Chili and hot dogs go together like butter and popcorn. Or peas and carrots. Actually better than those pairings. Me, I like a little kick so I made spicy chili cheese hot dogs. That perfect pairing just got even better. And even better, they definitely satisfy my ‘messier is better’ theory because these dogs are definitely messy. Don’t be tempted to eat these with a fork and knife. That’s not right. You gotta get in there and get messy!
Easy. Or Not.
You can take two routes when making some spicy chili cheese hot dogs. You could grab a can of meatless chili out of the pantry. And a jar of jalapeno queso. Even some pre-cut onions. In just a few minutes you could be enjoying these dogs. Or you could make some chili, throw together a cheese sauce, and go the from-scratch route. Either way, they’re gonna be good. It’s up to you.
If I’ve got the time I’ll cook my dogs on the grill. Nothing beats a juicy, beefy dog over charcoal. But if I don’t, it’s off the air fryer I got. Not only does the air fryer cook dogs up great, it also toasts the buns perfectly.
I use a pretty straight-forward air fryer, that doesn’t have a lot of bells (ok, it has a bell for when the timer goes off!) and whistles. It gets the job done.
½cupchiliwarmed. use no-bean chili. you might want a little more than 1/2 cup
1jalapeñostemmed, seeded, diced
¼cupcheese saucewarmed, you might want a little more than 1/4 cup
¼cuponionchopped
Instructions
Place the hot dogs onto the buns.
Divide the chili between the hot dogs.
Add the jalapeno to the warmed cheese sauce and stir.
Divide between the hot dogs.
Add the onion.
Serve!
Notes
I like to cut a shallow slit down the dogs lengthwise before cooking. The hot dogs open up a bit while cooking. This allows the toppings to settle in to the dog, not spilling out when you take a bite.
If you’re going to take the time to fire up a grill for burgers, there’s no point in making boring ones. These Five Alarm smash burgers pack a lot of flavor in each and every bite. Along with a bit of heat. And they’re messy. Messy is good. Always. Things drip out when you take a bite. They’re supposed to. But don’t waste those yummy juices. Take that last bite of the bun and use it to scoop them up for that last parting delicious bite.
A Little Heat. A Lot Of Flavor.
Once you’ve made a smash burger or two you’ll find them to be as easy to make as the non-smash ones. Before long you’ll be a master at it, making great burgers like these Five Alarm smash burgers. These are actually a take on a similar burger that used to be available at Red Robin. They should put them back on the menu. They’re great burgers, smashed or not.
Here’s the equipment I use. You can get by using two cast iron skillets. Use a larger skillet for cooking the burgers, and a smaller one to smash the burgers and keep them flat. Since I’m a cooking gadget collector, I prefer to use a few more tools.
The griddle
First, a griddle. You can buy griddles that sit on top of your grill grates or ones that replace them. Just about every grill I have has a griddle on it. I use them for a lot of things, not just smash burgers. You want one that can be placed over the hottest part of your grill so it gets screaming hot.
Next, you need a burger press. You can use a heavy cast iron skillet, like I mentioned. Or get a burger press. For easy cleanup I wrap mine in foil first. When I’m done, just peel off the foil and toss. Super easy. Get a press that’s at least big enough to cover two burgers. You only smash one at a time, but if you want to keep them flat, you want to rest the press on top so bigger (and heavier) is better. Plus I’ve found that a bigger, heavier press tends to stay on the burgers whereas a smaller, lighter one is hard to keep centered on the burgers, specially if you have a bunch of them cooking at once.
Next up, a dome. While not 100% required, it does speed the time it takes to melt the cheese and it does it in a nice even fashion. In my opinion you don’t really need one if you’re using a super melty cheese, such as American, but for thicker slices like say a deli pepper jack, you want the cheese to melt before you over-cook the burger and that’s where a dome comes in handy.
Lastly, you need something to clean your griddle. I like to clean mine when I’m done cooking, but you can do it at the start instead. I use one of these pad holders with a griddle cleaning pad. Then I add a bit of water to my griddle then use the pad (connected to the holder) to scrub off any big chunks and get up some of the grease. I don’t go crazy with it, I always heat the heck out of my griddle before cooking, but I get the worst. The long arm on the pad holder makes it perfect for scrubbing a hot griddle, too.
Fire up your grill for medium-high heat. Place a griddle or a large cast iron pan over the highest heat.
Season the ground beef with the seasoning, mix and form into four 4 ounce balls (not patties!).
