Making Hot Dog Relish

[Shel_B]

Thus far I've not found any commercial hot dog relish that I like. They all tend to be too sweet. To be honest, there areen't too many brands around here that I've seen.

So, two things: first, are there any brands of hot dog relish that you like. Second, and and of greater interest, does anyone have a recipe or some suggestions for making a good hot dog relish? I'm not interested in anything that contains mustard, although mustard seeds might be just fine. I prefer a "pickle" type relish rather than cucumber, but I'm open to suggestions.

I was thinking that something with cornichons might work, maybe with some red pepper as well, but beyond that I haven't a clue.

Thanks,

Shel

[AGM Cape Cod]

Funny you should ask. I just dragged out a recipe for Sweet Hot Pickle Relish which I got from Jeanne Lesem's Preserving Today.

Here are the ingredients:

¾ pound bell peppers, Preferably half red and half green

2 hot Chile peppers (each 5 to 6 India long)

¾ pound onions

2 ½ pounds unwaxed cucumbers

3 tablespoons coarse (kosher) salt, or 2 tablespoons uniodized table salt or pickling salt

3 cups cider vinegar

1 ¼ cups sugar

1 ½ teaspoons mustard seed

¾ teaspoon ground turmeric

1 tablespoon each of whole cloves and broken stick cinnamon

1 ½ teaspoons whole allspice

¾ teaspoon cracked nutmeg*

You stem and see the peppers. Pulse to chop the peppers, onions and cukes in a food processor. Should have a coarse texture. The amount should be about 8 cups.

Transfer to a large bowl, salt the veggies and weigh with a plate and then let stand for 12 hours or overnight.

Drain, rinse the veggies a couple of times. Transfer to a 4 Qt saucepan, add everything else but the spices. Create a spice bag for the seasonings and add to the pan. Simmer, uncovered, for an hour, stir occasionally.

Discard the spice bag before canning.

[Toliver]

Thus far I've not found any commercial hot dog relish that I like.  They all tend to be too sweet.  To be honest, there areen't too many brands around here that I've seen.

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I've seen no-sugar added pickle relish in my local grocery stores. They also sell dill pickle relish which isn't sweet at all.