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Homemade Hot Dogs Venezuelan-Style
by Melanie Foster
serves: 16
  Try this simple sausage recipe or use the toppings idea on store-bought hot dogs.
Ingredients:
  1/4 cup   cold water
  2 tsp   salt
  1/4 tsp   pepper
  1/4 tsp   ground allspice
  1/4 tsp   garlic powder
  1/8 tsp   ground mustard
  1 lb   lean ground beef
  1 lb   ground pork
  1 pkg   dried corn husks, or 16 fresh ones
  1/4   shredded green cabbage
  1   onion
  1   mayonnaise
  1   mustard
  1   ketchup
  1 bag   plain potato chips
Directions:
  Two and a half hours in advance: Soak the dried corn husks (16 plus a few extra in case) in hot water.
If using fresh, remove all the corn silk and soak them in cold water for 30 minutes.

In a large bowl, mix the water with the salt and spices. Add the meats and mix well. Take a wet corn husk and lay it on your work surface. Place a scoop of meat (about 2 ounces) onto it and spread it across the bottom of a long side of the husk. Begin rolling up the meat into the husk and squeezing it long to form a hot dog shape. Don't worry about the ends, just make sure no meat is sqeezing out, but it can come almost to the end of the husk if it needs to. Place the log seam side down on a platter and continue rolling until all the meat is used up.

Prepare your grill for indirect heat. Throw a few handfuls of hardwood chips onto the coals if you want a smoked flavor (soak the wood chips first in cold water for 1 hour). Place the rolled up hot dogs on the grill and cover. Grill for about 15-20 minutes or until a thermometer inserted into one end reads 180 degrees.
Remove from the grill and unwrap the meat. Discard the corn husks.

For a venezuelan-style hot dog, place the hot dog in a bun and top with:
shredded green cabbage, chopped onion, mayo, mustard, ketchup and crushed potato chips. Enjoy!