Place the balls of beef on the griddle and let cook for one minute. Just let them cook, don’t mess with them.
Take your press and flatten out the patties. I like to use the point of the press and work my way around the ball first, doing a little section at a time and then finally I press down on the entire patty to flatten it out. You can also just flatten out the ball all at once. At this point I also like to season the patties some more.
Let the patties cook until you start to notice a little char along the edges. Flip, season again if desired, and continue cooking another minute or so until the other side is charred. The burgers are thin so they will cook very quickly so watch out.
Top patties with cheese and let cook another 30 seconds to melt the cheese.
Toast the buns. Remove.
Add the patties to the bottom buns. Top with tomato, jalapeno, salsa and lettuce.
Slather top buns with the mayonnaise mixture and serve.
I’m a big fan of these quick fix salt pepper and garlic potato chips. They are packed with great flavor. In every single bite. Unlike those store-bought chips where you get a seasoned chip… followed by a naked tasteless chip. Not these. Seasoning everywhere! Yeah, I used a spice mix that is usually found on smoked beef brisket. That’s the beauty of this approach. Whatever flavor chips I want, I can make!
Cheap Chips. Great Results.
You don’t have to start out with expensive, name-brand chips when you make some quick fix salt pepper and garlic potato chips. In fact, you’re gonna have great results with the cheapest chips you can find. Personally, I recommend wavy chips with ridges. Those ridges and waves help trap the seasonings and keep them on the chips. No big seasoning mounds in the bottom of the bowl here. You want that stuff to stick.
Heavy Handed
I admit it, when I make quick fix chips, no matter the flavor, I am heavy handed with the seasoning. Big time. Load them up. If I wanted wimpy flavored chips I’d have bought the pre-made stuff. I want flavor. Everywhere. All over.
I fess up when I need to fess up. And I need to fess up. Because when my wife first shared this recipe for an easy Mexican coleslaw with me I expressed skepticism. What’s wrong with my slaw recipes, huh? Do I need lime juice in my slaw? Or beans? Or taco seasoning????
Well, yes, I do. I do need those things. And more. Because I ended up loving this slaw. A lot. So many different flavors and textures. There’s absolutely nothing boring about this slaw. This is slaw re-imagined. At a new level. So, I’m sorry. I was wrong thinking this wouldn’t be a fantastic dish because it was.
Lots of… Stuff
Oh I know the ingredient list for this easy Mexican coleslaw is a bit long. But it is still ‘easy’. In fact it’s crazy easy. Considering the reward, it’s more than worth it too. There’s all sorts of like… healthy things in it too. If you’re looking to really shake up your next picnic or family get together or just a simple grill-out, make this slaw. You’ll be more than happy that you did.
I almost always use Blue Plate mayonnaise in the dishes I make. I think it is the best around. If you can’t find it locally you can pick it up online for a fair price.
In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, lime juice and taco seasoning.
Add the coleslaw, bell pepper, tomatoes, beans, corn, jalapeno and cilantro to a large bowl.
Stir to combine.
Gently stir in the mayonnaise mixture.
Add salt and pepper, to taste.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Stir before serving.
Serve garnished with additional tomatoes if desired.
Notes
For the corn, we used two ears of fresh corn. I husked them then tossed them on a hot grill, turning often, until nicely roasted. After letting them cool I cut the kernels off with a knife. You can use canned or frozen corn if you prefer. If you wish to roast it, pat dry and put on a baking sheet. Place under the broiler, stirring often, until lightly roasted.
I love franks and beans. And I love hot dogs on a bun. Why not put the two together and have both in one bite? Well, you can sure bet Franks and Beans hot dogs are great. Delicious beefy (grilled in my case) hot dogs. Sweet baked beans. Bacon. Gotta have some back. Onion and mustard. All on a great bun. Yep, this is the hot dog of dreams!
The No Messin’ Zone
Sure, I could probably come up with crazy ways to make these franks and beans hot dogs different. Put some kinda fru-fru mustard on them maybe. Use some weird spinach-infused cheddar dogs or something. Nope, this is not the time for that kind of messin’ around. These dogs are meant to invoke memories of a whole lot of franks and beans dishes and hot dogs eaten as a kid. And they do. Mission accomplished.
I like to cut a shallow slit down the dogs lengthwise before cooking. The hot dogs open up a bit while cooking. This allows the toppings to settle in to the dog, not spilling out when you take a bite.
