I hope that everyone had a happy holiday. And I also hope you are all ready for a hot dog sandwich!

This is Overnight Hot Dog Sandwich!

Overnight Hot Dog Sandwiches - The New Hot Dog Cookbook, 1970

[cooked-sharing]

Honestly, this is less of a sandwich and more of a strata. And instead of ham or peppers or bacon or breakfast-y things like that, it is packed with hot dogs and cream cheese.

And honestly, that’s not that bad either.

The cookbook that this recipe comes out of is based on one fact: That hot dogs can be substituted for pretty much any other meat, and that it makes meals more economical and you waste less. I can’t argue with that concept, though it was hilarious to see so many recipes using chopped up hot dogs. (I recently scanned The New Hot Dog cookbook and made it available in my Digital Cookbook Library for my patrons on Patreon. Memberships with access to the library of cookbooks start at $1!)

But I am not afraid of subbing hot dogs for meat. It’s a good concept, and my youngest, TJ, basically will only eat hot dogs and chicken nuggets so it works for my family. Though I still don’t know if I’m onboard with these sandwiches. I’m not a huge fan of strata to begin with. Soggy bread and undercooked eggs really aren’t my thing. But Tom will slurp down almost anything, so let’s pack these sandwiches with hot dogs and see how it shakes out.

See, I’m not lying. These are packed with chopped hot dogs.

So, I poured an amazing amount of milk mixed with eggs over the sandwiches and let them sit overnight. Here is what they looked like when I uncovered them in the morning, right before I tossed them into the oven.

And here they are fresh from the oven! Overall, these smelled pretty good.

But after I cut them, I was totally regretting it. They looked like they hadn’t set in the middle at all!

I wanted to put them back in the oven, but Tom said he wanted them runny (noooooooooooo), so I just kept on keeping on.

Oh, and while I was baking the sandwiches I was also stirring up a concoction of half-and-half, cream of mushroom soup, and, of course, hard-boiled eggs and parsley. Because what mid-century baked sandwich would be complete without a bunch of hard-boiled eggs? I joke, but this was probably the most edible cream of mushroom soup sauce I’ve ever made from a vintage recipe. So it has that going for it.

Then it was only time to cram it down Tom’s throat.

Oh, yes. Do you see that?  While Tom was tasting, TJ ran through the room, completely naked, and threw his shirt on top of what Tom was eating. At the time I was not a happy mom, but in retrospect I can see the humor.

I think.

Oh, and the patrons over at Patreon were treated to my full-scale rant AND a video of it actually happening.  I need to get that video out and make a meme out of it.

Anyway, back to sandwiches.

The Verdict: Bland But Edible

Surprisingly, the biggest complaint Tom had about this was that it was bland. Otherwise, he ate his whole serving and had another. The soaked bread actually didn’t turn out too soggy, and though this could have benefited from 15 more minutes in the oven, this sandwich delivered what it promised: A novel way to make a hot dog dinner. The sauce on the top was rich and also bland, but didn’t have any objectionable flavors. It tasted like you were eating hard-boiled eggs with cream over them, so creamed eggs. If that is your thing, you might just want to leave out the hot dog gibberish and serve the sauce over some thick buttered toast. It will probably be almost the exact same flavor profile.