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Better Than Ever Butternut Squash

Maple, Spicy Beer Mustard Roasted Butternut Squash

Maple and Spicy Beer Mustard Roasted Butternut Squash

It’s November which means the stage is set for butternut squash to play a starring role in autumnal dinners. It has certainly earned its place on our Thanksgiving table.

I like knowing that squash was propagated and grown by the indigenous people in the Americas thousands of years before the colonists arrived. Like tomatoes, corn and chilies, squash is unique to the Americas. You may remember the story of the Wampanoag Tribe offering nourishing squash to the hungry colonists who were unprepared for winter and clinging precariously to Massachusetts’ shores in the 16th Century.

Prepping the squash interests me, and blending the marinade, arranging the squash cubes on the sheet pan and roasting the squash requires little time and effort. Maple and Buzz Savories Spicy Beer Mustard Roasted Butternut Squash will shine on your table and guests will applaud the savory flavor.

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Better than Ever Butternut Squash

Enjoy Butternut squash at its most savory. The Butternut's deep-orange glow will shine on your Thanksgiving table. Appreciate the Butternut's flavor, easy prep. and generous gift of vitamins and minerals.
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword Easy Cooking, flavor rich
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Servings 4

Equipment

  • sheet pan

What You'll Need:

  • 4 cups butternut squash cut in 1" cubes peel, seed, and cube
  • 2 Tb. olive oil
  • 2 Tb. apple cider vinegar
  • 2 Tb. pure maple syrup
  • 2 Tb. Spicy Beer Mustard
  • ½ tsp. dried, minced garlic or 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 1 ¼ tsp. salt
  • 2 tsp. fresh rosemary or ½ tsp. dried rosemary

How To Prepare:

  • Heat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Cut top and bottom from the squash and then cut in half cross-wise and peel. Remove the pale yellow inner peel too. Cut both pieces in half again lengthwise and remove the seeds. Then place cut side down on the cutting board and cut lengthwise in 1 inch strips then cut cross-wise in 1 " cubes. Place into a large bowl.
  • Whisk olive oil, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, Spicy Beer Mustard, garlic and salt together in a medium bowl to make marinade and toss with squash cubes.
  • Use a slotted spoon to transfer squash cubes to the baking sheet. Arrange so the cubes are not touching each other so the edges will become crispy. Keep leftover marinade in the bowl.
  • Roast in preheated oven approximately 25 minutes and flip the squash cubes to continue browning until pierced with a fork with ease. Approximately 10 more minutes.
  • Pour any leftover marinade over the roasted squash. Garnish with fresh rosemary and serve.
  • The squash may be cubed, marinated, covered and refrigerated overnight then brought to room temperature before roasting.
  • Taste the squash before serving and season to your liking.

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Brat Kabobs

Brat kabobs

Grilled Brat Shish Kabobs

Kabobs are always fun to make and the smoky, spicy flavor of these tips them into the realm of the fantastic. Because they’re easy and appetizing, we bet these will earn a place on your regular menu for Sunday suppers, tailgating or barbecue parties.

Except for the potatoes, the vegetables cook in a similar timeframe as the brats, so the grilling process is super simple. I cut the potatoes (I really prefer Yukon Gold) in two-inch chunks and steam them until I can just pierce them with a fork and feel resistance in the center. Although famers markets are starting to disappear in many places, it’s worth the effort to find and serve locally grown potatoes when they are available. Be sure to leave the peels on the potatoes.

The flavors of the brats, zucchini, onion, peppers, and potatoes blend with the Buzz Savories Spicy Beer Mustard and the ravishing colors glow on the serving plate. Plan on people asking for seconds. 

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Grilled Brat Shish Kabobs

The Spicy Beer Mustard BBQ Sauce elevates the brats and the vegetable kabobs into a rich and colorful feast with memorable flavor.
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Keyword Easy Cooking, grilling, Light Dinner Meal, picnic
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Servings 6

Equipment

  • grill

What You'll Need:

  • 8 fresh brats
  • ¾ cup Spicy Beer Mustard
  • ¾ cup apple cider vinegar
  • 2 Tb. brown sugar
  • 1 ½ Tb. butter melt nthe butter
  • 1 Tb. ketchup
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. pepper
  • 1 tsp. hot sauce (optional)
  • 3 medium zucchini Cut in 1 ½ inch chunks
  • 2 medium red onions Slice in petals large enough to skewer
  • 3 medium red and yellow and green peppers Cut into sizes that will grill quickly but large enough to show their colors on the shish kabob
  • 12 chunks Yukon gold potato or other potatoes that are cut into 2 inch pieces Steam the potatoes so they are done yet still crisp in the center
  • 1 Tb. olive oil
  • ¼ tsp. salt and pepper or more for taste

How To Prepare:

Barbecue Sauce

  • Combine Spicy Beer Mustard, apple cider vinegar, grown sugar, melted butter, ketchup and salt and pepper and hot sauce if desired.
  • In a large bowl, combine the vegetables and the olive oil and salt to season.

