Packer Brats with Butter 'Kraut

These are made by yours truly's wonderful huband Ryan! These brats are awesome but what really makes them over the top is the sauerkraut. It is sooooo good!

Now the sauerkraut requires a lot of butter hence the name buttered 'kraut. I don't remember it having this much butter the last couple of times we've made them but this time it was just too much butter so I think next time we'll have to cut back.

Packer Brats

Courtesy of Greenbay Jim click here for original recipe

2 pounds bratwurst (we use Johnsonville) *

5 (14.5-ounce) cans Guinness Stout

1 onion, sliced

2 tablespoons chopped garlic

16 hoagie buns, split (We use Sourdough rolls)

Butter Kraut, recipe follows

Mustard, for serving

Chopped onion, for serving

Pierce the brat casing multiple times with a fork prior to boiling. We did this on the BBQ so our method varies from the original recipe. In a medium size aluminum disposable pan, add beer. Add onion and garlic. Bring to a boil. Add brats. Allow beer to come back to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.

Remove brats from beer and grill, turning frequently, until brats are browned all over, about 8 to 10 minutes. At this time you can start toasting your buns on the grill.

To serve brats "Classic Style", serve 2 brats each on round, hard rolls with Buttered Kraut and brown mustard.

Buttered Kraut

1 (32-ounce) package sauerkraut, drained

1 (14.9-ounce) bottle of Guinness Stout

2 sticks of butter (next time we'd do 1 or 1 1/2)

Place sauerkraut in a pan over medium-high heat (this can also be done in a saucepan on the grill while grilling the brats). Add beer and cook until liquid is almost completely reduced. Add butter, cook, stirring frequently, until butter is melted and absorbs into the kraut, about 5 to 10 minutes.

I know what you're thinking, "Claudia you didn't really put 2 sticks of butter in the 'kraut." Well here is proof positive that I did, but I won't again in the future.

Cooking with G-Money

For those of you who are wondering who G-Money is it's my niece Gia. You are probably wondering why I am calling this sweet five year child G-Money, well I'll tell ya. The first time Gia came over to bake with me she saw me wearing an apron and she wanted to wear one too. So I tied one of my hostess' apron around her waist and she was just in seventh heaven with that little apron. Well the next time she came over to bake with her Tia Claudia she came prepared, she brought her own apron:

Yes, she picked that apron out herself! She is so money! I love this child, tear. Anyway G-Money will have her own section in my little blog called, you guessed it, "Cooking with G-Money". These recipes will be recipes G-Money and I have made together. For the most part I think they are child-friendly but what do I know, I'm just the cool Aunt not the responsible parent, so reader discretion is advised.

P.S. For the record I have never called Gia G-Money to her face. Not for the fear that she might pimp slap me ala "I'm Rick James, Bitch!" but rather for the sheer fact that I don't want her running around introducing herself as G-Money, and trust me she would! Seriously, I love this child!

Cheater Chipotle-Bacon Cornbread Muffins

Yes, this is another crappy picture -I'm on a roll!

Had it not been for my friend Julie in Chicago who gave me the heads on a this Cooking Light recipe I would have never made this. Now, I have never liked cornbread for one and two I could never see the attraction of having it with Chili, I just couldn't. But since I was having Mom, Dad, Marisa & Doug and Aunt Trish over I decided to make cornbread just in case they liked their Chili with cornbread.

I didn't want to make regular old cornbread so I turned to the Cooking Light recipe which had two of my favorite things Bacon and Chipotles. But I have to admit they weren't exactly "home made". Sure they we made and they were made at home. So technicaly speaking I guess they were "home" "made". This time I wanted to make this dinner low maintenance but I think next time I make these, and there will be a next time, I'm going to make them per the Cooking Light recipe.

Anyway I really liked them, they were savory and the chipotles just added a nice smoky flavor that wasn't spicy at all!

Cheater Chipotle-Bacon Cornbread Muffins

Adapted from Cookinglight.com

Ingredients:

1 Package of Marie Callender's Cornbread Mix

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 1/2 tablespoons chopped canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce

3 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled

Cooking spray

Preheat oven and prepare batter per package directions. Fold in the remaining ingredients. Spray cupcake pan with cooking spray and fill each 2/3 of the way with batter. Check after 13-15 minutes of cooking, insert toothpick into center of "muffin" and if it comes out clean it's good to go! Remove from pan and cool on cooling rack.

Note: In the spirit of "full disclosure" I didn't get 2 full pans out of the mix. I got more like 1 1/2, but then again I am pretty recipe retarded so I proably did something wrong.

