Bratwurst, knockwust, bockwurst... Use a mixute or whatever you want.

Knackwurst is commonly “knockwurst” for some reason here in America, but a simple spelling change doesn’t make it any less tasty. I’ll just keep using the knockwurst because that’s what I see more of in stores here. Anyway, knockwurst is similar to bratwurst but is (usually) a mixture of veal and pork with some garlic and light seasonings mixed in. I say “usually” because different recipes call for different amounts of veal/pork or even sometimes other meats and spices–it depends on how creative the butcher wants to get with their own take on it.

The thing is, no matter what type of sausage you end up getting, you will have a terrific meal to go with some good winter beers. I love some stouts and porters as the weather gets colder. But hey, you don’t even need beer to enjoy this! I’ve been taking leftover to lunch at work (where beer is frowned upon during the work hours… bummer) and it reheats nicely and make everyone envious.

Sausages, mushrooms, and onions all cooked together. What's not to like?

So yeah, get your grub on and make this. It’s not terribly complicated and you’ll dig it. Click through the break to see the recipe and more pictures.

Ingredients
24 ounces fresh knockwurst or other -wurst (about 6 sausages)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (or 1 tbsp butter + 1 tbsp canola oil)
12 ounces egg noodles
2 onions, roughly chopped, bite sized pieces
16 ounces cremini mushrooms, stemmed and quartered (any mushrooms will do, but cremini are tasty and not usually much more expensive than white mushrooms)
1 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1.5 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 cup heavy cream

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Cook egg noodles for half the time indicated on the package in a large pot of salted water. They will cook more later. Drain, return to (now empty) pot and set aside.
3. Heat a large frying pan (or cast iron skillet) over medium heat. Add the butter (or butter+oil) and when melted, add the sausages. Brown the sausages on all sides, this should take about 10 minutes. Adjust the heat as needed. Remove the sausages to a plate.
4. Add the onion, season with salt and pepper and cook on medium to med-high for about 5 minutes, until it starts to soften. You shouldn’t need to add any more oil during this step as there should still be enough in the pan.
5. Add the mushrooms, increase heat to medium-high if you haven’t already, and cook for 5-10 minutes, until mushroom start to brown and bits of onion are translucent or browning. (Tip, if you don’t stir too often, you can get some good browned bits on the bottom of the pan.)
6. Add the wine, cook for a few minutes until the alcohol smell dissipates. Then sprinkle on the flour and stir well until it dissolves. Add the chicken broth and mustard. Bring the mixture to a simmer if it isn’t already. Let simmer for a minute to help thicken. (*protip* Dissolve the flour in a 2 tablespoons of some heated chicken brother first to prevent clumping.)
7. Pour the onion-mushroom mixture over the noodles in the pot. Stir a couple times then remove the pot from the heat. Pour in the cream and mix well. Taste, add pepper and salt if needed.
8. Transfer everything to a 13×9 dish and tuck the browned sausage into the top of the noodles. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and continue cooking for 10 more minutes, or until the top starts to brown a bit (you know, to look fancier).

Great Fall/Winter food.

Continuing my current chipotle fascination.

This was actually my first time cooking with farro. I’ve been meaning to make it for a while, but my list of things to make seems to grow, not shrink. At this rate, it’ll take the rest of my life to work through it all. Somehow, I’m OK with that. Still, I checked this one off of my list and I’ll probably be going back to it. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but it’s actually a lot like barley.

As I’m still on my chipotle kick, I worked some into this dish as well. Unlike the shrimp tacos the chipotle is content to take a minor role and just add a hint of heat and smokiness to the dish. I kept things simple and basically used it as a salad dressing mixed with a bit of oil.

A pretty healful combination for a satisfying winter meal.

Click through the jump to see the recipe.

Butternut squash and chicken with farro and wilted spinach in a chipotle-adobo dressing
Makes 4 large portions.

