What a wich

So this weekend I was toying with the idea of making a low carb chip/ snacky thing. I like Rutabagas & thought that might be the ticket. I picked one up, peeled it and sliced it on the lowest setting on my mandolin. Then I simmered it until tender in salted vinegar water. And boy was it tasty when it came out! Then I cooled it down and threw it into the fryer and rubbed my hands - eagerly awaiting a crispy chip like thing. [Insert buzzer sound here] WRONG! I think I should have fried them while hot or not blanched them in the water at all cuz I ended up with soggy, oil chips. Maybe take two will do the trick.

Anyways, I got lost down that rabbit hole; let us come back to the subject at hand.

This is in honor of St Patrick’s Day & my Great Gramma who was born in Ireland.

Have you ever taken a bite of something that was so good that you had to share it with someone? Any parents out there probably are nodding their collective heads in a resounding YES! Parents want to expand their kid’s lives and one way we do this is by having them try new things.

But I am not talking about something new. I’m talking about a sandwich that has been around for decades. It was a Reuben. This by itself doesn’t sound like anything special or impressive. When I made this one, I made a sub along with it cuz I was really hungry & we didn’t have any chips or snacky stuff to go with it. Plus I was craving a Reuben to make with the corned beef recipe that was inspired by my mom.

The sad part about this absolutely incredible sandwich? I gave half to my wife & afterwards my sub sandwich tasted terrible in comparison. I mean I ate half of it before I tried the Reuben and while it wasn’t super fantastic, it was still pretty good.  Now while I can’t guarantee that your Reuben sandwich will be as transcendent as mine was (and that’s because I used my secret recipe for 1,000 island dressing on mine), what I can promise is one of the finest Corned Beefs you might ever try.

 

 

 

Corned Beef Brisket

Ingredients

1 Corned Beef brisket
12 to16 oz dark beer
 2 cups brown sugar
 ½ cup granulated garlic
 2 tablespoon dry mustard

Directions

Mix brown sugar, garlic & mustard together & rub into corned beef. Wrap & rest in refrigerator for about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Put corned beef into roasting pan and surround by beer. Cover with foil & bake for about 1 ½ hours. Cool in braising liquid, rest 24 hours and slice thin.

My other Addiction

As a kid, I never could get enough of it. Well, who am I kidding, I still could eat it morning, noon & night. I’m talking about one of my favorite condiments in the pantry – Peanut Butter. I could eat it on most anything; yes most anything, not anything. I do draw the line somewhere. I haven’t come across that line just yet, but I will let you know when I do. I blame this on my mom.  She loves; I mean that she LOVES mustard. Any kind and on anything. And yes, anything, including pancakes with or without syrup. Trust me, I’ve seen it. It isn’t pretty.

But we aren’t talking mustard, that’s another show. We’re talking Peanut Butter. Mmm peanut butter. Oh how I love thee. Once I got two 5 pounds jar of Peter Pan and a cornucopia of PB related treats – boy was that was a great birthday! Also, if I ever see a PB cookie, don’t even ask if you can have it, cuz it’s mine. I might be talked into sharing a small piece, maybe, just maybe.

For years, I have searched for the perfect PB cookie and this Christmas I finally found it. The original recipe had just three ingredients. This made me skeptical. I mean, I have a background in baking & this cookie recipe had no FLOUR in it! What?!? This makes no sense, I thought to myself. There’s no way it will work. Nevertheless, I tried it out because after all, it did have PB in it.

WOW! It was really good! But if you know me like I know me, I couldn’t leave good enough alone. So I played with it a bit and gave a twist or two to the recipe. I ended up adding three more ingredients to the original recipe, yet there is still no flour so they are gluten free as long as your PB is too. Don’t knock the curry powder here – it is very subtle & serves to bring the peanutiness out.

