Spotlight on Taste of Tucson Cookbook...Featuring Sonoran-Style Hot Dogs #tasteoftucson #hotdog Dire#bacon #comfortfood

I recently received a copy of the new Taste of Tucson cookbook, which features a collection of flavorful Sonoran-style recipes inspired by Southern Arizona's rich culture. We've grown up eating Tex-Mex cuisine...and we visited New Mexico in 2018 to sample their regional take on Mexican cuisine. This cookbook has allowed me to explore Arizona's regional Mexican dishes! Author Jackie Alpers is a blogger and award-winning food photographer. Taste of Tucson celebrates -- via 70+ recipes and photos -- the unique mix of cultures that creates Southern Arizona's unique Sonoran-style cuisine. Alpers shares her own recipes, as well as recipes from 16 of her favorite Tucson area restaurants and chefs. If you like big flavors as much as I do, this is a perfect cookbook to add to your collection.

So many great recipes caught my eye as I flipped through Taste of Tucson -- including Chile Colorado Beef Over Sonoran-Style Enchiladas, One-Pot Arroz con Pollo, and Walking Tacos. However, I let my father pick which recipe from the cookbook that I featured here. He picked a regional spin on American classic: hotdogs! Sonoran-Style Hot Dogs, which start with a grilled, bacon-wrapped hot dog. They're served in a hollowed-out bolillo roll and topped with all sorts of tasting toppings. With warm-weather ahead on the horizon, this is a great recipe to have in your Summer grilling bag of tricks!

Sonoran-Style Hot Dogs

from Taste of Tucson

Directions (makes 4 hot dogs):

For the hot dogs:

• 4 traditionally sized hot dogs
• 4 long strips of uncooked bacon
• 4 bolillo rolls
• 1/2 cup pinto beans, warmed, drained of liquid
• 1/2 cup diced white onion, sautéed in 2 Tbs. butter until soft
• 1/2 cup diced tomatoes
• Yellow mustard, in a squeeze bottle if possible
• Mayonnaise, in a squeeze bottle if possible
• To serve on the side: 4 grilled yellow Güero (Caribe) chiles

For the jalapeño sauce:

• 6 whole jalapeños

Directions:

Step 1: To make the jalapeno sauce, wash and remove stems and seeds from the jalapenos. Put them in a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Use a rubber spatula to scrape into a plastic squeeze bottle or bowl and refrigerate until ready to use

Step 2: Preheat grill OR heat a griddle or cast iron pan over medium heat. Wrap each hot dog in a strip of bacon. Cook the bacon-wrapped hot dogs, starting with the loose ends of the bacon touching the grill grate or pan surface. This ensures the bacon seals to the hot dogs.

Using tongs, turn the hot dogs frequently so they brown evenly on all sides -- about 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat, then grill the chiles on the same grill grate or skillet -- turning once until browned and slightly soft. This will take approximately 3 minutes.

Step 3: Assemble the hot dogs. Turn each bolillo roll on its side and split it down its length with a small sharp serrated knife. Remove some of the bread to form an area for the hot dog to fit inside. Put one cooked hot dog into each bolillo. For each bun, spoon 2 tablespoons each of the beans, sautéed onions, and diced tomatoes. Then squirt about a teaspoon each of the yellow mustard, mayonnaise, and jalapeño sauce.

Step 4: Serve the assembled hot dogs with the grilled yellow Güero (Caribe) chiles on the side. Tortilla chips are a great pairing too! 

These big-flavor hot dogs are an explosion of flavors and textures! From the smoky one-two punch from the bacon and hot dogs...to a bit of spice from the jalapeño sauce and mustard...and the creamy cooling effect of the mayo...these are hot dogs on steroids! Taste of Tucson is published by West Margin Press. It can be purchased from most major retailers, including Amazon. 

Disclosure: I received a review copy of Taste of Tucson to facilitate this post. All photographs in this article were taken by me and are not affiliated with the author or publisher of this cookbook.