Ingredients
1 medium butternut squash (about 2 lbs)
3 chicken breasts, cut into bite sized chunks
1 large bag spinach leaves
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 teaspoons chipotle in adobo (chipotle minced)
olive oil
salt, pepper

Directions

For the squash:
1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
2. Peel the butternut squash, scoop out and discard the seeds, then cut into chunks (bite sized, but not too small).
3. Toss the chunks along with a teaspoon of salt and half teaspoon of pepper in a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet.
4. Roast for 30-45 minutes, or until lightly browning and tender. Give the pan a shake or use a spatula to loosen any pieces that might be getting stuck after 10-15 minutes.

The rest
1. Chipotle dressing: Combine a tablespoon (3 of the 4 teaspoons) of crushed chipotle in adobo with about a half teaspoon of olive oil. Add more oil as needed, but use just enough olive oil to loosen the chipotle mixture.
2. Prepare the farro according to the directions in the packet. I used chicken broth as the cooking liquid.
3. While that is cooking, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add a tablespoon of olive oil and then add the chicken pieces. Cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through and has browned slightly (*protip* don’t stir too often). About a minute or so into the cooking time, or once the chicken loses its raw color, add a teaspoon of the remaining chipotle in adobo and stir to combine.
4. Heat a large pot over medium high heat. Once hot, add a tablespoon of olive oil then add the minced garlic. Stir to distribute the garlic in the bottom of the pan, then add all the spinach. Cook through, until all the spinach has wilted and reduced in size.
5. Combine equal parts chicken and butternut squash in a large bowl and toss gently with half the chipotle dressing. You may have butternut squash left over. It’s up to you to add it in or leave it out. (I left it out because I love roasted butternut squash on its own–I just ate it plain.)

To serve
Place a thin layer of spinach on the bottom of the plate, then add some farro on top. To that, add the chicken and butternut squash. Sprinkle some slivered almonds on top and, if desired, drizzle with any extra chipotle mixture for extra heat.

But this time I was in a Mexican mood. I wanted some tasty shrimp tacos. And tasty shrimp tacos is what I got :) I mean, really, take a look.

Best tacos I've made.

I know, right? Right? Oh, well, I guess I know but you’ll just have to take my word for it. Or you could make this too… You should. There is so much great flavor in this. A little smokiness, a bit of heat, and even a little sweetness (not to mention the scallions, onion, and tomato) all work together to make this some of the tastiest tacos that will ever come out of your kitchen.

I mean, look at that, I bet you wish you could have eaten it.

So go get the ingredients and get cooking. Click though for the recipe and more details. If you like this one, maybe I’ll share some more chipotle recipes soon.

Ingredients

For the shrimp
Note about the shrimp: Get small sized shrimp. That means look for a count of 31/35 or less. That number means that there are about 31 to 35 shrimp per pound. If you get shrimp that are too large, they won’t fit well into the tacos, so smaller shrimp, which means a higher number, is your friend.
1 chipotle in adobo, minced
2 teaspoons adobo sauce
4 teaspoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
about 1 1/2 pounds small shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon granulated sugar

For the tacos
12-15 taco shells (I used flour tacos, but you can use corn)
1 bunch of scallions, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2-3 roma tomatoes, chopped
guac or avocados
jalepenos, if you want some more heat :)

Directions
Directions for shrimp
1. In a bowl mix together the chipotle, adobo, brown sugar, and lime juice.
2. In another bowl, mix together the shrimp, salt, pepper, and sugar.
3. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil, then add about half the shrimp (from step 2). Make sure that they are in a single layer. Cook until you can see the color start to turn pinkish and they develop brown spots on the underside (about 1 minute). Flip each shrimp over (you can remove the pan from heat for this if it takes time). Cook about 30-60 seconds longer, until that side browns slightly to match the top half. Transfer everything to a plate or bowl and repeat with the remaining shrimp (don’t forget to add another tablespoon of oil to the skillet).
4. Once the second batch has been flipped over and cooks slightly, you can re-add the previously cooked shrimp to the skillet. Mix in the chipotle mixture (from step 1), cover and cook for 1-2 minutes.

