Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Gotta love them dogs!!!

Hot Dog Sauces – New York Style

In New York City, one of the most popular places to eat is at the local street corner vendor. A colorful umbrella covered push cart; some with jumbo soft pretzels and knishes, but all with the most popular item – Sabrett hot dogs in steaming water with an assortment of condiments: ketchup, mustard, relish and spicy onions in sauce.

Coney Island, the birth place of the famous Nathan’s hot dogs, has a distinctive sauce of its own. A slow cooked, spicy chili type sauce loaded with ground beef and minced onion.

New Yorkers know this is the best quickie, on the go, meal in town; and all self-respecting guide books recommend it to visiting tourists from around the world. If you haven’t stopped at a push cart and had a hot dog with onion sauce, or gone to Nathan’s in Coney Island, then you haven’t really experienced a big piece of New York City.


Spicy Onion Sauce

Ingredients:

1 ½ tsp olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced thin and chopped
1 cup water
1 tsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp corn syrup
2 Tbsp tomato paste
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
¼ cup white vinegar

Preparation:
In a large sauce pan, heat oil on medium heat; sauté onions till softened, but do not brown.

Dissolve the cornstarch in the water; add to the onions with rest of ingredients, except the vinegar. Mix together and bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Add vinegar and continue to simmer for an additional 10 minutes or until sauce has thickened.

Makes 1 ½ cups.

Mary Cokenour
March 17, 2008


Coney Island Chili Sauce

Ingredients:

1 lb lean ground beef
1 small onion, minced
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
1 cup tomato puree
1 cup water
1 Tbsp each dry mustard and chili powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp each of celery seed, cumin and ground black pepper

Preparation:
In a large sauce pan, on medium-high heat, brown ground beef; halfway through, add onion and garlic; drain excess oil.

Add all remaining ingredients; mix and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for one hour; stirring occasionally.

Makes 2 ½ cups.

Mary Cokenour
July 8, 2008