Local restaurant El Guero Canelo (Guero is pronounced: weh doe) has been getting a lot of attention lately – due to the increasingly popular Sonoron hot dog.  Take a look at when it gets visited by Travel Channel’s Man v. Food in this video.

By the way when you watch that video, I love the shot of “The Old Pueblo, Tucson, AZ.”  It looks like we are just a collection of about fifty structures in the the middle of the desert.  Can anybody identify what they got a picture of?

Sonoran hot dog stands are often found here in Tucson, Phoenix, Nogales, Douglas, and Sierra Vista.  Residents of these cities don’t have to drive far to find a cart or restaurant serving up these dogs.  In Douglas, many city parks are regularly lined with hot dog trucks.  Here in Tucson, we could quite easily have over 250 hot dog stands serving Sonoran hot dogs.   These stands are also popping up outside of Arizona, from New York to San Francisco.  In comparison, they make chili dogs seem bland and boring.

These little babies are thought to date back to at least the 1960′s, but didn’t become more mainstream until the 1980′s.

The basic make-up of a Sonoran hot dog is a bacon-wrapped hot dog shoved into a soft Mexican roll topped with pinto beans, chopped tomatoes, onions, jalapeno sauce, cheese, mayonnaise, ketchup and mustard.  They usually come with a roasted chili on the side – sometimes even with roasted green onions.

There are many variations and these hot dogs continue to evolve.  It is rumored some Tucson vendors have even started topping theirs with crumbled potato chips.  In Mexico, the variations become more elaborate with the option of chorizo, sour cream or crema, avocados, pineapples and more.

Some stands here in town use regular hot dog buns.  However, many feel the roll is important for the true taste experience.  Usually it’s a Mexican bolillo roll (pronounced: bo lee yo roll), that is sometimes steamed to make it extra soft and fluffy or it’s toasted.  The roll is so soft and fluffy, sometimes they seem to go down like cotton candy.

Of course you don’t have to go to a hot dog stand, these dogs are really easy to make.  I once served them to a large crowd for my son’s birthday party at a park ramada.  We just grilled the bacon-wrapped dogs and had pre-chopped and prepared toppings ready to go.  It was cheap and easy.

Sonoran hot dog recipe

• Get a beef hot dog and wrap it like a mummy with bacon.  Mesquite bacon is good.
• Fry it on a griddle until the bacon gets crisp.  Some people like to fry the bacon a little first and then wrap it around the hot dog and then fry them both in the bacon grease.
• Take a hot dog bun or bolillo roll that has been slit to make a pocket in the middle.  If you want you can toast them a little or, in the case of the bolillo roll, steam it for a minute to make it soft.  Work with what you have on hand or what you feel like.
• Put mayo, mustard and ketchup on the bun and insert the bacon-wrapped dog.  If you want to squirt the mayo on top, like they do at the stands, mix it with a little lemon juice or water to thin it out.  Put it into a squeeze bottle or sandwich bag with a corner cut off and squeeze it on top when you are done, along with the mustard and ketchup.
• Add warm pinto beans, cheese (shredded Mexican cotijo cheese, cheddar, whatever), chopped tomatoes, chopped onions, sliced or blended jalapenos or some type of jalapeno/green chili salsa.
• “Just stick whatever you want on there, and whatever amount, to make it taste good.”  (You hear this talking to many Mexican cooks)

Roast a chili pepper to go on the side and have some cold coke ready (even better if in a glass bottle) for the complete experience.

If you don’t feel like cooking, take a trip to a Sonoran hot dog stand.  Yesterday my sister and I had lunch at El Guero Canelo on the southside on 12th avenue.  It was her first time there.  She had been fearful of trying them for some reason. One bite and she was hooked.  She was also amazed by the price.  She got a Sonoran hot dog, chips, salsa, bottled water, grilled onions and jalapenos, and a buffet of salsa and veggie condiments for around 4 bucks.  I got a Sonoran dog, a large quesadilla, a diet coke, a bottled water, onions, jalapenos, and the salsa/veggies for about 8 bucks.  The hot dogs were on special yesterday for under 2 bucks each.

Here are some pics.  Ordering can be confusing, but after you get the hang of it, it’s a piece of cake:

Sonoran hog dog from El Guero Canelo on 12th Avenue

Roasted green onions, chilis and other condiments

Ordering can be confusing. You order at one of these windows and get your drinks.....

You pick up cooked food items at this window - except for the hot dogs. I love the sign "Do not forget your hot dogs. We are not responsible anymore." haha

You get your hot dogs from the hot dog cart.

You stroll out to the condiment bar and get your veggies and salsas. The roasted onions and peppers are to the far right and covered. In the meantime listen for the order number to be called in both English and Spanish.

From what I’ve been told, this restaurant started as a simple hot dog stand and was added onto.  You are kind of sitting outside, kind of not.  You’ll have to go to know what I’m talking about.  I told my sister it wasn’t hard for me to imagine the place on the beach in Rocky Point.  I closed my eyes and imagined hearing the surf.  Then I gulped down my dog.

Try this alternative pumpkin seed recipe for shell-on pepitas.

Pumpkin or other similar squash seed can be used in this recipe.  Seeds are highly underrated and under-consumed.  Did you know watermelon seeds are edible?  Search for recipes.

I often do a variation of this recipe with shelled seeds, but you don’t get the benefit of the fiber in the shells and it’s easier to eat a ton of the shelled seeds which have a good amount of calories and fat.

If you have made pepitas before, this is very similar.  The difference is the shell and preparation.

Native Americans in this area used to eat a lot of squash seeds.  They toasted and roasted them.  Sometimes they ground them to make a mush.  They found eating the shells helped to get rid of internal parasites and worms due to the internal cleansing ability of the shells.  It’s nice to know pumpkins can do more than scare trick-or-treaters away!

This recipe is also good for taking to parties or having with beer.  Whenever I make pumpkins seeds this way, they do not stay around for long.

I am not a professional cook or dietitian, so this recipe is passed along in more of a “back fence” type of way with general measurements.

Ingredients:

• Pumpkin seeds (remove as much of the stringy squash as you can – I like to leave small bits of it)
• Chiltepines or red pepper flakes
• Garlic
• Salt
• Sugar
• Lime

Spread seeds on a cookie sheet that is either lined with parchment/wax paper or cooking spray.  Put it into a 250-300-degree oven and check every 10 minutes and stir a little to help them cook more evenly.  It could take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour depending on your oven and size of seeds.  Let them get a little toasted and crispy.  They should be edible to your personal taste.

Next get a pan and heat it over medium to high heat.  I most often use a cast-iron pan or griddle but most pans should work.  I put a little butter – just enough to keep the seeds from sticking.  Not a lot.

Throw in the seeds and add salt, the chiltepines (or pepper flakes) and minced  or pressed garlic.  These are all to taste.  In general for a cup of seeds, I use about 1/2 tsp salt, 1-2 crushed chiltepines, and 1-2 garlic cloves.  I love garlic and don’t mind smelling like garlic.  You might want to start with less because the garlic taste can get strong. Keep stirring and don’t let the seeds burn.

When they are hot, sprinkle the seeds with a pinch of sugar and then take them off the heat.  Squirt a little lime juice over the seeds and stir.  Start with a small amount and add more to taste without “washing” the other ingredients off.  Enjoy!

Next time you cook up those pumpkins seeds, save some to try out this recipe and let me know how it went.