Bratwurst Pizza with Caramelized Onions and Balsamic Reduction - BMB Knockoff

Hey there! 

Been a little off the grid lately -- super busy doesn't begin to explain the past month or so of my life. Mostly involved things like exams, Easter, family time, the Monument Avenue 10k, brewery visits, cooking a few yummy meals here and there, trying not to cut jerk my nose off my face because of the pollen that decided to finally make its appearance this year, andddd a whole lot of other boring stuff for the in between moments -- ya know, like sleeping, driving, etc. 

So I mentioned breweries (a whole post to come with deets). Last weekend I paid a visit to Devil's Backbone Brewing Company, Bold Rock Cidery (officially in love -- cider is about to be the new craft beer -- mark my words), and Blue Mountain Brewery. If you're not familiar with these, that's ok. Their beverages are yummy, but their views are even better! Seriously -- this part of Virginia is one of, if not my absolute favorite (mountain momma at heart, remember?). 

From what I gather, once breweries have been around for a little bit, it's only natural to introduce food/restaurant flare into the mix of things. This can be good and bad, depending on the person in charge of your menu/kitchen. I didn't taste anything at Devil's Backbone {besides beer}, but by the time I made it to BMB my tummy was ready for some yummy. I got the crab dip and it was pretty decent. I definitely want to feel a fierce presence of crab in my crab dip and I didn't with this dip -- nonetheless, still good. 

After finishing off the crab dip, I continued to peruse their whole menu and stumbled across a pizza (Bratwurst w/Apples and Onions) that kept me coming back -- I seriously considered ordering it over and over. I didn't order it but I did snap a pic of the description so that I could make it at home. 

Monday evening came and here's the result:

Bratwurst Pizza with Caramelized Onions and Balsamic Reduction - BMB Knockoff

What You'll Need

• Pizza crust -- I bought mine from Whole Foods because I needed easy, not hard (work smarter, not harder).
• Sauce -- also purchased from Whole Foods -- ditto on the easy.
• Two bratwursts (or a package) -- I bought two from the case at WF becuase I cannot control my actions when I buy bratwurst, and would put them all on the pizza if I were forced to buy an entire package.
• 1 package of mozzarella
• 1-2 oz. of cream cheese
• Blue cheese crumbles
• Pepper
• 2-3 tbsp.vinegar (white or white balsamic)
• 1/2 - 1 C regular balsamic vinegar
• 1 yellow onion
• Olive oil

How To Make It 

• Rub olive oil on a pizza stone and roll out your pizza crust on the stone.
• Slice yellow onion and sautee in a bit of olive oil until caramelized.
• Preheat your oven to 400F.
• Next, you'll make a blue cheese whip. That's right. I said whipped blue cheese. Mine was more of a sauce than a whip becuase I didn't want to pull out a food processor for just a little bit of whip (if you do want to go all out, then follow this recipe for the whip). 
• So for my whip/sauce -- Just put an ounce or two of cream cheese in a bowl and melt it in timed increments in the microwave. Then add blue cheese crumbles to the warm cream cheese (however much you want) -- stir to melt/distribute. Add a dash of black pepper and white vinegar (about 2 tbsp to the mixture). Stir and heat again if needed. Honestly, just make this to taste and to the consistency of your choosing . . . or not at all if you're not a blue cheese lover addict. 
• Squeeze your brats out of their casing into a skillet, separate into crumbles and brown until almost cooked through (kinda like ground beef for spaghetti).
• While you're cooking your brats, pop your pizza crust in the oven for about 8 minutes.
• Next, put ~1/2 C of balsamic vinegar into a sauce pan and heat over medium heat (don't boil) to make a reduction (like this).
• Once crust has cooked for about 8 minutes, take her out and dress her up! 
• Spread sauce over somewhat cooked crust, sprinkle mozzarella over sauce, sprinkle brat crumbles over mozz, add dabs/drizzle blue cheese whip, place onions all over pizza, then finish with balsamic reduction drizzle.
• Pop her back in the oven for about 20 minutes, broil for 1 minute before taking her out.
• Enjoy!

I don't know how BMB's pizza is, but I'll have to order it next time so that I have something to compare my own to. 

I promise -- deets to come about the breweries.

-Sue

Irish Corned Beef and Cabbage with Horseradish Sauce - St. Patty's Day Delight

Guess what? 

I'm on Spring Break! 

The last one I'll ever have - boooo!