Shish Kabobs

  • Fire-up a medium hot grill, then arrange the shish kabobs starting with a potato, brat, a pepper, brat, zucchini, brat, onion and brat and repeat ending with a potato.
  • Slather with BBQ sauce and grill 6 minutes, turn and baste, grill 3 minutes, turn and baste, grill 3 minutes more, turning and basting until done.
  • Serve with a salad and/or crusty bread.

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Power Salad

The Buzz Savories Power Salad

Buzz Savories Power Salad

October in Nebraska, and I feel the vigor of autumn in the air. Vigor shows its powerful self in the vegetables that grow easily and happily in late fall. The Red Russian Kale, Lettuce Salad Mixes, Spinach, and Brussel sprouts – each filled with deep energy, enthusiasm, and vitality.

Today I’m making a Power Salad with vigorous vegetables supplied by Nebraska growers and our fine, local grocers.

I sent in my order of fresh lettuces, spinach and kale to the Nebraska Food Co-op. The Co-op contracts with Nebraska growers then distributes fresh, natural fruits, vegetables, meats, baked goods, and dairy grown and processed by Nebraska farmers and producers. We buy on-line, and our order is delivered to a convenient location in our town for pick-up.

In October I munch on a Nebraska grown Power Salad of Red Russian Kale, a Lettuce Salad Mix, Spinach, Brussel sprouts vine-fresh apples, and cashew nuts.  Please join me.

For me to recommend a recipe for you, the recipe must satisfy 3 requirements – 1)  amazing flavor 2) simple to make 3) easy clean-up.  The Power Salad Salad satisfies the standards as listed, and even better it satisfies my goals for well being.

The Power Salad’s  hearty greens are dressed with a savory dressing. Buzz Savories Spicy Beer mustard takes a bow  since the play of flavors could not perform as delightfully with any other mustard.

Mix your salad greens and brussels sprouts, cover and refrigerate. To serve, drizzle the dressing over the greens, toss in the apple slices and cashews and toss again.

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Power Salad

An easy to make salad loaded with crunch, flavor and vitamins, minerals and fiber. An interesting and satisfying salad in autumn when lettuces, kale and brussel sprouts are in peak season.
Course Salad
Cuisine American
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 0 minutes
Servings 4

What You'll Need:

Salad

  • ½ cup Roasted cashews
  • 2 handfuls Kale or Swiss Chard or a mix of each
  • 3 handfuls Baby spinach
  • 3 handfuls Mixed young, fresh lettuces
  • 1 head Butter lettuce or another lettuce - romaine?
  • 6 Brussels sprouts
  • 2 medium Pink Lady or Honey Crisp apples or local apples

Power Salad Dressing

  • cup olive oil
  • 1 bunch green onions
  • ½ large lemon (3 Tb. juice)
  • 1 medium garlic clove
  • 2 Tb. Spicy Beer Mustard
  • ½ tsp. sugar
  • ¼ tsp. salt or more to taste
  • ¼ tsp. freshly ground pepper or more to taste

How To Prepare:

Salad

  • Wash and dry the greens in a salad spinner or roll into a tea towel and refrigerate to dry.
  • Remove the stems and ribs of the kale and Swiss Chard, Roll the leaves into tubes, and then slice into 1/4 inch slices.
  • Roast the cashews if raw by oiling a baking sheet, sprinkle the cashews on the sheet and bake in a 250 degree oven for approximately 20 minutes or until you smell the nuts toasting. Remove from oven and cool.
  • Slice the apples as you wish - matchsticks or chunks.
  • Cut off the stem end of the brussel sprouts, and shred them in a grater or food processor, or mandolin or slice with a sharp knife.

Power Salad Dressing

  • Slice and finely chop green onions and transfer to a bowl.
  • Juice the lemon and discard the seeds - 3 Tb. lemon juice.
  • Finely grate the garlic into the bowl.
  • Whisk in the Spicy Beer Mustard and season with salt and pepper.
  • Whisk the sugar into the mix.
  • Drizzle dressing over the greens, and toss with your hands to coat the leaves.
  • Add the cashews and the apple slices and gently toss to incorporate.

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Salmon Croquettes with Dill Sauce

Salmon Croquette

Salmon Croquettes with Dill Sauce

Today I want to honor the endurance and spirit of people living in Batou, LaFourche and other coastal communities as well as the City of New Orleans and surrounding parishes in Louisiana. Another devastating hurricane has disrupted their lives and livelihoods, although we know from past experience that Louisiana survives and builds back together to live and to love again.

I honor them with a favorite recipe that has its roots in creole, a rich fusion of French, Spanish and African cultures grown up from a history of immigrants and slaves. The creole food culture holds an honored place in the world’s pantheon of cuisines. 

