Put Chicago back into the Super Bowl

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When assembling the Chicago-style hot dog, place ingredients on the weiner itself, or as close to it as you can, rather than the bun. | Supplied Photo

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Updated: March 3, 2012 8:02AM

The Bears won’t be in this year’s Super Bowl, and Bears fans won’t even have the Green Bay Packers to root against. While this year’s matchup is decidedly coastal, you can keep Chicago in the big game by serving traditional Chicago food at your Super Bowl party.

The Chicago-style hot dog

Deep dish pizza may get more press, but Chicago style hot dogs could be the quintessential Chicago comfort food. Plus, given the right preparation, they’re easy to serve for a crowd and can even be instructional to those who aren’t as familiar with this local tradition.

But serving Chicago dogs to your guests requires a firm grasp of both the ingredients and the order of assembly. It also requires a somewhat firm hand when guests ask to customize their hot dogs. Here’s the choice you get with Chicago dogs: With sport peppers or without, and choosing without sport peppers is a borderline travesty. Adding or removing other ingredients turns the sandwiches into plain old hot dogs with no municipal affiliation, or ones that could be linked to a lesser city.

First, the ingredients:

ALL-BEEF HOT DOGS: Acceptable brands include Vienna Beef, Hebrew National, Red Hot Chicago, Best’s Kosher and even, ahem, Eisenberg.

POPPY SEED BUNS: Sam Rosens’ Mary Ann buns are preferred.

YELLOW MUSTARD: Don’t get fancy with the Dijon or other mustards. If the bottle ain’t yellow, put it back in the fridge.

DICED ONION: There aren’t strict guidelines here, but I like sweet yellow varieties the best.

LIME-GREEN RELISH: Vienna Beef sells relish that is so bright it nearly glows.

TOMATO WEDGES: You’ll want to cut them rather thin. I’ve found that Roma tomatoes work well.

PICKLE SPEARS: Use kosher dill. Most jarred pickles will be too thick. Consider slicing them in half longways.

CELERY SALT

SPORT PEPPERS: These are small, skinny pickled peppers with a little bite

The process:

The traditional way to heat Chicago dogs is to steam them. The easiest way to do that is to boil a few inches of water in a Dutch oven, and place the dogs in a metal colander situated above the water line, cover and cook for about 10 minutes. You can also heat them in hot water, but never boil the dogs. Boil the water, then remove from heat and place the dogs into the hot water for 10 minutes or so.

If using the steam method, you get the additional benefit of being able to steam the buns. During the last couple of minutes of cooking time, uncover the dogs and place the buns directly on top for a minute, then flip for another minute.

Assembling the dogs:

Place ingredients on the weiner itself, or as close to it as you can, rather than the bun.

1. Mustard: this acts as the “glue” for the loose items, such as onion.

2. Relish: About two teaspoons will suffice, spread along the length of the dog.

3. Onions: If you’re not a fan of this particular veggie, don’t use a lot, but don’t omit them either.

4. Tomato wedges: Insert them lengthwise between the dog and the bun.

5. Pickle slice: Insert lengthwise between the dog and the bun on the other side of the tomato.

6. Sport peppers: Make sure the stems are removed and place two on top. Again, this is the only optional ingredient, and only then for those who flat out refuse to have anything to do with hot peppers. (Note: they’re not all that spicy when combined with all the other flavors here.)

7. Celery salt: Don’t overdo it.

8. Open wide and enjoy.

The Italian beef

When I mentioned on Facebook that I was serving Italian beef sandwiches for last year’s Super Bowl gathering, comments came in from far-flung friends nearly drooling over the mere mention of those savory sandwiches that, it turns out, are unique to our region. East Coasters can have their Philly Cheesesteaks, and San Francisco denizens can eat their sourdough sandwiches, but if someone’s running out here in Chicagoland, please pick us up a coupla beefs. With the hot.

Italian beef sandwiches, known simple in my circle as “beefs,” are simple, yet delicious. They’re customizable in that they come wet or dry, with hot or sweet peppers, and sometimes, with provolone cheese. They’re a staple at sandwich shops throughout the area. But they’re also easy to serve up at home.

1. Find an Italian deli. If there’s not one close enough, a supermarket with a good deli section will suffice.

2. Order Italian beef, sliced paper thin. Regular roast beef doesn’t have the seasonings. At the deli, you’ll be asked if you want the juice. Say yes. Be sure to order enough meat. You’ll get about two or three sandwiches per pound, and your guests will probably want seconds. Leftovers are easily frozen in the juice in a sealable container.

Don’t just purchase a frozen container of Italian beef at the supermarket. The primary flavor of those products is salt. It’s just as easy to make the sandwiches from fresh ingredients, and the results are more tasty.

3. Get large, crusty rolls, preferably made by an Italian bakery such as Gonnella. A hard crust is essential. Wet sandwiches will fall apart if using softer buns. Cut the rolls lengthwise on the morning of the Big Game.

3. About a half hour before meal time, heat the juice in a large pot just to boiling. Remove the pot from the heat and add the beef and stir a bit to loosen the slices from each other. If the meat and juice get too cool, it’s OK to put it back over some heat, but never boil the meat. That will result in rubbery, curly beef that has lost its flavor. It’s best to serve the beef within 10 to 15 minutes after adding it to the hot juice.

4. Using tongs, apply a generous heap of beef to roll. Have a large spoon or ladle on hand so guests can add more juice to their sandwiches as they see fit. If using provolone cheese, place two slices on the bun before placing the beef.

5. Have appropriate condiments on hand. These are:

Hot giardiniera

Mild giardiniera

Roasted sweet peppers

Giardiniera is widely available around here from a variety of local producers. It’s generally a jar of pickled vegetables in oil with lots of hot peppers or a few hot peppers, depending on if it’s hot or mild. If you’re ambitious, you can roast your own bell peppers in a broiler, but it’s easier to buy a jar at the supermarket. Peppers and giardiniera can be placed on top of the beef by gusts to their satisfaction.

6. Have plenty of napkins available.