The bright side? Next year I'll be on clinical rotations and then the year after that -- wait for it -- I'll be a pharmacist! Time is sorta flying if I think about it, but when I'm up all night studying I'm all, "Oh em gee this process is never ending!"

Anyways - who's gearing up for St. Patrick's Day? I hope you're all saying, "Me! ME! Me! I am, I am!" I kinda love St. Patty's Day. I mean -- what other day can you dress up in green, talk in an accent, eat delicious food, consume wonderful libations, and do it all with your closest friends? There IS no other day! Seize it people, you'll be sorry if you don't. 

For Richmonders, Shamrock the Block is probably one of (if not) the first outdoor festival of the year -- we love our outdoor festivals in Richmond. Each year, my friends do a huge Irish brunch complete with Guinness, Irish Car Bombs, green mimosas and beer. It's an awesome time to say the least. Around noon, we walk on down to the festival (perks of friends living in Church Hill) and scope out our spot -- last year it was at good 'ol Rosie's. By the end of the day, we're all grateful that we stuffed our faces that morning.

In previous years, one of our friends always made the corned beef and cabbage. What's the problem this year? She moved! Such a bummer any way you look at it, especially since she's the most fun out of all of us AND her corned beef was the most delicious ever. 

My solution? I'll make it. 

What? 

Yea. That's right. 

I couldn't just show up this weekend with a corned beef that I had never tried, so last weekend I studied about a million recipes and pins to test things out. Here's my product. It's delicious. It's easy. You can't go wrong. If you do, call me up and have some beer waiting for me -- I'll help ya out. 

O and one more thing -- what's corned beef and cabbage without some horseradish sauce? NOTHING. You have to make this. I'd keep it in my fridge year round if I could. 

I can. 

But I shouldn't. 

Irish Corned Beef and Cabbage 

What You'll Need

• ~3 lb corned beef brisket - in brine 
• Yes, this matters. Let's talk brisket for a second. There's beef brisket and corned beef brisket. The difference? Beef brisket is plain and unseasoned. It's just beef. Corned beef brisket has sat in a brine, flavorings and spices have been added, etc. You can certainly purchase a beef brisket and brine it/season it yourself and then cook accordingly to achieve this dish, buuuuut that would take me forever and ain't nobody got time for that. Just google around or look on Pinterest, there are various beef brisket brine recipes (say that three times fast) out there.
• 14 to 16 C cold water
• 2 or 3 whole cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 whole allspice berries
• 2 tsp whole peppercorns
• 1 small head of cabbage or ~1/2 large head of cabbage - cut into thick wedges
• 1 and 1/2 lbs. small, new potatoes (~11 potatoes) - halved 
• My grocer didn't have new potatoes, so I opted for baby yukon golds instead - new potatoes will have a better flavor/thinner skin.
• 1 small bag of baby carrots 
• Ground pepper to taste
• Guinness to accompany your meal -- it's a must.

How To Make It

• Preheat your oven to 300F.
• Using a colander in your sink, remove the corned beef from the package and rinse with cold water. There will be a flavor packet of seasonings somewhere inside -- just toss it out.
• Once your meat is rinsed, add your corned beef to a dutch oven with a tight lid or a stock pot with a tight lid. The dutch oven I had on hand was only 6 quarts -- you really need something 8 to 10 quarts to ensure your meat has enough room with liquid inside. 
• Next, add ~16 cups of cold water to your meat and pot. 
• On the stovetop, bring your pot to a boil. As it begins to boil, skim off the crud that begins to surface. 
• Now you can add all of your spices -- cloves, bay leaves, allspice berries, and peppercorns. Just an fyi -- if you deviate to much from this spice list, such as adding a lot more or less of any one thing, it will dramatically change the flavor profile of the dish. That's not a bag thing, just a heads up. "Whole" spices are very potent and flavorful which is why you don't need a lot. Adding them once you've skimmed the crud off will ensure that you don't remove any that accidentally float to the top.
• Once your spices have been added, allow to bubble for a minute or two. 
• Next, add your pot with a tight fitting lid to a 300F oven and cook for 3 hours and 40 minutes. 
• When the meat is done, remove the meat from the pot and allow to rest on a serving dish/cutting board while your veggies cook. Make sure you cover it tightly in foil. 
• Place your pot with cooking liquid back on the stove top and bring to a rapid simmer/slow boil. 
• Add in your carrots, then potatoes, then cabbage leaving one to two minutes between each. Cabbage takes the least amount of time to cook and you don't want it to become mushy. After cooking for about ~10 to 15 minutes, remove veggies from liquid and reserve some liquid for serving.
• All done - enjoy!

