Weekend Copycat Brunch: Breakfast Poutine

I owe a great deal of my home cooking inspiration to social media. Take for instance, the post from Milwaukee's Goodkind restaurant I ran across last weekend on Instagram.

💥 HELLO BREAKFAST POUTINE. French Fries | Trippe Sausage Gravy | Arugula | Goat Cheese Curds | Egg. GET INTO IT. 💥@goodkindbayview #goodmorning #brunch #summer #eatwelldrinkwell

A photo posted by goodkind (@goodkindbayview) on Jul 12, 2015 at 8:59am PDT

My first instinct was: "Whoa. I’ve got to get there and eat THAT."  

But, a quick look in my wallet told me that staying home was the more prudent thing to do (after all, it’s not like I would stop with poutine; I’d have to get one of their great brunch cocktails and then…)

I’ve made an occasional habit of recreating restaurant dishes at home. And I’ve had pretty good luck with both the artichoke a la mode pizza from Pizza Man (I was suffering from withdrawalwhen the original restaurant burned down) and the Stendler burrito from Comet Cafe (which is the best way -- ever -- to use up leftover corned beef).

Most recently, I replicated the salted honey pie from Honepie Cafe -- mainly because they don’t put it on their menu half as often as I’d like (OMG, so good).

So, I looked around my kitchen to see what ingredients I had on hand... [Keep Reading]

©BURP!

Shallot Mustard Sauce: Another Versatile Endeavor

Tired of making the same old grilled chicken breasts or pork chops for dinner?  

Yeah, we were too. We got tired of having to think ahead and marinate our proteins. We'd used up most of our inspiration regarding dry rubs.  We'd tried grilling, roasting, braising, and pan-frying.  And still, it seemed that dinner was growing a bit dull and uninspired.  

So, we decided to learn something new... which is how we got caught up in the effort of creating a few quick, easy master sauces.  

First, we became enamoured of the oh-so-tasty classic brandy peppercorn sauce... and now, I must confess,  we've gotten addicted to this beauty. 

One of the great things about sauces is that they're generally quick to throw together, and they don't require much fore-thought if you have a decent collection of staple items in your fridge. Our suggestions for a starter collection would be butter, cream, white wine, garlic, shallots and citrus juice. Even bottled lemon or lime juice generally works in a pinch.

Oh, yeah - and don't forget about the mustard.

In this case, the flavor of plain old Dijon mustard is enhanced by the richness of butter and the sweetness of shallots in this high end sauce that... well, we thinking it has the potential to take just about any dish from the realm of good into the territory of really great.

It will dress up an otherwise plain chicken breast. And it's pretty fabulous on roasted salmon. And pork medallions... and, well, you get the idea.  If you like the flavors that mustard brings to the table, I'm pretty sure this recipe is a fail-safe.

Looking for something different? Use it as a dipping sauce for homemade chicken tenders or as a topping for steamed broccoli or green beans.

Mustard Shallot Sauce

©BURP!

Summer Tomato Sauce: Canning Made Easier

What do you do with 45 lbs of locally grown organic San Marzano tomatoes??  Or maybe the question is better asked, what CAN'T you do?

I've been shying away from canning tomatoes for a very long time.  Most years, when the tomato harvest hits, I spend my time roasting up batches of delicious plum tomatoes and packing them into the freezer. You'll also find me busily dehydrating all of the Principe Borghese tomatoes we've harvested from our garden.  But, canning?

Not sure what it was, but for years I avoided canning.  This year, I took it up out of necessity.

Our chest freezer has been a savior for us when it comes to our ability to eat more locally all winter long.  We pack it full of frozen fruit, vegetables, locally raised meat, soup, and homemade sauces.  And we relish the days when we can pop it open in the middle of February to produce a container of fresh Wisconsin peaches, Door County Cherries, or spicy chili made with garden vegetables.  Unfortunately, we've done a really good job of stowing things away in the freezer.  And our freezer is getting full.  The realization hit me a few weeks ago after clearing away just enough space for a new batch of late summer Amish chickens.

We were out of space.

Fortunately, I had cut my canning teeth on a few easy items last summer.  Pickled & candied jalapenos, a few jars of tomatillo salsa, and a small stash of citrus marmalade gave me some confidence in my ability to create shelf-stable foods that wouldn't inflict us with botulism. So, this year, I decided to tackle tomatoes.  More specifically, pasta sauce.


