Hot Dog Sauce recipe from Texas Lunch

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Originally posted by tdj_tx

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tdj_tx,
I'm making your Sauce Recipe as we speak! ( With some modifications, of course)! The Whole house smells great! I used 2 cans of Beef Broth and 1 can of Vegetable Broth + water to make a total of 8 cups of liquid. I used one package, 12 oz, of Hebrew National Beef Franks and added about a 1/2 cup of finely chopped onion. I didn't deviate on the seasonings except the Paprika. I didn't have any. I haven't added the Cornstarch yet, but it looks awful soupy.It Tastes great!!!Have you ever used Masa Herena as a thickener? I hope the Cornstarch does the job. Gotta go do the Cornstarch. Pray for me!!

I'm back! Did the Cornstarch thing, boiled and stirred for 10 minutes. It's still on the soupy side but I can see it's going to work and it tastes great! It's been years since I lived back East but the aroma of this sauce brought it all back to Me. I've been so used to the thicker, meatier Chili Sauces of the Southwest that I almost forgot what the real deal Back East Texas Sauce tasted like. Guess what's on the menu tonite!!! I think I'm going to try a combo sauce next time by using this recipe and adding some finely chopped ground beef to the pot and see what that tastes like. Texas Lunch Affectionaidos will probably jump in their covered wagons and come out here and hunt me down like a dog!

Hey thanks for giving it a try, it does smell great. The broths you use would add to the flavor but the original hotdog joints wouldn't use them, costs to much. Did you watch the video I uploaded to youtube? It shows just what it should look like after adding the corn starch. You do have to bring the sauce to a boil after adding it. I usually just keep adding it until the desired thickness is achieved.

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Originally posted by jtdawg

I don't understand your spam comments. What makes you think I am spamming the board, is it because I used brand labels or that I might know a master chef in a city of over 6 million people? Sorry to say that even if I was a Juice or Spice salesman, I don't believe it would make me rich using brand names in my post.

JFYI, I went to the restarant to spy because the master chef said that most mom & pops restaurants don't hide the incredients they use in their food preparation. Sure enough there was OJ (SD for Tom) in the cooler. The spices were not on display so I don't know what they use, so I had to search local grocers to see what they might sell and this is where I found the curry with the same incredients. Still I don't know if they are in the same portions that the restaurant uses. While an electron microscope can help you determine a particular spice and it's texture, its hard to count the items on a slide to determine portions.

I am fairly sure the restaurant gets most of their food products from Sysco Foods (opps more Spam so I must work for Sysco) judging by the number of Sysco empty boxes lying around, so if someone works for Sysco and was to pull one of the orders we would all know what type of hamburger, weiners, buns, etc. many of these joints use.

quote:

Originally posted by tdj_tx

quote:

Originally posted by jtdawg

Tom,

I received a copy of your recipe a few years ago and while it is very good, it wasn't quite the same as the restaurant I visited often when I lived in New York. In my quest to determine the ingredients I had a sample of the sauce analyzed by a master chef and he determined the following:

<Master Chef Notes>
The list of spices used in this sample sauce recipe are....

Beef particles
Grease from food preparation
Onion Dehydrated - Ground
* Ginger Root - Ground
* Bay Powder - Fragmented Leaf Powder
* Celery Seed ( or similar ) - Ground Fine
* Black Pepper - Coarse Grind
* Turmeric - Ground
* Nutmeg - Ground
* Coriander - Powder
* Cloves - Powder
* Fenugree -Powder
* Red Peppers (probably shredded)
* Cumin flakes (probably shredded)
** Citric Acid

* These spices are all found in McCormicks Curry seasoning
** The local restaurant sells Sunny D'Light

The spices are probably a mild curry mix available through a Greek grocer with the above ingredients. This is probably a good starting point.

The sauce probably is made from leftovers in the kitchen with spices and a thickening agent is used (probably flour). It appears to be more gravy like than chili. So the guess is it starts out as a roux of equal parts of leftover grease from the hamburgers and hot dog preparations and flour. Once the roux has cooked to a light brown, the the spices are added and the roux is allowed to absorbed the flavors for two to three minutes before water and OJ are added.

