Whew! July’s extreme heat dampens my desire to cook. I eat out of my refrigerator, and especially enjoy nibbling on a hearty salad that stays fresh and tastes delicious with the passing of these hot days.
I don’t ignore my friends because I like keeping up with their stories of vacations and our small town past times. I invite friends to linger in the shade of our ancient maple tree for a glass of beer or wine, and a simple Charcuterie Board – cheese, crackers, thin slices of summer sausage and the Sensational Marinated Bean Salad.
I prepare this non-cook recipe many times in the summer months, and I most often open a can of great northern beans grown near Scotts Bluff in Western Nebraska as the first of the four ingredients.
Nebraska is a major producer of dry edible beans.
Western Nebraska’s semi-arid climate, with warm days and cool nights, provides excellent growing conditions for beans.
Nebraska produces more great northern beans than any other state in the nation, is second in pinto and light red kidney and fourth in black bean production.
In researching the provenance of the great northern bean, the following story popped up in my reading:
According to Leland W. Hudson (Regional Plant Introduction Station, Washington State University), the 1935 seed catalog of the Oscar W. Will and Company in Bismarck, N.D., reported that the seed of the great northern bean was originally obtained by Oscar H. Will in 1887 from Son of Star, a Hidatsa Native American whose tribe had grown it for millennial.
Now when I buy great northern beans at the grocery, whether canned or dry, I ponder: A very strong possibility exists that they were traded and grown by tribal farmers in Nebraska-Native Americans being the first farmers in Nebraska. They also built the stately earth lodges on the plateaus of western Nebraska. See an earth lodge at the Great Platte River Road Archway Monument, Kearney, NE.
Simple and Sensational Marinated Bean Summer Salad
What You'll Need:
Marinated Bean Salad
1mediumshallot or 3 or 4 green onionsdice and include green stems of the onion
1cup tender herbs – mint, parsley, cilantro, chives and/or dill chop into a fine dice -approximately 1/2 cup
215 oz. cans great northern beans and red beans or substitute navy beans, cannellini beans or garbanzo beans
rinse the beans
1tsp.salt
Sensational Salad Dressing
2Tb.Spicy Beer Mustard
¼cupwhite vine vinegar or rice vinegar
½tsp.salt
¾cupCanola Oil or Olive Oil
How To Prepare:
Combine the shallot, herbs, salt and beans in a non corrosive bowl
In an emulsifier/blender/food processor combine the Spicy beer Mustard, salt and vinegar
Slowly stream in the oil until the mixture forms an emulsion
Pour 4 Tb. of dressing into the bean mixture and gently stir, taste and adjust seasonings and amount of dressing
Caution: too much dressing and salad may be soggy
Cover and refrigerate up to 8 days
Notes
Marinated Bean SaladIngredientsRinse the beansDressing for the BeansIngredients2 Tablespoons of Buzz Savories Spicy Beer MustardPour the Spicy Beer Mustard and vinegar into the food processor or blender¼ cup white wine or rice vinegar¾ cup canola oil or olive oil½ tsp. saltProcessCombine and mix the vinegar and the Spicy Beer MustardIn your food process or blender, pour a thin stream of oil into the blender to form an emulsionCombine the beans, tender herbs, salt into an enamel or glass bowl then drizzle approximately 3 Tablespoons of Spicy Beer Mustard Dressing over the beans, taste and add more dressing if desired. Serve chilled or at room temperature. I guess I’m cooking when I prepare the Simple, Sensational Bean Salad. I like thinking of a quote from Ruth Reichl in her book Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir
My experience tells me that the 1/2 cup of finely minced tender herbs sets this recipe above all the others because fresh herbs add crunch and the benefit of a flavor that cannot be measured nor described. Use all of the suggested tender herbs or if only one is available to you, use it. Parsley works fine. I like the addition of mint, but once again, not a requirement.
And returning to Why do we Cook query and especially in summer, I guess I’m cooking when I prepare the Simple, Sensational Bean Salad although I’m mainly opening cans and chopping cold vegetables. Anyway the tasks feel easy, and I stay cool.
I like thinking of a quote from Ruth Reichl in her book Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir . She tackles the perennial question for us living in the “Hello Fresh” and Uber delivery world, “Why we cook? with “Cooking and serving food is one way I offer thanks.”
I add, several more thoughts,- a way I connect with friends is eating or munching on Charcuterie together.
Cooking fills a space in me for the art of it, for the fun of it, and for the flavors and alluring smells that drift from a recipe that calls for fresh herbs and a Spicy Beer Mustard Dressing.
Buy your Spicy Beer Mustard at the outlets listed on this site and www.Amazon.com Search for Spicy Beer Mustard – 6 pack or Spicy Beer Mustard – 2 pack.
