I'm a weenie: Oktoberfest Frankfurter Casserole (Vegetarian)

Like any food nerd I have in my possession a motley crew of cookbooks.
Many have been gleaned from thrift stores,yard sales,and then there is the occasional trophy from a weekday eBay bid on company time.
My book shelves are a drunken galleon of wobbly Nikki Sixx stacks and marked up pamphlets precariously leering like so many Tommy Lee-tards .
And
to further extend the Motley Crew metaphor I’ve got going on here, I will add that like M.C. concert, the contents often vacillate between grossly unhealthy and straight up absurd.
Sometimes the collection gets out of control.
I see them for the mess they are and resolve to clean it up.
It’s a tough call but I select a few of the more useless to throw back into the thrift store donation box for another turn of recycling on the karmatic wheel that is Goodwill.
But
just like a less busty but still hot Pam Anderson I keep taking them back bad as they are.
Bizarre and entirely unpalatable as the recipes can be I can’t help but get a little turned on when I pass a greasy McCall’s cover or a dilapidated copy of ,”Family Style in 20 minutes or less."
Really though, Who would’t pop a chubby for hard boiled egg Aspic with paprika cream?
C'mon. Be honest!

Part of my infatuation stems from a love of weird line drawings.
Many of the recipe collections from the 60’s/70’s are real freak shows flanked with drawings of lactating cow bakers and inspiring quotations such as
“A day without wine is like a day without sunshine!”.

However , nuggets of wisdom aside the true root of the problem is my love of the casserole.

This recipe is very loosely adapted from a McCall’s cookbook entry.
While not quite a casserole in the way you may be accustomed to considering them
there are no crumbled Ritz crackers or ,God bless, canned fried onions on top.
It is unerringly simple and comforting, and would have been perfect for October being that October makes me think of Beer and Germans.
And that thought, in the immortal words of Jennifer Coolidge as Paulette in Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde,

”…makes me want a hot dog real bad… “

I had planned on posting this during Oktoberfest.
You can see how that went.
I know I'm kind of a weenie for cheating you, gentle reader,
but better late then never.

Of course I love the simple dump and heat spirit of the dish but I tried to make this recipe a little healthier. However this is a comfort dish so don't expect me to get all martha on you with bouegoius groceries or good china.
I used veggie dogs in an effort skip consuming carcinogenic processed meats.
Don't get me wrong I love a good hot dog fresh from the grill , but no one is grilling here and the veggie version is just as good without the lips and meatholes.
I know the butchies in the audience are groaning - go ahead if you want your meat go for it.
You will notice I’ve also teamed up the scurvy fighting power of vitamin C packed sauerkraut with the cruciferous brussel sprout for some hot cabbage on cabbage action.
Sauerkraut is fermented with lactobacillus bacteria which is a pro-biotic found in most yogurts.
I can’t claim with any authority that any lactobacillus remains in the sauerkraut by the time warm it up but it’s interesting to note.
I guess you could try eating it cold.
Just kidding.

Of course as a health conscious young man I made my biscuit dough with freshly milled whole grain flour picked with the velvet gloved beaks of free range black hens in the Alpines.
It was purchased at Whole Foods.

But if you’re a single mom or someone who else who runs all over creation and back on a daily basis , so much so that , say for example , you don’t have time to post Oktoberfest themed recipes to your food blog during the actual month of October, you could just use one of those pop-tin-pre-made-biscuit-dough-thingy’s from Pillsbury.

Not that I did that.
I’m just say’n though.


Oktoberfest Frankfurter Casserole (Vegetarian)

• 1 package soy hot dogs (or you can use the real thing)
  
• 1 package Sauerkraut
  
• 2 hand fulls of brussel sprouts (roughly one fresh container or one box frozen)
  
  
• Chives
  
• 2 tbsp dry mustard powder
  
• 1 large onion
  
• *1 tbsp caraway seeds
  
• *1 tbsp celery seeds
  
  
• *bacon / or "fake'n" slices

For The Biscuits

• 1/2 cup butter or shortening
  
• 2/3 cup milk
  
• 2 cups all purpose flour
  
• 1 tbsp baking powder
  
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
  
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
  
• 1/4 tsp salt

or a tin of premade biscuit dough fresh from your grocers dairy isle
* optional

Heat up the sauerkraut and add in the brussel sprouts. I would suggest cooking in the brine but if you need more water go ahead and throw some in. Add in the celery and caraway seeds if your using them along with the dry mustard powder.

Mix your biscuit dough or pop the tin (don't get scared).
If mixing, add dry ingredients together then add butter / shortening.
Add milk into center and mix until just combine.
knead for a bit and then roll dough into a long thin cylinder. If your including bacon set two pieces on each side of the hot dog then wrap the dough around each hot dog in a spiral.
Sprinkle the tops with chives.

Place in a greased baking dish and bake at 400 for about 10 -15 minutes.
When its finished add in the brussel sprout and sauerkraut mix and serve.