There appears to be more cloves than what is found in the typical curry mixes.
</Master Chef Notes>


I checked local grocers (not Greek) in the area and discovered that all of these ingredients are found in McCormicks Curry mix. The citric acid probably comes from orange juice or in the case of this particular restaurant, Sunny D'Light.

If I were to guess the recipe goes something like this:

Prepare a light to medium brown Roux using the following:
1/2 Cup of lard (restaurant uses grease drippings with beef particles from food preparation)
1/2 Cup of flour

When Roux is at the desired color, remove from heat and add the following seasonings:
2-3 TSP of Curry powder
1-2 TSP of Cloves powder

Allow the Roux to absorb the seasoning's flavors for 2-4 minutes then add the liquids and hot dogs grounds
4-6 Grilled hot dogs (processed with a food processor or finely chopped as the restaurant probably uses leftover dogs)
8 Cups of water
1/2 Cup of Sunny D'Light or OJ

Return to heat and bring to near boiling and keep stirring so the mixture does not stick to the bottom of the pan and until the consistency of a light gravy is achieved. Taste along the way, adjusting the seasoning, salt or pepper as you like it.

spam spam spam, oh yea, and more spam

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Originally posted by Foodbme

Jtdawg,

Get a Life! If you want to do a scientific analysis, get a job at the FDA!

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Originally posted by Va South Gal

My husband grew up in Port Jervis, NY, and we always visit the Texas Lunch when we're there. I have tried duplicating their great hot dog sauce with no success. I'm going to try the sauce with ground hot dogs even though it sounds a little gruesome. Thanks! Also, we always go to Len and Joe's in Port Jervis for pizza. It's our first stop. The pizza is humble but wonderful.

quote:

Originally posted by tdj_tx

quote:

Originally posted by Va South Gal

My husband grew up in Port Jervis, NY, and we always visit the Texas Lunch when we're there. I have tried duplicating their great hot dog sauce with no success. I'm going to try the sauce with ground hot dogs even though it sounds a little gruesome. Thanks! Also, we always go to Len and Joe's in Port Jervis for pizza. It's our first stop. The pizza is humble but wonderful.

Oh the ground hot dogs really make the sauce, it's not gruesome at all. Here's a link to the youtube video I posted that will give folks a better idea of what to expect. I included this earlier in this thread, but that was a while ago. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlLpxHzJg-4

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Originally posted by MiamiDon

Oh the ground hot dogs really make the sauce, it's not gruesome at all. Here's a link to the youtube video I posted that will give folks a better idea of what to expect. I included this earlier in this thread, but that was a while ago. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlLpxHzJg-4

quote:

Originally posted by tdj_tx

quote:

Originally posted by MiamiDon

Oh the ground hot dogs really make the sauce, it's not gruesome at all. Here's a link to the youtube video I posted that will give folks a better idea of what to expect. I included this earlier in this thread, but that was a while ago. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlLpxHzJg-4

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tdj_tx:

I'm going to have to give this a try, even though I have never had the "original". What national-brand hot dogs do you recommend, both for the sauce and the hot dog on which it is placed?

That's probably more of a personal preference. I like Hebrew National, but I've been using a new uncured, all natural brand called "Bistro".
There really isn't any problem with Oscar Meyer, matter of fact that's what Dallas Hot Wiener's used. As a rule of thumb, I wouldn't put any hot dog in the sauce that I wouldn't eat by itself.

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Originally posted by docgolf

I also lived in Kingston, Ny for 45 yrs. and have loved the sauce from Dallas Hot Weiners. I now live in Arizona and there is nothing like it out here. I am going to try the receipe for the sauce this weekend. I hope it is close. I always new the 2 secret ingredients were ground hotdogs and cinnimon so I know this should be in the ballpark. A while back there were some picture posted from Dallas Hot Weiner shop and I know guy who was eating the hotdog in the last picture. (Bill, email me)

quote:

Originally posted by tdj_tx

quote:

Originally posted by tdj_tx

quote:

Originally posted by MiamiDon

Oh the ground hot dogs really make the sauce, it's not gruesome at all. Here's a link to the youtube video I posted that will give folks a better idea of what to expect. I included this earlier in this thread, but that was a while ago. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlLpxHzJg-4

quote:

tdj_tx:

I'm going to have to give this a try, even though I have never had the "original". What national-brand hot dogs do you recommend, both for the sauce and the hot dog on which it is placed?

