The hot hot dog

After a couple Man V Food marathons my friend and I were getting massive cravings for slow roasted, gut busting, meaty and cheesy American grub. Last Sunday turned out to be the perfect time to fulfill those meaty urges when we decided on some delicious chili hot dogs. To get the slow cooking element in to the recipe we chose to cook the chili in the oven for a few hours, until all the flavours had really mingled and the meat was almost melting. The recipe which follows is actually more of a guide because I made it up as I went along and it was down to personal taste. I think next time I would do more of a savoury, meaty chili as the one we ended up with was quite sweet and had a rich tomato flavour. We got some nice Polish frankfurter type sausages which had turkey and pork in them and some soft fresh buns. It definitely was man vs food when it came to serving up the chili dogs but this time, man won.

Chili Hot Dogs

Chili:
300g beef mince (or a mixture of beef and pork if you want a really nice chili)
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1-2 tsp chili powder or to taste
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp hot paprika (if you want a really hot chili)
1 tsp cumin
a sprinkle of chili flakes
1 beef stock cube
1/2 tin of chopped tomatoes (add the whole tin if you like it to have a bigger tomato flavour)
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp cocoa powder (trust this, it works!)
salt & pepper to taste
dark sugar if sweetness is need

Preheat the oven to 150°C/Gas Mark 2/3. Start by browning the meat off in an oven proof pan or casserole dish, then add the onions and cook down until they become soft. Add the crushed garlic and all of the spices and fry them all for a couple of minutes. Add the stock cube mixed with a little hot water and the chopped tomatoes and mix in until you have the consistency of watery porridge, adding more water if necessary. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce and the rest of ingredients and cook for about 5 minutes. Give the chili a taste now and adjust the ingredients depending on what you think is needed. Don't be afraid to use a fair bit of salt to prevent the chili tasting bland. Once you are happy with the taste, pop your lovely chili in the oven and leave to cook down for as long as you can wait.

Once ready, boil the sausages for 3-4 minutes and serve the hot dog and chili in a nice, soft bun with grated cheese, American mustard and some chopped onions. Meaty heaven!