Our Best Mac: Throwbacks for #‎NationalMacandCheeseDay‬

There are only a few things in the world that make us stop everything and pay homage. But, National Mac & Cheese Day is definitely one.

After all, how can you resist the ooey gooey goodness of a beautiful bowl of noodles smothered in delicious cheese?

We certainly can't.  And if you're looking for inspiration for tonight's dinner,  we're hoping one of these recipes might provide some cheesy, gooey inspiration.

Moussaka Mac & Cheese

If you love moussaka, you'll love this mac & cheese hybrid featuring layers of delicious eggplant, lamb and cheesy noodle goodness.

Benedictine Mac & Cheese with Caramelized Onions & Rosemary

There's nothing like a mac & cheese that's chock-full of slowly caramelized onions and rosemary. If you can't find Benedictine cheese, substitute another full-flavored variety in its place.

Buffalo Chicken Macaroni & Cheese

All the classic flavors of Buffalo Chicken right here in a mac & cheese. You know you want it. Recipe easily converts to a gluten free version.

Got a favorite mac & cheese recipe to share?
We'd love to hear about it!


©BURP!

Gorgeous AND Delicious: Pomegranate Cheese Ball

When it all comes down to it, I'd rather a recipe taste fabulous than look attractive.  But, I love it when you can have both.

This year, I found myself concentrating on working up some new appetizer recipes for entertaining over the holiday season. And one of my favorite recipes just happens to be both attractive AND delicious.

In fact, when it comes to looking festive, this cheese ball always steals the show. 

The cheese ball itself is based on the flavors in one of my own personal "guilty" pleasures -- the Merkt's Swiss Almond cheese spread. Turns out its easy to make, and (no surprise here) the end result is even more delicious than the pre-made version. 

And then I went a step further and completely one-upped them on the presentation by coating the cheese in a swath of bright red fresh pomegranate seeds.

Both beautiful and delicious, it’s the perfect addition to pre-dinner snacks or a full-belly appetizer spread.

Get the recipe: Pomegranate Cheese Ball

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Cheesy Hasselback Sweet Potatoes

Show of hands -- how many of you have eaten hasselback potatoes?

Another show of hands -- how many of you have actually made them? Am I alone in saying that I almost never do?

I feel like hasselbacks are one of those dishes (at least for me) that I love, but that I never bother to make myself. But all of that changed when I discovered hasselback sweet potatoes.

Now, in their original and simplest form, hasselback potatoes are usually drizzled with melted butter, seasoned with salt and pepper and topped with bread crumbs. The rich butter absorbs into the potato during roasting, resulting in a soft, creamy interior and a crispy outside.

So, I guess it's the idea of baked potato meets oven fries that really attracts me. I love how the potato gets a bit crisp on the outside, but it's meltingly tender on the inside. And I love how easy they are to eat.

And, of course, when you add cheese I'm ALL OVER IT.

You could choose any number of cheeses for this dish. Cheddar would be great, especially if you decided to add a sprinkling of bacon. And I could even make the case for Mozzarella or Provolone, maybe with a slight change in the seasonings.

However, smooth nutty Gouda cheese has an affinity for the sugary qualities of the sweet potato, and it melts like a dream, making it the perfect stuffing for these buttery paprika and garlic-infused potatoes. If you like smoked cheeses, try using smoked Gouda for an extra burst of flavor.

I love sitting down with one of these and making it a meal. But, they're also perfect for serving alongside your next roast.
Recipe: Cheesy Hasselback Sweet Potatoes

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Summertime Means Cheese Curds!

What? You didn't know?
Well, you must not be from Wisconsin, then.

For those of us who live here in the cheese capital... dairy is an everyday treat. And cheese curds are the squeakiest of them all. That's why you've got to check out our article in the Summer issue of "Grate. Pair. Share." -- an online magazine showcasing the best of Wisconsin cheese.

Aside from our article, which includes a recipe for a delicious grilled chicken taco salad with seared cheese curds (which are ALMOST as good as fried cheese curds), there are plenty of other great recipes.

