Manchengo Cheese and Garlic Hot Dogs

I rarely eat hot dogs, but maybe a month or so ago, totally out of the blue, I had a major craving for a hot dog. I bought turkey hot dogs which I usually really like, and they were good but they just did not satisfy my craving. I gave in and bought the real deal, ate one for lunch and it was delicious! Then, maybe a week later my issue of Bon Appetit arrived in the mail with an article titled, “Around the World in 80 Dogs”. This just kept the craving rolling because as I read through the article, I saw so many variations that sounded really great. Then my only problem was which to try first. I ended up trying this, their Spanish variation on hot dogs. The grilled dogs are topped with shredded manchengo cheese and then a relish made of roasted garlic, roasted red pepper and parsley. Yum! Just as you might expect from the description, these were very tasty and a unique spin on a plain old hot dog. I am looking forward to trying several of the other varieties described in the article.

Yield 6 hot dogs

Ingredients

For the relish:
2 large heads of garlic, top 1/2-inch cut off
5 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1/2 cup roasted red pepper from a jar, drained and diced
1 tbsp. fresh parsley
Coarse kosher salt

For the hot dogs:
6 grilled or toasted hot dog buns
6 grilled all-beef hot dogs
2 oz. Manchengo cheese, grated (I used a lot less than the full 2 oz.)
Balsamic vinegar

Directions

01
To make the relish, preheat the oven to 400° F. Place each head of garlic, cut side up, in the center of a square of aluminum foil. Drizzle each with a teaspoon of olive oil, and enclose in the foil. Place the packets on the oven rack. Roast until the garlic is tender, about 45 minutes. Open the packets and let cool for 15 minutes.
02
Once cooled, squeeze the garlic cloves into a small bowl. Mash enough roasted garlic to measure 1/4 cup. Transfer the 1/4 cup to a bowl. Mix in 3 teaspoons olive oil, red peppers, and parsley. Season with coarse salt and pepper.
03
Place a hot dog in each bun. Top each grilled hot dog with shredded Manchengo cheese, the garlic relish, and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. Serve.

Source

adapted from Bon Appetit, July 2009