I might have mentioned it before here on What About Watermelon, but I used to be a competitive eater. I wasn’t a good competitive eater, mind you – my eyes were always bigger than my stomach – but I enjoyed a good eating contest from time to time.
Sweets and desserts were my specialty, but I also entered my fair share of hot dog eating contests. I never won any of those contests, but I had a good time nonetheless and usually went home with at least a free t-shirt to show for my efforts.
I don’t eat competitively any more, but I still enjoy three or four (or six) hot dogs when we fire up the grill. If I had some watermelon relish like the kind featured in today’s recipe, I might have won a few of those hot dog eating contests, though. I prepared a batch of this relish this past weekend (see my photo below) and let me tell you, this stuff is good!
WATERMELON RELISH
INGREDIENTS
2 cups watermelon rind, dark-green skin removed and white part cut in 1/3-inch dice
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons salt, divided
2 ½ cups water and ¾ cup water, divided
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons lemon zest, finely grated
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 pinch each cinnamon and cloves
2 cups diced watermelon
DIRECTIONS
Mix rind with 2 1/2 cups water and 2 tablespoons salt. Let stand covered at room temperature overnight. Drain and rinse well.
In medium saucepan, combine sugar with 3/4 cup water, 2 teaspoons salt, the lemon zest and juice, cinnamon and cloves. Bring to a boil over medium heat, add the rind and cook gently for about 40 minutes or until the rind is translucent and tender (do not boil hard as mixture could caramelize). When done, remove from heat and cool. Lastly, mix in the diced watermelon. The watermelon relish will keep refrigerated for four days.
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