Chili Dog Sauce

Now that the rules for lockdown are relaxing a bit, they have opened local restaurants for outdoor dining. My father goes every Tuesday for Fish and Chips at his local with his lady friends. That leaves Cindy and Dan free to do their own thing.
When I was still living with them, we would take the opportunity on Wednesday nights to eat something we knew dad wouldn't like that much. We would explore Tex Mex and Indian cuisines, etc. take a bit of a walk on the wild side as it were.
This week I decided to invite them over here to my place for Chili Dogs. Dan likes Chili Dogs and Cindy usually has to work on Wednesday, so it would be a chance for her to have a bit of a break and for Dan to have a bit of a treat!
I am a person who doesn't like chili with beans on my hotdogs. It has a bit too much going on for me. I prefer a much more unadulterated, meat only chili. Without chunks of onions and beans, etc.
This recipe I am sharing with you today is just that. A meat only, unadulterated, chili sauce, meant to be eaten on Chili dogs.
I actually ground my own meat for this. It was very lean. What you want is a nice and lean ground beef, without a lot of fat in it.
Hot dogs are fatty enough without adding even more fat to them. As you can see this sauce is not really soupy either. You want a sauce with a thickish consistency, but not dry.
The best I can describe it to you is to show you the above photograph. As you can see it is neither overly wet, nor overly dry. It is nice and meaty and well flavored.
There is a beautiful mix of flavors and spices in the sauce. Because I didn't want chunks of onion or garlic in the sauce, I opted to use powdered garlic and onion. This gives you the flavor without anything else.
If you have a family member who doesn't like onions in things, slipping a bit of onion powder into the dish is a great way to inject onion flavor without them realizing it. Be careful to use the powder and not the salt. What you don't want to do is be adding more salt.
I always use all beef hotdogs. Today I used ball-park all beef hotdogs. They had a nice snappy skin and were surprisingly lean! I was quite happy with them. I grilled them on my electric grill.
I actually ended up having to finish them in the oven. I recently purchased a Gotham Electric smoke free grill and I have to say, I was not impressed. I had never heard of them and it was on sale, half price, so I bought it.
If the cooking of the hot dogs was any test, I would say don't waste your money. There was no smoke, but I also ended up finishing the dogs in the oven. Of course that is only the first thing I have cooked on it but so far not impressive.
You also want a sturdy kind of a hot dog bun. I used D'Italiano buns. I hate it when I am eating a burger or a dog and the bun is falling apart with every mouthful.
These buns stayed the course and remained pretty much intact. Keeping your buns from getting overly soggy is also a reason for making sure your sauce is not too thin.
You can of course adorn your dogs with whatever toppings you enjoy. My sister added additional mustard to hers (There is some mustard in the sauce.) I offered all the traditional hot dog toppings as well as grated cheese and finely chopped raw sweet onion.
I used a Tex Mex blend of cheese with spicy Jack and Cheddar in it. It was perfect. You don't want to overdo the cheese. Well, maybe YOU do, but I didn't. lol
To me this was perfect just as is. The sauce has a lovely smoky spicy flavor. North American style chili powder, which is not as spicy as the chili powder in the UK, along with chipotle chili powder, ground cumin and celery seed.
I can remember the first time I used chili powder in the UK. I had not realized it was PURE chili powder, essentially ground dried red chilies. I about blew our socks off. Hot. Hot. Hot.
If you are in the UK, do not make that mistake. Use mild chili powder and judge accordingly. Add and taste. Add and taste. Stop when it gets to your preferred level of heat.
I like chipotle chili powder. It is a bit hotter, but adds a lovely smoked flavor to the sauce. In the UK, you could add a quantity of smoked paprika which will give you the same effect.

These turned out to be incredibly delicious. Dan really loved them. They are hearty and quite filling however. I couldn't finish mine. I served them simply with some oven chips, and sliced tomatoes and cucumbers on the side.
Coleslaw would also go very nicely. I really hope you will be inspired to give this tasty sauce a try. Next time you are cooking hotdogs for the family on the grill, why not offer up some of this sauce on the side.
You can make it ahead of time and reheat it gently over medium low heat. (You may need to add a touch of water.) You can also freeze it in smaller quantities for future use.
Above all enjoy!

Yield: About 4 cupsAuthor: Marie RaynerPrep time: 10 MinCook time: 40 MinTotal time: 50 MinThis delicious sauce is snappy and spicy and so great on hot dogs. It makes quite a bit, but freezes very well.

Ingredients

1 pound extra lean ground beef mince
1 can (156ml/6 ounces) tomato paste (tomato puree)
1 TBS sugar
1 TBS yellow mustard
2 1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp chili powder (mild)
1/4 tsp chipotle chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp celery seed
1 cup (240ml) water

To serve:

hot dogs
hot dog buns
finely diced sweet onion
grated cheddar cheese (I like to use a mix of Jack and Cheddar cheeses)

Instructions

Spray a large skillet with some low-fat nonstick cooking spray. Crumble in the ground beef.
Scramble fry over medium high heat until browned and no longer pink. Add all of the spices, seasoning to taste with salt and black pepper.
Cook for a minute or so longer and then add the Worcestershire sauce, sugar, mustard, tomato paste and water.
Bring to the boil, then reduce to a slow simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally (cover slightly to prevent spatters) for 35 to 40 minutes until nicely thickened but not dry.
Cook your hotdogs using your preferred method. Serve in heated buns with some of this sauce spooned over top of the hotdogs. Top with cheese and chopped onion.
Serve immediately and enjoy!

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