For the tacos
Once the shrimp is made, you can pretty much figure out that the shrimp and the rest of the ingredients get tossed into the taco shells and then are chomped down on.
A tip for the taco shells though, if you have a gas burner you can lightly char them over it. Be quick and vigilant because you don’t want to burn them.
I don’t have a gas burner, so I actually pulled out a propane torch and tossed each taco onto my cast iron skillet and charred them with that. Yeah, I really did that.

One more photo...

Cuban sliders, black beans, and tostones.

So with all that on my mind, I assembled my army of ingredients. Pork chops, lemon juice, OJ, a pineapple, some small buns, and a handful of herbs and spices. I had all the tools I needed. I just had to assemble it correctly. Fortunately, the end result was just as amazing as I could have hoped.

Cuban sliders, black beans, and tostones.

It probably also helped that I served it with tostones and some black beans. I’ll talk about those tostones next time. For now, lets focus on making these delicious sandwiches. Click through for the recipe and a few tips.

Ingredients
1 onion (red) sliced
3 cloves of garlic
4 boneless pork chops (excess fat trimmed off, each chop cut into two equal pieces and pounded down a bit)
2 cups OJ
3 limes, juiced
2 limes, juiced (need lime juice at separate times, hence listed twice)
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons dried oregano
fresh black pepper
kosher salt
1/4 cup white wine
pineapple slices (Fresh is best, obviously. Cut on the thinner side, if possible, they are going to be used as garnish in the slider.)
olive oil
8 dinner rolls (I used small potato rolls)

Directions
1. Prepare the marinade/brine: In a small skillet, heat a half up of water with about a quarter cup of salt until it dissolves. Remove from heat and mix with the following in a gallon zip lock bag: a half cup of ice water, one cup of OJ, the juice of 3 limes, the vinegar, 1 tbsp cumin, and 1 tbsp oregano. Add the pork to the brine and soak for about an hour.
2. In a large skillet, heat a splash of oil over medium-high heat and add the onion and garlic to it. Saute it until the onion softens. Remove the onion from the skillet and set it aside.
3. Drain the pork (discard the brine), pat dry and sprinkle both sides with cumin, oregano, and black pepper.
4. Wipe out the skillet if you need to, heat over med-high heat and add a splash of oil. When hot, add the pork chops and sear over high heat. When one side is golden brown, flip it and sear the other side. It’ll only take a minute or two per side.
5. Re-add the onions and pour in the remaining OJ, lime juice, and white wine (don’t use any of the juice from the brine). Bring to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes more. Set the pork aside (tent with foil). Continue to simmer the juice and onion mixture until it thickens and cooks down. It should be a fairly thick sauce chock full of cooked onions at the end.

To assemble the sliders, cut the buns in half. Add a piece of pork to the base, then a helping of the onion paste mixture, then a slice of pineapple.

Let's see... nuts, potatoes, mixed greens, French vinaigrette. Yeah, I'll have that.

The salad itself is deceptively simple for something that packs this much flavor. The tender gesiers are basically umami delivery mechanisms that punch up all the flavors. The wonderful savoriness is cut by the earthy mixed greens and the light acidity of the vinaigrette. A handful of fresh nuts goes a long way, rounding out the textures in the salad.

Oh, I guess I haven’t mentioned what a gesier is yet (and that’s not entirely accidental). People enjoy this dish until I spoil it by telling them what they are eating. Don’t worry though, it’s just duck. Well, it’s not just duck, it’s the duck’s gizzard. I know, I know, that might sound a bit odd, but this is actually pretty good. I guess the best way to describe it would be to imagine if the dark meat of a duck (or chicken) was more, uh, just more. It’s very flavorful, so you don’t need much. The amount in the salad is great because it’s not overpowering and well balanced by the other flavors.

Don’t be nervous though, if this isn’t your thing I won’t surprise you with a plate of it if you come over for dinner. But if you want to try it, I think you’ll be quite pleased. (Give me a heads-up and I’ll try to get a hold of some more!)

My mouth is watering as I type this. This looks so good. Savory, slightly bitter from the salad, a touch of acid from the vinegar offseting everything... I really need to get some more of these.

In case you do find a good source and want to make it, here are two ways I suggest serving it. The first (image directly above) is an extremely basic salad that puts the gesier front and center. The second method (see the image at top of page) has more ingredients, including potatoes and nuts, which complement the rest of the flavors.