My oh me oh goodness. It’s hard to put into words how much I loved these woodfired garlic oyster crackers. The seasoning is just perfect. It helps that I’m a total garlic addict. But this isn’t no ordinary garlic flavor, nope. It’s garlic that has been roasted over a fire. Who does that? Great people do that! And they put it in a shaker bottle so I can have the best crackers ever!
Crazy Fantastically Good And A Big Favorite Of Mine.
I went big when I seasoned my crackers. Woodfired garlic oyster crackers can handle lots of seasoning. The fine folks over at Kinder’s did this seasoning up right. The flavor is so good I can’t get enough. Up next, I’m sprinkling some on a whole roasted chicken. This stuff is going to replace my traditional rotisserie chicken for sure. I love it (in case you couldn’t tell)!
Beer and peel-and-eat shrimp. One of life’s simplest pleasures. Nothing beats whiling the time away with an ice cold beer and a big ole bucket of tasty, perfectly cooked shrimp. No worries. No rush. Just keep eatin’ and sippin’. These Key West peel-and-eat shrimp were the perfect way to spend my afternoon. Nice big shrimp. Seasoned my way, which means plenty of Old Bay. And a delicious dipping sauce on the side. Good times and good eats!
Try Something Different
If you usually find yourself dipping your Key West peel-and-eat shrimp in cocktail sauce or butter, I really urge you to try the mayonnaise-based dipping sauce in this recipe. It’s got a little mustard tang to it. It’s nice and creamy. And for just a bit of heat, it’s sprinkled with red pepper flake. It’s different in a very good way.
I don’t usually fire up (ok, turn on) my crockpot during the hot summer, but storms were brewing. I decided to make an exception and make a fantastic slow cooker enchilada soup. Tender, falling apart chicken is slow cooked in a pool of enchilada sauce goodness. Deep flavors, and a bit spicy. I love spicy and this soup does not disappoint.
Roasted Corn Adds Flavor
Since fresh corn is in season I tossed a few ears on the grill to roast them, then cut off the kernels for this slow cooker enchilada soup, but right-out-of-the-can works great too. You can roast canned corn if you wish. Just drain it well, dump it out on a sheet pan, and place under the broiler (keeping an eye on it) until it starts to char a bit. Done.
Tender, falling apart chicken is slow cooked in a pool of enchilada sauce goodness. Deep flavors, and a bit spicy. I love spicy and this soup does not disappoint.
It was a hot summer’s day. My mind was floating off to summers gone by and to picnics and family get-togethers. And then I remembered… pasta salad. Now there’s something I’ve always loved and it always screamed ‘summer’ to me. But I was looking for something a little different. Something as good as grandma’s (well as good as hers as possible) but with a twist. And here it is. Deviled egg pasta salad. Everything good in one salad. Deviled eggs (you probably figured that). Pasta (and you probably were expecting that too). And dill pickles. What? Yep, no celery. Dill pickles instead.
In A Pickle
This is a dill pickle-flavor-packed pasta salad, make no mistake about it. Now me, I love that flavor so I put a bit extra in my deviled egg pasta salad. You might want to cut it back a bit. Or add more. I don’t know you. Maybe you love pickles even more than I do.
No More Pickles?
Did you use up your jar of dill pickles? Great! Now don’t toss out that wonderful pickle brine! It’s great for a lot of things. It’s great in a burger sauce. Perfect in a fry dipping sauce. Or use it to marinade chicken before throwing it on the grill!
Fellow Ranch-aholics rejoice! Real Ranch flavor is here at least! My quick fix Ranch potato chips aren’t like those wimpy store-bought ones. You know the ones. The first 8 chips are covered in seasoning and you’re happy. The rest of the bag is as plain as can be. All the seasoning has decided to go to the bottom of the bag. And not on the chips. Well, not these! You can make these as Ranch-y as you want!
Heat ‘Em. Spice ‘Em. Eat ‘Em.
It’s literally that easy to make these quick fix ranch potato chips. The chips taste great. You can see the seasoning. And the cool part is I can add a little or a lot. I’m in control here.
You start with cheap chips. No reason to get the expensive ones. You actually want them a bit oily, a bit greasy. Why? Seasoning sticks to oily and greasy. Same reason you want rippled chips. Seasoning sticks to ripples, too.
Don’t grab those wimpy Ranch seasoning packets, the ones you use for making dips and dressings. Hey, they’re fine for that but they aren’t going to season a big bag of chips. Go big. Grab a shaker canister and season to your heart’s content!