While here on the Buzz Savories site, please register for the newsletter. See Contact Page. I like hearing from you and learning about the topics that interest you and the recipes you are inventing and trying. I write recipes and mustard commentary 2 x month.
With gratitude for you and our abundance food, Betty A.
Thank you John Best for the stunning and masterful photo of Spicy Beer Mustard with a brat. I am recalling why I developed Spicy Beer Mustard – to serve as a spread with brats, hot dogs, hamburgers, with summer sausage and on a Charcuterie Board, and now I’m finding that I like it in dips, sauces, glazes and dressings. John Best reinvented himself at retirement into a professional photographer and is now the photographer for the Shrine Games. Contact him at the following email address: [email protected]
(poem by Jacquelyn Mitchard, Fried Wallyeye and Cherry Pie)
When July meets August, wherever I am standing on the planet, I hunger for fresh Nebraska sweet corn. Fresh holds a bushel of meaning for a Nebraska sweet corn connoisseur. Fresh sweet corn is picked by hand at sunrise and carted to a vegetable stand in a nearby town where a grower sells hundreds of ears by noon of the same day.
Nebraska farmers grow 1,016 acres of sweet corn, and nearly every kernel is eaten by the 1.9 million of us, the residents. Corn grower’s research estimate that every Nebraskan eats 20 ears of sweet corn during the short season.
We plant in late April or May as soon as soil temperatures are warm, 55 Degrees, and harvest at peak quality when kernels are in the milk stage and the silks are brown and dry beyond the end of the husk. The plump kernels drip a thick milky juice when pressed by the thumb.
Nebraska’s long sunny days, warm nights,and correct amount of water grow prize-winning corn. The top varieties grow in this corn state and mature into a sweet, tender, burst-in-your-mouth flavor.
Growers select Sweet Corn varieties according to their growing days, and we are grilling and eating fresh corn between July and September.
One more advantage to life and living in a town under 10,000 in Nebraska – we all live within 20 miles of a grower selling their fresh-picked corn under the umbrella of their sweet corn stand.
Buzz Savories is featuring sweet corn in the July edition because the first and last sweet corn of the season is good reason to celebrate summer!
Corn is held in high esteem here, and we buy special sweet corn dishes to honor it.
Husk and remove the silks from the cobs leaving the stem for easy turning on the grill
To cook a luscious food memory for any number of guests, I roast the sweet corn on the grill.
Prepare a hot grill, clean the grate
oil the grate
drench the sweet corn ears in olive oil
roast until charred, turning the cobs as the kernels char
the charring requires time, maybe 3-4 minutes on each turn of the cob
brush the corn with a mixture of Spicy Beer Mustard, garlic, olive oil and salt, return to the grill briefly and serve
Roast plenty since the leftover corn turns into a favorite black bean salsa dressed simply with fresh lime juice and garden herbs.
Sweet corn roasting on the grill
I thank www.Maille.com for my adaptation of the recipe below: Check out this website for their many varieties of mustard and always delicious recipes.
Simple recipe to step-up celebrate summer with sweet corn, Spicy Beer Mustard, a medium hot grill.Stir a simple sauce for the corn, grill till charred, brush on sauce, and eat.
Servings 6guests
Cost $8.00
Ingredients
2 Tbsp. Spicy Beer Mustard
2 cloves garlic, minced or 1 tsp. of dried minced garlic
6 fresh ears corn on the cob, husks and silk removed – leave the stem for easy of turning the cob
1 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tb. olive oil to prepare corn for the grilling process
Preparation
Preheat grill on medium heat. Combine mustard, garlic, salt and olive oil. Set aside.
Brush corn with oil and grill for 8 to 10 min. or until tender. Turn the corn occasionally and brush with the Spicy Beer Mustard mixture.
Grilled and charred sweet corn then brushed while hot with Spicy Beer Mustard sauce and returned briefly to the grill.
Black Bean and Spicy Beer Mustard/ Grilled Corn Salsa
With leftover Spicy Beer Mustard Grilled Sweet Corn, make the following recipe:
Salsa Dressing
3 Tb. olive oil
2 Tb. fresh lime juice
1 tsp. cumin
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
Ingredients of the Salsa
1 cup (more if you have it) grilled and charred Spicy Beer Mustard corn cut from the cob
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup red or green or mixed peppers, diced
½ cup green onions, chopped
1/4 cup cilantro or parsley or basil or oregano, or all together chopped fine
Directions
Blend all ingredients together and chill.
The following photo may inspire you to follow your taste buds to your local meat market to buy pork spareribs to serve with the charred corn
Spicy Beer Mustard Charred Corn, grill spare ribs and a Spicy Beer Mustard and potato mixture also grilled in an aluminum foil package
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The flavor of Spicy Beer Mustard Sweet Corn from the grill is worth bringing cooking into your life and friends to your table.