Simple Gesier Salad
Ingredients
about 2 gesiers per person
mixed baby greens or salad de mâche
basic french vinaigrette (See this post for the recipe)

Directions
Salad de mâche was used here.
1. Heat a skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Cut the gesiers into wedges or slices. Add some oil to the skillet and toss in the gesiers. Cook for several minutes until slightly browned.
2. Make the vinaigrette in a large bowl. Add the salad and mix to coat with a thin layer of dressing.
3. Serve on the plate with the gesiers on top of the salad.

If you have any crusty French bread, serve that along side it. You know this looks good. It is. I’d much rather eat a gesier salad than something like this, wouldn’t you?

Here, my mom is cutting the gesier into wedges. Thanks for dinner!

Sear them briefly in a hot skillet before serving.

Gesier salad with potatoes and nuts
Ingredients
about 2 gesiers per person
mixed baby greens or salad de mâche
basic french vinaigrette (See this post for the recipe)
oven roasted potatoes
Crushed walnuts

Directions
We had some left over roasted potatoes that we used for this dish. If you don’t have any, or want to quickly make some simply cut some potatoes into even, bite sized cubes and toss lightly with olive oil and a touch of salt and pepper. Bake them at 375F for 30-45 minutes, until they become golden brown.

1. Heat a skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Cut the gesiers into wedges or slices. Add some oil to the skillet and toss in the gesiers. Cook for several minutes until slightly browned.
2. Make the vinaigrette in a large bowl. Add the salad, most of the nuts, and the potatoes. Mix to coat everything with a thin layer of dressing.
3. But a bed of dressing on a plate, add some of the cooked gesiers and a few more nuts.

This isn't something you'd find in every home. Enjoy it.

As a bonus for reading all the way down to the bottom, here is the can of gesiers from Verdier. He makes pâtés and other ‘canned’ meats that we can easily transport back on the plane. My grandfather actually used to live near him and we always eat some of his products when I go visit my family in France. He runs a small operation that consistently produces quality foods.

This guy makes terrific pâté's too. I really hesitate to eat the ones I have because I can't easily get more.

A dozen eggs and tastiness hides below that surface.

I wanted to add a few more things to this, but I actually started running out of room in the pie. My idea was originally inspired by a recipe on Epicurious. I ended up ditching most of my planned changes as the recipe came together though. The filling just got too large to allow for the extra stuff I wanted. You are welcome to try my changes though… here is what I would do: use only one onion, add wilted spinach (or kale, or some kind of bitter green), and add a little bit or parm before closing up the pie.

Still I have a few tricks that I did do that I would really recommend. Check below the break the find out.

Cross section! Layered from the bottom: Dough, onion, potato, prosciutto, egg, and dough.

A few tips:
If you want to boost the flavor of this whole thing and reduce the sharpness of the onions, caramelize them first.
Be gentle when cracking the eggs, try not to break the yolks. One of mine actually broke, but it’s hard to tell once the top layer of dough is added.
Bacon can be substituted for the prosciutto, just cook it first.

Eggy Pie
Makes about 8 servings.
Ingredients:
1 lb package frozen puff pastry, thawed (many come with two sheets in a pack, we’ll use both)
2 medium onions, finely chopped (2 cups)
4 to 5 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto
1 large russet potato (10 to 12 ounces), sliced as thinly as you can
12 large eggs
salt
fresh ground black pepper
2 tsp thyme

