Packers Snackers

Football season is finally underway and with that and the fall weather rolling in it's my favorite time of year to cook. Summer is great for grilling outside, but not a time when I want to be cranking up the heat in the kitchen. Warm kitchen, cold beers, winning Packers, people yelling, dog barking, tasty food is the norm for my Sundays.

I'll start with this week and go back in time since I'm still reveling in the Packers victory over the Bears. ...The Bears still suck...But I'm also still thinking about the open faced mini Ruben sandwiches I made. I think I'm officially calling them Ruben Squares.

Ruben Squares

- 1 sleeve of cocktail ryes bread
- 1 lb extra lean corned beef, minced
- 1 cup sour kraut
- 1 cup thousand island dressing
- 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
-1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

There were a couple factors that came into play that made this so very delicious. Homemade everything. Well I guess not everything, but the kraut and the thousand island are best if made from scratch.

In the spring, I took a class though the rec department and learned how to ferment cabbage to make sour kraut. I don't think I can ever go back to the canned stuff, it's that good. Here is the batch of kraut that has pretty much lasted me the whole summer.


Thousand island dressing is basically just ketchup and mayo and pickles. Who knew? Again, this is why I stopped buying dressing from the store. So I just mixed equal parts ketchup and mayo, about 1/2 cup of each. Chopped up some of my own canned pickles and dilly beans. Threw in a splash of Worcestershire and white vinegar. Salt and pepper, cayenne pepper, and a bit of minced garlic. Mix it up and you've got a not so secret, secret sauce.

Alright, you've got your homemade dressing and your homemade kraut, the other key ingredient is to use high quality corned beef. I got mine from Jake's Deli, a Milwaukee staple. $29 per pound, and no that is not a typo. Expensive, but well, well worth it. It took me every ounce of will power to not eat the pound of corned beef on my drive home.

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl until the well blended. The measurements are approximate. I basically put everything together so it was equal parts of all ingredients and added the dressing until it was wet, but not too wet. Wet but not too wet, very precise directions here.

 

 Spoon on about 2 tablespoons of mixture onto each cocktail rye. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Before

 After!

 

 

 

My next finger food and football snack I lovingly call meat cupcakes. Or cheeseburger cupcakes. Well it's a thing that's another thing and those are my favorite things. I guess my official name for these are a work in progress, but my girl Better Crocker calls them "Impossibly Easy Mini Cheeseburger Pies" which is a little long winded for me. And I wouldn't say they were impossibly easy, but pretty easy. How about...

 

Pretty Easy Cheeseburger Cupcakes

adapted from Ms. Crocker here

 

For burger mixture

- 1 lb ground beef

- 1/2 small onion

-1 tbsp. Worcestershire

-1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

-6-8 strips of bacon

- garlic salt, salt, pepper to taste

 

For bisquick mixture

-1/2 cup milk

-1/2 bisquick mix

-2 eggs

 

Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 12 regular-size muffin cups with cooking spray. Cook beef and onion over medium-high heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring frequently, until thoroughly cooked; drain. Cool 5 minutes; stir in already cooked bacon, Worcestershire sauce, garlic salt, S&P, and cheese.

 

In medium bowl, stir bisquick mixture ingredients with whisk or fork until blended. Spoon 1 scant tablespoon bisquick mixture into each muffin cup. Top with about 1/4 cup burger mixture. Spoon 1 tablespoon bisquick mixture onto burger mixture in each muffin cup.

Bake about 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, and muffin tops are golden brown. Cool 5 minutes. With thin knife, loosen sides of muffins from pan; remove from pan and place top side up on cooling rack. Cool 10 minutes longer, and serve with garnishes of ketchup and mustard for dipping.

 

 

Bite sized meat treats. Good god, I could never be a vegetarian...

Canned Corn Relish

I recently saw this on a shirt on Etsy and I knew right away it had to be mine. I eat local, because I can.

Coming into my 4th or so year of canning I have been trying to broaden my canning skills and decided to buy the Ball "Complete Book of Home Preserving" Cookbook. Basically the canning bible. I swear every time I look through it I find an something new I want to try that I can't believe I didn't notice before. I mean the book is about 2 1/2 inches thick.

A few weeks ago, I had a surplus of corn on the cob. This corn came from Wilferts Farm in Manitowoc and I don't know why, but they have always had the best corn and continue to not disappoint. I decided to look though my preserving book and see how I can turn this corn into something I can enjoy for a while. I found a recipe for corn relish and decided to go with that.

Corn Relish
Recipe has been copied from the freshpreserving.com, the official Ball Jar website. Because I have been told by the professionals that to keep the preserving safe, recipes should not be tweaked, this must be followed exactly as written.

2 cups white vinegar

2/3 cup sugar

1 Tbsp salt

4 cups cooked corn kernels (about 8 ears)

2 cups diced mixed red and green bell peppers (about 2 large)

3/4 cup diced celery (about 2 stalks)

1/2 cup finely chopped onion (about 1 small)

1 Tbsp dry mustard

1 tsp celery seeds

1 tsp ground turmeric

6 (8 oz) half pint glass preserving jars with lids and bands

 

PREPARE boiling water canner. Heat jars and lids in simmering water until ready for use. Do not boil. Set bands aside.

 

COMBINE vinegar, sugar and salt in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add corn, red and green peppers, celery, onion, mustard, celery seeds and turmeric. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes, stirring frequently.

 

LADLE hot relish into hot jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wipe rim. Center hot lid on jar. Apply band and adjust until fit is fingertip tight.

 

PROCESS filled jars in a boiling water canner for 15 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down when center is pressed.

 

This was a pretty short process too. Sometimes my canning endeavors can occupy the entire day, but this was something I could knock out in an hour or two. The book and website suggest to use the corn relish on hot dogs or hamburgers. I just eat is straight up as a side dish and was quite happy with the flavor.