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Hello, friends and neighbors and Mustard Mavens,
Grillin’ Time at last here in our Nebraska town under 10,000. The sun sits boldly in the sky and all that is green is growing and glowing!
This weekend, I will be hosting friends for fishing, kayaking, paddle boarding and eating – Whoa! I mean to say, sitting on the patio in an Adirondack chair, sipping a beer, talking or languishing in a hammock and maybe a boat ride later. And, yes, eating!
Grillin’ Time Menu for June – Brats in a Toasted Bun with Coleslaw and probably a barbecue bean casserole to side with the Brats.
I like planning casual entertaining around Brats and a light and salty, sweet and crunchy coleslaw.
All but the grilling is handled hours or even a day before the gathering, and I, the host greet my friends and enjoy the pleasure of their company, and grilling and eating in the shade of Nebraska’s State Tree, the majestic cottonwood.
I design a simple menu with easy-to-make food items that look and taste delicious. Complex Flavor Without Complex Recipes
First and most important buy quality Brats. Our region is favored with Meat Markets. Below I listed meat markets in Nebraska that I guarantee pack freshly ground meat in natural casing, top-quality Brats and one of the markets (Raikes Meats in Ashland) delivers to your door like Omaha Steaks only higher quality.
The Brat recipe that follows fell into my hands during a juicy conversation with an award-winning barbecue guy in my home town.
His Brats spill over with juice on the inside and bite with a snap on the outside.
Spicy Beer Mustard simplifies the cooking because the rich blend of Olde Creamery Stout, Platte River Valley honey, mustard seeds, mustard powder, Turmeric, Allspice and cider vinegar develop complex flavors without complex work.
Coleslaw
Spicy Beer Mustard Dressing for Cole Slaw
Ingredients
¼ cup distilled white vinegar
3 Tablespoons Spicy Beer Mustard
6 Tablespoons Canola oil
1/2 tsp. salt
½ tsp. sugar
½ red onion sliced thinly and then cut into 1 inch pieces
2 20 oz. packages Angel Hair cabbage
Process
In a small bowl mix vinegar, mustard, salt and sugar then stirring constantly with a wire whip, drizzle in the 6 Tablespoons of oil.
Slice the red onion and cut into approximately 1 inch pieces.
Dump the angel hair cabbage into a large bowl, add the onions, and then ½ the dressing. Toss. All parts of the cabbage need to be moistened with the dressing. If you think it dry in places, add more dressing – 1 Tablespoon at a time until all the salad is moistened but not dripping in dressing.
I mix the cabbage and dressing several hours prior to the party or even minutes before serving. The Angel Hair cabbage tastes fresh and clean any way I do it.
Most important, buy Brats from a meat market in your region of the world. I select mine from the following Markets that also retail Spicy Beer Mustard, the Condiment with Character:
Holdrege, Fritz’s Meats
Kearney, Oxford Locker at Kearney
Elwood, Elwood Coop
Eustis, H&J Market
Lincoln, Leon’s Gourmet Market
Ashland, Raikes Beef (Raikes Beef delivers mail order direct to your home, and the order arrives frozen, and the meat quality is 100% superb)
Now I continue with the Brat grilling process –How to Grill a Perfect Brat
No, please do not take Brats from package to the grill. Yes, soon you will be grilling so light the coals.
First place the brats in a skillet and pour in either beer or water to fill the skillet to ¾ height of the brats.
Reason: melt the fat to release the juices in the meat. The photo is showing uncooked Brats beginning a simmer in their beer bath.
Turn the heat to a high simmer and simmer 20 minutes.
The Brat simmering process may take place several hours hours or also a day before grilling and serving. Cover and refrigerate if you simmer ahead.
Grill over a hot fire only to a golden appearance on all sides and to print the grill marks on the brats. (150 Degrees) Check temperature with your instant thermometer. The grilling/browning process may only require 5 minutes!
Ingredients
Brats and Buns
Water or beer for the simmering process
Toast buns on the grill and serve with Spicy Beer Mustard and Cole Slaw on the side.
Human-kind is united by love for appetizing food. (Edward Espe Brown, The Tassajara Recipe Book)
Register for the newsletter and see more photos and recipes and “Mustard Meanderings” on this website.
The Lord hates everyone who is arrogant; he will never let them escape punishment. Proverbs 15,16
“What was I thinking when I ventured into beekeeping?” Looking back, my decision was skewed with myths, misinformation and arrogance.
Information about social insects fascinates me. I read E.O Wilson, the Harvard etymologist, who studies ant behavior and writes books on ant colonies that I consider analogies for life in corporate America.