Here are a few on our list to try:

• The Berry Smash (a Bourbon-based drink which pairs well with Gorgonzola cheese)
• The Zucchini & Potato Rosemary Pizza (for when zucchini season hits)
• The Spicy Watermelon Salad with Queso Fresco and Tequila Lime Dressing (need we say more?)
• The Grilled Plum & Bread Salad with Fresh Mozzarella (grilled! plums! yum!)

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Game Day or Any Day: Beer Cheese Spread

It could be the Wisconsinites in us talking here, but we're pretty sure that most party food is better with a bit of craft beer.

And we're not just talking about the kind you drink.

Cooking with beer isn't anything new. In fact there are countless recipes that can help you use up the brews languishing in your fridge. A wide variety of soups, stews, breads, and side dishes can benefit from the complex, yeasty, malty flavor of a good brew.

Of course, one of the best flavor pairings for a good quality beer is always cheese.

Countless cheeses are enhanced by the right beverage pairing. For instance, why not try a goat cheese paired with wheat beer, a mascarpone with a fruity  brew, or a Cheddar with a nice nutty brown ale? Gorgonzola and other blue cheeses go great with Barleywine. And Gruyere can be the perfect match for a dark Lager or a Bock.

We decided to use beer and cheese pairing as an inspiration for this delicious recipe -- a cheese spread that makes full use of the flavors of beer, cheese... and the smokiness of a bit of bacon.

Really, how can you resist?

If you feel like you’re falling into a rut with your game day appetizers, fear not. This recipe that will revive your repertoire and put a smile on the faces of the beer lovers in your group.

All you need is a bottle of flavorful beer and a block of good quality cheese to make your appetizer spread anything but ordinary.

 Butter makes this cream cheese-based spread seductively rich and creamy, while beer, mustard and a hint of smoky bacon ensure that the flavors in this spread will never fall flat.

Serve with pretzels, crackers or kettle-cooked chips… and a beer, of course!

Beer Cheese Spread

©BURP!

Red Wine Blue Cheese Ball

Are you tired?
I'm tired.

It's not that Christmas wasn't lovely. Or that the New Year didn't seem to arrive at just the right moment to leave me feeling that there's an aura of hope in the air.  But, I've been working on all cylinders for the last few weeks. And I'm just pooped.

Of course, life doesn't always slow down to accommodate. The holidays might be over; but, it seems there's always an occasion for entertaining waiting right around the corner. Maybe it's a birthday, a football party, or even just game night with friends.

Regardless of the event, it always pays to have a recipe or two for a quick appetizer in your back pocket.

That’s why it pays to keep a block of cream cheese, a bit of blue cheese, and a stick of real butter on hand at all times so that you can whip up this ultra-creamy red-wine-infused cheese ball.

The delicious spread gets a ton of flavor from a compound butter made with reduced red wine and shallots which infuses the cheese ball.  Pair that with the tang of blue cheese and the silky texture of cream cheese, and roll it up in minced green parsley (or even chopped nuts) and you've got something pretty awesome going.  We like to use a Wisconsin buttermilk blue, but feel free to experiment with different cheeses to find your favorite.

Perfect on crackers or served alongside a sliced baguette.

Red Wine Blue Cheese Ball

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Pumpkin Beer Cheese Soup

Halloween might be over, but pumpkin season is just beginning as far as I'm concerned.

That delicious orange flesh is just screaming to be used in pies, pastas, enchiladas, oatmeal, soups, stews, breads, and desserts. The seeds are screaming to be toasted for snacks and deliciously crunchy garnishes.  And, since we're in Wisconsin, we'll be looking forward to pairing pumpkin with beer every chance we get.

Take this delicious seasonal soup, for instance.

Warming, creamy, and filled with beta-carotene, this soup is a healthier take on the traditional beer cheese soup. 

Using pumpkin soup as a base, we've added a bit of beer and some deliciously smoky Wisconsin Gouda to create the perfect warm-up for game night or a casual weeknight dinner.  Serve with soft pretzels or crusty bread for the perfect autumn meal.

Serve the soup in a hollowed out pumpkin for a lovely, seasonal effect.  Or simply ladle into bowls and top with chopped scallions, crispy croutons, additional shredded gouda, or a few toasted pumpkin seeds.

