The Best Texas Hots

 Long long ago, I lived in southwestern New York State.  There was not much that was memorable from those days except for my great respect for the Snow Belt and my love of Texas Hots.  These were sold everywhere and were, and probably still are, the quintessential food to eat after the bars closed.  I am not sure why they are called Texas Hots.  You find them all over this part of New york and they were not hot, as in spicy.  The flavors explode when you bite into one of these.  If you know someone that likes chili dogs, these are a thousand times better.  There are a million variations for this sauce but this is the one that I like best.  Follow it exactly for a taste bud rodeo ride.

Recipe:

1 pound ground beef
1 T. butter
3 C. water
1/2 T. paprika
1/2 T. sugar
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. granulated garlic
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. cayenne
salt and black pepper to taste

1 T. cornstarch
1 T. water

 Mix everything except the cornstarch and water together in a heavy pot and cook it over medium heat stirring occasionally to break up the ground meat. Turn it to medium/low and let it simmer for 3 hours.  You want the liquid to cook down and thicken a bit.  At the very end of the cooking time, make a slurry with the cornstarch and water and stir it into the mixture.  Cook stirring until the sauce thickens.  It thickens more when it is refrigerated. This is best made a day or two in advance to let the flavors blend.

 Steam the bun.  The bun needs to be very soft.  Spread it with yellow mustard. the mustard is important to the overall taste.

 This is also very important....cut slices into the hotdog. In SW New York, they actually have machines which they slide the wiener through and it is pierced multiple times.  This helps to hold the sauce.  I slice the hotdog all over with a knife and then microwave it for about 40 seconds.

 Cover the dog with lots of sauce.

And a big handful of diced onions.  Some people swear by sweet onions, others prefer Spanish onions.  I like them either way.  These are simply killer hotdogs.  Grab a bunch of napkins because they are really messy!