Michigan Coney Sauce Recipes

MICHIGAN HOT SAUCE

Steps:

• Mix all ingredients together, except meat.
• Add meat raw and mash with a potato masher while the sauce is cooking. It is important to mash the meat while it is raw, to get the consistency right! Michigan sauce, traditionally, is a very thick sauce that doesn't have meat chunks.
• Simmer 2-3 hours, stirring and mashing with the potato masher occasionally.

DETROIT'S CONEY DOG

Steps:

• Saute' ground beef, onion, and garlic in a large pot until meat is cooked. Drain off half the fat. Add salt and black pepper. Add tomato sauce (optional).
• In a small bowl mix the cracker meal with the rest of the spices. Add to the meat and cook until the cracker meal or crushed crackers are browned. Add water and simmer for about 1 hour. Add more water if this gets too thick. Season again with salt to taste.
• You may skip this last step if you like the texture of your chili, but many people say the traditional Coney Sauce is blended to make a smoother sauce, you may use a traditional blender or food processor, but I like to use an immersion blender. Blend until you reach the desired consistency.
• When the chili is close to being ready, heat oven to 350 degrees. Wrap hot dog buns in foil and place them in oven for about 10 minutes until they're warm.
• While the buns are warming, get the hot dogs ready. The original Coney Dogs are grilled but you can steam or boil if you'd prefer. Put the hot dog in the bun, top with chili, yellow mustard and chopped onion.

FLINT'S ORIGINAL CONEY ISLAND

Steps:

• Mix all ingredients in a heavy pan and cook over med to low heat until mixture cooks and becomes dry and crumbly.
• If it seems too wet or greasy, add a few crumbled saltine crackers.
• Best if made a day ahead and reheated in a frying pan.
• Freezes well.
• Note: I grind my hot dogs up in a blender with a little water.
• I also chop the onions using my blender with water.

AWESOME CONEY SAUCE

Steps:

• 1. Chef's Note: There are two secrets to the traditional sauce: a minimum of ingredients, and the cut of the ground beef. As one vendor I talked to on Coney Island said to me: If you want to add extra onions, mustard, beans, whatever... Go for it, but the sauce is the sauce, pure and simple (a man of few words). In truth, keeping the ingredients to a minimum makes this an ideal sauce for a variety of things: For example, it's an excellent sauce for a chili/cheese burger.
• 2. Start by finely chopping the onions. Chef's Tip: The easiest way to do this is to use the large holes on a box grater. In addition, when you grate an onion, it will release a lot of moisture from the ruptured cell walls, and I usually pick up some of that excess liquid by laying the grated onion on a few sheets of paper towels.
• 3. Have your other ingredients close at hand.
• 4. Add the cold water (or stock) to a skillet, and then add the grated onions, and the ground beef. Chef's Note: This ground sirloin is not your typical grind... it's called a triple grind by your butcher. What I usually do is take regular grind and put it into my food processer for a couple of spins. The result is a very finely ground beef, and that is one of the secrets of this sauce.
• 5. Chef's Historical Note: According to the historical record, the recipe used ground beef heart, which is then ground to a consistency of fine-ground beef... not ground sirloin.
• 6. Simmer the onion and beef over medium-to-medium-high heat until thoroughly cooked, and the onions are soft, about15 minutes.
• 7. Add the remaining ingredients, and slow simmer, uncovered, until it thickens, about 2 to 3 hours. Chef's Tip: I like Maxine's chili powder, but it's hot, so I usually use only 4 tablespoons. Actually, the chili powder will really make this sauce... Chef's Note: If it begins drying out, add a bit of water, or broth.
• 8. Chef's Tip: If you are using beef stock, as opposed to plain water, then you might want to leave out the additional salt.
• 9. Well, that's about it... get yourself a dog or two, and have at it. What are you waiting for...
• 10. One more thing: If you are a purest, and you want the "real" experience, then you need the right hotdog, and that's from the Koegel Meat Company in Flint, Michigan. Keep the faith, and keep cooking...

PORT HURON-STYLE CONEY SAUCE

Steps:

• Combine the ground chuck, chili powder, cinnamon, paprika, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, allspice, mustard, beef base, and 1 cup water in a large saucepan over medium-high heat; use a potato masher to break up the beef and mix the rest of the ingredients through the beef; bring to a simmer; reduce heat to medium-low and continue to simmer 2 to 3 hours, adding water occasionally to keep the mixture moist. Once the mixture is softened, stir in the crushed crackers to thicken.

MICHIGAN CONEY SAUCE RECIPE

Steps:

• Brown beef and onions in the cup of water.
• Add all other ingredients and bring to a boil.
• Reduce to a simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thick-usually about 3 hours.

CONEY ISLAND SAUCE

Steps:

• In a large skillet, cook the beef, onion and celery over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the tomato sauce, brown sugar, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, mustard and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes or until sauce is thickened, stirring occasionally., Grill or cook hot dogs according to package directions. Place hot dogs in buns; top with sauce.

WORLD'S BEST MICHIGAN HOTDOG SAUCE

Steps:

• 1. Fry hamburg in skillet breaking into pieces as you would for a meat sauce or for sloppy joes.Drain off excess fat after hamburg has cooked.
• 2. Mix all the ingredients together (except hotdogs and buns) in a saucepan.Heat on low until just below the boiling point.
• 3. Cover and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes.Serve over hotdogs on hotdog rolls.