Hot Dog Loaf #3!

Well, hello there Kitschenettes! Are you ready to get back to cooking seemingly-disgusting dishes to foist into your unsuspecting loved ones? I know I am!

You may or may not have known or cared, but Dr. Husband and I left the rented confines of the former Historic Test Kitchen this summer and set ourselves up in our very own little love nest. By "set ourselves up" I mean dumped all our stuff in the new place and then set off for ten days in Canada, to experience a little of Dr. Husband's ancestral background. (Lots of wacked-out recipe inspiration north of the border, including today's offering!)  Then we spent the rest of the summer visiting sites of National importance, most of which I hope you've vicariously visited with us and told all your friends about. Then I took a new job which cuts my commute from six hours to one. So more time for cooking!

Now, then - gleaned in a Canadian swap shop was this little gem, Mettja C. Roate's 1968 New Hot Dog Cookbook:

As Ms. Roate proudly proclaims right there on the cover, "Kids love them - adults adore them - and they're so easy on the budget!" (disclaimer - one or more of those statements may not be true)

The book is helpfully divided into sections: Hors d'oeurves, Soups (!), Salads, Casseroles, etc. Honestly, I could probably blog for a year just with this book alone. Along with the recipes, we get informative insights like the following, "Seasoned ground meat held captive in a casing goes way back into ancient history", and, "The fellow who put the long bun around the wiener came from St. Louis."

The New Hot Dog Cookbook contains no less than FOUR distinct recipes for Hot Dog Loaf, and today we'll explore #3, for no particular reason other than I already had most of the ingredients on hand.  Ready? Let's go!

10 hot dogs (I used all-beef)
1 cup canned tomatoes (I used fresh)
1 cup canned peas, drained
1 cup canned carrots, drained
1/2 cup chopped cashew nuts
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon Accent (I used garlic powder)
1/4 cup minced onion
1 cup soft, white enriched bread crumbs
1/2 cup half-and-half
3 eggs, beaten until lemon yellow
1 tablespoon melted butter

Chop the hot dogs until they are the consistency of coarse corn meal. Mix the chopped hot dogs, tomatoes, peas, carrots, cashews, salt, Accent, pepper, onions and bread crumbs thoroughly.

Mix the cream and beaten eggs together and add to the mixture. Stir in the melted butter. Mix thoroughly, and place in a lightly buttered loaf tin. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour or until the center is firm. Serve in 1-1/2 inch slices. Serves six generously.

I couldn't get six people willing to try it, but here's how it went with three:

Our Ratings:  Two-and-a-half/Three Screaming Husbands!
(all dishes are rated from one to five Screaming Husbands. One Screaming Husband equals a happy home where all problems are solved during cocktail hour. Five Screaming Husbands signals the beginning of divorce proceedings.)