That's probably more of a personal preference. I like Hebrew National, but I've been using a new uncured, all natural brand called "Bistro".
There really isn't any problem with Oscar Meyer, matter of fact that's what Dallas Hot Wiener's used. As a rule of thumb, I wouldn't put any hot dog in the sauce that I wouldn't eat by itself.

sorry, messed up the formatting.

Wh1teruss1an


Not meaning to bump up an old thread but I grew up in Port Jervis, NY and now live in Pittsburgh, PA.  I haven't had these hot dogs in years and i'm real grateful for this recipe.  I just made a batch and it was spot on! Thanks!

tdj_tx

Glad you made the sauce and liked it. Many people don't know what a Texas Hot Wiener is, those who do really appreciate this recipe. BTW it freezes well, I place about a half a cup in small containers and pop them in the freezer. You have to add just a little water to the sauce as you're bringing it back up to boil.

Wh1teruss1an

tdj_tx

Glad you made the sauce and liked it. Many people don't know what a Texas Hot Wiener is, those who do really appreciate this recipe. BTW it freezes well, I place about a half a cup in small containers and pop them in the freezer. You have to add just a little water to the sauce as you're bringing it back up to boil.

Thanks for the freezing advice, tdj_tx, the recipe makes much more than we could ever eat!  My family sends its gratitude, we're all a bunch of displaced orange county new yorkers, this brought a taste of home to us tonight.

seafarer john


I'm thankful to our Texas friend for his recreation of the real Greek Texas hot Wiener sauce. I've made it and it really is the real thing.

But i have to wonder at his admiration of the North jersey Italian hot dog. With due apologies to our Texas friend and to that  guru of hot dogs, John Fox, and a host of others who love those monstrosities, I think they are an inedible abomination.

The Italian bread or sub roll is good, the hot dog is good, the potatoes are good, the onions are good, the mustard is good, but in combination they are in incredible bad taste.

Cheers, John

Wh1teruss1an


Not meaning to bump up an old thread but I grew up in Port Jervis, NY and now live in Pittsburgh, PA.  I haven't had these hot dogs in years and i'm real grateful for this recipe.  I just made a batch and it was spot on! Thanks!

Trask


Shaddow,
Nice recollection of the way it was at Texas Lunch. I ate there frequently in the early sixties while in high school at PJ. Although close, it was located just off Pike Street on Front Street. I do make my own version which is like most have described here. The pictures say a lot but I made much use of many napkins while gobbling down several of these dogs. The sauce, as I remember, spilled over and ran down the sides and onto your fingers and down your chin. He also made burgers with this same sauce added. I used to do food runs for folks working at Kolmars. Great memories!
Trask

tdj_tx


Ok Trask, you've given me some ideas. This is the second reference to arrow root as a thickener. I think I will try a homemade beef stock, a little more crushed red pepper, and the arrow root. I'll stick with the ground hot dogs, it addes a texture that I remembered from the Dallas Hot Wiener's shop back in Kingston, NY. I have also run across another herb that I think is part of the original recipes, dried thyme leaves.

tdj_tx

tdj_tx


Ok Trask, you've given me some ideas. This is the second reference to arrow root as a thickener. I think I will try a homemade beef stock, a little more crushed red pepper, and the arrow root. I'll stick with the ground hot dogs, it addes a texture that I remembered from the Dallas Hot Wiener's shop back in Kingston, NY. I have also run across another herb that I think is part of the original recipes, dried thyme leaves.

I made a new batch of Hot Wiener sauce this weekend. Instead of 8 cups of water I used 4 cups of beef broth, a full pack (12 oz) Hebrew National beef franks, and I added 1/4 tsp dried thyme leaves. I left out the salt because the broth contained plenty. I tried using arrowroot as a thickener and was greatly disappointed. I used 1/4 C + 1 tbsp arrowroot to 1 cup cold water. It was thin and runny, tasted great though. I'll be going back to using cornstarch, plus the arrowroot is very expensive, almost $7 for 2.5 oz.