Monday, April 11, 2011

What is a Coney?

That is the subject of a jocular discussion between Mrs. B & myself this weekend, which spread to a dog agility event in New Hampshire.  For background, Mrs. B grew up in Brooklyn and I grew up in my hometown in central/SE Ohio. 

To a New Yorker, a coney is what was sold at Coney Island in New York City - the original.  Ordering a coney, one received a hot dog slathered in mustard & sauerkraut in a bun.  Those are still sold on the streets of New York from the numerous carts that sell food in Manhattan. 

BUT in the heartland of the US, a coney is different.  It's not even named after the Coney Island of New York City.  There was a Coney Island amusement park in Cincinnati years ago.  And it sold coneys!

The Ohio (and Indiana) coney is a hot dog slathered in chili / sloppy joe sauce, mustard and onions.  Very tasty!  We had those often at home as a boy; one could also buy them at the old root beer stands (A&W or Stewart's) or at the various Dairy Queens.  They even sold a foot-long Coney!

I made Ohio-style coneys over the weekend.  Here's the recipe:

Use good hot dogs - I used Black Angus beef hot dogs made 8#/lb.  The mustard was Buckeye Mustard made in Ohio.  The sauce was made with a pound of Black Angus 85% lean burger and a can of Manwich (just follow directions on the can).  I chopped up an onion myself.  Just boil the hot dogs a few minutes.

Take the hot dog bun, line both interior sides with mustard, put a hot dog into it, slather with as much sauce as possible, top with as much onions as will fit.  Eat & enjoy! 

Lol, be sure to have a good napkin & a spoon to gather up the goodies that drop off.  Mmmmmm.  Far, far better than the New York Coney!

The Ohio coney is a fine example of American ingenuity.  The New Yorkers made a good start, but then the Ohioians improvised to improve it to create a superior product.

I'm looking forward to leftovers this week.

Word of the Day

"Conjuncture" - noun [$10]
Conjuncture means a combination of events; a state of affairs.
Sentence:  Is the conjuncture of the Panic of 2008, the Great Recession and the ongoing retirement of the baby boomers sufficient to cause American leaders to "think outside the box" for governmental reform?  I doubt it. We mostly have the same old fools and knaves in the Dark City in the swamp.

3 comments:

Bud said...

that sounds delicous Bman..........i'll go shopping tonite..............wonder if i can afford to make it..............ya'know........beef prices goin thru the roof


'ranchers and farmers'

Bunkerman said...

don't worry, Bud ... beef hotdogs are cheap and ground beef, too.

I bet you can get the net cost of each coney for about $1.

:)

Big_Al said...

Ah yes, A&W Rootbeer stand footlong coneys. It's the stuff of legend here in Poedunk Center, the hometown of Bunkerman. We, as teenagers would surround the stand and be served by fellow classmates that were attired in white aprons, white shirts and white paper hats. The job paid fifty cents an hour. Citizens still speak of it fondly and hang our heads low like sunflowers in an autumn afternoon to see the likes of Taco Bell build across the road from the now empty lot which was the Stand. Thanks for the reminder, Bunkerman.