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Lightly flour a counter and roll out each piece of dough into a 12-13 inch square.
3. Gently spray a 9 inch baking pan with non-stick baking spray and lay one of the dough pieces into it. Make sure that there are no air bubbles trapped beneath. The dough should only just drape over the edges.
4. Combine the chopped onions, 1 tsp thyme, and about 1/4 teaspoon salt and black pepper. Put all this into the baking pan with the dough.
5. Evenly cover the onions with prosciutto, then the sliced potato, (overlap where needed, don’t worry). Sprinkle on the remaining thyme. Crack the eggs on top of potatoes. Try to evenly distribute the yolks so they don’t clump in one place. Crack some more black pepper over the whole thing.
6. Cut some slits of various lengths in the remaining rolled-out dough. Carefully lift it and drape it over the eggs. It’s perfectly fine is some of the yolks are visible (you want a few visible, it adds to the color). Crimp the edges, then trim and tuck the crimped part under (between the dough and the vertical part of the pan.
7. Bake until pastry is golden brown and puffed, 50 to 60 minutes. If it browns too rapidly, tent with foil, if after 55 minutes it hasn’t browned enough, turn on the broiler and cook for about 5 minutes (monitor closely!).

Fig and goat cheese stuffed tenderloin

Yup, that’s a pork tenderloin stuffed with figs and goat cheese. I somehow got it in my mind that combination would work. And you know what, I’m happy with my decision. The goat cheese helped cut down on the sweetness of the figs and the rosemary gave it an earthy touch. Still, this isn’t a delicate meal. It’s very rich, what with the pork, the figs, the cheese, and the apple glaze. But it’s not like pork doesn’t pair well with a bit of sweetness (think about some take-out style Chinese dishes–like sweet and sour pork).

Of course, if I was making an apple glaze, I had to continue the apple theme and serve it with apple baked brown rice! So click through to see more photos and to see how it’s done.

Close up! You can see the little fig seeds!

Fig and goat cheese stuffed pork
Ingredients
Stuffed Pork
1 1-lb pork tenderloin (they often come two to a package)
1 cup dried figs, roughly chopped
1 4-oz package plain goat cheese
1 tsp dried rosemary
fresh ground pepper
salt
apple butter or apple jelly

Sauce
1/2 cup white wine
1 1/2 cup apple juice

Other tools:
Cooking twine

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. In a small bowl, combine the chopped figs, goat cheese, and dried rosemary. Mix.
3. Remove any excess silverskin from the tenderloin. Lay the loin flat and and cut it most of the way though so it can be opened like a book. Flatten the pork onto a cutting board and pound it until it reaches a uniform thickness. Spread the filling from step (2) into the center.
4. Fold the tenderloin over the filling and, using cooking twine, tie the tenderloin so it stays closed over the figs and cheese. The best way to do this is the loop the twine about an inch down from one end and tie a knot. Take the length of string and move it down about an inch and make another loop. Repeat the process every inch or two until the tenderloin is tied. Keep the seam pointing towards you and the knots at the top, facing up.
5. Season with salt and pepper and bake for 60-90 minutes, until an instant read thermometer shows 155F in the center. (Note that the FDA has lowered their pork cooking recommendation to 145F, but as this is stuffed I’d rather cook it a little longer.) After about 45 minutes into the total cooking time, glaze the pork with apple jelly and return to oven for the remainder of the cooking time.
6. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for a few minutes. Remove the string and cut into thick slices. Serve with sauce (below).
Sauce
1. Combine the wine and apple juice in a small pot. Bring to a simmer until reduced and thickened. The sauce will continue to thicken after it is removed from heat.

The was the most appetizing photo of the entire, cooked loin that I could take. That's why it's at the end of the post. Still, it does look pretty good with the browned bits and such.

Tomato tart! Now with spinach and caramelized onions!

I quickly settled on making a tomato tart. It’s not too difficult and the tastiness factor is pretty impressive. Underneath that layer of tomatoes hides wilted spinach, caramelized onions, and feta and ricotta cheeses. A few sprigs of thyme is all you really need to add some extra flavor to it.

You could make your own pie crust for this, but I opted for puff pastry. Roll it out a couple times so it doesn’t have the urge to puff as high and pre-bake it weighted with dry beans. It’s not that pie crust is hard to make, it’s just that it’s one of those things that puff pastry can easily replace will no ill effect. Just don’t use one of those pre-made pie shells in the foil. Those are usually sweet and won’t give the proper effect here.

What else could I stuff into this?