I love a good homemade pasta sauce as much as anyone.  But, I also have learned to enjoy the convenience of an occasional jar of store-bought pasta sauce for quick weeknight dinners.  So, pasta sauce seemed like a pretty logical investment of our time and tomato money.

Now, washing and coring 45 pounds of fresh tomatoes isn't a big deal once you put your mind to it.  But, peeling and seeding them? Ugh. Not my idea of fun. And that's where a new favorite gadget of mine comes into play -- the West Bend Food Strainer & Sauce Maker.

I should probably clarify that I'm not much of a gadget girl.  I love the feeling of being creative and finding multiple uses for common kitchen tools.  And my kitchen is pretty small -- so I don't have a whole lot of space for single-use tools. But, I'm pretty in love with this tool. This multi-use strainer forces food through a stainless steel screen automatically separating the juice and pulp from the seeds skins and stem.  Best of all, it does it quickly and efficiently.  And I mean quickly.  And efficiently.  

To quote Peef, "I love it when I can seed and peel tomatoes with one hand while drinking a beer with the other."

Once we got all that raw tomato pulp and juice extracted from the tomatoes, it was just a matter of cooking the sauce with a few herbs and spices (namely basil, oregano, thyme, cracked anise seeds, and garlic) and reducing it to the perfect pasta sauce consistency.   Once that was completed, we moved along to the canning and processing phase of things -- which is pretty methodical.  

Canned Pizza or Pasta Sauce ala Burp!

And now for the fun part!  We get to give one of our lucky readers the chance to win a West Bend Food Strainer & Sauce Maker of his or her very own!!  

For your chance to win, just leave us a comment sharing one of your favorite time-saving canning tips.  Or, if you're not a canner, let us know how you'd use your food strainer to make one of your kitchen tasks easier.

Rules:  All comments must be received by Monday evening, September 12th, 2011 at 5:00 p.m. CST  Winners will be announced on Facebook before the end of the day on Tuesday, September 13th.  Entrants must provide a working email address in their comment or blogger profile to win.  Limited to citizens of the U.S. and Canada.

Alright, ready...set... go!

Full Disclosure:  Although we were given West Bend Company products free of charge for the purpose of this review and giveaway, all opinions expressed in this review are our own.  
 

©BURP! Where Food Happens

Weeknight Shortcuts: Thai Chicken Pizza

It's difficult to believe that it's been a whole week already since our last post. But, that just goes to show how busy we've been with the planning for the Cookies for Kids' Cancer Bake Sale & Silent Auction here in Milwaukee.  We've met an amazing array of people over the past couple of weeks, whose generosity has been absolutely astounding.

Unfortunately, it also means we haven't been creating a whole lot of original recipes in the Burp! kitchen.  Fortunately, we have a few delicious "secret weapons" under our belt that assist in making sure we're still happy and well fed, even when times get crazy.

One of our favorite quick weeknight meals happens to be this delicious veggie laden Thai chicken pizza, which is a breeze to throw together even when time is tight.  It does make use of a few convenience items, which we don't normally rely upon.  But, its nutritional profile still remains quite solid, which makes it a nice stand-by for nights when we might otherwise order take-out.

One of the items I try to keep on hand are premade corn pizza crusts (we love these rustic crusts from Vicolo, made with non-GMO corn).  These make a great base for a variety of pizzas, and they're absolutely delicious.

In addition to the crusts, a great Thai pizza needs only a few additional ingredients to be absolutely stellar -- some leftover chicken, a few vegetables, cilantro, and some delicious Thai style peanut sauce.

If you've never made peanut sauce before, you'll be delighted by how easy it is to put together. We use a no-cook sauce made with peanut butter and coconut milk. But, you can also use a premade sauce (Trader Joe's satay sauce is quite good) for this application. The peanut sauce recipe will make more than needed for pizza, but you'll have no trouble using up the leftovers. Just throw a bit in with pasta and some shredded vegetables for homemade peanut noodles.  Or use it as a dipping sauce for vegetables or chicken.

Just top pizza with the peanut sauce, add vegetables, cooked chicken, chopped cilantro, and shredded mozzarella cheese.  Bake at 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted and beginning to brown.

