From the ArcaMax Publishing, Recipes by Zola Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/zola/s-359078-410238
The Battle of the Hot Dogs...
Both companies got their start in Chicago in the late 1800's. Vienna
Beef and Oscar Mayer. Vienna Beef stayed in Chicago. Oscar Mayer
eventually headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin.
Flash forward to 1965. The following jingle has played on the radio
and TV so many times we children sung choruses of it throughout our
Appleton, Wisconsin neighborhood.
"My boloney has a first name...it's O-S-C-A-R. My boloney has a second
name...it's M-A-Y-E-R.
Oh, I love to eat it every day. And if you ask me why I'll say,
Cuz Oscar Mayer has a way with B-O-L-O-G-N-A.
Hotdogs became a staple of childhood. Babies were fed hot dogs as one
of their first solid foods. I remember the hotdogs being cut into
little coin shapes and placed with bites of cheese on the trays of
highchairs. This was an easy meal for Mom. When the baby decided to
flail the food across the room and onto the floor it was easy to clean
up. For baby, there was much entertainment in chasing the little coins
of meat around the tray, learning to pick them up and squish them
across their newly acquired teeth and sort of gum them down; that was,
until the boredom set in and the flailing ensued.
At summer family gatherings the kids were fed hot dogs. Mine were
grilled and covered in ketchup. (More on ketchup later. It becomes a
controversial condiment). With a few potato chips, the kids were fed,
and again, it was easy on the parents.
As grown-ups, in many households the habit of eating hot dogs morphed
into eating bratwurst. "BRATS". Meaty, juicy, boiled in onions and
browned on the grill. BRATS. Go to any tailgate party. Look around.
You'll be assaulted with the vision of BRATS and beer. Welcome to
Wisconsin.
Now, back to Chicago, where the Vienna Beef Company still resides, and
you'll hear a slightly different story. Kids are eating hotdogs, but
in this instance, the adults are too. The Vienna Dog, during the
Depression, took on a whole new form. The hotdog becomes the whole
meal and continues that way to this day. The idea of eating ketchup on
a hotdog goes out of style. Ketchup is replaced with a whole slew of
ingredients that now elevate the hotdog to a salad on top of a hotdog.
The steamed poppyseed bun is the holder. The hotdog goes in and then
it's topped off with yellow mustard (no fancy French stuff), chopped
white onion, a green relish that is so bright it's neon, tomato
wedges, a pickle spear, a sprinkle of celery salt and the final touch,
a few sport peppers. Now, that's a meal. The co-mingling of the cold
salad on top of the hot dog and you have a taste sensation. People,
like me, who'd like some ketchup on their hot dog are, in some cases,
not so gently asked to leave the establishment. They'll have none of
that ketchup nonsense!
Chicago and Madison are only 107 miles apart. One state away, and yet
hotdog worlds apart.
But what about the chilidog? Where did it come from? Now you flip to
New York, where the Coney Island dog originated. Coney sauce is
basically beanless chili. Fly to Ohio and the beans get put back in.
Go figure.
And that's where today's recipe comes from. My husband, a native of
Ohio, gets these hankerings for a chilidog. I used to buy the chili in
a can. This year I decided to research the chilidog recipes from
across the US and then blend what I thought were the best-of-the-best
elements to come up with my own. My husband loved it on his hotdog. I
ate my chili on the side and allowed myself to have ketchup on my
hotdog. Make yours Chicago-style and follow the directions above. Make
yours a brat if you want. Or cover yours in chilidog chili. Rights of
the individual prevail.
Chili Dog Chili
Covers 12 hot dogs
1 pound of ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
4Tbl of Grey
Poupon mustard
2 Tbl of apple cider vinegar
2 tsp of
chipotle chili powder
3/4 cup of ketchup
1 can of Bush's
chili beans with sauce (optional)
1/2 of a beer (lager or your
choice)
In a large saucepan add the ground beef and the onion. Cook, on
medium, chopping up the beef with a wooden spoon and cook both until
the onions wilt and the beef no longer shows any pink.
Add the rest of the ingredients. Cook on medium-low for 20 minutes.
Stir periodically. Turn the heat up to medium, and get the chili dog
chili bubbling. Keep on medium to reduce the chili. Stir often so it
doesn't stick to the pan. Serve over grilled or boiled hotdogs. You
can eat this chili in bowls too, and sprinkle on things like grated
cheddar and chopped onion. It's versatile. Enjoy!
Cheers! Zola
Send email to Zola at zolacooks@gmail.com.