Chocolate Covered Pretzel Skulls

This week my craft challenge group, Iron Craft, is making edible crafts. I went with a Halloween theme and made up some chocolate covered pretzel skulls.

Get all the details on making them on Just Crafty Enough.

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted. © 2007-2012 Kathy Lewinski

Backyard Oktoberfest

We've been having some fall beautiful weather here in Minneapolis just perfect for inviting the family over for a Backyard Ocktoberfest. It was also a good reason to grind up some of that pork in the freezer and turn it into sausage.

The night before, Matt pulled out the Kitchenaid Meat Grinder and Sausage Stuffer attachments, making both traditional and Wurtemburg style brats.

Sunday afternoon they were headed to the smoker. Matt tied them to the upper grate of the smoker so they could hang to smoke. This helps them smoke more evenly.

They only took about 1 1/2 hours on the smoker to completely cook and get a good smoky flavor without being over-powered by it.

In the meantime there was plenty of German and Oktoberfest style beers to taste. Instead of buying six packs of one or two beers, we like to buy single bottles (or cans) of various beers. Everyone gets a tasting glass and gets to try some of each beer. This way if you don't like one beer you are only a few sips from the next one. Our favorite of the ones we tasted last night was the Surlyfest (which I realize is not pictured above, what can I say, we'd drank all those beers already.). It was light and bright, but not too light. Our least favorite was the Coney Island Freaktoberfest. Though the bottle was a big hit and we were all shocked when it poured out a bright pink.
Everyone nibbled on soft and hard pretzels with assorted mustards and cheese sauce while the sausage was finished up on the grill. This gave them a nice crispiness on the outside.

As the sun set, we served the brats with some potato salad and German red cabbage. I used this recipe for the cabbage and it was the perfect mix of sweet and sour.

Look at the lovely smoke ring on that brat. Our chef, Matt, deserved his special after dinner digestif.

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted. © 2007-2012 Kathy Lewinski

BBQ Sauce for Pizza

We smoked a couple turkey breasts the other night which left us with a lot of leftover turkey meat to use in other dishes. Matt thought is would be great on BBQ pizza.

We had the cheese, onions and some sweet red peppers in the garden. What we didn't have was an open bottle of BBQ sauce. I didn't want to open a bottle just to use a small amount, so I whipped up this sauce. It's tangy and sweet with just a hint of heat. This one is a keeper.

BBQ Sauce for Pizza

2/3 c ketchup
1/3 c water
1 t malt vinegar
1 t worcestershire sauce
1/4 t dried chipotle
1 t dry mustard
2 T brown sugar
1/2 t lemon juice

Mix everything together in a small saucepan. Let simmer, stirring from time to time, until reduced slightly and the color is darkened, about 45 - 60 minutes.

Makes enough sauce for one medium pizza.

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted. © 2007-2012 Kathy Lewinski

Oven Roasted Tomatillo Sauce

We finally made it back to the farmer's market this week after missing a few. We were happy to see some baskets of beautiful tomatillos for sale. We grabbed two baskets right away along with some poblano peppers, onions, garlic and cilantro to make tomatillo sauce.

We like a tomatillo sauce to mix with chicken or pork for Mexican dishes, especially enchiladas. Typically, we make it on the stove, slow cooking it for awhile. This year Matt wanted to see how it turned out with the much easier oven roasting method I've been using for tomato sauce.

It turned out beautifully. All the flavors are there and it is just so simple. The oven roasting makes it taste like it slow cooked on the stove.

Oven Roasted Tomatillo Sauce

2 1/2 lbs tomatillos, skins removed, quartered
1 large onion, peeled and quartered
4 - 6 poblano peppers (depending on the size of your peppers) - seeded and quartered
2 jalapenos, seeded and halved (if you like really spicy add more)
3 cloves garlic, peeled
olive oil
1 bunch cilantro, stems removed
salt
1 T white wine vinegar

Reheat oven to 350F.

Put the tomatillos, onion, poblanos, jalapenos and garlic on a baking sheet (We need two.) Drizzle enough olive oil on to coat everything.

Roast in the oven until everything is soft, about 45 minutes. The onions and peppers should have some brown on them.

Let cool a bit. Put everything into a blender or food processor. Add the cilantro. Process until everything is puréed, it won't be completely smooth. If it is a little thicker than you like add 1/4 - 1/2 c water. Stir in the vinegar. Taste and add salt as needed.

You can also play with this by adding other spices such as Mexican oregano, chili powder or epazote.

Makes about 6 cups.

We freeze it in one cup quantities. One cup is usually good to mix with meat, but we pull out two bags for something like enchiladas where it'll also be the sauce.

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted. © 2007-2012 Kathy Lewinski

Apple Season!

It's September and that means the University of Minnesota Apple House is open for apple season.

I've mentioned this in year's past, the University of Minnesota is quite big in the development of new apple varieties. They were the ones who created the Honey Crisp and Sweet Tango among others. We like to visit the Apple House a couple times in the fall to stock up for the winter. (If stored correctly, apples can last 3 - 4 months.)

Of course, they have all the big names as they come into season, like these Sweet Tango at $17.50 a 1/2 peck! (By the way, there is a limited supply so if you want Sweet Tangos, I'd get out there.)
We prefer to try some of the unnamed varieties for $8.45.

For our daily lunchtime apple, we went with the MN 1849. It is not too sweet and not too tart. It has a crisp texture and not too big. I prefer a smaller apple for eating. We really enjoyed this apple last year too.

There is a section where you can buy different varieties of apples by the pound if you don't want a 1/2 peck of just one. We picked up just enough of MN 1691 to make apple pie for our Labor Day picnic. This parent of the Zestor is tart and crisp. It isn't firm, so it cooks to a nice soft texture in pie. I love the tart apple flavor with the sugar and cinnamon in pie.

The Apple House is busily picking varieties as the are ripe. You can find an approximate list of when things will be in store here. You can also call their Apple House hotline 952-443-1409 for a daily update of what is available.

It's been a tough season for Minnesota apple growers with a late frost and hail storms, so we are certainly going to appreciate whatever bounty we can get.

The AppleHouse is located 1.5 miles west of the Arboretum entrance in Chanhassen on State Highway 5 and Rolling Acres Road. Visitors can shop from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. While there you can also purchase other seasonal vegetable, U of M cheeses and ready to bake apple pies plus apple and garden related gifts. If you're hungry while you're there you can enjoy a caramel apple sundae or a m&m studded caramel apple on the patio.

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted. © 2007-2012 Kathy Lewinski