Betty Crocker Thumbprint Cookies

I know this is a bad picture, but I never said I was a photography major. And

if you think this picture is bad, you should go take a look on what's on Ol' Betty's website. Now they should be ashamed of themselfs.

I got this recipe through a recipe exchange I participated in. I was kinda bummed to get a cookie recipe (I have to say though, I did join in last so it was between this and some chocolate pie that wasn't exactly my cup of tea, but I digres) because I'm kinda the Enemy of Cookies. Or better yet cookies are the enemy of me. No matter what I do they refuse to come out good. No joke, they are either too dry, too soft, too tough or just too.... everything!!!

But lucky for me good ol' Betty makes fool proof recipes. And although this was a fool proof recipe some how, some way being the EOC I am I managed to mess it up. All I had to do was stick my thumb into the dough and make a dent big enough to fill with jam, unfortunately I didn't do that right, because when the cookies came out of the oven the imprint I had made on them had risen. But being the clever girl that I am I simply took the bottom tip of a wooden spoon and dented the cookies again. Voila! I had my imprint back and no one could be the wiser.

I would totally make these cookies again for many reasons; one, they were tasty. Two they were easy and three they were so soft that they crumbled after one bite, I love when they do that!

Betty Crocker Thumbprint Cookies
courtesy of bettycrocker.com

Prep Time:40 min
Start to Finish:1 hr 20 min
Makes:3 dozen cookies

1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg, separated
1 cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup finely chopped nuts
Jelly (I used Knott's Berry Farm Boysenberry) *see note below

1. Heat oven to 350ºF.
2. Mix brown sugar, shortening, butter, vanilla and egg yolk in medium bowl. Stir in flour and salt until dough holds together.
3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Beat egg white slightly. Dip each ball into egg white. Roll in nuts. Place about 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Press thumb deeply in center of each.
4. Bake about 10 minutes or until light brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes. Fill thumbprints with jelly.

Nutrition Information
1 Serving: Calories 85 (Calories from Fat 45 ); Total Fat 5 g (Saturated Fat 1 g); Cholesterol 10 mg; Sodium 30 mg; Total Carbohydrate 9 g (Dietary Fiber 0g); Protein 1 g Percent Daily Value*: Vitamin A 0%; Vitamin C 0%; Calcium 0%; Iron 2 % Exchanges: 1/2 Starch; 1 Fat *Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Note: I would use a tart jelly/jam vs a sweet one. I just really liked the contrast of the tart jam against the sweet cookie. One more thing because I made them bigger than what they suggested I only got about 2 dozen, but they were a tasty 2 dozen :)

Insalata Caprese

Or salad in the style of the Island of Capri. There are more versions on how to make this than you can shake a stick at. I've seen it layered, overlapped and on skewers. I've seen it topped with just olive oil, with just balsamic vinegar and with a mixture of both. And most importantly if you have a set of working eyes you don't require a recipe. If you can see it you can make it. So going off of this basic principle, I knew I liked mine stacked, with more balsamic vinegar than olive oil and topped with julienned basil instead of whole basil leaves. But, always the perfectionist, I decided to do some research and see if I was "missing out" on something that would take my basic idea into an AWESOME idea!

So I went on allrecipes.com and found a recipe for the salad but I wasn't interested on the recipe as much as I was interested in the reviews. I find a lot of insight on the reviews, what people did different, how they made a recipe better, you know.... insight. So I found the following review by someone called YOGAFOODIE:

"I've been making this salad for years. However, us Sicilians make it a little different. Also, another trick is to use fresh bocconcini (the smaller fresh moz. balls) and to use very fresh Roma (chopped) tomatoes or cherry/plum tomatoes. I add a lot of balsamic dressing with only a splash of olive oil (plus at least 3-4 cloves of fresh chopped garlic). Mix together and let the flavors marinate together (it tastes delicious when the balsamic vinegar and garlic flavors soak into the cheese). Just a little Sicilian twist to the caprese salad. "

With this little tid bit in mind I set out to make the Caprese salad my own. And it completely surpassed my expectations. It was savory, light, fresh and best of all TASTY!!! Ryan really liked it, he liked it so much he has requested it for Christmas Day. I think I will make it as an appetizer or something we can munch on during the day. And since it's already dressed in the Christmas colors how could that be wrong? So here is my take on Insalata Caprese:

Insalata Caprese con una Claud Torsione

In English, Salad in the style of Capri with a Claud Twist

2 Vine Ripened Tomatoes (can be purchased at the grocery store)

2 Buffalo Mozzarella

Basil Leaves, julienned (About 3 or 4 it's really your preference)

