Mango Hot Relish

The Story:

Well, there's not much of a story to this recipe. We were at the store; I knew I had bratwurst at home, and I knew I'd like some heat with them. Mango and peppers isn't the most original idea, but it's summer and I love mango. So I grabbed a few things and was on my way.

The Cooking:

This was fairly simple to make. I diced about 3/4ths of a medium white onion. I diced a mango (diced, mangled, what's the difference?). And I removed the insides and seeds of four small, dried habanero peppers, and cut them up. I didn't want to chop the onions or peppers too small because I knew they were going on brats, and I wanted plenty of crunch.

Lastly, I added approxamately a tbsp of white wine vinegar and 1 1/2 tbs of mango-orange juice (but regular orange juice would work just as well). Throw everything into a container, mix well, and let sit.

The brats were "stadium style" pre-cooked then grilled, served on split-top brat buns. Nothing special, but still one of my favorite summer meals. I also added dijon mustard, only because the day I eat a brat without mustard is the day I die.

The Results:

Well, I've made mango salsa before, and it's not really anything difficult. I left the cilantro out of this recipe because I was going for a brat topper instead of a salsa. The habaneros bring a lot of heat. My hands are burning still, and I prepaired the relish 5 hours ago.

But how does it taste? It's your typical mango-hot pepper affair; the OJ really helped bring out the sweetness. I thought it might end up too sweet (and it is if you eat it alone, but why would you do that?) Ontop of the brat, it was pretty good. The flavor didn't stand out as much as I would have liked, but it was sweet going down and left a nice burn on the aftertaste.

I'd say I'd make it again; but that doesn't mean much. Mango salsa (which is pretty much what this is minus the cilantro) is kinda a staple summer food for me.

The recipe is simple enough to leave room for some play; sweeten it or spice it. Play with the ratio of mango and onion and peppers (though unless you really, really like hot foods, I wouldn't add too much more habanero).