I considered myself an amateur naturalist. I camped and fished and hiked beaches and forest trails. My rumpled copy of Roger Tory Peterson’s bird identification book is found under the front seat of my car alongside binoculars. I voted for clean air and water and preservation of prairies, the barrier reefs and old growth forests. I am a past member of the Audubon Society; and, once, when I lived in Minnesota, I voted for a candidate of the Green Party.
I count bees as premier naturalists. They pollinate 1/3 of the vegetables and fruits marketed in the U.S., process the nectar into honey, a tasty and even medicinal product, and they willingly offer up their excess for humans to eat.
In my state of innocence, I believed this to be true.
“What is the risk,” I asked.
The investment seemed minimal. The beehive could be set up on marginal land that required no rent; and wild flowers are free. If I started small, one hive, what could go wrong?
Thinking casually, I concluded that beekeeping would entertain me like fishing, gardening, bird watching – my other hobbies.
I pictured myself gifting combs dripping with ambrosia (honey) to family, neighbors and clients, and bowing in humility at their profuse expressions of gratitude and admiration for me, the beekeeper.
Beekeeping Workshop
On a Saturday in January, driving thirty miles across flat farmland in blowing snow to sit on a metal folding chair in a Buffalo County Extension classroom to hear an etymologist lecture on beginning beekeeping seemed reasonable.
Knowing nothing about the craft and the business of bees, I walked blithely through the door in time to hear Dr. Ellis, the etymologist and apiary specialist, ask the first question of the class, “Why are you here?”
.
The dialogue that ensued revealed that all other participants lived on an acreage or a farm. One was a truck gardener and needed bees to pollinate the vegetables in his garden; others lived on farms and hoped to sell honey to augment their incomes; another had an opportunity to buy into a commercial beekeeping business and intended to start with 800 hives. The instructor shook his head as he said, “Not a good idea. Start with two hives and learn from the bees.”
I then heard myself saying that I intended to start beekeeping as a hobby. “I like working outside and being around plants,” I said. “I believe caring for bees will be fulfilling and somewhat like gardening.” I noticed a slight twitch in Dr. Ellis’s eyebrows.
I considered bees to be mediums between God and wild flowers, and beekeeping a business involving minimal work or investment. Bees did the work and nature supplied the raw material, flowers.
My First Summer
My first summer as a beekeeper, I saw my one hive (two deeps and twenty frames) increase from 6,000 bees
arriving in a box no larger than a milk carton, to its current estimate of maybe 60,000 bees. Healthy and productive hives build up their populations to around 70,000 bees by mid-summer and the time of the honey flow.
During the honey flow, when the most flowers are producing the most nectar, the bees gather nectar, and make honey.
Beekeeping for Dummies
I visited the hive nearly weekly, pried apart the frames and viewed the young bees cleaning comb, feeding larvae, and capping cells of honey and pollen. I compared my observations with advice written in beekeeping journals and books like Beekeeping for Dummies.
My friend, Larry Slack, a commercial beekeeper who managed over 2,000 hives in the Platte River valley advised checking the hive during the hottest, brightest part of the day since the worker bees will be in the alfalfa fields and the only bees in the hive are the nurse bees and baby bees. Larry said, “Young bees don’t defend the hive like worker bees.”
I was eager for the harvest and the first taste of honey from the hive.
“Oh, Well,” I said.
On August 1, 2004, a hot Sunday afternoon, I decided to drive to the apiary and harvest the honey. I was sure it would be ready. It was a happy prospect even though the afternoon had melted away, and the sun’s rays slanted in the late summer sky. “Oh, well,” I reasoned. “The day is hot, and the sun still bright.” Ignoring Larry’s advice, I figured the powerful worker bees would be in the field working late because the sun was lingering long in the western sky.
I might have died that day!
When I arrive at the apiary, it is nearly 5:30 p.m. Clusters of bees are flying in and out of the hive. I park parallel to the hive, shred pieces of burlap into the smoker, fire up the smoker, don white coveralls, and exchange sandals for socks and canvas shoes. I set the bee veil over my wide brimmed hat, lace it through the loop on the front of my bee suit, tie the strings securely around my waist, and bend own to fasten a strap around my pants legs. I feel secure as I approach the hive and lift the top cover.
Bees churn out of the honey super, and a high-pitched scream reverberates over my head. With my hive tool, I pry a frame up and hold it to the sky. Yes! I see white wax indicating freshly capped cells of honey. The honey is finished and ready to harvest.
Now, how do I remove the bees? I want them off the honey frames. I grab my bee brush, a brush with soft fine bristles. I begin sweeping the bees off the frame, and work slowly and carefully to avoid injuring these fine productive bees.
I feel the tapping feet of a bee crawling across my nose.