Pumpkin Soup with Beer & Cheese

©BURP! Where Food Happens

Our Trip to Widmer's Cheese Cellars

  
If you've been reading our posts for any length of time, you probably know one thing, above all. We. Love. Cheese. As a result, we've taken it upon ourselves to learn as much as possible about all the great cheeses made right here in Wisconsin.

Being the dairy state, we can lay claim to quite a number of original cheeses. One of these is Brick cheese -- a cheese that is made in a brick-shaped form, and pressed under the weight of a brick to form a medium-soft, creamy cheese that is well suited to slicing for sandwiches, making grilled cheese, and using anywhere a great melting cheese is needed.  The color of the cheese ranges from pale yellow to white, and the age of the cheese makes a huge difference in its flavor -- with young cheese tasting sweet and mild, and older cheese taking on a strong, ripened flavor with a bit of sharpness on the end.

Widmer's Cheese Cellars in Theresa, WI is the only factory left making real Brick cheese, and we had the opportunity to take a tour of the plant a couple of weeks ago. We got some great shots of the cheese-making process that we thought we'd share with you.

Some facts about Widmer's Cheese Cellars and Brick Cheese:

• Brick is an American original -- developed by John Jossi, a Swiss-born American cheese maker.
• Brick cheese may sound ordinary, but its flavor is enhanced by the same pleasantly pungent bacterial action that contributes to the flavor of the classic French cheeses like Pont I’Eveque, St. Nectaire, Reblochon and Livarot.
• Joseph Widmer represents the third generation in his family to run the cheese plant.
• Joe still uses the same bricks his grandfather bought back in 1922 to weigh down the curds in the cheese molds.
• For more history, visit the Widmer's Cellars web site.

Full Disclosure: The Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board covered all of our expenses related to the tour of Widmer's Cheese Cellars.  However, all opinions expressed in this post are our own.

©BURP! Where Food Happens

Creamed Leeks with Gorgonzola

 
The humble leek – often relegated to the back of the produce drawer, upstaged by the potato, or simply forgotten – deserves a bit of time in the spotlight.

But,when this mild-mannered allium is at its best, it’s deliciously sweet and well-behaved.

So, why not take advantage of its seductive charms and make a little bit of side dish magic?

This happens to be one of our favorite ways to use leeks, and it’s as simple as it gets.  First we sauté those tender spring leeks in butter until they’re soft and sweet.  Then we embellish them with a whorl of cream and a crumbling of the best and mildest gorgonzola we can find.

If you follow our lead, you’ll find that the cream complements the leeks’ sweet flavor, while the gorgonzola kicks the dish up a notch with its deliciously funky salty flavor.  And, what’s even better, this simply decadent side goes perfectly with just about everything – seared scallops, baked potatoes, grilled fish, poached chicken breast, or even steak.

According to Paul, the only thing that could have made this dish better would have been the addition of bacon. And he just might be right.

Creamed Leeks with Gorgonzola

©BURP! Where Food Happens

5th Burp-Day Giveaway Winners and One Final #Giveaway

 It's tough to believe that our Burp-Day month has passed by already!  We've had a great time writing about some of our favorite local businesses and some of the lessons we've learned in our last five years of blogging.

Thanks to all of you who participated in the giveaways all month long!  We're pleased to announce the official winners.

  The two wine and cheese gift sets from the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board go to: 

• Sarah - who was really curious about the rhubarb cheese pie at  DairyDaysofSummer.com and
• SarahJ | Curious Cuisiniere who has fallen in love with Wisconsin Apple Cheddar

• Winners of the Scrumptious Pantry gift baskets containing TWO bottles of Cranberry Catsup (one smoky, one earthy) and TWO jars of heirloom pickles (Beaver Dam Peppers and Pickled Beets):
• Abigail/Mamatouille who is "such a pickle girl and would love a taste of those pickled red beets"
• Domestic Diva who thinks "the beaver dam pepper sounds great." 
• And Mindless.Ali who said that "The eggplant spread looks amazing sauce!"

