FEED THE RESISTANCE: DIAMOND DOGS SOCCER

Feed The Resistance: Diamond Dogs Soccer

My thought process went all over the place this week.  Kiernan was in for Dee last week, and Kiernan is our lead designer, and I'm our model for The Resistance team at the Madison Reading Projects "Ready To Wear" fashion show on June 14 at The Sylvee.  Kiernan used David Bowie as her inspiration for my outfit.  I thought of this too late to do last week - but I thought it would be fun to use a David Bowie song as inspiration for some food, and my wife thought that song should be Diamond Dogs - and I could make hot dogs.  And here's where my inspiration takes a bit of a turn.  Last week was also when the folks at Forward Madison announced that they are looking to bring another professional soccer team into Madison - a top level women's team.  So I decided to try to recreate a hot dog that they served at Forward Madison games the first year or two of the team - the Sujeo Super Dog!

The Super Dog was the creation of Chef Tory Miller, and it featured a grilled  or fried all-beef frank on a rye bun with sesame seeds, the dog was topped with cream cheese, kimchi, gochujang sauce, kewpie mayo, crispy shallot and scallions.  I found several recipes for gochujang sauce online - the version that they made at Breese Stevens Field had gochujang paste, water, mirin, toasted sesame seeds and toasted sesame oil.  Of course they made a few metric tons at a time, so I had to scale things down a bit - to do that, I used their ingredients, but at the levels from one of those recipes that I found online.

Dee picked One Barrel's "Door County Trolley Red Cherry Lager" to pair with the Super Dog.  It worked perfectly, bringing out some of the more subtle flavors of the kimchi and gochujang sauce!

Feed The Resistance is thanks to Brennan’s Market…Make your gatherings memorable with Brennan’s!


FEED THE RESISTANCE: MANGO CHUTNEY CHICKEN CURRY!

Feed The Resistance: Mango Chutney Chicken Curry!

A couple of weeks ago a new partner joined with us to Feed The Resistance...Brennan's Market!  This week, I just wandered the aisles of Brennan's, looking for inspiration for today's dish.  At Brennan's you'll find recipe cards with lots of great ideas for how to use some of the wonderful food that they sell there.  Today's dish comes from one of those recipe cards - it's Mango Chutney Chicken Curry!

The Mango Chutney Chicken Curry is pretty simple to make - it starts with boneless/skinless chicken breasts, cut up into cubes.  Brown the chicken in a good sized pan, then add a little curry powder, salt & pepper, mango chutney, and some coconut milk.  Let it simmer until the chicken is cooked through, and then serve it over rice.

Dee's on vacation this week, so Kiernan joined me this morning, and brought with her some Voodoo Ranger Juicy Haze IPA.  The beer is described as having "bright tropical aromas and citrusy flavors" - so it paired nicely with fruitiness of the mango chutney!

Feed The Resistance is thanks to Brennan's Market...Make your gatherings memorable with Brennan's!


FEED THE RESISTANCE: OLIVE MOM!

Feed The Resistance: Olive Mom!

Happy Mothers' Day!

My mom loves olives, so this week, we're cooking with olives!  What I made is a dip that is perfect to share with friends at a party - it's Baked Olive, Tomato and Feta Dip!  The recipe is super-simple, in fact the name of the recipe basically tells you exactly how to make it - mix together some olives, tomatoes and feta cheese, and bake it in the oven.  O.K. - there's a bit more to it, but not much.  There's also a little olive oil, garlic, oregano, parsley, and pepper.

The best part about this recipe - your whole house will smell like pizza while it's cooking!

Dee picked the New Glarus Pilsner to pair with the dip, but pointed out that basically any beer that you like to pair with pizza will work great here!

 

Feed The Resistance is thanks to Brennan's Market...Make your gatherings memorable with Brennan's!


FEED THE RESISTANCE: VEGAN MUSHROOM CHORIZO!

Feed The Resistance: Vegan Mushroom Chorizo!

Today is Cinco de Mayo, so I think it's actually required that I make tacos.  I wanted to do something a little different with the tacos, so I found a recipe for Vegan Mushroom Chorizo Tacos!  The base of the recipe is mushrooms (duh!), with chickpeas and potatoes.  A bunch of spices are added to that base, and then it's cooked up in the oven for about 10 minutes...and then piled into taco shells with your favorite taco toppings!  Super simple, and a pretty good vegan alternative (although, next time I'll add a lot more spice than what the recipe calls for).

And since it's Cinco de Mayo - Dee paired a Corona with the tacos, so the party is complete!

Sponsored by Brennan's Market - Make your gatherings memorable with Brennan's!


FEED THE RESISTANCE: SPRING PESTO FLATBREAD!

