Tyler's Chili Cheese Dogs. I Kid You Not.

Even hubby gave me a strange look when he came home last night and saw the hot dog package on the counter. "We're having hot dogs for dinner?" Yes, yes we are. For I have never had a chili cheese dog before, and now some of my friends have made them and last week Tyler cooked them up for his Twitterlicious class and I decided that I wanted to try them.
There is something so freeing about making a dish that involves squeezing a large amount of ketchup into a pan of ground beef. Brings out the latent trailer mama in me.
It would never have occurred to me to put chili, a meaty stew, on top of a hot dog or anything else. In Canada chili is generally just eaten with some crusty bread in the depths of winter, usually after hockey games and other toe-chilling events.
Tyler's chili is one like I have never seen before, this recipe is surely designed solely to top hot dogs, being made primarily out of condiments. And you know what? It's good, really good.


Chili Cheese Dogs
Tyler Florence, Eat This Book

Ingredients
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 pound lean ground beef
1 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon prepared yellow mustard
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
4 all beef hot dogs, about 1/2 pound
4 hot dog rolls
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar

Directions
To make the chili: Heat a skillet over medium flame and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. When the oil gets hazy, add the onion and cook, stirring, until they are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the ground beef, breaking it up with the back of a spoon, and cook until nicely browned, about 10 minutes. Stir in the ketchup, chili powder, and mustard; simmer for 15 minutes until thick; season with salt and pepper.

For the hot dogs: While the chili is cooking: place a large grill pan on 2 burners over medium-high heat or preheat an outdoor gas or charcoal barbecue and get it very hot. Brush the grates with oil to keep the hot dogs from sticking. Parboil the dogs first before grilling: bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the hot dogs for about 5 minutes. Remove from the water and grill the hot dogs just long enough to give them grill marks. Brush the insides of the rolls with the remaining oil and place them face down on the grill until toasty. To serve, top each hot dog with the chili and some Cheddar cheese.

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