I’m holding the second frame in my hands when I feel the tapping feet of a bee crawling across my nose. Alert to signs of trouble, I lay the frame and the brush on the hive. Then I feel masses of bees crawling on my face and neck. I rip off the head gear to clear the bees off my face. A thousand bees descend on my head and twist like corkscrews into my hair. I rip my fingers through my hair pulling out bees and throwing them into the air. Attackers swoop and dive and brilliant flashes of pain inform me that my neck is the battleground. I back up and turn to run the fifty yards between the county road and the beehive.
I am retreating with a cloud of suicide bombers attacking my head and neck. When my feet hit the gravel road, the bees claim victory and turn back to the hive. I rake my hair again and again trying to extricate the buzzing swarm still caught in the strands.
Thinking only of escape, I need to return to the hive to get to my car. A cloud of bees still swirls above the hive. Cautiously, I walk toward the car, and before 25 yards, the bees see me approach and attack again. I scramble back to the road and uncertain safety.
I am feeling frantic now, near panic. My lungs are pumping, my heart’s throbbing, and my neck is swelling from the venomous stings. I am in enemy territory, far from human habitation, and the bees are blocking my route to safety. To escape, I must reclaim my car.
Slowly and methodically, I close the 2 snaps below the collar of the bee suit, place the veil over my head and lace it under the collar. I pump the bellows of the smoker until thick smoke pours out of the nozzle. Nearing the hive, a cloud of bees rises into the air, assaulting my ears with an orchestrated scream like hundreds of angry clarinets, and they descend to fight again. I pump smoke at them, but to no avail.
As I approach the car, clusters of bees swirl around the driver’s door and follow me overhead to the passenger door. Pumping all the while on the bellows of the smoker, I smoke the door, open it and throw myself into the car, jerking the door closed, and I breathe.
Oh, No! I notice the open hive!
I can see the bees boiling out of the hive, and I can hear their angry whine through closed windows. I wonder why they aren’t settling down and getting back to their work program as they were supposed to do. Sweat trickles down my bleeding and swelling neck as I notice the open hive.
They cannot protect their exposed hive from robber bees, marauding skunks, cold or rain. I need to close up the hive.
I reassemble my gear and with special care, quietly slip out the passenger door of the car. I reignite the smoker and pick up the frames of honey to return them and close the hive. I accomplish my task and take off running again to the road with a battalion of bees chasing me.
As I run, I can feel my neck swelling, and a frightening thought occurs that an allergic reaction may be happening. I need to get back to Holdrege, fast. I return to the car, the bees close ranks around the driver’s door, and a swarm of screaming bees follows me around to the passenger side. I smoke the car door and the handle and crack the door only wide enough for me to slip in again.
I swallow a Benadryl
Fifty yards down the county road, I stop the car, dump the smoldering burlap out of the smoker, swallow a Benadryl that I keep among the bee supplies, take off the coveralls and bee veil, and pack them in the trunk. Thirty more miles, I think. Thirty more miles to home.
I sustained hundreds of stings. I couldn’t count them. I felt chilly and sweaty, hot and cold. When I arrived home, I swallowed another Benadryl, drank a quart of water, vomited into the toilet, and stumbled into bed where I slept and woke and slept again for 48 hours.
Arrogance led to carelessness
Two days later, when I felt well enough to get out of bed, I called my friend Larry, the commercial beekeeper. I swallowed a huge dose of humility and told him about the catastrophe. There was a pause and a sympathetic, “Oh, my.” Then he said, “Never dig into bees in late afternoon because the field bees are home!” I had heard this advice before.
Weeks later when my neck felt normal and the scabs had healed, I pondered the messages and lessons of this near death experience. Why did I disregard the advice of an experienced beekeeper? I concluded that my arrogance led to carelessness, and my brash behavior harmed the bees and certainly me.
Wendell Berry, farmer/philosopher/poet writes in his book, What Are People For, “We forget that….. nature includes us, and we are in it and part of it while we use it.”
With Mother Nature’s fury vividly imprinted in my mind and body, I will remember forever the time when I disregarded her and her rule to respect her wild things. Ouch!
Summer 2019 Update: In 2007 I replaced the Italian queens with Carnolian queens, a gentler breed, I think, and most important, I purchased a one piece bee suit in which the veil zips onto the coveralls.
I feel invincible. Oh my, arrogance resurfaces, and I am doomed.
With the advice and sometimes assistance of George Bunnell, a commercial beekeeper in Oxford, NE, an apiary of 6 hives produce upwards of 200 lbs. wildflower honey per season.
