Carnage du Jour - 15 October 15

As you no doubt already know, bratwurst is a staple and a treat chez nous.

Well, leftover brats are a joy - grab a bun and heat them and enjoy, slice them into a cream sauce over pasta and enjoy, add to a quiche or omelette and enjoy, grab one cold from the fridge and enjoy, the list is endless, and each entry ends with "and enjoy."

We had several (purposely) leftover brats in the fridge and somehow the idea of a bratwurst pizza (or bratzza, if you will - or even if you won't) came to both of us, so in the spirit of serendipity, kismet, and/or Providence, that was the next project.


Not being a baker / doughmaker, I chose to purchase a very nice-looking whole wheat pizza crust at the market, but from then on it was all us:
Brats sliced to replace (much thinner) pepperoni, shredded Amish Swiss cheese to replace the mozz (isn't there a better way to shred cheese than those deadly box graters?!), a sauce of leftover alfredo jazzed up with some Gulden's brown mustard, and sauerkraut to replace any and all vegetable toppings.




You no doubt wonder how it turned out, but given the size of the pizza and the near-total lack of leftovers, we have no doubt that this is  an application which will be repeated here at Cleveland.


Delicious, desirable, and most definitely highly recommended.

Carnage du Jour - 09 October 2015

Surf and Turf - a classic.
Yes, but even classics can use a twist now and again, right? Of course right.

So ...
How about some beautiful wild-caught salmon from Alaska and a couple gorgeous lamb chops? We've got surf and turf there for sure.

"Ah, but with what else?" I hear you ask.
How about bow-tie pasta, lightly dressed with some alfredo sauce, and green peas (my favourite colour for peas)? Oh, and a bit of chipotle bearnaise sauce to go on anything and everything?

If you said "yes" to that, then you answered wisely. This was a delicious meal.

The salmon was dusted with Old Bay and a bit of corn meal, then sautéed on the flesh side first, finishing on the skin side. That happened as the pasta and peas were finishing, as were the lamb chops which got a simple seasoning of salt and pepper, then under the broiler with some red wine in the pan beneath to stop any flare-ups and to impart a bit if extra flavour.

Oh my, everything went together like lines in a Bach chorale - as each flavour expressed itself, it created a suspension  - a space for the next flavour to fill and make itself known.

I had intended to grate a bit of orange zest over the lamb and salmon, but I forgot, and I think it was just as well that I did. That would have been fine, but there really was no need for any more notes (too many notes!) in this savoury composition.

Delicious and highly recommended.