Book of Days Tales

The fourth Thursday in July in the United States is National Chili Dog Day – for no especial reason as far as I can tell. No matter, we can run with it. At heart a chili dog is a hot dog in a bun covered with chili sauce.  The only “secret” is that the sauce differs somewhat – not a lot – from what some people serve in a bowl as a regular dish (which has myriad variations from Texas to New England, and all points in between (not to mention Mexico). Here is a decent recipe for a chili sauce for hot dogs. Note that the meat is not browned at the outset.

Ingredients

1 lb lean ground beef
4 cups water
1 ½ cups beef stock
1 (4 oz) can tomato paste
1 tbsp dried onion
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp dried parsley
½ tsp cayenne pepper

Instructions

Place all the ingredients in a large stock pot. Make sure that there are no clumps in the ground beef, using your hands if need be to break up any lumps. Bring slowly to a simmer over low heat and cook for 2 hours. Stir often and keep tasting all the time. Adjust the seasonings to suit your taste.  The mixture will thicken and only add more stock if it begins to dry out.  Simmer until the beef is cooked and the chili is thick.

To serve, place a cooked hot dog in a bun and ladle the chili sauce over it. Subsequent additions can be chopped raw onion, yellow mustard, grated cheese, and whatever else takes your fancy.