Atomic Andouille Sausage Dog w/ Collard Green Chow Chow - hot dog recipe for perfectly grilled sausage with plump, juicy interior and crisp seared skin topped with a delicious tangy relish.
Do you hate a hot dog that is scorched black on the outside but not fully cooked on the inside? Or that dog that is shriveled like a prune or fingertips that have been immersed in water too long? If so, then I have the perfect sausage dog recipe for you. It works for both your beef hot dogs as well as sausage.
And this one provides the goods- from the spicy paprika and garlic laced cajun andouille sausage to the over the top collard greens relish and the grated sweet potatoes. It's a straight-up soulful, funky dog.
Sausage Dog Ingredients
- Hot Dog Buns
- Andouille Sausage
- Pickled Red Onions
- Dijon Mustard
- Relish
Andouille is one of my favorite sausages and it brings its own level of moderate heat. However, if you're want that FIRE try sprinkling a lil of "atomic dust" as a finishing salt. "Atomic dust" is just celery salt and ground ghost pepper combined.
Yeah, this is a story of a famous dog
For the dog that chases its tail will be dizzy
These are spicy dogs, rhythmic dogs
Harmonic dogs, soulful dogs, sausage dogs
Atomic dogs
I'm obsessed with texture as it relates to food, and my obsession reaches absurd levels when it comes to encased meats. Living in Chicago near the legendary Hot Doug's probably spoiled me rotten.
Everyone of his dogs had that crispy tight skin and juicy not dried out interior. In my world hot dog view a good dog is plump and skin tight and the best way to achieve this is a two step poach and sear approach detailed below.
Perfect Grilled Sausage Hot Dog Cooking steps
- Casing matters; don't skimp and go the skinless route. Use dogs with natural casing or just go with a good sausage. A good dog should have some snap to it when you bite into it. I fuss over getting the right sausage because I want that real burst of flavor from all the seasonings inside
- Don't split the dog as this let's out the juice and is a major flavor kill
- Never throw a fresh dog onto the grill right away. Render it for a few minutes first and then turn up the heat to get that crisped up casing. Otherwise if you go straight to the grill, the casing is more apt to stick and eventually tear messing up your work of art.
- Pre-season the meat with beer and onions by steeping/slow poaching the sausage/hot dog in aluminum pan before throwing the dogs directly on the grill. This is the best approach for reaching the desired interior doneness combined with a crisp, un-split skin.
- Temperature matters. Ideally you want an internal temperature of 155°F. Gently poaching the dogs in water set at 155°F. Now a poached dog is the most unsexiest encased meat you will ever see. This is where the grill comes in - it gives that char, color, and smoky flavor. Admittedly grilling does bring a level of anxiety - there is the concern of drying out the dog as well as burning the exterior.
- Toast your buns. Enough said
- These make for great tailgating food. Add these to your tailgate rotation.
Serving Suggestions
For toppings it's your call, as I know this is very personal, but my guidance would be to go for sweetness + acidic + heat. I used home made collard greens chow chow relish for acidity, kicked up mustard for heat, and grated sweet potato for sweetness. For the record, I know nothing about ketchup on my dog! I'm strictly mustard.
Why a collards based relish you ask? Well cause I like collards and trying to get folk to eat more collards.
Lead things off with an appetizer of grilled jerk shrimp followed with a side of potato salad.
What if I don't want to fire up my grill for just a few minutes?
I understand it may not be an efficient use of your time to fire up the grill for such a short time. If you prefer not to, broiling has almost the same effect minus the smokiness. Be sure to position the rack as close to the broiler as possible
Can I Use Other Types of Sausage?
Yes indeed! The recipe is versatile, so feel free to use your favorite sausage. I typically use whatever I have on hand. Recently I used merguez sausage which if you can find it's well worth it.
MORE RECIPES
Grilled Cheese Sandwich w/ Andouille
MAKE THIS RECIPE
If you make this hot dog recipe, please come back and leave me a comment below with your feedback. Definitely take a photo of the dish and be sure to tag #foodfidelity so that I can see them.
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Ingredients
- 4 Hot dog buns
- 4 andouille sausage links
- 2 tablespoon grated sweet potato
- Collard Green Chow Chow Relish
- Dijon mustard
Instructions
- Add onions and beer to a small disposable aluminum roasting pan and bring to a simmer over direct heat on the grill. Cook for 8-10 minutes
- Slide the pan over to the cool side of the grill and then using tongs remove sausage from liquid and grill them directly over the hot fire 2-3 minutes.
- Toast the buns on the grill. Remove the buns then add a sausage to each. Add your favorite toppings and serve.
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