Curly Hotdogs with Relish
Chef Pepin has been a favorite of mine for many many years. In addition to his creative culinary abilities he paints beautiful paintings. I saw this on Simply Ming. They only cooked for 3 on the show, so I have adjusted for a more family sized menu. I believe it may be illegal to serve hotdogs in any form or shape without mustard so feel free to add some to the bun before you add the rest. I never did get the hotdog to curl completely around but it was very tasty with the relish. I will keep trying.
Ingredients:
8-10 Hot Dogs, (Good quality if that is not an oxymoron)
4-5 Hamburger buns, toasted
1 tsp oil, neutral, for frying
Relish:
3 dill pickle, cut into a ¼-inch dice (about ¼ cup)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped mild onion, like Vidalia
1 cup diced (1/4-inch) tomato
4 sliced scallions
¼ cup ketchup
~1 Tbs hot chili sauce (like Sriracha)
1 tsp sugar
Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions:
- Combine all the ingredients for the relish in a resealable bowl and let it sit in the refrigerator while you cook the rest.
- With a sharp paring knife, cut the dogs lengthwise about halfway through the meat. Then cut each hot dog crosswise, cutting about halfway down and making a cut every third-of-an-inch or so. You should have ~12 cuts on each hot dog.
- Heat the oil in a sturdy skillet and add the hot dogs. Cook over medium heat for about 3 minutes, shaking the pan so the hot dogs roll on themselves and brown on all sides. They will start curling up into wheels.
- Meanwhile, toast the bun until it is crusty. Place a curly dog on each half bun, curling it into a dented wheel. Spoon the relish into the center and serve.