Chicago Hot Dogs

These "dogs" bring back wonderful memories of wandering around Maxwell Street in Chicago in the 60s and 70s. It was never difficult to find a street vender hawking these Chicago Dogs. I can remember the smells just looking at the picture of a Chicago Dog. Never leave the celery salt off the Chicago Dogs! They won't be the same. I guarantee it.

Yield: 6 hot dogs

The "dragged through the garden" style is heavily promoted by Vienna Beef and Red Hot Chicago, the two most prominent Chicago hot dog manufacturers, but exceptions are common, with vendors adding cucumber slices or lettuce, omitting poppy seeds or celery salt.

Ingredients

• 6 split hot dog buns
• 3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
• 6 all-beef hot dogs
• 6 dill pickle spears
• 12 tomato wedges or 18 slices tomato
• Yellow mustard
• Sweet relish
• 1 small white onion, finely chopped
• 6 pepperoncini or sport peppers (optional)
• Celery salt

Instructions

1. Brush outsides of buns with butter; sprinkle with poppy seeds.
2. Bake, split sides down, at 350 degrees F until warm, about 5 minutes.
3. Warm hot dogs in boiling water for 5 minutes; transfer to buns.
4. Arrange a pickle on one side of each hot dog and 2 tomato wedges or 3 tomato slices (more, if desired) on the other side.
5. Squirt mustard over each in a zigzag; top with a dollop of relish.
6. Divide onion among hot dogs.
7. Top each with a pepperoncino or sport pepper, if desired.
8. Sprinkle with celery salt.

Notes

When I make these I always use kosher hot dogs.

Never use ketchup on Chicago Dogs!