• Jen of Juanita's Cucina was winner of the Becky's Blissful Bakery caramels

• Ariel was the winner of the Bittercube Bitters

• Devil's Food Advocate was the winner of the Cybros Bread assortment
• Carolsue was the winner of the Howling Wolf Barbeque sauce and rub.
• Alysha from She's on the Run was the winner of the Indulgence Chocolate.

Best of all, Jamie Leigh Martin won the Grand Prize assortment of Wisconsin Cheeses from the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board.

We had so much fun with the giveaways that we're going to do one last round for those of you who may have missed out on the first seven.

In celebration of our 5th Burp-Day, the first FIVE (5) people to comment on this post will each receive a great little cheese cooler bag -- also from the Wisconsin Milk Marketing board.

Winners will be chosen at random and notified by email, so please leave your email addy with your comment if it's not included with your Blogger profile. Entries from the U.S. only, please.

Full Disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored by The Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, who provided us with the product for our giveaway. However, all opinions expressed in this post are our own.

©BURP! Where Food Happens

Cheese is Good: Uplands Cheese and Our First #Giveaway

 Over the last five years, we've made plenty of mistakes.  As new bloggers, we didn't have the slightest idea how to take photos of food. Heck, we didn't even have a digital camera until about two months into the process.  So, you can just imagine how much fun we had with our first few posts (look back on them if you must, but we're warning you).

Needless to say, one of the first lessons we learned while blogging is that you can't take yourself too seriously. Blogging is about relaxing, being yourself, and giving yourself room to grow.  If that means taking really bad photos for almost two years before you finally figure out how to rig up pseudo professional lighting in your dark kitchen, so be it.  Have fun. Don't give up.  And keep on blogging.  In other words, a little bit of "cheese" can be a very good thing.

Speaking of cheese...

Over the weekend, we were treated to a fabulous adventure by the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board. They took us, along with numerous other Wisconsin food bloggers, on a whirlwind tour of three of Wisconsin's most fabulous creameries -- Chalet Cooperative, Hook's, and Uplands Cheese.

While every one of the creameries had its charms, we were absolutely beguiled by the inner workings of Dodgeville's Uplands Cheese, producer of two of our favorite farmstead cheeses, Pleasant Valley Reserve and Rush Creek Reserve.

What endears Uplands to us in such an intimate way is not only the cheese they produce, but the care with which they produce it. This family-run dairy farm in southwestern Wisconsin cuts absolutely no corners when it comes to the production of their cheeses. In a time when the term "artisan" is slowly losing its meaning, Cheese Maker Andy Hatch uses century-old knowledge to produce Alpine-style cheeses in the most traditional fashion possible without fancy approaches, short-cuts, or pretense.

From the carefully orchestrated rotational pasture grazing of their 130 Holstein cows, to the painstaking care they take to hand-craft and age their cheese, Uplands is the epitome of old world simplicity. And their cheeses are a reflection of that.

Modeled after the Beaufort cheese of France, Pleasant Ridge is sweet and nutty with an earthy bite and a long finish. Produced from raw spring and summer milk that carries the flavors of the sweet, tender, sugary grasses of the Driftless countryside, this cheese is all about the milk.  As Andy says, "With this cheese, we get out of the way and let the cheese do its thing."

Rush Creek, on the other hand, is made with raw milk from cows who've grazed on fading autumn grasses and hay. Inspired by the French Vacherin Mont d'Or, its flavor is more dependent upon the ripening process, which allows the rich young cheese to age in Spruce bark, imparting a rich woodsy flavor.

Uplands makes its cheese in small batches, the old fashioned way, sacrificing efficiency for the sake of producing a superior product. Their ways are simple, and their cheeses complex and filled with the passion and handiwork that only old-school can produce.

And gosh, that's just the sort of thing we can't get enough of.

________________________
Of course, we couldn't end this post without leaving you with a little bit of something in celebration of our 5th Burp-Day.  This is the first of five... make that seven giveaways taking place on the blog all through the month of June. So come back often, and come hungry!

Since June is Dairy Month, we want to give you the opportunity to sample some cheese of your own. So, thanks to the generosity of the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, we'll be sharing the wealth.

Two lucky readers will win a wine and cheese set, complete with a round wooden cheese board, multi-function corkscrew and three cheese knives.The accompanying insulated, zippered compartment stores the board and keeps cheese and accompaniments chilled during travel.


