Dog’s Best Friend

A popular joke is that the 19 in COVID19 is the number of pounds most people will gain while spending more time isolating at home or if they must quarantine. While we are concentrating on healthier food choices and smaller helpings with regular exercise, we still love a guilty edible pleasure from time to time.

This week it is chili dogs! A few weeks ago I shared my award-winning chili recipe, this week I’m sharing our secret to delicious chili dogs.

Some may say; “Big deal, you poured your chili over a hot dog…so what?!”

Not so fast my friend. There’s chili, and then there’s HOT DOG CHILI!!

What’s the difference? I’m so glad you asked. Chili is chocked full of beans and meat and chili peppers and onions and for some noodles, and for us diced carrots and sweet corn. However, hot dog chili is wonderful chili pepper infused meat and tomato-based sauce plus some tasty spices and some extras that will turn a boring hotdog into a culinary treat.

This is how we make hot dog chili. As stated in the past, feel free to experiment in a way that brings you joy. There are many ways to make this recipe tasty. Use this one as is, tweak this one to your preference or make up your own using this one as inspiration for a junk food masterpiece.

We think this ‘chili’ is great, as pictured, on a hot dog with some diced onion and shredded cheese, but I must admit that it is equally as great by itself on a bun with the same diced onion and shredded cheese. Enjoy!

The Ingredients:

1/3 lb finely chopped bacon

½ lb ground turkey

½ lb ground pork

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

½ tbs chili powder

1 tbs dry rub

1 pinch salt

8 oz tomato sauce

2 tbs ketchup

1 tbs mustard

1 splash Worcestershire Sauce

1/4 cup beer

Directions:

Fry bacon in a medium sized sauté pan on medium heat until crispy.

Add ground meat and brown.

Stir in all dry ingredients.

Stir in all wet ingredients.

Cook on medium to low heat until all wet ingredients have reduced to a paste.

Turn off heat and let the mixture rest for 15 minutes.