Anyway, back to the tart at hand. There are really only 5 ingredients here, but there is some prep work to do. Fortunately, the prep work can be done ahead of time or while the crust is baking. The onion has to caramelize, not difficult, but takes some time. I like to do several onions at once because it freezes delightfully well. The other prep is wilting spinach, which frankly, is a stretch to call it work. It cooks down quickly and easily. All that is required of you is to stir it. Click through the link for the full recipe and more information.

Tomato Tart with Spinach and Onion
Ingredients
1 large onion, sliced
2 cups spinach
3-4 fresh tomatoes, cut about 1/4 inch thick
4 ounces feta
4 ounces ricotta
and a few sprigs of thyme
1 sheet of puff pasty (plus some flour for rolling it out)

Other equipment
A 12-inch tart shell with removable base simplifies things
pie shell weights or dry beans

Directions
Tart shell
1. Preheat the oven to 450F
2. Thaw the puff pastry and fold in half and half again with a tiny amount of water to help bind the folded areas (just a small, even sprinkling will suffice). Roll out the dough to about 13 to 14 inches. Place in a lightly greased tart pan and fold the lip back into itself and press to seal. Prick evenly with a fork. Line with foil and fill with beans or pie weights.
3. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the beans and foil and bake for 10-20 minutes more, until crisp and brown. Allow to cool on a rack, still in the tart pan.
Tart filling
Onions can be made a day or two ahead, or even while the tart shell is baking.
1. Heat a large skillet or pot over medium-high heat. Once hot, add a tablespoon of olive oil and all the onions. Stir to coat everything in oil, then reduce the heat to medium and stir occasionally (leave uncovered. If it starts to burn or have caramelized bits stuck to the pan, add a splash of water and get those tasty bits clinging back onto the onions instead of the pan. It may take half an hour or more depending on the amount on onions you have. When they are soft and brown, you are done. (See here for more info.)
2. Heat a large pot over medium-high heat and add a tablespoon or so of olive oil. Add all the spinach at once and stir the pot. Stir frequently so the leaves at the base don’t burn and so the ones at the top cook down. It should only take a couple of minutes. Stop when all the leaves are wilted together.
3. Combine the feta and ricotta in a bowl. Add the onions and the spinach. Mix with a few cracks of black pepper.
And now the tart assembly
1. Spread the cheese mixture into the bottom of the cooled tart.
2. Layer the tomatoes slightly overlapping over the filling. Add some fresh thyme to the top.
3. Bake for 40 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before serving. Can be eaten at room temp or reheated.

Notes: If the tomatoes are very juicy, blot them with a towel so that you don’t end up with a soggy tart.

Excellent pork tenderloin, amazing sauce, and the bacon wrapping just makes it that much more awesome.

This isn’t even the first time we have made bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin. The now-elusive Kyle made this a couple years ago. His was great, but I have to say that mine significantly ups the flavors by adding mushrooms, cream, and whiskey. (Maybe now he’ll have to one-up me…)

This dish is great served with rice or potatoes to soak up the leftover sauce. I even wiped the skillet with a piece of bread to get every last bit of sauce into my belly–It’s that good.

For a cream sauce, it’s lighter than you would think. That may have something to do with the addition of whiskey :) The mushrooms give it a more robust flavor without compromising the consistency. I’m tempted to make this sauce with chicken now… I may even make a simplified version to serve with fish.

Those are little packets of flavor wrapped in a bacon strip.

Bacon wrapped pork tenderloin with a whiskey cream sauce

Ingredients
1 to 1.5 inch medallions from a single tenderloin
1 slice bacon per medallion (at least 8, I used more because I doubled up on some and not all the slices were usable)
salt
pepper
1 pint mushrooms, sliced
1 shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup whiskey
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup half and half (or cream)
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp thyme
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
vegetable or canola oil