To enter, simply visit DairyDaysofSummer.com, look through the list of great summer recipes, and leave a comment telling us which recipe you'd like to make first. For a bonus entry, tell us your favorite Wisconsin cheese to take along with you on summer picnics.


You'll have until NOON on June 30, 2012 to enter.  Winners will be chosen at random and notified by email, so please leave your email addy with your comment if it's not included with your Blogger profile. Entries from the U.S. only, please.


As an added bonus, all entrants will ALSO be entered to win a grand prize assortment of hand-selected Wisconsin cheeses.


Full Disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored by the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, who covered all of our expenses related to the aforementioned creamery tours.  WMMB also provided us with the products for our giveaway. However, all opinions expressed in this post are our own.


©BURP! Where Food Happens

Farro Salad with Asparagus & Feta

 Whole grain salads are the staple of our spring and summer table, where you’ll regularly find compositions featuring quinoa, millet, barley, and bulgar along with a plethora of fresh, seasonal vegetables. Our newest love just happens to be farro, a hearty and deeply satisfying grain that we adore because it pairs so nicely with such a variety of fresh local ingredients year-round. 

Ever popular in Europe, and gaining a reputation in the states, farro comes in whole and pearled varieties. Using pearled farro cuts down on cooking time and gives farro the opportunity to be the star of even the most hurried weeknight meals. We’ve found that toasting the farro in butter prior to cooking intensifies the grain’s naturally rich, nutty flavor. 

In this dish, we’ve combined asparagus, green onions, and fresh oregano to give the dish a distinctly spring-like flair.  Sundried tomatoes give a nod to the impending summer harvest. Chickpeas offer protein. And feta cheese pulls everything together, giving the dish a Mediterranean flair and offering a counterpoint to the tangy lemon dressing.

Farro Salad with Asparagus & Feta

©BURP! Where Food Happens

Kicking Off Grilled Cheese Month: Melthouse Bistro Grilled Cheese Reception

  Some of you may remember, way back in 2010, when we ventured off to Madison, Wisconsin for the launch party for the Grilled Cheese Academy web site.  It was a glorious celebration of all things cheese -- and a celebration that would be pretty difficult to beat, by any standards.

But, the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board is doing it again.  This year, they're sponsoring another grilled cheese reception on Wednesday, March 21st from 5:30pm - 8pm at Milwaukee's first gourmet grilled cheese shop, Melthouse Bistro at 1850 E. Kenilworth Place.


Declared "the perfect lunchtime treat" by A.V. Club - Milwaukee,  Melthouse Bistro has been serving up  hand-crafted grilled cheese sandwiches made with the finest Wisconsin cheeses (like Widmar’s 4-Year Aged Sharp Cheddar), mouth watering ingredients (like Thick-Cut Pecanwood Smoked Bacon), and fresh-baked artisan breads, since November of last year.  The event, which kicks of April -- AKA "Grilled Cheese Month" -- will feature grilled cheese sandwich bites, samples of delicious Wisconsin cheeses, and local beer pairings.

It's an invitation-only affair, but we just so happened to have scored a couple of pairs of ticket to give away to our lucky local readers.

If you live in the Milwaukee area and would like to attend this remarkable event, all you need to do is hop over to the Grilled Cheese Academy web site, take a look around, and report back to us regarding which delectable grilled cheese sandwich is YOUR personal favorite. You'll get a bonus entry if you head over to the Burp! Facebook page and give us a "like" (please leave an additional comment letting us know you did). We'll choose TWO winners at random on Thursday, March 15th after NOON; each winner will receive a pair of tickets for the event on March 21st (please make sure you include an email address/contact information if it's not readily available on your profile/blog). Tickets are non-transferable. Please be respectful of other readers and DO NOT ENTER if you know you will be unable to make it to the event on the 21st.

