I love Michigans!! I lived off of them the years I was a bachelor living in Franklin Co., NY. A good friend of mine cooked at a little diner in downtown Plattsburgh for years. This is her recipe for Michigan sauce. It's the real deal.
1/2 to 1 qt. water
2 1/2 # lean ground beef
salt & pepper
1/4c sugar
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp chili powder
1 med. onion
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 c BBQ sauce (Hunt's original or Kraft Hickory Smoke)
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
Brown the ground beef and remove the drippings. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for two hours or more.
To be a real Michigan the sauce has to be served on a hot dog from Glazier Meat Packing in Malone, NY. Their hot dogs are very distinctive, red snappy skin with a garlic flavor inside. I have made the sauce and used other hot dogs but it just isn't the same.
My second favorite hot dogs are a type of slaw dogs from a small place in Quebec just over the border from Chateaugay, NY. The locals call the place P-vans. No French ability needed. Just hold up two fingers and you'll get two dogs dressed with a sweet slaw sauce and fries on the side. mmm.