Creamy Horseradish Sauce

What You'll Need

• 1/4 C + 1/8C sour cream
• 1/4 C + 1/8C mayonnaise 
• 1/8 C + 2 tbsp. jarred grated horseradish with liquid (often found near the eggs/dairy at your grocer)
• 1/2 tsp. grated lemon zest
• Lots of fresh ground black pepper

How To Make It

• Throw it all in a bowl and you're done! This sauce recipe can easily be doubled or more for larger crowds. One thing is for certain -- it's necessary. I like lots of horseradish and lots of lemon, so the more the better in my opinion. 

How many can you serve with this recipe? I'd say six healthy servings or eight proportional servings result. Variations for the entree? Some people use red potatoes, some don't use carrots or potatoes at all, some use a combination of these spices in addition to others, or leave a few out, and some even use Guinness. Horsey sauces vary too with the addition of mustard and various vinegars. As you can see, the possibilities are endless! 

Serving options? You could serve this with soda bread on the side and some fresh ground mustard if horsey sauce really isn't your thing. I'm not Irish and I've never had someone show me how to brine brisket or how an actual Irishman might cook their beef, but I do know one thing -- what I made is tender and melts in your mouth and that's good enough for me.

Seriously, what's easier than this? 

This dish isn't reserved just for St. Patty's Day - try it out at home for your family or perhaps for you and the loved one!

-Sue 

Avocado + Buffalo Chicken = Super Bowl Yummies

Hey there - hope your week is off to a great start!

I'm sure you probably watched the Super Bowl this weekend or tuned in in some capacity. Maybe you caught some of the commercials, or perhaps Beyonce's Super Bowl performance? Either way, the Super Bowl is pretty much an American holiday - at least it should be. Who's with me?

Aside from the flashy lights, NFL rivalries, and half-time performances, the only other thing more important? The food. Yep. Have you ever seen those statistics about how much pizza, wings, and avocados that we consume on Super Bowl Sunday? Talk about crazy! Go here if you haven't.

In normal fashion, I had to contribute to those statistics.

Let's talk guacamole. I am in love with it. Like seriously. We're dating. We've been going steady for a while now. I'll share him though.

Whew. Feels good to get that off my chest.

So who has the best moley? Personally, I'm a fan of Chipotle's guacamole, closely followed by Whole Foods' housemade, creamy, green goodness. Sunday morning I used my Google skills to try and find the closest version of Chipotle's guac. Much to my surprise I found this. HOW have I never found this site in all of my years of food blog/website stalking reading? Doesn't matter. Now I've found it and all of my restaurant faves will be made. That could be a good thing . . . or it could be a bad thing.

You can follow the recipe below/watch the video for the best illustration of how to make this. Just remember, don't be greedy with my guacamole - I'm sharing, remember? :)

Chipotle's Deliciously Addicting Guacamole

What You'll Need

• 6 large, ripe avocados - peeled and pitted 
• 3 cups fresh cilantro - chopped
• 1 1/2 cups fresh red onion - finely chopped
• 12 large serrano chilies - seeded and finely chopped
• 12 teaspoons fresh citrus juice - lime and lemon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 

How To Make It

• Slice, pit, and peel your avocados out into a bowl. 
• Sprinkle salt over avocados.
• Juice your limes and lemons and add about 7 to 8 teaspoons of lime juice and 4 to 5 teaspoons of lemon juice to the mixture. 
• Use a potato masher or pastry dough blender to mash the avocados just slightly. 
• Chop cilantro, serranos, and onions and add to bowl. 
• Use potato masher or pastry dough blender to completely mix ingredients.
• The result? Smooth, delicious guacamole. 

See how easy that is?! Now for a few tips. Use 4 to 5 avocados that are ripe and 1 to 2 that are slightly under-ripe to achieve the best texture. Also, I don't like as much cilantro so I cut it and the salt down just a tad.

You don't need Super Bowl Sunday as a reason to make this! Make it on Sundays to have throughout the week. You could use it on Mexican/taco nights, for healthy snacking, or maybe add a spoonful to a warm bowl of chili!

Tomorrow I'll have the recipe up for Buffalo Chicken Dip - a recipe for which I'm known!

-Sue