As for those of you who are too far away to make it to Milwaukee, we don't want you to feel left out!  So, we've conjured up a bit of grilled cheese deliciousness just for you:

The Brasserie - featuring Wisconsin Brie, braised short ribs, and pickled red onions on country French bread. [download recipe]

In the mood for dessert?  Why not try The Bianca - with Wisconsin Mascarpone, dulce de leche, and raspberry preserves on cinnamon raisin bread.  [download recipe]

©BURP! Where Food Happens

Cinco de Mayo: Celebrate with Enchiladas

Cinco de Mayo... it's not Mexican Independence Day (which is September 16).  In fact, it's actually the celebration of an underdog victory against the French at the Battle of Puebla.

Did you know that the holiday isn't even celebrated widely in Mexico?

Nonetheless, we do love a good excuse to celebrate with food.  And so we're hauling out our bottle of tequila and getting ready for a celebration of sorts.   Think of it as a tribute to all the great cuisines of Mexico -- and the cultures and influences that have changed our way of eating here in the U.S. forever.

It seems fitting to offer up a variety of Burp! fare for this event.  So, since enchiladas originated in Mexico, we thought we'd share a round-up of our favorites.  Maybe they'll serve as inspiration for you as you contemplate your own Cinco de Mayo celebration.

Caramelized Onion & Poblano Enchiladas

Goat Cheese Enchiladas with Red Mole

Seafood Enchiladas

King Ranch Casserole ("stacked" enchiladas)

 

©BURP! Where Food Happens
Want more? Read Lo's latest ruminations at FOODCrush, her Milwaukee Magazine blog.

Over the Top: The Grilled Cheesus Bison Burger & a Cheesy Giveaway

UPDATE & REQUEST:  We entered our Cheesus Burger into Dude Foods Ultimate Grilled Cheese competition -- and we're a finalist.  Please consider taking the time to put in your vote for our behemoth creation by clicking here. You will have to ‘Like’ DudeFoods.com (if you don't already) and then you can ‘Like’ our grilled cheese. Thank you!

Some of you may already know that April is National Grilled Cheese Month.  We have no idea who decides these things, but we heartily approve, as it gives us the perfect opportunity to play with one of our favorite ingredients, Wisconsin cheese.

Needless to say, when we heard that Laura Werlin, James Beard Award-winning author of five books about cheese, was coming out with a new tome just in time for Grilled Cheese Month, we were seriously excited to check it out.  Even better, our friends at the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board offered to send us a copy to review.

We drooled from the moment we opened Grilled Cheese, Please!, which features 50 amazing grilled cheese sandwiches -- from inventive savory classics like Double Cheddar and Tomato Jam to decidedly delicious dessert worthy creations like The Sweetest Thing, a grilled marscapone, raspberry, and chocolate sandwich with slices of melted brie.

Not only is the book a virtual hotbed of inspiration for sandwich lovers like us, but Laura really knows her stuff.  Her grilled cheese tips, which include simple suggestions like using grated cheese to ensure even meltage, and covering the sandwiches during cooking (which locks in the heat and helps the cheese to melt even faster), really make the difference when it comes to creating the perfect grilled cheese.

You probably won't be surprised when we tell you that we didn't waste much time before we started trying out recipes from the book.  Peef was feeling particularly inspired when we came across a behemoth sandwich containing not only TWO grilled cheese sandwiches, but also a burger.  It was so crazy, we just had to try it out for ourselves.
 
And so we present one of the most outrageously monstrous grilled cheese concepts known to man:  The Grilled Cheesus Burger.  Inspired by the grilled cheese-hamburger combination created by Portland Oregon's Grilled Cheese Grill, our version of this delectable monstrosity is comprised of a perfectly seasoned bison burger cradled between two delicious grilled cheese sandwiches.

 The top sandwich features melted smoked Wisconsin gouda and caramelized onions, while the bottom incorporates more smoked gouda nestled between slices of spicy homemade dill pickles. The burger itself is made from locally raised ground bison, char-grilled and embellished with ketchup, a swipe of dijon mustard and topped with locally grown mixed greens from Milwaukee's own Growing Power.

Grilled Cheesus Bison Burger

Since we figured you'd either be appalled or drooling by the end of the post, we decided to give you a chance to take on your own personal grilled cheese project.

Thanks to our friends at the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, we're pleased to announce that we'll be giving away copies of Laura Werlin's book, Grilled Cheese, Please! to five (5) lucky readers.

