There is a local brew pub that we have been to in the past that has a Scottish egg as an appetizer. We have them every time we hit the bar. For those who don't know what a Scottish egg is, it goes as follows... A hard cooked egg peeled, rolled in flour, then covered in pork sausage and deep fried. It's sliced in half and served with a whole grain mustard. Yummy. This past summer I found the bacon explosion on someone's blog. It looked tasty and could be fun to try. So, it got me to thinking, how could I make it differently. So I figured lets combine one of my favorite bar foods with this bacon explosion. I made it back in late September for one of the Packer Game parties for the boys. Here it goes.

Scottish Egg Log

·                    2 pounds plain pork sausage

·                    2 pounds thick cut bacon

·                    4 hard cooked eggs, shells removed

·                    3-4 Tbs whole grain mustard

Start by making a 6 slice by 6 slice weave or lattice with the bacon strips.  Next place sausage on bacon weave and flatten out over the top of the bacon.  Shoot for a 1/4 to 3/8 inch thickness on the sausage layer.  Then, using a basting brush, paint on the mustard over the sausage.  Now cut the rounded ends of the eggs with a pairing knife.  The key here is to get the eggs to line up end to end.  Then lay the eggs end to end on one end of the sausage square and carefully roll the sausage around the eggs, shaping the sausage into a log, sealing any gaps. Now, wrap the bacon weave around the sausage log making it as tight as possible.  Place the log on a pre-heated grill / smoker and roast using in-direct grilling methods.  Keep the internal grill temp. as close to 250° as possible.   Roast the log for 2 to 2 ½ hours.  Remove log from grill and allow to rest for about 15 minutes.  Slice into ¾ inch pieces and serve with more whole grain mustard and a Blood Mary. Go Packers!!

    

Christmas Eve Dinner

This year was one of the first we had to spend without hosting any family. I guess they choose to spend the evening with themselves. Well, they missed out big time. Since it was just the two of us, we splurged and got a couple of 1 pound lobster tails. We paired them with twice baked potatoes and a fresh spinach salad with hot bacon dressing made with Alaskan Winter Ale. Yum!!

I grilled the lobsters on the Smokey Joe using real hardwood. The twice baked potatoes were simply baked, cut in half, scooped out and mixed with some sour cream and cheddar cheese. Then baked again until heated through. The recipe for the spinach salad is below. I used Alaskan Winter Ale in the hot bacon dressing. I did e-mail it to the brewery. We'll see if they post it on their website.

Fresh Spinach Salad with Alaskan Winter Ale Hot Bacon Dressing

• ½ pound bacon
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 teaspoons cornstarch
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup Alaskan Winter Ale Beer
• ½ cup white vinegar
• 1 bag of Fresh Spinach (9 oz.)
• 2-3 hard cooked eggs, peeled and sliced
• 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
• Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
• 
  

In a deep skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until brown. Remove from heat, drain, and crumble bacon. Set aside. Reserve drippings.

To the same skillet, combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Whisk in beer and vinegar. Pour remaining beer into a frosted glass and drink while cooking. Continue to cook mixture over medium heat until thickened.

Place spinach in a large salad bowl; add onion, egg, and crumbled bacon. Then pour warm dressing over greens and gently toss to coat. Season with a pinch a kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

It's been a long week, need something easy

I spent the week out of town working. Too many meals eaten out and in need of some winding down. Had the old lady storm the freezer to find some thick cut boneless chops for the grill. However, when I got home, she realized she had taken out thin chops. No problem. We whipped up the brine and gave the grill the nite off. Down stairs to the bar, I need a drink. We brined the chops as usual, brought out the cast iron grill pan, steamed some spuds. Bam!!

Thick boneless loin pork chops
¼ cup salt
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 tablespoon mustard powder
1 cup cider vinegar, heated
2 cups ice cubes and 1 cup water

In a plastic container put the salt, sugar, and peppercorns. Add the hot vinegar and swirl to dissolve. Let mixture sit for 5 to 10 minutes to develop flavor. Add ice cubes and shake to melt most of the ice. Add chops and cover with brine. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
Remove chops from container and rinse, rub chops with oil and rub chops with Penzey's Northwoods grill seasoning. then I poured high heat to the grill pan. When it started smoking I added the chops and grilled them for 3-4 minutes, turned them once and grilled another 3 minutes, perfect medium. I left them rest on plate for 5 minutes before eating to redistribute juices.

We served them with Champ(Yukon gold potatoes steamed in Alaskan Amber Beer, then mashed with heavy cream, sour cream, sliced green onions, and salt and pepper).

Chicken Gumbo

Friday night kicked things up a bit... Chicken Gumbo.

Chicken Gumbo

· 1 ½ pound of boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced
· 2 Tbs canola oil
· 1 pound andouille sausage, diced
· 1 large onion, diced
· 4 ribs celery, diced
· 1 large green bell pepper, diced
· 2 cloves garlic, minced
· 1-2 Tbs of hot sauce
· 4 Tbs butter
· 4 Tbs flour
· 4 cups chicken broth
· 1 can diced tomatoes
· 1 can crushed tomatoes
· 1 small can tomato sauce
· 1-2 Tbs fresh thyme
· Salt and Pepper to taste
· 4 green onions

Heat a large deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add chicken, season with salt and fry until brown. Then add sausage and continue to fry for 2-3 minutes. Remove to plate and add butter. When melted, add onion, celery, green pepper and garlic. Sauté until veggies are soft. Add hot sauce. Cook 1 minute, then add flour. Cook veggies 1-2 minutes more and add chicken broth. Bring mixture to a boil and reduce heat. Then add all three cans of tomatoes, stir. Bring to a boil and then add chicken and sausage back to the pan. Sprinkle with fresh thyme and salt and pepper. Serve with white rice and top with sliced green onions.

Hump Day Dinner

Started the day a little hungover from having a few cold Point Beers last night celebrating a buddies birthday. Not to worry. Nothing clears the head like a lot of fresh air and some Geo probing. I was working near the East Side and needed some lunch. That means Gyros!! Needless to say, I was full the rest of the day. So what to cook for dinner tonight? I picked up a fresh pork tenderloin and a bottle of port wine and... of coarse, a whiskey sweet in hand.

Pork Tenderloin in Port Wine Reduction Sauce


1 Whole Pork Tenderloin (cut into 1 inch fillets)
1-2 TBS Unsalted Butter
Kosher Salt
Fresh Cracked Black Peppercorns
1/3-cup shallots fine diced
5 TBS Butter divided
1 cup Port Wine
¼ cup Chicken Broth
1 TBS Dijon Mustard


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Season pork filets with salt and pepper. Heat stainless skillet over medium high heat and add 2 tablespoons butter. When melted, add pork and sear meat on all sides 1-2 minutes per side. Put seared meat in heated oven to finish cooking until internal temp reaches desired doneness.

In same skillet, add 1-tablespoon butter and shallots. Sauté 2 to 3 minutes. Add wine to deglaze pan, add chicken broth. Cook 5 minutes or until reduced by half. Stir in mustard and cook 2 minutes. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Season with salt. Pour sauce over pork.