 

Peanut Butter Cookies

• Total Time: 12 mins
• Yield: 18 cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup peanut butter ( your choice, smooth or chunky)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/16 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• sugar, for rolling or dusting (optional – I like sanding sugar best)

Directions

1. Mix peanut butter, both sugars, curry, vanilla and egg together until smooth.
2. Drop by teaspoon onto cookie sheet two inches apart. If desired, roll in extra sugar before placing on cookie sheet.
3. Press with fork; press again in opposite direction.*
4. Bake 8-9 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
5. Do not brown; do not over bake.

*If making Peanut Butter Blossoms, roll balls in sugar & do not flatten before baking.

From New Orleans, with love

Okay. It’s time to admit it. Time to put it out for the world to read – no I don’t even pretend to believe that the world is reading this, but they could!

I love donuts. More than love, dare I say it, I lust for donuts! My mouth begins to water at the mere thought of a fluffy, delectable, sugary fried pillow of dough maybe wrapped in chocolate, possibly filled with pastry cream… If I were Superman, Donuts would be my Kryptonite.

There – I’ve said it; and even if this were a stage of some kind of remedial healing or donut therapy, I reject that notion and substitute my own. I will never, ever give up donuts!

I have tried them in most parts of the country I’ve visited and don’t think there is ever a distance I would not consider driving to get a great donut. One of the best I’ve had locally was at the now closed Hans Bakery in Anoka. I think that it was there that my parents introduced me to my donut addiction. Currently, my top honors goes to Mojo Monkey Donuts in St Paul (love her PB & J Bismarck and Chai donut holes!) & can’t wait to try Glam Doll Donuts in Mpls soon!

But for whatever reason, maybe it was fear or perhaps lack of knowledge; I’m not sure, but I’ve never made my own donuts until now. I think part of the reason I forced myself into doing this was trying the wonderful Beignets from the Cajun 2 Geaux food truck. Tim makes the lightest, fluffiest beignets I have ever had. And when Food Truck season was over, I needed my fix satisfied. There is nothing like having a HOT, fresh donut… why do you think mini-donuts sell so well at fairs?

And as promised, I tried out this Beignet recipe and it was fantastic! Since I just got a new fryer, I couldn’t think of a better way to christen it than this! While the cornmeal eluded me in my pantry, the recipe called for only a small amount, so I felt ok omitting it. Next time I will include it as I’m sure it adds a nice texture to them.

 

Beignets

 

Prep Time: 25 min              Inactive Prep Time: 1 hour                Cook Time: 30 min             Yield: about 3 dozen

Ingredients

• 1 package active dry yeast
• 11/2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup melted unsalted butter
• 1 large egg
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Vegetable oil, for frying
• Powdered Sugar

 

Directions

1.     In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the yeast, milk, sugar, and butter, and mix well for 2 minutes. Add the egg, and mix well. Add 4 cups of the flour, the cornmeal and salt. Beat at low speed until all the flour is incorporated, then on medium speed until a ball of dough forms, adding more flour as needed if too sticky.

2.     Remove from the mixer, form into a ball, and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place until nearly doubled, about 1 hour.

3.     Heat the fryer to 360°F.

4.     Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a thick rectangle, about 1-inch thick. Roll out until about 1/4-inch thick, and with a sharp knife, cut the dough into rectangles, about 2 by 3 inch.

5.     Drop the dough into the hot oil, being careful not to overcrowd the beignets as they are cooking, and turning them constantly to cook on all sides until golden, about 3 minutes per batch. Remove the beignets from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

6.     Serve the beignets warm, tossed a paper bag of powdered sugar.

 

Recipe courtesy of Emeril - http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/sopapillas-recipe/index.html

(He makes Sopapillas instead of Beignets – this recipe works great for both, subbing honey for powdered sugar for Sopapillas)

 

My, my… how time flies

It’s been two weeks since my last post and… whew it has been a busy time for me!

I am going to start this week with the recipe; Brat Burgers! That was posted now, so enjoy!

