Chilli Cheese Dog Pies

I know it's a little bit late for the 4th of July, but here's a little tribute to America, the undisputed kings of junk food. Chili cheese dog pies.

I would have loved to have brought a whole pile of chili dogs to the July Band Of Bakers event, but it wouldn't really be practical. It wouldn't really be baking, either. So this is the next best thing.

First of all I obviously had to make the chili. I made it fairly hot, with a large chili pepper, cayenne pepper, chili powder, cumin, Tabasco, and smoked chili paste. Once it had cooled, it was time to assemble the pies.

Twelve individual pastry cases with hot dogs inside...

Topped with chili...

And red cheese...

And yellow cheese (as I imagine Americans might call it). Then baked in the oven for 20 minutes.

Served warm(ish) with a dash of American mustard.

It's funny how things always taste hotter when you're cooking them. My wife coughed and spluttered when she tried a spoon of the chili, but in the final pie format, it tasted rather tame. Just as well I brought the mustard!

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Chili Dog

A visit to Coney Island on a wet and windy day proved to be something of a disappointment. The scruffy boardwalk was deserted, half of the amusement park was closed, and the few people who had braved the elements seemed to be taking refuge in the local "Nathan's Famous" restaurant.

It's the original restaurant in the Nathan's chain, and host of the legendary annual hot dog eating contest. So seemed like a good place to get a hot dog. But the chili on my chili-cheese dog was runny and nowhere near spicy enough, and the cheese was flavourless. A heartbreaking end to a disappointing afternoon.

It certainly wasn't a patch on my home made version. Topped with left-over chili spiked with extra hot sauce, and plenty of grated extra mature cheddar, you could never accuse this dog of lacking in flavour.

I put the whole thing in the microwave for 20 seconds to melt the cheese and soften up the bun, and then topped it with fried onions.

If you want a job done right, sometimes you've just got to do it yourself.

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The Bosna

We've all been there. You emerge from a bar or club in the small hours of the morning. You've had quite a lot to drink. You need food... not only to cure the munchies, but also in the desperate hope that it will soak up some of the alcohol, ultimately easing the inevitable hangover.

Usually you would go in search of a kebab, burger, or a bag of chips. But if you're in Salzburg, only one thing will hit the spot - a bosna.

The bosna is a bratwurst sausage in a bread roll, topped with a spicy sauce and curry powder. It is a relative of the currywurst, but personally I've never been a huge fan of this breadless cousin. For me, the bosna wins hands down.

I made my sauce from a mixture of mayo, mustard, ketchup, curry sauce, and curry powder.

I fried a bratwurst, and an onion. I lightly toasted a large hot dog roll under the grill.

I assembled the sandwich, and topped with fried onions, more curry powder, and salt & pepper.

This tasted very authentic - really close to some of the filthy fodder I've eaten in Austria. The only thing that let it down is the sausage (bought from Sainsburys). The texture was too smooth, almost like a bockwurst or frankfurter. It should be more coarse and meaty - I actually think a traditional english pork sausage would be a better match.

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Sausage Curry

When I was a student, me and my housemates would take it in turns to cook dinner. The budget was £5 for 4 people, and we'd stick to that limit religiously (admittedly food was a bit cheaper back then). But it was actually possible to cook a meal for around half that amount - therefore leaving enough budget for some cheap lager, or a Sarah Lee dessert.

So what could you make for £2.50 back in the 90s? Well, everybody likes curry, but the cost of chicken or lamb would have broke the budget instantly. But luckily Tesco sold a pack of 8 sausages for 50p. Throw in some onions, tinned tomatoes, and a load of spices and you have yourself a meal... and it actually tasted pretty good!

I must admit it's not something I've revisited often, especially since I can now afford the luxury of real meat (and more importantly, Indian takeaways). But my wife was out of the country (she'd never agree to eat this), so it felt like a good time to indulge in some nostalgia. I stuck on a Pearl Jam CD, cracked open a bottle of Diamond White, and got to work.

Fry the sausages. You won't need any extra oil.

Then in the sausage fat, fry onions. Add garlic, chillies, ginger, then other spices. Cumin, coriander, chilli powder, turmeric... you could just use curry powder, or a curry paste. The beauty of making curry is that it's different every time. Keep frying for a bit. Put the chopped sauages back in, and fry for a bit longer.

Add tinned tomatoes and a dash of water. You could optionally add some veg... green peppers work well. Simmer for a while. You can finish it by stirring in some yogurt and chopped coriander, if you have any lying around.

Eat with rice, or slices of bread.

In all honesty, I was expecting to say that it wasn't very nice, or not as good as I remember. But no - it tasted really good, and was very cheap. And make no mistake, this is dirty, nasty food - greasy, spicy, and just wrong in so many ways.

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