FEED THE RESISTANCE: PIZZA-SPICED NUTS!
Feed The Resistance: Pizza-Spiced Nuts
This Sunday is the big Sips & Slices pizza party for The River Food Pantry. Both Dee and I will be there with our pizza creations - and of course you are invited to come try all the pizzas and vote for your favorite. A big thank you to Ian's Pizza, who will be cooking up all the pizzas on Sunday, and to Vintage Brewing Company, who has produced a special beer just for the occasion - "River Red Lager" is on sale now at all Vintage locations, with a buck from every pint going to The River Food Pantry!
With all that in mind, I wanted to do something pizza-related this week. What I settled on was "Pizza-Spiced Nuts." Basically it's nuts, with a bunch of pizza spices (Oregano, Garlic, Onion, Basil, Fennel, etc.) and some croutons thrown in to mimic the pizza crust. The nuts really smelled like a fresh pizza coming out of the oven...and the taste was spot-on!
To pair with the nuts, Dee brought in "73 Kolsch" (named for Badger Football great - Joe Thomas) from Great Lakes Brewing Company, which worked perfectly to mellow out some of the spices in the nut mix.
Feed The Resistance is thanks to Brennan’s Market…Make your gatherings memorable with Brennan’s!
FEED THE RESISTANCE: PUMPKIN SPICE DUMP CAKE!
Feed The Resistance: Pumpkin Spice Dump Cake!
We are well into "Pumpkin Spice Season" and last week I saw a news story about the most popular Pumpkin Spice foods & drinks across the country. They listed "Pumpkin Spice Dump Cake" as Wisconsin's favorite Pumpkin Spice dish. So, I had to try it. I've never had a Pumpkin Spice Dump Cake, so I put my Google skills to work and found a recipe that was pretty simple - so that's what I made!
To pair with the Dump Cake, of course Dee brought in Pumpkin Disorderly from Vintage Brewing Company...and it worked perfectly with the cake!
A special shout-out to Vintage for also brewing up the delicious "River Red Lager" to benefit The River Food Pantry. Dee and I are both taking part in The River's "Sips & Slices" pizza party at Garver Feed Mill on Sunday, October 1. Sips & Slices teams local radio, TV, music, sports, theater and political personalities with local chefs - with each pairing creating a pizza. Ian's Pizza is cooking up those pizzas, and you are invited to come try them all and vote for your favorite. The winning pizza will be featured on the Ian's menu for a limited time! Tickets for Sips & Slices are on sale now!
Feed The Resistance is thanks to Brennan’s Market…Make your gatherings memorable with Brennan’s!
FEED THE RESISTANCE: DR. PEPPER BROWNIES!
Feed The Resistance: Dr. Pepper Brownies!
We're taking this week's recipe idea from the latest TicToc food trend...it's the Dr. Pepper Brownie! There are a couple of ways you can go about making Dr. Pepper Brownies, one is to simply add a can of Dr. Pepper to a store-bought brownie mix, to replace whatever liquids are called for in the brownie mix. That's not what I did. I found a recipe for Dr. Pepper Brownies, made entirely from scratch. As a bonus, I figured out that this could easily be done as a completely vegan dish - I didn't do that, I used butter to grease the pan, and I used milk chocolate chips. Use coconut oil and dark chocolate chips - and it's vegan!
To pair with the brownies, Dee stepped away from her usual IPA to go with chocolate, and instead went with a Nitro Milk Stout from Left Hand Brewing Company.
Feed The Resistance is thanks to Brennan’s Market…Make your gatherings memorable with Brennan’s!
FEED THE RESISTANCE: BACK TO SCHOOL TACO PIE!
Feed The Resistance: Back To School Taco Pie!
With school starting up again this week, my mind went back to my college days, and in particular - what we ate in college. Pizza. Mac & Cheese. Ramen. Tacos. That's pretty much it! Well, actually Pizza and Beer, Mac & Cheese and Beer, Ramen and Beer, and of course...Tacos and Beer! A couple of years ago, in a Food & Wine Magazine, I found a recipe for Taco Pie, so that's what I made today. I followed the recipe for the most part - but I did cut back on the cayenne just a bit, and I will admit to using a store-bought crust. I also added some potatoes into the filling - but other than those adjustments, it's pretty much straight from the Food & Wine Magazine recipe.
To pair with the Taco Pie, Dee is still on an Oktoberfest kick, so this time we drank a little "These Pretzels Are Making Me Thirsty" Oktoberfest from One Barrel Brewing Company! The pairing worked well, but would have worked even better if I had not cut back on the spices in the pie.
Feed The Resistance is thanks to Brennan’s Market…Make your gatherings memorable with Brennan’s!
FEED THE RESISTANCE: A TASTE OF THE TASTE OF MADISON!
Feed The Resistance: A Taste Of The Taste Of Madison!
With the Taste of Madison happening this weekend, I'm leaving the cooking to someone else. That someone else is my co-worker, Luis, who not only can be heard on our sister-station La Movida, but will also be at Taste of Madison this weekend selling his fabulous Lil' Orbits mini-donuts!
To pair with those fabulous donuts, Dee brought in a beer that will also be served at Taste of Madison this weekend - Ninja Dust from One Barrel Brewing Company. AND IT WORKED! How odd is that - Donuts and Beer? Head up to the square this weekend and try it for yourself!
Feed The Resistance is thanks to Brennan’s Market…Make your gatherings memorable with Brennan’s!