Feed The Resistance: Spring Pesto Flatbread!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!  The Dane Country Farmers' Market is back on the Capital Square, pretty much every Saturday from now until November 11.  That means fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, cheeses and so much more!  To get ready for this year's market, I headed to the Dane County Farmers' Market website and found a recipe for Spring Pesto Flatbread!  The pesto comes together very simply - it's Pea Shoots, Spinach, Green Onions, Pine Nuts, Cheese and a little Olive Oil, all whipped together in a food processor.  For the flatbread, I used a store-bought  Naan, which was topped with a mix of Ricotta Cheese and Lemon Zest, then the pesto on top of that, and to make it pretty, I added a few more of the Pea Shoots on top of it all.

Dee picked the Big Wave Golden Ale from Kona Brewing Company to pair with the Pesto Flatbread.


FEED THE RESISTANCE: RAMEN FOR DINNER...JUST LIKE COLLEGE DAYS!

Feed The Resistance: Ramen For Dinner...Just Like College Days!

Tuesday was Tax Day - so I figured that many of us would be feeling a little light as far as finances go.  So, I thought back to my college days, and brought out everybody's favorite low-rent college dish...Ramen Noodles.  I actually tossed out the flavor pack, and added the noodles to a soup that my wife loves to make - Kimchi Tofu Soup!  The soup itself is pretty simple - a little ground pork cooked up in a saucepan, and then ginger, garlic, kimchi, tofu and stock is added to that...and then it simmers for about 20 minutes to let all the flavors come together.  I added the noodles in while the rest of it was simmering, which gave the noodles plenty of time to cook.

To pair with the soup, Dee brought in a Honey Blonde from Port Huron, which worked perfectly, with the honey mellowing out the strong flavors of the Kimchi a little.


FEED THE RESISTANCE: COOKING WITH BUD LIGHT!

Feed The Resistance: Cooking With Bud Light!

With all the controversy surrounding Bud Light the last couple of weeks, I wanted to see who I could offend by cooking with Bud Light.  I did a little Googling and found a recipe for Brats With Beer Gravy.  The recipe specifically calls for Bud Light...5 bottles, in fact!  Beyond the beer, it's some onions, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper and a little sugar...plus, of course - BRATS!  Basically it all gets put together in a pot, bring it to a boil, then turn the heat down and let it simmer for about 4 hours.

You've probably guessed by now...the beer that Dee paired with the Brats in Beer Gravy is...BUD LIGHT!


FEED THE RESISTANCE: NATIONAL BEER DAY!

Feed The Resistance: National Beer Day!

Today is National Beer Day - so I went straight to a cookbook called "The American Craft Beer Cookbook" for a recipe that originated at  Gritty McDuff's Brewpub in Portland, Maine.  The recipe is for Blackened Shrimp and Corn Chowder (follow the link to The American Craft Beer Cookbook - and then scroll down to the "Take a Look" section - the recipe is there).  The soup has a great, spicy flavor that paired perfectly with the "Lady Luck Dark Red Ale" that Dee brought in from Karben4!

My only suggestion is to do as the instructions say, and use good FRESH SHRIMP (the recipe says "preferably Maine-harvested") - I used cheap frozen shrimp, and while it tasted good, the shrimp came out a bit rubbery!

 


FEED THE RESISTANCE: APRIL FOOL!

Feed The Resistance: April Fool!

Tomorrow is April Fools' Day, so immediately my mind went to "Mock Apple Pie."  People of a certain age will remember the recipe from the back of Ritz Cracker boxes, back in the day.  They no longer print the recipe on the box, but with a little online digging, I was able to find the original recipe, that replaces apples with, you guessed it...RITZ CRACKERS!

I've never made this recipe before, in fact I've never even tasted a "Mock Apple Pie" - but I had to give it a try, and honestly, it's pretty good!

Dee did a couple of pairings with this one - each going in a totally different direction.  First we tried the pie with "Farmer's Market Fall" from Young Blood Beer Company, part of their "Saturday Beer" series.  This was an obvious choice, as the beer is brewed with apple, pear and cinnamon.  The second pairing came from 3 Sheeps, it was their "Lightweight Black Wheat Ale" - which, ironically is a much darker beer.


FEED THE RESISTANCE: THE RIVER FOOD PANTRY!

Feed The Resistance: The River Food Pantry!

Spring is here, so I thought this would be a good time to spend some time at the river...THE RIVER FOOD PANTRY!

I invited Chris Tuttle, one of the chefs at The River to join us today and talk a little about the FAM (Family At-Home Meals) and the MUNCH Mobile Lunch programs. We also learned about The River's "Match Madness" - where, throughout the month of March, donations to The River are matched, dollar for dollar, up to $20,000, so your donation goes twice as far this month.

Chris brought this week's FAM meal with him - a delicious Tamale Pie with all the fixings.  Dee paired "Fantasy Factory" from Karben4 with that tamale pie.