Spiral-cut Brats with Fancy Relish

Spiral-cut Brats with Fancy Relish

Genius, I should have been doing this for years.

Take your hot dog or brat, stick a long skewer through,

cut around in a spiral with a knife,

then grill (or broil in the oven if it is raining like it was for me today), and voila, your hot dog extends surface area with nice little relish pockets to tuck more flavor into that hot dog and bun! Keep this in mind for Labor Day.

Apricot Mostarda

Adapted from Food and Wine

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup water

1 cup diced dried apricots (6 ounces)

2 tablespoons sugar

1 shallot, minced

1 garlic clove, minced

2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Salt

In a medium saucepan, combine the vinegar, water, apricots, sugar, shallot and garlic and bring to a boil. Simmer over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the apricots are soft and coated in a light syrup, 7 to 10 minutes. Stir in both mustards and season with salt. Let cool completely. Stir in tablespoons of water before serving if the mostarda is too thick.

Pickled Pepper Slaw

Adapted from Food and Wine

1 cup sliced mixed green pickled peppers

1/2 cup shredded romaine lettuce

1/4 cup chopped parsley (1 TB if you use jar spice)

1/4 cup chopped dill (1 TB jar spice if you don’t have fresh)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

In a medium bowl, toss all of the ingredients and season with salt and pepper. Serve.