1 cupcherry tomatoes or early tomatoes slicedcut in half
6spring green onionssliced thinly
6radishesshaved (sliced thin, thin)
handfulchives and/or dill mince chives and leave dill whole
8sugar snap peaschopped
6Persian cucumbers or small cucumbers or 1 English cucumbercut in chunks
4hard boiled eggs (optional)cut in half
SPICY BEER MUSTARD - Vinaigrette Dressing
¼cupSpicy Beer Mustard
¼cupBalsamic Vinegar
¼ cupSoy Sauce
¾cupolive oil
pinchsalt or to taste
How To Prepare:
Constructing the Salad
Tear greens into bite-sized pieces and also massage the Kale before tearing. Slice the remaining garden vegetables, peel the eggs and slice in halfChoose a platter and arrange the vegetables and eggs by the row on the platterCover and chill in refrigerator and may be prepared several hours prior to serving
Spicy Beer Mustard Vinaigrette
Delightfully simple instructions: select a 2 cup bowl or jar, mix Spicy Beer Mustard, Balsamic Vinegar, Soy Sauce, pinch of salt and stir with a wire whip or shake the jar to mix then drizzle the olive oil into the mixture stirring the bowl or shaking the jar until an emulsion forms. The dressing will be thick enough to coat a spoon. Taste and season as you like.
Serving the crunchy Green Salad
Serve in the platter with tongs so that guests may help themselves to the level of crunch desirable. Pass the Spicy Beer Mustard Vinaigrette. See the smiles when the flavor touches tongue!
I grew up with a storybook, stay-at-home mom., and to our family’s pleasure, mother’s cooking and entertaining skills ascended to the level of an art form and definitely were her passion.
She planned and prepared 4-course dinners including handmade pastries and breads. Years later, guests at her table recall an elegant and delightful experience featuring delicious foods with eye-popping appeal.
Planning and setting a table with linens and sterling silver and bone China brought her joy.
Christmas 2015 and thank you Scott Rager for the photo
She studied Gourmet magazine from first page to last, and she practiced a recipe in Gourmet until the outcome matched the glorious food photos in the magazine.
I thought my life would follow in-step with mother’s until reality slammed my illusions. I own a business, and true to all of you, I’m trying to shuffle a hundred things – business, fitness, friends, family, food, fun and home.
Although like my mother, I treasure moments sharing good food with friends and neighbors and family, and I appreciate fresh ingredients that look and taste marvelous. I do invite friends for appetizers, a wine or a glass of beer, a brunch, a one-pan dinner, a barbecue.
Grilled Spicy Beer Mustard and Orange Pork Chop
How do I tweak the time? Taking silver and linen out of the entertaining equation adds time for informal celebrations.
Adding Spicy Beer Mustard into the entertaining equation, elevates the food from ordinary to spectacular, simplifies prep. time and lifts my feelings from hectic to happy.
The whole point of cooking is to transform an ingredient into a better, more delicious version of itself. (Carla Lalli, www.Bonappetit.com)
Transform a pork chop from common to memorable with the addition of a Spicy Beer Mustard and orange marinade. Thank you, Kim Kushner and www.thesplendidtable.com for the concept.
Grilled Spicy Beer Mustard and Orange Pork Chop
Ingredients
4 thick cut pork chops (1 ½ inches thick)
1 orange cut in half
2 Tb. Spicy Beer Mustard
2 Tb. Balsamic vinegar
1 ½ Tb. extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp. kosher salt
½ tsp. ground black pepper
Process
Squeeze the orange juice into a medium glass jar. Pull out some of the juicy flesh from inside the orange and add to the jar.
Add mustard, vinegar, oil and seasonings. Close the lid and shake until well combined.
Place the pork chops into a large lock-top plastic bag (2 chops per bag). Divide the marinade equally and pour over the chops. Seal the bags closed and swish the chops around in the bag to coat them with the marinade.
Marinadt in the refrigerator for 2 hours or ideally overnight and up to 48 hours.
Grilling Instruction
Attention, please. I like this recipe and through experience I recommend us to follow the instructions with care to achieve a juicy, tender with melt-in-your mouth chop.
Get out your meat thermometer.
Heat a grill pan, a black iron skillet, or the charcoal/gas grill to white hot heat.
Preheat the oven in your kitchen to 425 Degrees F
Grill the pork chops, turning once for 4 minutes per side. The grilling caramelizes sugars in the orange juice and honey in the Spicy Beer Mustard and deep brown and beautiful grill marks emerge.
Pour the remaining marinade into a shallow baking dish that fits the chops. Place the chops in the marinade and if serving right away, cover with foil and bake in the oven to 145 Degrees. We are talking only minutes (maybe 3) in the oven.
Take the chops out of the oven at 145 Degrees internal temperature and allow to rest for 10 minutes or more.
Important: for moist and succulent chops, do not over cook.
