Tailgate Recipe: ManBQue's Sonoran Dog
We caught up with grilling experts John Carruthers and Jesse Valenciana to get their advice for baseball tailgates. Among the eight hot dogs and sausages they built for us is this Sonoran dog, which won a big cookoff last summer judged in-part by Chicago legend “Hot” Doug Sohn. This recipe appears in their upcoming cookbook, ManBQue: Meat. Beer. Rock and Roll., which drops on April 22nd.
Ingredients:
12 beef hot dogs
3⁄4 cup Cotija cheese
2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
12 slices Smoked Serrano Bacon (elsewhere in book), or other smoked bacon
2 red onions, diced
1 cup fresh lime juice, plus 1 teaspoon
1⁄4 cup bacon fat (or lard, or vegetable oil), plus
2 tablespoons
12 ounce can pinto beans, drained
12 ounce can black beans, drained
3 cloves roasted garlic
1 tablespoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
8 ounces Mexican crema
1 ripe avocado, pitted and chopped
2 cups chicharrones or pork rinds, crushed
Cooking spray or vegetable oil in a spray bottle
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
Unholy Mole (elsewhere in book), to top
Salsa Verde (elsewhere in book), to top
12 hot dog rolls
6 jalapeños, stemmed and diced
1 cup queso fresco, crumbled
1. Plunge the knife into one end of the top (concave) side of the hot dog and make a slit to the other end. Try not to split the hot dogs, though it’s not an emergency if you do.
2. Toss the Cotija with the Cajun seasoning.
3. Sprinkle 1 to 11⁄2 tablespoons of the seasoned cotija into the hot dogs. Wrap tightly around the middle with bacon. Toothpick the ends if you’re having an issue with way-
ward bacon.
4. Pack the diced onions in a snug-fitting container and pour over lime juice. Cover and set aside at least 30 minutes.
5. Heat the bacon fat in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the beans and fry for 5 minutes.
6. Let beans cool slightly and transfer to a food processor along with the roasted garlic, 1 tablespoons salt, and the juice of half of one of the limes.
7. Process the beans until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning with additional salt, black pepper, and lime juice.
8. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of bacon fat over high heat in a large skillet and reheat the beans thoroughly. Remove from heat, cover, and set aside.
9. Process or blend the crema with the chopped avocado, the remaining teaspoon lime juice, and 2 teaspoons salt, until completely smooth. Cover and set aside.
10. In a large bowl, place the crushed pork skins. Spritz with a light coating of oil or cooking spray and dust with a quarter of the paprika from a decent height. It’ll distribute better and you’ll look like a pork magician. Toss and repeat with the remaining paprika, using slightly more oil if necessary. Set aside.
11. Preheat a grill for two-zone medium-high heat. Clean and oil the grate. Ready your toppings and buns—there’s a lot going on.
12. Place the bacon-wrapped dogs on the cooler side of the grill. Cook, turning frequently, until the bacon has rendered a bit, about 12 minutes. If you experience flare-ups, move the dogs further from the heat. Bacon fat is nature’s napalm, so keep a close eye.
13. When the bacon has rendered and par cooked, finish the dogs over the high-heat side of the grill for a quick 1 to 2 minutes per side to crisp the bacon.
14. Remove the dogs to a sheet pan. Smear the bottom of the buns with the refried beans.
15. Place the dogs in the buns. Spread a line of mole on each side of the dog, then top with salsa. Add jalapeños and lime-picked onions. Top with queso fresco, add one glorious squiggly line of avocado crema, and top with seasoned chicarrones to complete the pig family reunion. You’ve just created what is arguably the greatest hot dog of all-time.