Mid-Century American Recipes: Hot Dogs

By Chrissy Pardo

 

Quick and Easy Ways to Ruin Hot Dogs!

Welcome back to Mid-Century American Recipes: from the magical time back when America was great and your parents’ marriage was super illegal in most states.

Today, I plan on paying homage to the humble yet venerable hot dog. As your minds wander back to all the times your lives and stomachs were saved by this simple sausage, let’s learn a little history about this American giant. Brought to the U.S. around the 1880s, the hot dog derives its roots from two different sausages: the all-pork frankfurter, and the pork and beef mixed wiener (teehee!). The name hot dog comes from the fact that the word dog was synonymous with sausages in the 1880s, due to accusations that some sausage makers used actual dog meat (which was sadly common in Germany at the time. Desperate times, I suppose…). 

Since this little sausage’s introduction, it has taken the nation by storm, becoming the favorite snack at barbecues, baseball games, and school cafeterias. It has become as American as apple pie, the 4th of July, and government assisted discrimination! With something this iconic, this patriotic, and this ubiquitous, there’s no way that mid-century people could possibly mess up these lovable, flavor-packed meat sticks, right?

Think again. After scouring the internet, I found three recipes that will make your heads and stomachs turn. We here at the “test kitchen” have recreated these classic dishes, and will let you know what we thought of them after each recipe. Enjoy.

 

 

The first recipe was inadvertently given to me while having dinner with my husband’s Jewish family a couple weeks ago, and I thought it was too good (read: horrible) not to share.

Frosted Hot Dogs

Frosted Hot Dogs

Frosted Hot Dogs

Recipe by the late Aunt Irma Wolfe, as remembered by Aunt Debbie and Cousin Janet 

Serves 4

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups frosted flakes cereal

  • 1 cup ketchup

  • 4 hot dogs

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Crush the frosted flakes, either by whirring them in your food processor, or putting them inside a plastic bag and crushing them with a meat tenderizer or rolling pin. Empty the crushed cereal onto a plate, and pour the ketchup onto another plate. Take each hot dog and roll it first in the ketchup, and then in the frosted flakes. Place each completed hot dog on a sheet pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Serve with your choice of condiments, or throw in the garbage after laughing at how sad your life is in this particular moment in time.

Our Verdict: We actually didn’t think these were the worst things in the world. We served ours with a swirl of sriracha. I also airfried mine and overdid them a bit, which is why they look so burnt and sad in the picture. They actually turned out much better than I thought they would. 

 

 
Libby’s Corn Ad

Libby’s Corn Ad

Cream Corn and Wiener Roast

This classic recipe came from a Libby’s corn ad from 1961. I used half the amount of hot dogs, as I needed to conserve the dogs needed for our next recipe, but with half the amount you’ll still end up with a dish that is worthy of the finest of garbage bins.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cans of cream corn

  • 4 hot dogs

  • 1 slice American cheese

(Note: the original recipe calls for mustard to be mixed with the corn, and for butter to be dotted on top of the casserole for baking. I left them out for two reasons. Firstly, I began to drink moderately after my fingers were coated with ketchup and I realized this entire article might be a hot crock of shit and thusly didn’t read the directions for this casserole closely enough; and secondly, because trust me— they wouldn’t have helped this dish taste any better anyway.)

Cream Corn and Weiner Roast

Cream Corn and Weiner Roast

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Take an 8x8 baking dish and coat with non-stick spray. Pour both cans of cream corn into the pan. Slice a long slit, lengthwise, into each hot dog, taking care not to cut all the way through the hot dog. Take your square of American cheese and cut into thin strips, then stuff inside the hot dog. Take each completed dog and place gently into the creamed corn. Bake for 30 minutes. Let the casserole sit for at least 5 minutes before punishing your loved ones with this atrocity.

Our Verdict: It looks like diseased pencil dicks sitting in a bed of baby poop, and upon tasting had me running out of the kitchen screaming “WHERE’S THE GIN?”

 

 

The last recipe comes from a vintage Campbell’s soup ad and is definitely the most labor intensive of these dishes. Touted as a $1.00 dish, it will definitely taste like one.

Vintage Campbell's Soup Ad

Vintage Campbell's Soup Ad

Frankfurter Crown Casserole

Ingredients:

  • 2 slices of bacon

  • ½ onion, minced

  • 1 can Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup

  • ½ cup water

  • ½ teaspoon salt

  • Dash pepper

  • 3 cups cooked potatoes (cut into rounds)

  • 1 cup cooked green beans (I used canned, of course, because I’m keeping it classy)

  • 12 hot dogs

Special equipment needed: an 8-inch casserole round dish, made by Corningware (I mean, is there anything whiter than Corningware?)

Frankfurter Crown Casserole

Frankfurter Crown Casserole

Method: Preheat the oven for 350 degrees. Fry the bacon in a medium sized pan. Remove when crispy and drain on paper towels before crumbling. Sauté the onion in the bacon grease until soft, about 5-8 minutes. Then add the can of soup, water, salt, and pepper. Mix thoroughly and heat until simmering. Add potatoes and green beans (set aside 6 green beans for garnishing the top of casserole) and mix well.

Before adding the potato mixture to casserole dish, take one hot dog and stand it up vertically, along the edge of the baking dish. Cut the hot dog so that approximately 1-1 ½ inches of the hot dog stands over top of the casserole. Trim each hot dog to this same length, and then slice each hot dog in half. Set hot dogs aside and fill the casserole dish with the potato mixture. Take each hot dog and slide it into the baking dish (flat side facing towards the potatoes), moving the potatoes out of the way with a spoon. Bake for 30 minutes, and let sit for at least 20 minutes before serving.

Our Verdict: If I married a dude from Wisconsin and his mother made me this, I wouldn’t be too upset about it, but I’d still be mildly horrified.

 

Chrissy.jpg

Chrissy is a Manhattan based singer, actor, comedian, and amateur home cook with a love for kitsch and classic recipes. When she's not performing, you can find her vlogging and singing on her Youtube Channel "Chrissy Does Stuff", cooking up love in her tiny kitchen, or you may run into her as your negligent and jaded waitress on the UWS. She is wife to broadway music director and Youtuber, Dan Pardo. Insta: @chrissymcpardo