Cold Comfort, Really

Hot Dog Casserole

When the weather turns cold, everybody thinks in terms of a hot meal featuring some favorite comfort food. At our house in the Ozarks, that means I trot out an old favorite, hot dog casserole.

Ingredients

1 package hot dogs, sliced in 1 inch lengths (Nueskes, Nathans, Hebrew National)

4 to 5 cups sliced russet potatoes

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

6 ounces shredded cheddar cheese, divided

1 to 2 cups drained sauerkraut

1 Tablespoon caraway seed

salt and pepper

Optional: 6 white mushrooms, sliced and sauteed

Method

Preheat the oven to 350degrees.

Steam the potatoes until not quite done and remove from the heat to cool. Mix the other ingredients with two thirds of the cheese in a large bowl to combine. Salt and pepper the cooled potatoes heavily and add them to the mixture. Toss the potatoes with the mixture and turn the result out into a 9 X 13 casserole dish.

Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the casserole and bake on the middle shelf, uncovered, for 45 minutes. The cheese should be beginning to brown and the dish should be bubbling.