For your chance to win, please read the instructions below. Be sure to leave a comment for each entry (and leave your email address if you don't have it listed on your blog/contact info).   Please note that this contest is limited to readers in the United States & Canada. Contest ends 4/29/11 at NOON (CST).

Mandatory entry (must be completed or no other entries will count):   

• Visit the More Grilled Cheese Please page, take a look at the sandwiches listed and let us know which one is your favorite. 

Extra entries – please leave a comment for each additional entry, letting us know you completed it

• Give us a "like" on Facebook!
• Follow @WisconsinCheese on twitter
• Use the following text to tweet about this giveaway (please leave a link to your tweet in the comments for credit):  
• Grilled Cheese Please! book giveaway - #win your copy @Burp_blog:  Ends 4/29 #giveaway

NOTE:  The five winners will be chosen randomly and announced on Facebook on the afternoon of 4/30 .  The winner will be emailed separately to arrange for mailing of the prize pack.

Full Disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored by the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board.  Although we were sent a free copy of the Grilled Cheese Please! book for the purpose of this review and giveaway, all opinions expressed in this review are our own.

©BURP! Where Food Happens

Want more? Read Lo's latest ruminations at FOODCrush, her Milwaukee Magazine blog.

St. Patrick's Day Burgers with Irish Whiskey Onions & Cheddar

Get out that green shirt and the Kiss Me I'm Irish Today button because we're getting ready to celebrate one of the most hallowed days on the Burp! calendar -- St. Patrick's Day.

In some ways, we're all about (Irish-American) tradition. St. Patrick's Day is the perfect time to pull out all the stops when it comes to dinner. First, you need a slab of Corned Beef Brisket, accompanied by some delicious cabbage and a pile of potatoes (boiled, roasted, or smashed). A nice Irish Stout is usually the beverage of choice. And it would be a shame to end our St. Patrick's Day feast without a slice or two of Irish Whiskey Cake.

But, we also find ourselves longing to change things up a little bit every  now and again.  And that's when we come up with delicious experiments like Cheesy Colcannon with Leeks and Reuben Risotto.

This year, our imaginations got the best of us.  Peef was craving burgers.  And he'd read something somewhere about braising onions in Irish Whiskey.  Needless to say, we decided it sounded like a pretty winning combination.  So, we got to work.

First, it only seemed right that an Irish burger, similar to a Reuben, would be served on rye bread. So, we mixed up a batch of our favorite focaccia dough (yeah, yeah, I know -- Italian dough for an Irish sandwich...) -- only we subbed out all of the all-purpose flour with rye flour.  And we kneaded a small handful of caraway seeds into the dough.

While the bread baked, I set to work caramelizing a nice big batch of onions. When the onions were just about finished, I swirled in a nice splash of Power's Irish Whiskey, which functioned to deglaze the pan and impart a nice, smooth malty flavor to the sweet onions.

Since I figured it wouldn't hurt to tie in a little bit of "corned beef" action, I also hauled out some classic corning spices like juniper berries, allspice, mustard, coriander and cinnamon and ground them up in our spice grinder. These got mixed in with the better part of pound of fresh ground beef.  We grilled the burgers to medium-rare on our stove-top grill pan and then topped them with slices of Irish Dubliner cheese, cooking them just long enough for the cheese to melt & begin drooping down the sides.

By the time the focaccia was finished baking, we were both drooling like maniacs. Almost didn't get pictures of the burgers, we were so hungry...

And so, I present:  The Irish Burger.  This deliciously spiced grass-fed ground beef burger sits atop a slice of sourdough rye foccaccia. It's enrobed with the slightly sweet, nutty tang of the cheese and topped off with the impeccably sweet and flavorful Irish Whiskey-infused onions.

Messy to eat, but extremely satisfying, these burgers were a perfectly unconventional way to begin our pre-St. Patrick's Day celebration.

Irish Burgers with Whiskey-Caramelized Onions
Sourdough Rye Focaccia



©BURP! Where Food Happens
Want more? Read Lo's latest ruminations at FOODCrush, her Milwaukee Magazine blog.