Date I made this recipe:
September 4, 2017 – Labor Day
The Hot Dog Cookbook
– Frankfurter – Weiner – Franks – Coneys by William I. Kaufman
Published by Doubleday & Company Inc.
© 1966
Purchased at Bonnie
Slotnick Cookbooks, NYC
Recipe: Hot Dog Bean
Bake, a la Kraut – p. 59
Before I go one step further, I must point out to you that
William I. Kaufman published many cookbooks including this one: The
Catholic Cookbook. This is the first time I've seen an "official"
cookbook meant to help Catholics cope with dietary restrictions during Lent and
other church holidays, and not the usual and customary spiral bound book
published by churches everywhere. I'm
intrigued. Of course, I have to have it,
but right now, it will cost me a cool $50.00 to buy it off Amazon so I'm going
to see if I can find it for less; forgive me "Father."
Also, I love how the book is stamped inside "Louise
Adelia Read Memorial Library Hancock, New
York ." My
husband and I returned recently from a road trip through NY state and were not far
from Hancock. A couple of days after
leaving that area, we went into the New
York City where I purchased this hot dog cookbook. I love how that all accidentally came
together.
Once we got home from our trip the first week of August,
summer sped by as it is wont to do and like it or not (not), Labor Day was upon
us and which meant I had to decide to observe or not observe Labor Day with a
cookbook. I've mentioned before that
cooking on major holidays is a challenge for me as I have too many cookbook that
might fit a particular observance but not this year!
This year, I was updating my cookbook list with my
newly-acquired titles, and as soon as I saw The Hotdog Cookbook, I let out a sigh of relief as it was the
perfect thing for Labor Day because as we know, Labor Day signals the
unofficial end of summer and therefore hot dogs. Please note though, that summer ain't over
until it's over which is Friday, September 22, the first official day of
autumn. I cringe as I write this!
Okay, I've established that this year's Labor Day
"cookbook" was a gimme, but finding a recipe was not easy given the
breadth of my hot dog recipe choices:
- Appetizers
- Soups
- Main Dishes
- Sandwiches
- Salads (Salads?)
- Cookout
Appetizer hot dog
offerings were the usual and customary cocktail dogs and chafing dish dogs
along with "Gourmet Hot Dog
Dip" – p. 5 and "Hot Dog and Cheese Canapés" – p. 5. Pass.
The Soups chapter
gave me pause with recipes for "Hot Dog Vegetable Chowder" – p. 9,
and "Hot Pot of Barley and Hot Dogs" – p. 9. Again, no.
We'll come back to Main
Dishes so we can continue on to Sandwiches. Happily, this chapter is back on track with
recipes for "Chili Topped Hot Dogs" – p. 69, and "Coney De
Luxe" – p. 69. I almost made the
Coney recipe but it called for ¼ wheat germ and I don't know what that adds to
the recipe, but it caused me to put it in the "no" pile.
Two recipes from that chapter that were also out were
"Hot Dog Spread" – p. 73 as the mixture of ground hot dogs, chopped
hard-boiled eggs and salad dressing plus a few more ingredients sounded
completely unappetizing, as did the recipe for "Hot Dog and Cucumber
Spread" – p. 73 Ick.
Speaking of "Ick," the Salad chapter gave me the most pause. Here, it seems like the guy is just throwing
hot dogs into salads because he could and not because it makes sense.
As an example, the recipe for "Cabbage, Apple, and Hot
Dog Salad" – p. 77, is basically a coleslaw with apples, green peppers,
mayo and hot dogs. A "Baked Hot Dog
Potato Salad" – p. 7, is a casserole more than a salad, and it's basically
a hot potato salad with green beans (green beans?) and hot dogs.
This then, forced my hand back to the Main Dishes chapter with the hopes that I could find something that
wasn't ridiculous to make.
"It was the best of [hot dog] times, it was the worst
of [hot dog ] times."
"Hot Dog Pilaf" – p. 17, are you kidding me? Hot dog "pilaf?" Eesh.
"Asparagus and Hot Dog Stroganoff" – p. 18 is another one that
bit the dust. I just...sigh. And "Curried Macaroni and Hot Dogs"
– p. 39 is ridiculous. Just ridiculous. The winner of the "Are you kidding
me?" contest, and it is easy to see why, is a recipe for "Hot Dog
Crown Roast" – p. 38, where 18 hot dogs are arranged so as to resemble a
pork crown roast, complete with the traditional stuffing in the center.
Never will I ever....
Now I know that I was "asking" for it by
purchasing this hot-dog focused cookbook, but still people. Still.
Happily, a few more sensible choices were left but even
then, I was just not feeling some of the options and for once, neither was
Andy. I mean, they were okay but they
were also the usual and customary:
"Barbecued Hot Dogs" – p. 32, not to be confused with
"Hot Dog Barbecue" on p. 45. I
could have gone with "Hot Dogs with Pork 'N" Beans" – p. 57, but
frankly (pun intended) my mother's dish was better.
In the end, we settled for what I call "Hot Dogs,
Deconstructed," which is to say Hot
Dog Bean Bake, A La Kraut. To me, this was the best of both worlds. You had your hotdog, you had your baked beans
and you had a sauerkraut topping all rolled into one. It seemed perfect and it was nearly perfect
except the sour flavor of the sauerkraut completely overwhelmed the other
ingredients. If I made this dish on Food Network's Chopped, I would have
been chopped for not showcasing the other two ingredients, hot dogs and beans.
Still, all is not lost here because you can save the day
with few adjustments. At least I think
you can! The recipe calls for these
ingredients: hot dogs, pork and beans,
chili sauce, sauerkraut and dill weed.
Were I to make this again, I think I would have added some brown sugar
to the mixture and possibly even a small amount of mustard and ketchup,
particularly ketchup to offset the sourness of the kraut. Plus, the amount of kraut you use here (1
pound, or in my case, a half a pound) is way more than most of us would ever
put on our hot dogs and that is what prevented it from being a great dish. It
wasn't bad, but wow, my lips puckered!
Nevertheless, I have once again completed the compulsory
portion of our Labor Day weekend was is to say, I made hot dogs! Until next year....
Hot Dog Bean Bake, A
La Kraut – makes 5 servings
1 pound hot dogs
2 cans (1 pound each) pork and beans with tomato sauce
¼ cup chili sauce
1 can (1 pound) sauerkraut, drained
½ teaspoon dill weed
Cut 5 hot dogs into bite-size pieces and combine with beans
and chili sauce in a 1 ½-quart casserole.
Cover with sauerkraut and sprinkle with dill weed. Bake in 350°
oven for 30 minutes. Top with whole hot
dogs and bake additional 15 minutes.
Ann's Note: As suggested above, I think the addition of
some brown sugar and perhaps even some mustard and ketchup might help cut the
tanginess of the sauerkraut.
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