Directions
1. Place the bacon in a large microwave safe bowl and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Cook in the microwave for 1-4 minutes without letting them crisp. This is to render some fat from the bacon. You should have at least 1/2 cup of fat that you can pour off. Once cooled slightly, wrap each medallion with bacon, using kitchen twine or toothpicks run through it to hold the bacon onto the pork. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Place about 2 tsps of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the medallions to the skillet being careful not to crowd the pan. Sear the medallions on all sides, including turning them on edge to sear the bacon. You may find it easier to work in two batches rather than doing it all at once. Remove from the pan and reserve on a plate covered in foil.
3. Reduce the heat to medium, add the mushrooms, shallot, garlic, and spices to the pan. Cook on medium stirring occasionally, for about 5-7 minutes, until the mushrooms have given up their liquid and have started to reduce in size.
4. Add the whiskey and allow to simmer for about a minute. Then add the stock and return to a simmer for about a minute. Add the cream and mustard and return to a simmer. Finally add the reserved medallions and any juice that drained onto the plate. Allow to simmer for a few minutes to reheat the medallions, then serve.

Let me break this down for you though, it’s actually a pretty small step to go from salad to sandwich. Go back and look at the salad, I’ll wait… OK, we already have the spinach–lettuce in sandwiches is obvious–and putting salad dressing in a sandwich is also not uncommon either. Blueberries, I’ll grant you, aren’t obvious, but they were great in the salad. That leaves us with what missing?– Cheese and bread? Cheese easily goes in both, in fact, I debated crumbling either some blue cheese or goat cheese on that salad, but decided to keep things simple. As for bread–what do you think croutons are? So, all I have to do is make my croutons from whole slices of bread instead of small squares and warm the salad up between the bread and cheese.

But as I said, the situation kept spiraling out of control: I ended up making several delicious variants. Here are my three favorite.

Blueberry balsamic viniagrette (large), Spinich and tomato (top left), Sun-dried tomato and caramelized onions (bottom right). All made with goat gouda.

I’ve listed them below in order of preference, but I’ll eat any of them without complaint. I made a couple without the balsamic vinegar and blueberries, but that one was hands-down the best. (Not just my opinion either! Honest!)

For full recipes, scroll down and click through for the full article.

1) Spinach and blueberry grilled cheese with a balsamic glaze

Best. Grilled cheese. Ever.

With that salad on my mind, this was the first one I made. The dark, slightly-black looking surface on the bread is actually balsamic glaze, bot burnt toast. Note that all these sandwiches were made with goat gouda and a rustic, wheat, sour-dough bread. Any wheat or sourdough would fine. I might try a goat brie next time though, it may melt a bit better (and the blueberries will stick better when assembling it).

2) Hint-of-heat tomato and caramelized onion grilled cheese

This is probably the most basic of the bunch.

Remember that sun-dried tomato spread? I froze some and couldn’t help but use it here. It’s like a gift that keeps giving. This sandwich has a healthy amount of caramelized onions in it, and I’m OK with that. Once they are cooked down, all that’s left is this mild earthy sweetness that pairs really well with the tomato and cheese. That hint of heat? A pinch of red pepper flakes. Seriously, it really brought everything home.

3) Spinach, tomato, spinach, caramelized onions, and spinach grilled cheese.

This one goes out to all the spinach lovers out there...

Lots of spinach (lots), a few slices of roma tomato, goat gouda, and some caramelized onions. Great stuff, but for once I may have overdone it with the spinach. The sandwich had nearly two cups of wilted spinach in it. It was great though, the tomato and the goat gouda helped cut through it. This one could have slid into the number two spot if either the cheese was increased or the spinach was decreased.

So now that you know, let’s break down how to do each one:

1) Spinach and blueberry grilled cheese with a balsamic glaze

Stop whatever you are doing and make this.

Spinach and blueberry grilled cheese with a balsamic glaze
The proportions vary depending on the size of you slice, so I’ve deliberately left some of the proportions a bit vague. This should make enough for two sandwiches.