Last week, there was Yelp du Nord, which I was attending right until the last minute when my babysitter canceled. Was really looking forward to going and it sounded like it was a very fun & an enjoyable time was had by all. I am truly sorry I missed the festivities. On the flip side, my son got to go to his first all-boys sleep over, kind of exciting for him & it was in a hotel to boot!

Over that weekend, I got the chance to visit several food trucks & catch up with some old friends & meet new ones. The first stop was at the Winter Market, inside of Bachman’s by Lyndale & 62. My daughters & I enjoyed ourselves a long overdue Nate Dog from Nate Beck. If you haven’t had one yet, it is a must! Nate crafts his own mustards to accompany the wonderful dogs he serves. He is running his cart all summer long, but there is no need to wait until warmer weather as Nate is out there now. His tweets can to found & followed at @Nate_Dogs on Twitter.

While I was at the Winter Market, I stopped at Gai Gai Thai (that’s @gaigaithai on Twitter!) and tried his Thai Rice Soup. Absolutely wonderful! Even my 7 year-old loved it! The freshness of the lemongrass coupled with salty savory fish sauce was divine. We also stopped at Sun Sweet Breads for a brownie which was the perfect end for our market visit.

 Next, we headed over to Northeast to visit Amy & Kari at the Fork in the Road truck. These lovely ladies serve up extraordinary meals and you should make it a point to check them out! Their Twitter handle is @forkNroadtruck. They were at Mayslack’s Café, which is a great place to try out on its own, but we were there for the Annual Chili Cook-off. There were more than two dozen contestants and all of them were very good, but I had to cast my vote for Amy (Kari wasn’t there on Sat) and Fork in the Road. Their chili was complex, tasty and had a nice heat to it. The cornbread & toppings they served with it made theirs even better.

Our final stop was at the Midnord Empanada truck. Phil and the truck were at Indeed Brewing, just a couple of blocks from Mayslack’s. The truck can be found on Twitter @MidNordTrucks & Indeed Brewing at @IndeedBrewing. So not only did I get some yummy empanadas, I got a great beer to enjoy with them. I had the Cuban empanada with the Day Trippers Pale Ale and got it infused with pear. My daughters got the bacon cheeseburger & the mac n cheese empanadas. If the idea of an empanada sounds intimidating, don’t let that stop you. Phil rocks all of them and my personal favorite is the Mac with sriracha – my favorite so far that is!

This week, we finally heard back from the NDC & their answer was no. Very disappointing. We will continue to research our financing options and move forward. We’re not letting this stop us or give up! We’ve going to be meeting with WomenVenture and Open to Business soon and continue to get the finishing touches on our Kickstarter video. I’ve been in contact with a number of food truck builders to get quotes and time estimates, so I am very hopeful that we’ll be feeding you on the street soon!

While there’s more to share, this post seems to be getting a bit lengthy; so for now, I’m gonna sign off and see ya next week & cuz I’m off from the 9-5er –  you might see a bit more of me here!

Brat Burger recipe

Prep Time: 50 min Cook Time: 6-8 min Serves: 8


Brat Spice:
• 2 tablespoons ground white pepper
• 2 teaspoons rubbed sage
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground celery salt
• 2 teaspoon granulated garlic
• 2 teaspoon granulated onion

Sausage components:
• 2 pounds pork shoulder, diced
• 1 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon brat spice mix
• 2 teaspoon Maggi’s seasoning

Directions
Combine spice mix ingredients.
Grind the pork shoulder with the coarse die of a grinder.
Toss with kosher salt, brat spice & Maggi’s.
Pinch a small amount of sausage mix and cook in pan.
Taste test to determine if needs adjustment; add salt or brat spice to mix if needed to main batch.
Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Form into 4 oz. patties.
Sear on a hot griddle or BBQ for 3-4 minutes per side.

*Sausage mix can be stuffed into casings for links if desired.