiest alternative when it comes to something to eat, but there are some hot dogs that just taste downright delicious. I can be pretty fussy about the brand of hot dog I have, but there is something about eating a hot dog at a cookout or barbecue that makes it so it doesn’t seem to matter that much what brand it may be. When I am at home, I personally prefer a Sabrett hot dog or a Nathan’s. The other requirement I have is that they need to be hot dogs with the skin on. There is something about biting into a hot dog and getting that snap that makes it just right. Anyway, I didn’t think there would be much in the way of recipes for hot dogs, and there may not be a lot of variations in the way you cook them, but there are countless toppings you can try. This recipe, from Bobby Flay, tries to make these hot dogs just like one you could get on the streets of New York with some great toppings.
New York Street Cart Dogs with Onion Sauce and Red Pepper Relish
Onion Sauce:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large onions, halved and thinly sliced
2 teaspoons ancho chile powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 teaspoon hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Grilled Pepper Relish:
6 cloves roasted garlic, coarsely chopped
3 grilled red peppers, peeled, seeded and diced
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus leaves for garnish
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Grilled Hot Dogs:
8 all-beef kosher hot dogs
Vegetable oil
Freshly ground black pepper
Hot dog buns
Mustard
For the onion sauce: heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chile powder and cinnamon and cook for 1 minute. Add 1 cup of water, the ketchup, the hot sauce, salt and black pepper and bring the mixture to a simmer. Cook until it is thickened and the onions are very soft, adding more water if needed, about 25 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature before serving.
For the grilled pepper relish: Combine the garlic, peppers, oil, red wine vinegar and parsley in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Cover and allow the mixture to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before serving.
For the hot dogs: heat a grill to high heat for direct grilling. Brush the hot dogs with oil and sprinkle them with pepper. Grill the hot dogs until slightly charred and golden brown on all sides, about 6 minutes. put the hot dogs in the buns and top with mustard, onion sauce and the grilled pepper relish.
I did make a few alterations to this recipe. First, we were having pretty heavy rain and thunderstorms yesterday, so there was no grilling involved at all for me. I roasted the peppers and garlic in the oven and made the relish indoors. It also meant cooking the hot dogs inside, but instead of frying them or boiling them, I like them steamed. You get a much better snap from the hot dogs when you steam them. Just put about an inch of water in a large saucepan and bring it to a boil. Then insert a steamer basket into the pan, put the hot dogs in the basket and allow them to steam for about 3 minutes. They come out much more like a hot dog cart hot dog than grilling, in my opinion. I also added some yellow and orange pepper into the pepper relish for more color and flavor.
The onion sauce really does take like the onion sauce you can buy in the stores or get from a vendor. It was sweet with a little heat and tasted great with the mustard. The same goes for the pepper relish. You can really taste the garlic in this one, so you may even want to cut back a bit on the garlic to get more pepper flavor.
That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. I just made the Tar Hell Pie in the latest issue of Cook’s Country magazine, so you can check back for that recipe tomorrow and see how it came out. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
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