FEED THE RESISTANCE: VEGGIE BURGERS!
Feed The Resistance: Veggie Burgers!
Yesterday was National Burger Day, so I grabbed my favorite Veggie Burger recipe from my favorite vegetarian website - OlivesForDinner.com. The burgers are made primarily from Farrow and Beets - I follow the recipe almost exactly as written, but I also put a few Baby Bella Mushrooms into the food processor and mix that in with the rest of the ingredients, I feel like that gives it a bit more of a meaty texture.
For her part, Dee was already in Oktoberfest mode, so she brought in Paulaner Oktoberfest Bier, which paired really nicely with the burgers, and especially the Kimchi Mayo that topped the burgers.
We also talked a little bit about our upcoming Pizza Competition to benefit The River Food Pantry - Dee and I are on competing teams at the Sips & Slices Pizza Party Taste-Off on Sunday, October 1 at Garver Feed Mill. Learn more and get your tickets at RiverFoodPantry.org
Feed The Resistance is thanks to Brennan’s Market…Make your gatherings memorable with Brennan’s!
FEED THE RESISTANCE: NATIONAL RUM DAY!
Feed The Resistance: National Rum Day!
This past Wednesday was National RUM Day...so we kept the party going for a couple of extra days, and did some cooking with Rum! When I think of Rum, I think Caribbean foods, and in particular, a wonderful recipe that I found in a cookbook called "The Dookie Chase Cookbook" by Leah Chase, a famous chef from New Orleans. The recipe is for Baked Chicken in Caribbean Sauce. It's got a bit of a kick to it, so as a side, I made Plantaino Mash - basically a mashed potato, made with sweet potatoes and plantains - that did a nice job of mellowing out the spice of the Caribbean sauce.
To pair with the chicken, Dee brought in Eliot Ness Amber Lager from Great Lakes Brewing Company, which also helped to mellow out the sauce a bit.
Feed The Resistance is thanks to Brennan’s Market…Make your gatherings memorable with Brennan’s!
FEED THE RESISTANCE: MINOCQUA BEER AND MORE!
Feed The Resistance: Minocqua Beer and More!
With Dee out of the office this week, and Kiernan filling in, I decided to turn the tables a little and start with the beer - and match a food to the beer. And to make it easy on everyone - the food that I chose is PIZZA! Because everybody loves pizza...and pizza and beer pretty much always go together.
We chose a beer from Minocqua Brewing Company this time out, because they have been in the news a lot lately, as some folks are trying to get the brewery shut down. The Beer we picked is called "Love Wins" - it's a Pineapple Mango Fruited Sour Ale, and it was brewed in collaboration with Equity Vines, a cause-based wine company. This particular collaboration celebrates the Supreme Court decision that gave us marriage equality.
Since we're talking about a beer that was brewed to celebrate a cause, I thought that it's only right to go with some food that is also cause-based. Sips & Slices is a pizza party for The River Food Pantry on Sunday, October 1 at Garver Feed Mill. Local radio, television, sports and political personalities will be teaming up with local chefs to create pizzas. Ian's Pizza will be cooking up the pizzas, and you are invited to come try them...and vote (with your dollars) for your favorite! For Sips & Slices, I will be teaming up with Jesse, the chef at Mid-Town Pub in Middleton. We got together last week to plan out what we wanted to do with our pizza, and came up with several ideas. Jesse cooked up our ideas the other night and we did a little taste test at Mid-Town. And I brought in the leftovers to share this morning.
FEED THE RESISTANCE: INTERNATIONAL BEER DAY!
Feed The Resistance: International Beer Day!
The story behind this recipe is a little twisted. As I was scrolling through Facebook one day, I saw a video of a guy making a chicken dish. The dish looked great, so I followed the link...and couldn't find the recipe ANYWHERE ON THE SITE! So, I sat down and watched the video over and over and over again, until I was able to write down the entire recipe - then I headed to the kitchen and gave it a try. And it turned out great!
Basically, the recipe calls for boneless/skinless Chicken, Paprika, Lemon Pepper, Olive Oil, Salt & Pepper. Mix all that stuff together and let it marinate in the fridge for about a half-hour. Then put a little more oil in a pan and brown the chicken on both sides, remove the chicken from the pan, add some sliced onions to the pan, cook them down a bit and then add the chicken back into the pan...plus 1 can of beer! Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
To pair with the chicken, Dee chose Rising Sun American Wheat from HOP Garden in Paoli. The brewery has a great story, Paoli has become a really cool little town, and the beer tasted great with the chicken!
Feed The Resistance is thanks to Brennan’s Market…Make your gatherings memorable with Brennan’s!
FEED THE RESISTANCE: COOKING WITH BOOZE!
Feed The Resistance: Cooking With Booze!
While I was on vacation last week, I found a book called "Cooking With Booze!" (I know - my vacations are always that exciting!). Of course, I had to buy the book and try out some of the recipes. What I made this morning was a Potato Salad with a Beer Dressing! The dressing is pretty simple - just a few onions cooked down in a little oil - add to that some mustard and some beer and cook it down a little more. The potatoes are just boiled, and then cut into "thumb-sized" chunks, and then mixed in with the dressing and a diced red onion.
To pair with the Potato Salad - Dee brought in "Lemongrass PILS" from 3 Sheeps - and as usual, she nailed it - these tasted great together!
Feed The Resistance is thanks to Brennan’s Market…Make your gatherings memorable with Brennan’s!
