Hot dogs tonite! Instead of making that sound like a
‘default’ dinner when you’re in a hurry, a couple of steps will make it out of the ordinary for both you and anyone else eating dinner.
Whenever I buy extra ground beef (on sale), I always make a pot of hot dog Chile. Different from Chile con Carne. Really tastes good on hot dogs and makes the whole dinner…..special. I make a big pot and then freeze meal-sized portions to bring out for hot dog nights.
Coleslaw is a great side dish. It’s cheap, easy to make and keeps for several days. I used my food processor to grate ½ a head of cabbage and a carrot and then combined them with some minced scallions. The dressing was a combination of mayo, sour cream, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, sugar, celery seed and s & p.
Next a little onion was chopped and put in bowl.
I buttered the hot dog buns and wrapped them in leftover aluminum foil that I keep for stuff like this.
I needed a side dish, so I cleaned out a half-used bottle of Pace salsa and mixed the salsa with some grated sharp Cheddar cheese. That’s put on the table with a half bag of tortilla chips. I have a friend in Long Beach, Michael Kelleher, who served this once as an appetizer, I LOVED it and have never forgotten it. If I had had a fresh jalapeno, I would have finely chopped half of it to add some kick…. but it was still delicious.
The dogs went on the grill along with the foil wrapped buns, and 10 minutes later, they were ready.
Of course, beer goes best with this kind of dinner (Newcastle!) but I tried a dry Rose that I happened to have on hand. Not bad, but next time I’ll probably drink beer!
Everyone loved the Chile Dogs and the accompaniments—I did too.
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