Baseball, Hot Dogs and
Kraut:
A Love Affair
2014 Edition
Photo Credit: www.roadfood.com
Brought to you by Frank’s Kraut
Quick Facts about hot dogs, baseball and
sauerkraut
Americans eat approximately 7 billion hot dogs between Memorial Day and
Labor Day and most are recorded at baseball parks.
Major League Baseball fans were estimated to have bought enough sausages and hot
dogs to stretch from RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., to AT&T Park in San Francisco,
according to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council.
The only major league stadium to sell more sausages than hot dogs is Miller
Park in Milwaukee, WI.
In 2008, Los Angeles spent about $90, 473, 016 on hot dogs and New York spent about
$108, 250, 224 – more than any other U.S. city that year.
For the 100 year birthday of Wrigley Field, the Park is offering “Decade
Dogs.” Each of these hot dogs represents a decade in the life of the cozy
confines of Wrigley. The Reuben Dog represents 1910, the year the Reuben
may have been created and is made of sauerkraut, corned beef, Thousand
Island dressing and Swiss cheese.
July is considered National Hot Dog Month. Mustard, ketchup, sauerkraut
and onions are some of the most widely available ballpark toppings.
Wrigley Field and Yankee Stadium tied for best stadium hot dog in a recent
national food association survey.
Hot Dogs and Baseball have been linked together since 1893, with a German
immigrant, Chris von der Ahe, who owned the St. Louis Browns.
Frank's Kraut introduced the first and only sauerkraut singles packet in
2001. It was determined that 1.5 oz was the perfect amount of sauerkraut to
fit on a hot dog bun. The singles were available at Yankee Stadium. Frank’s
currently supplies polybagged Kraut to Yankee Stadium.
Babe Ruth is said to have loved hot dogs served with Sauerkraut and a
dollop of horseradish or a ribbon of mustard. A dog served this way is called
“A Babe.”
The Bambino reportedly gorged himself on a dozen to 18 hot dogs before blacking out on
a train ride in April 1925. And a week later he was at St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York,
undergoing surgery for an intestinal abscess. It was known as the “bellyache heard
around the world.”
The history of the hot dog
.
Photo Credit: Bernice Abbot
The first evidence of a hot dog creation dates as far back as 64 A.D. when a
cook stuffed ground meat into a pig intestine casing and served it to Emperor
Nero Claudius as a new culinary endeavor.
The frankfurter, a spiced and smoked sausage, was develop and named in
Frankfurt, Germany in the 15th century. The wiener sausage prepared with
pork and beef came from Vienna in 1805, but was known to Germans as
Wien.
In the 19th century the concept was brought to the United States by
immigrant migration from Europe.
By 1893, sausages had become the standard fare at baseball parks. This
tradition is believed to have been started by a St. Louis bar owner, Chris
Von de Ahe, a German immigrant who also owned the St. Louis Browns
major league baseball team (see above).
So how did the Hot Dog make its way to ballpark stadiums across the
country? The bun was the game changing element however the credit is still
up for debate.
According to one story, Antonoine Feuchtwanger, a St. Louis vender, would
give each customer a borrowed glove so they wouldn’t burn their hands
while eating his dogs. When customers did not return the gloves
Feuchtwanger lost money, and it is said that his wife proposed soft rolls fitto-size for the sausages as a substitute to the glove.
Another story maintains that Charles Feltman, a German butcher, began
selling sausages on rolls at Coney Island in Brooklyn in 1867. The sausages
were so popular that he abandoned his wagon for a restaurant with a beer
garden and stands.
Nathan Handwerker worked for Feltman until 1916 when he opened his own
stand and charged customers half the price of his former boss. Today,
Nathan’s Famous hot dogs are still sold in more than 20,000 locations
across the United States.
Hot Dogs and Sauerkraut Recipes
Traditional
Photo Credit: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt
Ingredients:
1 (1 pound) package sauerkraut, with juices
2 pounds natural casing all-beef hot dogs
Buns and brown mustard for serving
Directions:
Set half the burners on a gas grill to the highest heat setting, cover, and
preheat for 10 minutes. Clean and oil the grilling gate.
Place sauerkraut and juices in a 10-inch square disposable aluminum pan.
Alternatively, construct a tray out of a double layer of heavy duty aluminum
foil, 10 inches square, with sides about 2 inches high. Nestle hot dogs into
sauerkraut.
Place tray on hot side of grill and cook until simmering, about 4 minutes.
Slide to cooler side of grill. Cover grill with vents over the sausages. Cook
with all vents open until hot dogs are heated through, about 10 minutes,
turning once in the middle.
Remove lid. Using tongs, remove hot dogs from sauerkraut and place
directly on cooking grates over hot side of grill. Cook, turning occasionally,
until well browned and crisp, about 3 minutes total. Return to sauerkraut.
Toast buns over hot side of grill if desired. Serve hot dogs with buns,
mustard, and sauerkraut.
Frank’s :15 second video for this recipe:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rppBjnOtOAM
Chicago Style Hot Dog Recipe
Ingredients:
1 natural casing all-beef hot dog
1 poppy seed bun
yellow mustard, white onion, sweet pickle relish with mint,
sport peppers, tomatoes, kosher dill pickle spear, celery salt.
Directions:
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Reduce heat to low, place hot dog in water,
and cook 5 minutes or until done. Remove hot dog and set aside. Carefully
place a steamer basket into the pot and steam the hot dog bun 2 minutes or
until warm.
Place hot dog in the steamed bun. Pile on the toppings in this order: yellow
mustard, sweet green pickle relish, onion, tomato wedges, pickle spear, sport
peppers, and celery salt. The tomatoes should be nestled between the hot dog
and the top of the bun. Place the pickle between the hot dog and the bottom
of the bun. Don't even think about ketchup!
New York Style Hot Dog Recipe
Photo credit: www.seriousseat.com
Ingredients:
Onion Sauce:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 medium onions, cut into 1/4-inch slices
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
8 kosher hot dogs, boiled
8 hot dog buns
Spicy brown mustard, as needed
Cooked sauerkraut
Directions:
Onion sauce: Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the
onions and saute until they are soft. Stir in the honey, cinnamon and chili
powder and cook for 1 minute. Add the ketchup, water, hot sauce, salt and
black pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook until the sauce thickens, about 10
to 15 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let it cool to room
temperature before serving.
Assembly: Put the boiled hot dogs onto the buns. Spread the bottom half of
each bun with some mustard and top each hot dog with the onion sauce or
sauerkraut or both.
Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/new-york-street-cart-dog-recipe.html?oc=linkback
Reuben Hot Dog Recipe
Photo credit: www.realsimple.com
Ingredients:
4 (¼ pound each) hot dogs
1/4 cup Thousand Island dressing
4 hot dog rolls
1 (8-ounce) can sauerkraut, drained
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Swiss cheese
½ pound thin sliced corned beef
Directions:
Cook the four hot dogs on a hot grill.
Heat the sauerkraut and the corned beef in a separate skillet on the grill.
Heat the buns on the grill.
When dogs are grilled, place then in the warmed buns,
Add the warmed corned beef, top with the warmed sauerkraut.
Add 1/8 cup of shredded Swiss cheese to the top of each dog. Place the dogs
in the skillet on the grill and cover for 60 seconds to melt the Swiss cheese.
Remove from heat and add a dollop pf Thousand Island dressing to each
dog.
Serves four. Recipe: Frank’s Kraut