I don't know if I should admit it, but I feel a little bit like Rachael Ray whenever I make these pizzas... But, the reality is, it's pretty darned good for a meal you can put on the table in less than 30 minutes.

Thai style peanut sauce


©BURP! Where Food Happens

The Morel Files: Manicotti with Mushroom Ragu

... if you were wondering what we did with the two pounds of morels we won from Marx Foods (and you might be, because we've been neglectful in our blogging on that topic), I'm pleased to tell you that we savored every last bit of them.
There was a pizza topped with morels and manchego, a steak with a side of sauteed morels, and lovely homemade pasta with morel cream sauce. And then, there was the manicotti.

I should begin by telling you that Peef has fond memories of manicotti. It was the meal he requested for his birthday every year during his childhood. It was the meal that allowed me to feed him tofu for the first time (tofu ricotta is really fantastic, for those of you who've never tried it). And it's been an occasional staple at our house for years. Now, we love classic Italian dishes as much as anyone. But, we also love giving beloved recipes a bit of a spin. Needless to say, we'd never made manicotti like this. Until now.

It all started, of course, with a nice pile of those morel mushrooms. LOVE those 'shrooms. Nutty and slightly smokey, I'm convinced that a morel makes everything better. But, that doesn't mean that there's not a dark side to these friendly fungi. There's ALWAYS a dark side.
Despite my love affair with morels, I do get a bit grossed out by the creatures that live within them. So, I'm in the camp of people who like to soak the morels in a bit of salted water before slicing and dicing them. You still have to see the little beasties that float out of the mushrooms, but it's easy enough to just pour them off the top of the water and get on with your life. Oh, yes, and -- as Peef is kind enough to remind me -- there's a lot less screaming that takes place when I don't come across creepy crawlies while slicing my mushrooms.

We also picked up a package of dried shiitakes -- which we reconstituted in hot water while the morels were soaking. And we reserved that precious mushroom "stock".
We chopped the shiitakes nicely, and added them to a bowl of fresh ricotta cheese.
In a large saute pan, we sauteed about 1/2 pound of morels along with another 1/2 pound of creminis, a Vidalia onion, some garlic, and a tablespoon or two of freshly chopped rosemary. We added the mushroom "stock" and reduced it by about half. When the mushroom stock was reduced, we added a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes and allowed the sauce to simmer for 15-20 more minutes.In the meantime, we cooked up our pasta and got to work on the filling. To the ricotta mixture containing the shiitake mushrooms, we added a generous handful of Parmesan, Romano, and some Asiago cheese.
Once the pasta was ready, and the filling was thoroughly mixed, we poured a bit of the mushroom ragu into the bottom of a large ceramic baking dish and got to work filling the manicotti.

An easy way to fill manicotti shells is to "pipe" the cheese mixture into the pasta shells. To do this, put mixture into a heavy-duty plastic food storage bag. Seal it and cut off a 1-2 inch opening in one corner of the bag. Then gently squeeze the bag to fill the pasta with the cheese mixture.

Of course, I opted for a more challenging route... and filled the manicotti shells with a small spoon.
I managed to do a rather decent job, but I'd still recommend the plastic bag approach -- which WILL take years off of your life.
Lay the filled manicotti onto mushroom sauce in the pan... and keep on going until all of the manicotti are filled.
Then cover everything with the remaining mushroom sauce...
... and a generous sprinkling of cheese (more of that Parmesan, Romano, Asiago mixture does just wonderfully).
Cover the manicotti pan with aluminum foil and bake at 350ºF for about 30 minutes. At that point, remove the foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes (until the cheese is lightly browned).
We adored this "mushroom lover's" manicotti. The filling was creamy and cheesy and the shiitakes added some depth and tied it in nicely with the mushrom ragu. The ragu was nutty and earthy. The subtle pine-like flavor of the rosemary balanced the sweetness of the tomato sauce and brought out the best in the savory flavor of the mushrooms. And then there was the cheese... ah, the cheese!
The mushroom ragu was fantastic for the manicotti, but it would also be great served with a bit of roasted lamb or baked cod. It would make a great sauce served over a simple bowl pasta -- or baked into a cheesy pan of ziti.

