Kielbasa Chili Dogs

By Paul Briand

This is the second of three entries about burgers and dogs. Today we'll look at chili dogs, but a new take on the American staple.

We still have the chili, but we don't have the dog as you might think. The hot dog here is replaced with kielbasa, a Polish sausage made from beef or turkey or pork. And the hot dog bun is replaced with a roll.

The recipe comes from Rachael Ray. I was at the gym, running on a treadmill, listening to music on my iPod, and watching her daytime talk show on one of the TV screens in front of me. She was doing an old school vs. new school show and this was a new school recipe she made on the classic chili dog.

There are a lot of moving parts to this recipe, which means a lot going on in the kitchen at one time ... I had three skillets going. I enjoy that kind of multi-tasking in the kitchen and we sure enjoyed the results.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter

2 onions

1 ring kielbasa or turkey kielbasa

Extra Virgin Olive Oil or vegetable oil, for drizzling

3/4 pound ground sirloin or lean ground turkey

2 cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped

3 to 4 tablespoons finely chopped pimiento or roasted red pepper

Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon smoked sweet paprika

1/2 tablespoon chili powder

1 generous tablespoon tomato paste

1 cup beef stock or broth for beef chili sauce or chicken stock for turkey chili sauce

4 potato rolls, split

Chopped fresh dill, for garnish

Sour cream, for garnish

Directions

1. Melt butter in small skillet over medium heat. Peel and halve the onions. Thinly slice 1 1/2 onions and add to butter. Sauté until sweet and caramelized, 20-25 minutes;

2. Meanwhile, place the kielbasa ring in a few inches of water and simmer at low boil to heat through, 7-8 minutes;

3. Heat a drizzle of oil in a small pot or skillet over medium-high heat. Add ground meat and brown, 5-6 minutes, crumbling it as it cooks;

4. Grate the remaining half of onion into the meat with a handheld or box grater;

5. Add garlic and pimiento or peppers, smoked paprika and chili powder into the meat, cook 5 minutes more then add tomato paste. Cook half a minute then stir in stock or broth and reduce heat to low;

6. Cut the kielbasa ring into 4 pieces. Halve the kielbasa pieces lengthwise. Heat a drizzle of oil in large, nonstick skillet or griddle pan over medium-high heat. Crisp up the kielbasa pieces on both sides;

7. Place 2 pieces of crispy kielbasa across the bottom half of the rolls. Top with chili sauce, some caramelized onions, dill, a small dollop of sour cream and the bun tops.