Now I must admit I am not the greatest lover of the all-American hot dog! In fact, the only time I really liked them was when I was pregnant. And then, all I wanted with my daily hot dogs (sometimes still cold right out of the package) were several huge slices of super cold watermelon. I almost lived on that diet for my last two trimesters. It’s totally amazing my daughter Paula is as normal as she is. Hot dogs and watermelon? Good grief!
But then low and behold, after probably not eating more than 3 hot dogs since my pregnancy, along comes a Seattle Cream Cheese Dog about 2 years ago. Now granted, when you eat one of these babies, it’s not really about the hot dog. It’s really about the toppings. Also, I must confess, I usually make mine with really good sausages rather than plain hot dogs. (I figure, if I am going to go to the trouble of caramelizing onions, and dressing up sauerkraut, I might as well go all the way and use a really good sausage too!) However you choose to prepare one of these Seattle street vendor classics, you are going to be in for a wonderful treat. There are just some foods that fall into the “guilty pleasure” category. And these “dogs” are definitely on my “guilty” list. And no, I am not going to tell you what other foods are on my list. You already know about my addiction to cheeseburgers. There’s only so much humiliation I can take at one time. I’m a cookbook writer and food blogger after all. I should have foods like fried ice cream with salted caramel sauce or homemade marshmallows covered in white chocolate and toasted coconut on my list. Not cheeseburgers and fancy hot dogs! But if truth be told, most of us who consider ourselves to be blessed with a sophisticated palate have a food or two we wish we didn’t like, but do! So just to make myself feel better about my guilty pleasure list, I’m going to imagine each and every one of you with a corndog in your hand. (And no, corn dogs are not on my list! In fact, I have never eaten one.) But happy day, I do actually possess some vestige of dignity after all!
- ¼ c. butter
- 2 large sweet onions, thinly sliced
- 2 tsp. bacon grease
- 1 can sauerkraut, well drained
- 1/4 tsp. caraway seeds
- 4-8 oz. cream cheese (amount depends on how messy you want to become)
- 12 hot dogs or favorite sausages
- 12 buns
- brown mustard
Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions, and cook slowly until the onions have softened and caramelized to a deep golden brown, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile combine the bacon grease, sauerkraut, and caraway seeds in a small saucepan. Warm gently while onions caramelize. Warm the cream cheese in the microwave while you grill the hot dogs or sausages. Also lightly grill buns on both sides. To assemble cream cheese dogs, spread mustard on one side of bun and warm cream cheese on the other. Add hot dogs or sausage, top with onions and sauerkraut and serve immediately.