Ingredients
blueberries (get the most flavorful you can find, I find the organic ones to be superior)
3/4 to 1 cup Balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 to 2 cups fresh baby spinach
goat gouda (or goat brie)
2 tbsps butter (melted)
4 slices rustic bread
splash of vegetable or canola oil

Directions
1. In a small, non-reactive pot or skillet over medium to medium high heat add the balsamic vinegar. Bring to a bares simmer, adjusting the heat if needed, until it reduces by about half and has thickened. Don’t over-reduce as it will continue to thicken as it cools.
2. Brush one side of all four slices of the bread with the melted butter–this will be the outside. Spread the other side, the inside, with the balsamic glaze. Some may seep through the holes in the bread, this is OK.
3. Put a layer of the spinach on the bottom slice, then layer the cheese. Carefully place the blueberries on the cheese and close the sandwich to keep them in place. I had maybe a dozen blueberries or so in each sandwich. A couple fell out while cooking that I tried to sneak back in. Protip: If you use goat brie, you’ll have a better time getting the blueberries to stick to the cheese–they kinda roll off the sliced gouda.
4. Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add just a drop of oil and spread it around the skillet with a paper towel. (You don’t want to cook in the oil, you’ve already buttered the bread. The oil is to give extra insurance against sticking if cheese oozes out.)
5. When the skillet is warm, place the sandwiches into the skillet and allow to cook until the bottom is toasted and golden. Cover as best as you can to help the gouda melt. Once the base is golden, carefully flip the sandwiches over (picking up any blueberries that escape) and cook until the next side is golden (covered, again).
Extra. If you have any glaze left over, spread some over the top. That stuff is delicious. Serve with some blueberries on the side.

2) Hint-of-heat tomato and caramelized onion grilled cheese

Excellent sandwich. The onions and tiny bit of red pepper flakes make it.

Hint-of-heat (sun-dried) tomato and caramelized onion grilled cheese
The proportions vary depending on the size of you slice, so I’ve deliberately left some of the proportions a bit vague. This should make enough for two sandwiches.

Ingredients
2 tbsps butter (melted)
4 pinches red pepper flakes
Sun-dried tomato spread (see recipe)
caramelized onions (about 3 onions worth, see recipe here)
4 slices rustic bread
splash of vegetable or canola oil

Directions
1. Brush one side of all four slices of the bread with the melted butter–this will be the outside. Spread the other side, the inside, with the tomato spread. Sprinkle a pinch or two of red pepper flakes over the side with the tomato spread. Add a healthy amount of caramelized onion. Those are the only additions other than cheese, so don’t skimp. Then add some sliced goat gouda and close the sandwich.
2. Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add just a drop of oil and spread it around the skillet with a paper towel. (You don’t want to cook in the oil, you’ve already buttered the bread. The oil is to give extra insurance against sticking if cheese oozes out.)
3. When the skillet is warm, place the sandwiches into the skillet and allow to cook until the bottom is toasted and golden. Cover as best as you can to help the gouda melt. Once the base is golden, carefully flip the sandwiches over and cook until the next side is golden (covered, again).

3) Double spinach and fresh tomato goat gouda grilled cheese

I love the wilted spinach in this.

Double spinach and fresh tomato goat gouda grilled cheese
The proportions vary depending on the size of you slice, so I’ve deliberately left some of the proportions a bit vague. This should make enough for two sandwiches.

Ingredients
about 4 cups spinach
2 tbsps butter (melted)
2 pinches red pepper flakes
1 roma tomato, sliced thin
caramelized onions
4 slices rustic bread
splash of vegetable or canola oil
2 tbsps olive oil

Directions
1. In a large pot over medium to medium high heat add a the olive oil, then add the spinach. Stir frequently until all the spinach is wilted and has reduced in volume.
2. Brush both sides of all four slices of the bread with the melted butter. Sprinkle a pinch of red pepper flakes over one side of each piece of bread. Add a small amount of caramelized onion to two of the slices of bread (think of these two slices as the “bottom” of each sandwich). Add some sliced goat gouda, then pile half the spinach onto each sandwich. Add two or three slices of the roma tomato and add more slices of the gouda. Close the sandwich with the remaining slice of bread.
3. Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add just a drop of oil and spread it around the skillet with a paper towel. (You don’t want to cook in the oil, you’ve already buttered the bread. The oil is to give extra insurance against sticking if cheese oozes out.)
4. When the skillet is warm, place the sandwiches into the skillet and allow to cook until the bottom is toasted and golden. Cover as best as you can to help the gouda melt. Once the base is golden, carefully flip the sandwiches over and cook until the next side is golden (covered, again).