Hey Alley.....char dogs?! By Bashan (Read 697 times)

[Bashan]

I flew up to Toledo recently and my plane got diverted to Chicago's O'Hare for a couple hours. Trying to kill some time I wandered around the terminal and ran into this Gold Coast Chicago Char Dog Cafe. Being almost 60 I thought I'd ran into about every kind of food but I'd never heard of a Char Dog. So I ordered one and it came out with the kitchen sink on it. The one thing that really stood out was this kryptonite green relish on it. There were also sport peppers and a tomatoe! Here's a pic of it:

It was fantastic and actually snapped like an angry chihuahua when I bit into it. That was the dog casing I later realized. I gotta get some of that relish and find the recipe for these things, they're great. Alley, or anybody else, what's the skinny on these things and how do you buy or make the relish. I'm hooked, Rich

[runningslow]

I'm not from Chicago, but I did find this link while searching.
There's a small snippet at the bottom about how to prepare a "char dog" vs the Classic:
www.amazingribs.com/recipes/hot_dogs_and_sausages/chicago_hot_dogs.html

Curiously, it has the same picture that you posted, so I think you may have already found it.

The kryponite green relish is just sweet relish with food coloring.

[jct842]

It's well known that the chicago dogs that you get all over the chicago area are the best in the world. most come wrapped with frys. the ketchup packs are for the fries, it is a mortal sin to use ketchup on a dog. mustard, pickles, cucumber, tomato, onions, relish, sport peppers, and a dog that is not sold in retail packages. john

[Alleyoop]

Yep those are some eating dogs, and the relish is what runningslow said Sweet relish it comes in a glass jar any food market will carry them. But you have to have the fries along with it YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. 5 minutes from my house is Johnny's Hot Dogs and they are great, their BEEF is the best they have gotten awards for their beef. Some times for supper I just go and get 2 dogs Everything on it of course each dog comes with fries and 1 beef for me, my wife either a plan Beef sandwich or 1 plain hot dog.
Alley

[Bashan]

Mar 12, 2012 21:27:52 GMT -6 jct842 said:

the ketchup packs are for the fries, it is a mortal sin to use ketchup on a dog.

[/b][/quote]
They had a big sign up that said "to use ketchup on the dog you must show ID to prove you're under 12 years of age". I got the feeling they were only half joking, they took their dogs seriously.

Thanks for the link Josh that does clear a lot of things up. I didn't read that article because I was in a hurry and just snagged the image off of the Google bank. The wife and I are going on a quest to recreate the Char Dog. I found the relish online but I think we're going to try to find a recipe. This stuff is ten bucks a pop from Vienna Beef!

[Bashan]

I searched and found a recipe for the relish but it sounds like WAY too much trouble, especially since my wife refused to make it. So further searching found The Puckered Pickle which seems to have everything you need including the sport peppers, all at reasonable prices. The sport peppers are kinda hard to find for some reason, many web sites say they're out of stock or no longer sold. We have sport peppers here in the south but they're in a shaker jar of vinegar to put on collards and such. They taste like plutonium out of the jar so I don't think they'll do. I'm going to go ahead and order the condiments and hope they arrive soon for my quest to the perfect dog. Rich

[jct842]

The dog it self can not be bought in a small retail package either, a few top end kosher ones come close but not quite the same. john

[bcgreatness]

those do look delectable indeed, never seen a chicago char dog. i on the other hand am a big fan of the new york style dogs. Sebbrets i believe they are called, with the hot dog being rolled on a traditional style hot dog cooker, then boiled, they come with the red onion sauce, topped with sourkraut and a line or two of mustard, doesnt get any better but could do without the near instant heart burn they provide as a bitter sweet side effect. i would love to try the recipe shown above excluding the pickle due to me being allergic to dill.

[Bashan]

Wow, allergic to dill eh? Never heard that one but I'm sure folks can be allergic to just about anything. That must be a pain, it's one of those things they slip into a lot of products without making it obvious. I went to school with a bunch of guys from The Big Apple (hi Ray and Joe) and they never quit talking about the "dawgs" in the city. Well actually they just never quit talking. I did get to have one but it was back in 1980 and I can't remember much about it, other than the heartburn. Rich

[bcgreatness]

yeah they burn so good, usually when i plan on getting those i stop by the store and get some zantac 150 and eat one prior to the dawgs. some road side hotdog stands sell the new york style dawgs so every once in a while i get to have them. you can buy the sebbrett brand of the hotdogs and the red onion topping at a grocery store then you have to buy your preffered brand of sour kraut and you will have one but no matter how many times i try, i cant ever get them tasting like the road side carts make them, i swear they must add drugs to them so that people get addicted and go back for more. still want to try that chicago char dog, mmm looks tasty!

[Bashan]

They had s sign up that said they use poppy seed buns so you'd have to keep coming back for the opium. So maybe they do infuse drugs into them. I think John is right, you can't find dogs in the store like they made them with. I probably should have ponied up and ordered some of the high end ones from Vienna Beef. The kryptonite relish is on the way so I guess I'll make do with a local brand. I guess that's why the stands and shops stay in business, you just can't quite duplicate them. Rich

[Bashan]

I got the stuff from The Puckered Pickle, here's the lineup of suspects:

The hot Gardenia mix is beyond hot, more like nuclear. The dill spears and sport peppers are to go on top of the dogs and are great on their own. The dill relish is much better than what you get at the super. The sweet pickle relish is part of the recipe for Chicago dogs. It's a bizarre combination of mint, sweet, sour, and is irresistible. They don't call it kryptonite green for no reason:

As you can see I've been sampling. We have some friends coming over today for Chicago dogs and I'll let you know how they turn out. Rich