Good afternoon Dubbers!
Had a golf outing this morning, hence the late post. Might be the last time I get out this year, and somehow shot my best round (of course): 86!
Aside from all things cheating scummers, this week we've got the Badgers. Luke Fickell is a decorated Buckeye, and I was sad to see him land in Wisconsin, but I wish him well (outside of playing the Buckeyes). Weird things happen all the time in College Football after an emotional win - see last week Washington almost lost to 1-6 Arizona - but I am confident Day and Co. will have the team ready. This is a classic trap game setup, but who doesn't get up for a game at Camp Randall and arguably one of the greatest college traditions around.
In the spirit of playing Wisconsin, the holy land when it comes to brats, I bring you a new recipe I found:
Brat Bread Sausage Roll
Ingredients:
- 2 loaves French Bread
- 10 Links Bratwurst
- 10 slices Cheddar Cheese
- 1 cup White Onion
- ½ cup Whole grain mustard
Directions:
- Preheat Grill to 350 degrees F.
- Slice off the top of each loaf of french bread, and hollow out each loaf
- Place folded slices of cheddar cheese inside the bread covering the entire loaf
- Spread out thinly sliced onions into the loaf
- Remove the casing on the bratwurst and form the ground sausage into an oblong patty (think long oval)
- Press the patties into the bread so that the entire top of the loaf is covered in a layer of sausage
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- Place brat bread meat side down on the grill land cook for 15-20 minutes.
- Flip the bread over and cook for about 10 minutes on the other side
- Remove the bread from the grill and slice it into 2-inch sections. Serve with whole grain mustard.
Pro Tips:
- Swap out the brats for whatever sausage you like (mild, hot, Italian etc.)
- Add sauted peppers with the onions (saute the onions too) for added flavor
- Add jalapenos for heat
- Bacon, because bacon
- Drizzle with your favorite bbq sauce, or add a rub to the sausage before spreading across the bread
- The recipe is easily doubled or tripled, depending on how many folks you have; more is always better
- Mix and match the cheese, can never go wrong. Or, use the beer cheese dip below :-).
Make sure to wash this down with some good beer, I recommend Spotted Cow (from Wisconsin) if you can get any.
The Greatest Hit
Keeping with the Wisconsin theme, I couldn't not recall a good recipe from 2021 involving damned good beer. This is a favorite beer cheese dip recipe I uses several times throughout the year, and makes perfect sense to include for this week.
Beer Cheese Dip.
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 can/bottle of beer (can be a wheat, ale, porter...I plan on using an Oktoberfest)
- 3/4 cup cream (half and half works, or heavy cream for a thicker sauce)
- 16 oz. sharp Cheddar, shredded (I prefer to get a block and shred with a grater)
- 16 oz. white cheddar, shredded
- A few dabs of hot sauce (can substitute cayenne or white pepper here for a little heat)
Directions (get ready to whisk for about 8+ straight minutes)
- In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and whisk in the flour.
- Cook, whisking constantly for around 2 to 3 minutes; you don’t want to burn the flour (this is called a roux for those that don’t know, and will help thicken the cheese dip). You want the mixture to look like wet sand.
- Next, add in the mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper, whisking constantly until smooth.
- Then, add beer and continue to whisk until it is all combined.
- Pour in the cream and whisk some more until smooth.
- Gradually add cheese, stirring constantly, until all the cheese melts and sauce is smooth like velvet; this will take 4 to 5 minutes.
- Add hot sauce (or hot pepper) at the end and serve immediately.
Serve with crackers, pretzels, soft pretzels/pretzel bites, fritos, tortilla chips etc.
Pro Tips:
- Grab some pretzel buns, a few slices of ham or turkey, and make a sandwich.
- Fry up some spicy ground sausage, diced onions, diced jalapeno etc. and add to the cheese dip for extra flavors/tastiness.
- For the Cheese - you can use whatever you want, but make sure 1 type is cheddar.
- You can substitute cream cheese for the heavy cream - if you do this you don't need to make the roux.
- Caution: If you don’t like beer that much, shame on you....but really, if not then don’t add the full can/bottle. This cheese dip is quite tasty but definitely has a beer flavor.
Wash this down with some kind of Oktoberfest - I will have Thirsty Dog Barktoberfest, CBC Festbier, Great Lakes, North High, and Sierra Nevada on hand.
Enjoy, Go Bucks, and beat the Badgers!
