2For66

Cook date: May 20, 2023
Post Date: January 5, 2023
Update: January 8, 2024:

As one would expect, I found the recipe less than a day after publishing the post even though I had spent hours trying to find it before. Such is life. The recipe comes from the June/July 2023 Cooks Country Magazine. I have a love/hate relationship with the America’s Test Kitchen sites (ATK, Cooks Country, Cooks Illustrated magazines and associated websites). Many of their recipes are quite good but I have found them a hard company to deal with.

In the past I have subscribed to the two magazines and the all access site. I have absolutely no problem with subscription services; companies need to make their money. But I do have a problem with companies that make it difficult to opt out of subscriptions. It took more than a few months to untangle myself from the magazine renewals when I no longer wanted paper copies.

I have two specific problems with the web access. First, it used to be that the generic AmericasTestKitchen.com site was associated with the TV shows and you could access those recipes without a paid subscription. You needed an account but it was free to access the recipes you saw on the show or on YouTube. Now, when you find a recipe you like on their YouTube channel and click the link you are stopped at a pay wall where you have to subscribe – and pay – to get the recipe. For this recipe I I worked around that by handwriting everything from the video and/or finding the recipe published on an associated Public Broadcasting station.

Second, whereas subscribing (and paying) to the site is easy online, I have not found a way to unsubscribe without making a phone call and getting a hard sell to keep your subscription. Serious Eats seems to be profitable without having the strangling subscription model, and the New York Times allows me to share a recipe with up to 10 people.

Enough of the rant. I confess I still read their magazines through the Apple News+ portal which is where I originally found this recipe last spring. The recipes can’t be printed from the portal; so I did a bit of cut/paste into my notes program for working the recipe. Then threw away the notes before I wrote the post.

Which leads to a bit of a problem; most of my cooking posts originate on other sites and I love to give credit to the creators. I don’t publish their recipe as my own; rather, I provide a link to the original source. Now, if I make changes I will note that. But it is frustrating for everyone if I provide a link to a site that requires payment to access. So, I’m going to point you to a similar recipe I found on YouTube when researching this recipe last spring.

The Tess Cooks 4u YouTube channel has a very similar recipe. She uses ketchup instead of tomato paste and has a slightly different set of spices.

When I make Coney Dogs again – and you know I will – I’ll be adjusting the Cooks Country recipe to incorporate some of Tess’s changes as well as some of my own (e.g. adding an anchovy fillet for more unami).

Original Post

Well, I’m embarrassed. I got lax in my posting last year but I want to cover stuff for myself if no one else. I cooked these Coney Dogs back in May and sometime between then and this week, I lost track of the source for cooking these. I can see my printed copy – along with my written notes – in my mind’s eye. I know right where my printed copy is (or was): the recycling center. I’ve looked through my YouTube saved videos, gone through my browser bookmarks, and searched via Google and Bing. Although I’ve found a good half a dozen suspects: articles I remember reading or videos I’ve watched, I’ve got nothin’. So unfortunately I can’t give credit where it is due. I’m sorry.

Going through the recipe candidates has been pretty easy because of two factors in the cooking. First, it has a few saltines; second the hamburger is not browned before cooking with the liquid and spices.

Let’s get down to it.

I’m not sure what’s up with the liquid in the measuring cup. Our water here is very good, so it isn’t sediment. It might have a smidge of Better Than Bullion beef stock in it (but it’s too light) for that, or some other liquid mixed in. If only I had the printed recipe with my notes.

Not a lot of ingredients. Now if you are at all squeamish you may want to skip the next two pictures. Everything goes in the pot …

… and mix with a hand blender.

Mixing the water with the hamburger before cooking – which, let’s face it, looks gross – is the best way to make a thin sauce – which is essential for true coneys. But if you watch enough videos on how to make coney dogs you’ll discover this is the best – if not only – way to get the essential thin sauce. The guy on the Tastin Round YouTube channel demonstrates the technique very well. Compare and contrast this sauce with my future post on hamburger chili which will have a much chunkier look and feel.

Put the pot on a burner and simmer for at least an hour (that much I remember).

When it’s getting close, grill up a hotdog or two. I just cooked one long Olympia Provisions dog because I only cook this for myself, for two reasons. First, Carla has 0 interest in this dish; B) I don’t want to foist off a dubious/untested recipe on my friends.

The dogs go into a couple of steamed buns and are then slathered with the sauce and topped with mustard and onions. Potato chips are my goto side.

The money shot.

How was it? Definitely this recipe creates a better coney dog than any of my 5 previous attempts. For a bonus, it is pretty easy together. Other recipes I’ve cooked require grinding your own spices and/or making your own chili powder. I think that is just too much work for this humble dish. Now, I know I made some notes and suggested changes on my lost paper copy but I guess I’ll have to remake this and keep better track. If I were to tell you – again – I’m going to quit trying to make coney dogs and just go to Roakes when I need a fix, don’t believe me.

Verdict: ★★★ 3 stars. Normally this means not suitable for company. But, if I were to have some guys over for a hang I would go to this recipe and cook it a day before, giving it a day for the flavors to meld. If I can find the recipe online I’ll update this post (and add a note to that effect on the top of the post.