Options: The Grilled Pork Chop recipe offers flexible times for grilling and serving.
The pork chops in the marinade may be frozen for a month before thawed and grilled.
The chops may be covered and refrigerated in the marinade for several days before grilling
The chops may be grilled and then set aside in the refrigerator and finished in the oven later in the day or the next day.
Before my mustard madness, my experiences with entertaining were onerous and time consuming and expensive.
I felt frazzled and out-of-sorts because guests were entertained and relaxed and fully enjoying my party as I labored in the kitchen with final preparations and refilling glasses, trays and bowls.
Freshen my views of humanity and connections within
And we savor and welcome
Grace
Buzz Savories, Condiment with Character supports us, the hosts in preparing for the ceremony of giving and sharing food and celebrating our brief being on the planet.
I borrow, steal, retro-fit recipes to simplify the work, lessen the kitchen time, and reduce costs.
Thank you www.splendidtable.org and Lynne Rossetto Kasper for the recipe.
Thank you The Village Piemaker in Eustis, Nebraska for the rhubarb pie www.thevillagepiemmaker.com
Join with me as I share my experiments with simple and memory-making recipes and menus that free me to feel the joy of gathering in a circle with friends.
Make Spicy Beer Mustard a staple in your condiment cupboard.
The Spicy Beer Mustard and Spring Greens Potato Salad may become a signature dish of your grilling season. I enjoy it because it is a light, delicious new potato recipe that up- lifts every meat and vegetable on the grill. I prepare ahead and add the greens the day-of.
See the menu I plan for a warm afternoon on Mother’s Day in May beginning with early spring chives.
Chives Thriving in my Garden!
Grilled Chicken Spicy Beer Mustard and Spring Green Potato Salad Grilled Asparagus Crusty Sour Dough Bread Rhubarb Pie from the Village Piemaker in Eustis, NE
Light, Simple, Crunchy Potato Salad with Spring Greens
Ingredients
1 medium red onion, diced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/3 cup cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons Spicy Beer Mustard
2 pounds small red-skinned potatoes, unpeeled and steamed until only tender, cool and cute in halves or fourths (or microwave)
2 large handfuls spring greens (fresh spinach, fresh young lettuce, arugula leaves, parsley, young dandelion leaves)
1/2 cup snipped chives
Optional: 4 slices bacon, cooked to crisp, drained
Small Red Potatoes, Steamed and Halved
Process
1. In a 12″ skillet, saute’ the diced onion until tender, 4 minutes
2. Steam or gently boil potatoes until fork tender but not soft/mooshy
3. Add garlic slices to the onion saute’, saute for 2 minutes
4. Lower heat and add vinegar and Spicy Beer Mustard, salt and pepper to taste, simmer 3 minutes
5. Cloak the potatoes with the onion/vinegar mixture and fold gently then taste for seasoning
6. At this phase in the process, the potato mixture may be covered and set in a refrigerator for 2 days
7. to serve: fold the chives into the potatoes along with the bacon if you choose, and one handful of the fresh greens
8. arrange the remaining greens on a platter, and layer the potato mixture over the greens and serve
What Can Be Done About the 21st Century Crunch for Time?
Time travels forward to the 21st Century. Change compounds in countless ways, and yet nothing essential changes other than a very big thing –the time we allow to grow our food, select our food, make the recipes, invite our guests and relax in their company.
Bon Appetit in their March 31, weekly newsletter described the malady of us 21st Century cooks and hosts. They write, “The secret to a dinner party that is as enjoyable to host as it is to attend is presenting food that seems to be much more than it is, to create the illusion that you worked way harder than you actually did. It’s all about the low-lift, high-pay-off dishes.
Our goal in Buzz Savories is to find and make and photo and give to you the most successful—”the champions of the low-lift lineup.”
tossing raw potatoes in the spice and Spicy Beer Mustard blend
Roast red potatoes flavored with Spicy Beer Mustard and a hot chili mix. The dish comes together with ease and 20 minutes of roasting time brings a High Pay-off potato to your table.
