I may be stepping on a few toes since this forum is focused on culinary arts and treasures but what the heck, I’ll try it anyway.
Every once in a while, I have an inescapable craving for coneys – I mean the kind you eat today and taste well into next week. Through time, I have linked up with a few folks who suffer the same affliction and we have a loose-knit cult aimed at trading and improving recipes. This recipe isn’t the fire breathing variety – it’s just a decent, laid-back coney sauce that will bring back memories of downtown Duluth with its five and dimes, the early morning smell of coffee, the bustling train station and the ever popular bowery down on Michigan Street.
2 Lb. Browned, drained ground beef.
4 medium onions – finely chopped.
1-1/2 Tblspns garlic powder.
1-1/2 Tblspns white vinegar.
4 Tblspns chile powder.
¼ tspn cinnamon.
½ tspn Red Pepper
½ tspn Cumin
2 dashes Worcestershire sauce.
1 small can tomato paste.
1 tspn salt.
1 tspn allspice
1 Qt. Water.
Combine all ingredients and simmer for 3 to 4 hours.
Notes:
This recipe makes a huge amount so it would be wise to cut it in half. I’ve tried ground beef on both ends of the spectrum and the cheaper, greasier burger makes a much better sauce. Natural casing, smoked hot dogs work best when broiled. Have another onion chopped to put on top of the finished coney - - it makes a great dog even better.
Now that I’ve made a few more batches and contacted a couple more coney enthusiasts, it seems that grinding the fried burger with the “fine” cutter makes a much better sauce. Also, being somewhat heavy-handed with the chile powder and the cinnamon makes this sauce better.
