It's hard to imagine getting fancier than having knock-off Auntie Anne's pretzels for dinner, but here at Casa OFH, we're always striving for more fancy.

Mmmm. Hotdogs.

A few weeks ago, while Bret, Lou and I were eating our way, very hungry caterpillar style, through the Brooklyn Flea, I managed to inhale three hot dogs from Asia Dog.

Understand that vegetarians get really excited about hotdogs. There aren't very many good fake hotdogs out there, so when there's a chance for one, they thrust their kid into the arms of a stranger and barrel to the front of the line. (This is an important issue. There is a whole campaign to bring veg hotdogs to baseball stadiums, which I fully support. I know you can't tell, but I'm not being sarcastic. About the support part. Not about the importance of the issue part).

So anyway, these Asia Dog(s) were all amazing. I know one was Thai-ish (maybe curry? cilantro) and one was Korean-ish (kim chee?) but one really stuck with me.

It had a sriracha ketchup, a spicy mustard, and crumbled potato chips. So when I had some left over curtido (a vinegar based cabbage slaw) from making pupusas (stuffed masa cakes - recipe coming soon!) the other day, I thought, in a Southern accent: I bet that'd be good on a dog. And this very, very easy creation was born.

Delightfully-Spicy Dogs

Ingredients

• Hotdog rolls. We made these whole wheat ones like this.
• Hotdogs or hotdog-like items. Pick your poison.
• Chopped up dill pickles and onions -- you can probably figure out how much you need. Each dog probably needs a tablespoon of each.
• Mustard. Go big or go home here.
• A tablespoon of ketchup per dog.
• A tablespoon of chili garlic sauce or sriracha per dog, though of course you can up the spice factor by upping the proportion of hot sauce to ketchup.
• Curtido or some other vinegar-based slaw. Optional, though I really think it added something on the dog itself.
• Crumbled up potato chips. Your choice. Though it's a strong move, we went with salt 'n vinegar, and we did not regret it.

Directions

1. Make your dogs. Anyway you want. It helps to grill or blister them a bit of course, but this is your hotdog party.
2. Meanwhile, mix together ketchup and chili garlic sauce (or sriracha, if using).

Split hot dog rolls and top with curtido. Nestle in your dog, and then top with chopped pickles,and onions. Artfully swirl on some mustard and chili garlic ketchup. Crumble up potato chips, and sprinkle over. Serve with a side of additional curtido or any kind of slaw, or try some baked beans perchance?

Just an idea for dinner, but one we were really feeling one warm summer night. And you may have gathered that we're on vacation and we munched our way through some delightful dogs at Yeti Dogs in Big Sky. They have a dog with crumbled Fritos, one with slaw and saur kraut, and one with cream cheese, baked beans and onions. Super delish. What I'm saying is: Let your hotdog freak flag fly. Happy dinner!