Hawaiian Dog with Fresh Pineapple Serrano Relish

It's Thursday.  The work week is almost at an end, but not quite.  At this point, energy and inspiration are getting pretty low...even here on Dinner Plan-it.  I resorted to hot dogs for dinner tonight.  Oh yes I did!   

Well, actually I planned them for tonight (helllooooo...this is Dinner PLAN-it!) and even made a batch of fresh pineapple relish over the weekend in preparation to jazz up the old dog.  

It isn't like pineapple relish is something new on a dog. This was inspired by the raves I've read about the new (old) Station Street Hot Dogs in the East Liberty section of Pittsburgh.  They have a Hawaii Dog topped with pineapple salsa, bacon, sweet soy sauce and mint.  I haven't been over to give it a try yet, but I'm getting there soon!  In the meantime, here's my recipe for this colorful, zippy and delicious pineapple relish.  Try it on hamburgers or chicken burgers or pork burgers, too.  Or with tortilla chips!

Fresh Pineapple Serrano Relish

•  1 C. fresh pineapple, peeled, cored, cut into chunks
• 1/4 C. red bell pepper, seeded, chopped
• 1 serrano chile, seeded, ribs removed, diced finely
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 medium red onion, diced
• 3 T. cider vinegar
• 1 t. olive oil
• 1 t. sugar
• 1/2 t. salt, or more to taste
• 1/2 t. mustard seed
• 1 t. dijon mustard

In a small pot, combine red pepper, chile pepper, garlic, onion, vinegar, oil, sugar, salt and mustard seed and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until the veggies are soft.  Remove from heat.

In a food processor, add pineapple chunks to bowl, pour hot veggie mixture over top and pulse until mixture is a coarse relish - just short of what you want the finished relish to be.  Add the dijon and pulse to the finished consistency you want.  

I've over-processed this and fixed it by adding a little finely diced red pepper, pineapple and serrano at the end to make it pretty.  If you overdo it, it won't make a difference in taste, just presentation.  

Serve the relish spooned over hot dogs - maybe smear a little mustard on the bun, too.  Or, do it up like Station Street Hot Dog and lay on the bacon and sweet soy!

NOTE:  Udi's makes a really good gluten-free hot dog bun so if you're gluten-free, you can enjoy a hot dog just the way God intended.  On a real bun!