West Virginia–Style Hot Dogs from ‘Endless Summer Cookbook’
Photograph by Lucy Schaeffer
From Yahoo Food’s Cookbook of the Week: Endless Summer Cookbook by Katie Lee
West Virginia–Style Hot Dogs
Serves 8 – 1 0
It seems every area of the country has its own way of dressing hot dogs. I like New York–style with the sauerkraut and mustard just fine, and Chicago dogs are pretty good too, but nothing beats a West Virginia dog. We make ours with chili sauce, yellow mustard, and coleslaw. The mayonnaise of the slaw next to the spice of the chili and the tang of the mustard is pure perfection. I like to make these on a day when we’re all hanging by the pool. I put the chili on the stove or in a slow cooker and just let everybody go in and serve themselves as they get hungry. It’s a paper plate and potato chip kind of day, totally easy, laid-back, and fun.
For the chili sauce:
2 pounds lean ground beef
1 yellow onion, grated
1 (16-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (12-ounce) can tomato paste
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1½teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic salt
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
For serving:
Good-quality hot dogs, grilled, steamed, or boiled
Hot dog buns
Yellow mustard
Coleslaw (your favorite recipe or store-bought)
Make the chili sauce: In a stockpot or Dutch oven, combine the beef (do not brown first), onion, tomato sauce, tomato paste, chili powder, sugar, salt, pepper, garlic salt, and 2 cups (480 ml) water. Stir until combined, then add the bay leaves. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for about 2 hours.
Stir in the vinegar and simmer for 30 minutes longer.
Place your hot dogs on buns and top with chili sauce, yellow mustard, and coleslaw.
This makes a good amount of chili, so plan on leftovers or freezing the leftovers if you don’t have a big group.
Reprinted with permission from Endless Summer Cookbook by Katie Lee (Stewart, Tabori & Chang).
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