1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar

2 tbspn Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 tspn Finely Chopped Garlic

Coarse Salt

Combine Balsamic vinegar and garlic in a bowl and then slowly mix in the Olive Oil until emulsified. Set the mixture aside and let "marinate" at room temperature for an hour to an hour and a half. A little before your hour or your hour an a half is done slice up your Buffalo Mozzarella . Place cheese on a platter or deep dish and pour 2 tablespoons of the balsamic mixture over the mozzarella slices. Let the cheese marinate in the balsamic vinegar for an hour. Then slice up two tomatoes, you should get about six 1/4" slices out of every tomato. Place tomatoes slices on a platter and season with coarse salt. Then with a slotted spoon transfer mozzarella cheese slices on top of the tomato slices. Then sprinkle the balsamic vinegar the cheese was marinating in around the tomato slices. Sprinkle basil over the top of the stacks, serve and enjoy.

Frito Candy aka Crazy Bark

No you are not mistaken, you read that right Frito Candy! It's a bark made of the most uncommon ingredients Fritos, pretzels, Reese's peanut butter cups and chocolate. And let me just tell you it's TASTY!!!

I thought it sounded a little weird but I couldn't help and be intrigued and thank God I was. It's sweet, it's salty with a caramelized flavor in the back ground.. I don't know what else to say you will just have to try it for yourself. I will have to say if you like chocolate covered pretzels then you'll like this and I almost forgot about my favorite part it's sooooo easy to make!

Sweet, Salty, Frito Candy
Courtesy of Cookie Madness

2 cups pretzels
1 cup Fritos
8 mini peanut butter cups (Cut in half)
1 stick unsalted butter (8 tablespoons)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (or however many you want) (I used the exact amount I think if you add more chocolate it would be too sweet)
Optional: Some peanuts for the top (Definately used them and I think it helps make it look "pretty")

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a 13×9 inch pan with parchment paper or no-stick (Release) foil.

Place pretzels in food processor and pulse to break - don’t pulverize. Add Fritos to processor and break them up with pretzels. Dump into pan. Unwrap peanut butter cups and throw them in the mix.

Place butter in a non-stick saucepan and melt over medium heat. When butter is melted, stir in brown sugar. Bring mixture to a full boil and boil for 1 minute, stirring once or twice. Pour over Frito mixture and bake for 8 minutes.

Remove pan from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over hot candy. Return to oven for 1 minute to soften chips. Spread softened chocolate chips over bars.

Cool at room temperature until you feel the pan is cool enough to be transfered to your refrigerator, then transfer to refrigerator to set the chocolate. When chocolate is set, lift from pan and break the candy up as you would almond toffee. You can eat it cold or let it come back down to room temp. It doesn’t have to be refrigerated, really.

Product Rave: Dr. Pete's Praline Mustard Glaze

Dr. Pete's Praline Mustard Glaze as mentioned in our Friends Thanksgiving Review is a little slice of heaven. The blend of Pralines, brown sugar, cinnamon and cloves is to die!

We had it as a dip poured over cream cheese but it would be perfect on ham. There is aso a recipe on their website for a Praline Sweet Potato Casserole that uses this glaze and it sounds absolutely sinful!

How is it we got the little Savannah treasure in Orange County you ask, I'll tell you. Our friend Lisette was in Savannah for her annual Birthday trip with her Mom and brought back a bottle of this and so kindly brought it to our Friends Thanksgiving. And we instantly fell in love with it. Well I just fell so bad that she brought her one and only bottle to our shindig so I went on a mission to try to find it. I called the company direct and asked if they had a retailer in the West Coast that sold it. The nice man on the other end of the phone said, in his beautiful southern twang, that they only had 5 retailers in the entire West Coast that sold it, my heart instantly sank. He then asked me for my zip code and told me there was a local retailer but that they were far away. He said they were all the way in Laguna Niguel! Well I just perked up and started laughing I told him I was from Orange County and 40 minutes is nothing to us! He still felt that was too far so he checked to see if there was one closer. He then said there is one located at 123 N. Glassell in Orange do you know where that is? By this point I was hysterical I told him that was right up the street from my house. He burst out lauging and said I was one lucky girl! So I high tailed it over there and bought one bottle for Lisette and one bottle for myself. And that is how the little Savannah treasure ended up in Orange County.

Anywho, you can buy it directly from them or call them and see if they have any retailers that sell it near you. If you buy it directly from them they have a four item minimum but you can mix and match so you don't have to get four of the same thing. But that wouldn't be so bad either because this stuff is liquid gold!