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword Easy Cooking
Prep Time 15 minutesminutes
Cook Time 20 minutesminutes
Total Time 35 minutesminutes
Servings 4people
What You'll Need:
6mediumred potatoes or 16 Baby red potatoeswash, skin-on and cut into eight pieces
2Tb.vegetable oiltoss potatoes in vegetable oil
1tsp.chili powder
2 tsp.paprika
1 tsp.ground cumin
½ tsp.cayenne powder
½tsp.salt
¼cupSpicy Beer Mustard
How To Prepare:
Prepare a roasting pan by spraying 3 times to coat it with vegetable oil. Preheat oven to oven at 400 Degrees.Blend the spices in a small bowl. Add spices to the potatoes and toss. Add the Spicy Beer Mustard and continue to toss to coat the potatoes.Roast until potatoes are fork tender approximately 45 minutes. (often less time is needed, check for doneness every 15 minutes. Serve.You may accompany the Spicy Roasted potatoes with a sour cream dip or Blue Cheese or Ranch Dressing
Trish, my friend and Spicy Beer Mustard Maven experimented with recipes for vinaigrette by blending Spicy Beer Mustard into her vinaigrette recipe. Her experiments culminated in a rich and delicious Champagne Vinaigrette. When she described the earthy flavors and multi-uses for the vinaigrette, I invited her to share the recipe with us. Trish has given us instructions to blend our own delicate and versatile vinaigrette.
Spicy Beer Mustard adds sweet tones that mellow the acid in the vinegar. I’ve caught myself sipping it from the spoon. Thank you, Trish!
Whisk together the garlic, Spicy Beer Mustard, Champagne vinegar, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Drizzle the olive oil slowly into the mustard and vinegar mixture and whisk until fully emulsified. If you like more sweetness in the dressing, drizzle in additional honey..
The vinaigrette adds loads of flavor to asparagus, and I like it as dip for a fresh carrot strip or a stick of cucumber and maybe a garden green bean.. Last weekend I welcomed the sight of Heirloom tomatoes in the grocery store looking vibrant in purple and red, and plump with juice. Add fresh romaine, a thin slice of radish, avocado, croutons, and I felt as though spring finally arrived! Mix Trish’s Champagne Vinaigrette recipe, roam the fresh vegetable isle, and hear the fresh veggies singing the Spring song!
Purchase your jar of Spicy Beer Mustard on the front page of the Buzz Savories, LLC site. Thanks for visiting. Come again!
IN MARCH WE WILL CRUNCH AND MUNCH AND SPEED INTO SPRING
Snow and ice play major roles in the February drama this year. Delicate shadows of black tree limbs on snow no longer impress me with their icy beauty. I am rebelling and making a stand for green and yellow sunshine all over the land.
I blaze into my guerilla warfare against single digit temps with my secret recipe – the Sugar Pea Crunch, a salad, “yes,” a main course also and snacks from noon till night. The Sugar Pea Crunch satisfies my values for clean, simple, nourishing and delicious.
All are dressed with a Spicy Beer Mustard/Balsamic dressing that tastes smooth almost like a sweet liquor. I promise exceptional flavor and easy to make. Spicy Beer Mustard simplifies the recipe because sweetness and salt and spice are blended into the mustard for your convenience, and designed for your pleasure.
Simple to make and contributes color and crunch to dull days or any day.
Course Main Course, Salad, Snack
Keyword Easy Cooking
Prep Time 20 minutesminutes
Total Time 20 minutesminutes
Servings 2people
What You’ll Need:
1 ½ cupsSugar Peastrim ends, and cut into thirds
1cupred, yellow, orange sweet peppersremove seeds and slice
6greenonionssliced thin and include 1/3 of the green portion
1cupgrape tomatoescut in half
¼ cup Balsamic vinegar
¼cup Spicy Beer Mustard
¼ cupcup soy sauce
1 cupextra virgin olive oil
1 can/jarartichoke hearts
1 cupcroutons
1avocadosliced
½red onion, sliced thin
1egg – hardboiled
How To Prepare:
layer in a glass bowl starting with the sugar peas and topping with the tomatoesWith a wire whip, blend the Balsamic vinegar and the Spicy Beer Mustard. Add the soy sauce and a thin stream of olive oil while whipping. The mixture will blend and emulsify.Your choice: top with artichoke hearts, croutons, red radish (thin slices) avocado, red onion, hard-boiled egg
Sloshing in flavor, simple and fresh! Try it! Order your jars of Spicy Beer Mustard on the front page of this website.
I prepare this non-cook recipe many times in the summer months, and I most often open a can of great northern beans grown near Scotts Bluff in Western Nebraska as the first of the four ingredients.
And returning to Why do we Cook query and especially in summer, I guess I’m cooking when I prepare the Simple, Sensational Bean Salad although I’m mainly opening cans and chopping cold vegetables. Anyway the tasks feel easy, and I stay cool.
The vinaigrette adds loads of flavor to asparagus, and I like it as dip for a fresh carrot strip or a stick of cucumber and maybe a garden green bean.. Last weekend I welcomed the sight of Heirloom tomatoes in the grocery store looking vibrant in purple and red, and plump with juice. Add fresh romaine, a thin slice of radish, avocado, croutons, and I felt as though spring finally arrived! Mix Trish’s Champagne Vinaigrette recipe, roam the fresh vegetable isle, and hear the fresh veggies singing the Spring song!
