Honestly, I was intrigued by the first HALF of the recipe, the so-called "Michigan Sauce." It took some searching to find the right recipe on her website, but here it is. I have taken the liberty to omit everything to do with that mac & cheese debacle. We will top our hot dogs with this meat sauce and see what happens. Everyone loves a good chili dog.
I did a little more research on this mystery "Michigan sauce," and was surprised to find some information...it's not from Michigan at all! It's from New York or possibly somewhere else, but definitely not Michigan. In fact, wikipediastates "Oddly enough, "Michigan hot dogs" are never referred to by that name in Michigan itself, nor anywhere else in the Midwest." That explains everything!
Rachael also put the raw meat in with all the other ingredients...I wasn't sure about this. Follow the link if you'd like to see the whole original recipe...
Rachael tops her sauce with a bit of raw chopped onion...now that sounds like a good idea to me. And maybe just a bit of mustard...
okay. So to be honest and blunt, I'm NOT a fan of Rachael Ray's recipes. But I feel like, hey, she's got her own show, she's got her own burgeoning foodie products empire, there's got to be SOMETHING redeemable about one of her recipes. Someday. Right? So I try another one occasionally.
Given that I've never had/heard of Michigan sauce, I was still surprised about the consistency of the "sauce." It was much thicker than I expected, not "saucy" at all. I think that's a mistake, especially when you look at what's pictured here. I'd like it to be more saucy. I'll have to work on that. I'm wondering if Rachael made it less saucy because she ultimately mixed it with the mac and cheese...we shall never know, unless she comes to the blog and tells us. So, we shall never know. I do have another recipe for Michigan sauce that I may try...let's hope it's saucier.
I do like the spiciness of Rachael's Michigan sauce...and it was delicious topped with mustard and raw onion. Number One also had grated Cheddar on top of his, mostly because he likes cheese. I look forward to making this again, but with more liquid somehow.
"Michigan Sauce"
1/2 pound ground beef
1 cup tomato sauce
3-4 teaspoons grated onion
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons Ancho chile powder
1 teaspoon Tabasco or other hot sauce (I used Cholula)
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper
Place all ingredients in a pot over low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, and simmer for 45 minutes, until very thick.
Omit the cumin and chili powder, you have what I grew up calling "meat sauce."
ReplyDeleteMy mother in law's family is from Plattsburgh, NY where they have Michigan sauce. Supposedly, the person who owned the hotdog restaurant Decades ago was from Michigan. Instead of calling it a coney island up there, they called it a Michigan after that person. ;) we have the original recipe and it's different than rachael's.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info, kimmm. Would you care to share the original recipe? I'd love to try it.
ReplyDeleteI also live in Plattsburgh,NY and grew up eating michigans! There are many recipes and restaurants to serve there secret one here. The reason for not cooking the hamburg first and letting it cook in the sauce is so you don't get the lumps of it all sticking together like you get and ending up with a mouth of burger. Try it without cooking first you will see the difference and like it!
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