If you're interested in the stats, check out the recipe.
Mushroom Ragu with Morels


©BURP! Where Food Happens

My Wisconsin Roots are Showing: Blueberry Venison?

Sometimes I'm extremely cogniscent of where I came from. This is one of those times.

One of the very vivid memories I have of my childhood takes place during the weekends of deer season. For the kids, these weekends marked a time to get together and play. But, the adults had more serious tasks in mind -- namely putting up venison meat for the winter! The men handled the dirty work, taking care of the hides and the bones. The women handled the finer details of chopping up the venison into steaks and chops.

In addition to the sights and smells (some of which taught me candid lessons about the circle of life), I remember my father carrying on about the extraordinary merits of the venison tenderloin -- the tenderness of it. The way that you could tell what sort of life the deer had by the flavor of this delicate piece of meat. I was always astounded by his ability to take so much from something that I saw as just another piece of meat.

So, when he brought me a package of frozen venison tenderloin a couple of months ago, I tucked it away in a safe corner of the freezer. After all, I'd have to find something special to do with it. I never figured that special something would have anything to do with blueberries.

But... I couldn't think of a better use for all that leftover blueberry barbeque sauce than pairing it with some game.

So, we put the venison tenderloin on the grill.

And alongside, we threw a handful of some luscious green beans that we'd purchased at the farmer's market.
The beans came off the grill looking just fabulous -- meltingly tender, super sweet, and slightly smoky.
And that venison?
Oh. My. It was good.
Straight off the grill with a dollop of that blueberry barbeque sauce... it was reinvented.

I don't have memories of food like this from my childhood.
In fact, this was an experience beyond most that happen in our simple little kitchen.

I think this is something I'll need to share with my dad.
Recipe: Burp's Blueberry Barbeque Sauce


©BURP! Where Food Happens

Burp's Blueberry BBQ Experiment

So, we got it in our craw to make barbequed ribs this weekend.

The desire to make ribs isn't particularly unusual around our house. I'd venture a guess that we do it at least a couple of times over the course of the summer, and sometimes even during the winter months if we get the hankering. We even make our own barbeque sauce most of the time. But, this time it was different.

"Let's do something different," I suggested to Peef.
"OK," responded Peef.
(titillating dialogue we have, I know... it comes from being married for almost ten years)
"How about a blueberry barbeque sauce?" I suggested.
"Ooooh," he crooned, "Let's do that!"

And the adventure began.
Now, blueberries are just about one of my favorite things, so the thought of using them in a barbeque sauce really piqued my interest. I was even more excited when we found these beauties at the market.

Oooh. Aaaah. I could have stared at those blueberries all day long. But, we had barbeque sauce to make. So, I dragged out all of the usual suspects. Apple cider vinegar, ketchup, molasses, brown sugar, onion, garlic... oh, yeah, and a bit of jalapeno pepper and chipotle for some smoky kick.
I whirred the blueberries around for a while in the food processor. And then mixed them up with the other ingredients.
After setting to simmer on the stove for a while, we had something that looked (and tasted) pretty good. So, we rushed out to the grill and slathered it on our ribs.
I'm pleased to say, the ribs turned out beautifully. In fact, they came into the house looking just like this (yes -- surrounded by all sorts of funny little blueberry groupies donning parsley fans!).
I'm pleased to say that the experimenting was a success (and on the first try... we were impressed). The sauce was a slurping good time.

And we licked our plates clean. Well, almost.

Want the recipe? Oh, alright!
Burp's Blueberry Barbeque Sauce


©BURP! Where Food Happens

Menu: Christmas Day Dinner

A bit late, perhaps. But, here's the low-down on our Christmas Day feasting.

• Arugula salad with raspberry vinaigrette, beets, and phyllo-wrapped goat cheese slices
• Prime rib roast
• Porcini & bacon sauce
• Horseradish cream sauce
  
• Sauteed green beans
• Yukon gold potato gratin (inspired by the version made at the Fog City Diner - San Francisco)
• Wine: JC Cellars, The Imposter (2005), California

And... possibly the best part... the lovely Frozen Grand Marnier Torte with Dark Chocolate Crust and Spiced Cranberries which we paired with a bottle of Bogle Petit Syrah Port (v2005), California (incidentally, the grapes for this pressing were harvested on Lo's birthday)





©BURP! Where Food Happens