Once known for a thick breading and deep-fat fried foods, I liked, or may I say, loved, eating at Antoine’s and other famous New Orleans restaurants although I held back from exploring the cuisine in my home kitchen until I discovered Caroline Randall Williams and Alice Randall.

Williams and Randall recently published a recipe book, Soul Food Love. These authors lifted creole cooking into the 21st Century. Their recipes concentrate the flavors of traditional creole cooking while reducing the breading, cream, butter and frying.

Salmon Croquettes, a recipe taken from Soul Food Love, compliments the mild flavor of salmon with diced celery and onion and only eggs as a binder. I mix the four ingredients, form eight patties and brown the croquettes for five minutes per side in two tablespoons of olive oil, then present the finished dish with a yogurt sauce with Buzz Savories Spicy Beer Mustard and dill weed. They can be served hot, warm or chilled.

Hot from the sauté pan, I plate the croquettes with brown or white rice, yogurt sauce and fresh melon. Salmon Croquettes also pair nicely with succotash — a mix of baby lima beans and sweetcorn with a pat of butter for seasoning.

Chop some lettuce, add a slice of sweet red pepper and maybe a tomato, top with a salmon croquette then a dollop of Dill Sauce, and a delicious lunch is served. Refrigerate left-overs, or I freeze them for a quick lunch or snack at a later date.

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The Buzz

Don Brockmeier Photographer

Mustard Mavens and Pollinator Pals,

Betty Anne here writing to tell you that during the winter months when the bees stay tight inside their hives, and do nothing much for me to write about in The Buzz, our editor, Phil Soreide will  capture your interest with short essays on all things mustard, artisanal honey and Beeswax.  Phil also is promising recipes for several beverages with a honey base that he mixes and enjoys.  He will also introduce some new products that Buzz Savories will launch in October 2021. 

Thank you Phil for creating some curious topics for us to explore in the dark days of winter.

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Salmon Croquettes with Dill Sauce

Salmon Croquettes, version 2021 has Louisiana roots yet today's version is pan-seared in olive oil vs. fried. These Croquettes taste light, crisp and savory. Serve over a salad or plate them with steamed rice and vegetables, and sometimes I make a salmon burger, a savory alternative to beef or turkey burgers. The dill sauce makes all of the above sensational!
Course Main Course, Salad, Snack
Cuisine French
Keyword Easy Cooking, Light Dinner Meal
Prep Time 30 minutes
Servings 8

Equipment

  • skillet

What You'll Need:

Salmon Croquettes

  • 2 14.75 oz. can salmon packed in water (look for sustainable brand) drain the salmon
  • 4 stalks celery, finely diced
  • 1 large white onion, finely diced
  • 4 large eggs, beaten
  • ½ Tb. salt
  • 2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
  • 2 Tb. olive oil
  • ¼ cup bread crumbs (optional) If a firmer patty is preferred, add the bread crumbs.

Dill Sauce

  • ¼ cup Buzz Savories Spicy Beer Mustard
  • 6 sprigs fronds of fresh dill, finely chopped
  • 1 ½ cup yogurt

How To Prepare:

Salmon Croquettes

  • Drain the salmon, and remove and discard the bones and skin
  • Mix the salmon, celery, onion, eggs, salt, and pepper in a good-size bowl
  • Add ¼ cup bread crumbs now (if you prefer a more solid patty) gently mix again
  • Form the mixture into 8 patties
  • Slick a medium skillet with olive oil and heat it over medium-high heat. Cook the patties until browned on both sides, about 5 minutes per side.
  • Serve with a dollop of the dill sauce on top of each patty.
  • Note: If you want a slightly more old-school, firmer croquette simply add 3/4 cup plain dry breadcrumbs to the mix

Dill Sauce

  • Whisk together the yogurt, mustard and dill in a small bowl.

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Grilled Maple-Mustard Chicken Thighs

Grilled Maple-Mustard Chicken Thighs

Grilled Maple-Mustard Chicken Thighs

Shorter days, cooler nights, and I taste the spice of autumn in the air. In Nebraska, September starts the social season for University of Nebraska football and women’s volleyball fans and tailgating or a pre-game patio party are perfect venues to show off your culinary skills.

Because September also marks the beginning of what’s considered prime grilling season, I recommend a smoky and savory Maple Mustard Grilled Chicken Thighs recipe for your next tailgating or patio party. It’s easy — it comes together in 15 minutes — and when I mix maple syrup and Buzz Savories Spicy Beer Mustard, the flavor combination explodes, and chicken thighs ride the wave to a deliciously memorable barbecue.

For color and vitamins, toss end-of-summer vegetables on the grill and a simple mix of melons for the salad.  

Serve and bask in the expressions of delight.

Grilled Maple-Mustard Chicken Thighs

The Buzz

Don Brockmeier Photographer

September at the apiary is when we lift the honey supers from the hives and compliment the bees for their diligence and productivity. A super holds 10 frames, and frames fully filled with honey weigh 30 lbs. The most productive hives may fill three supers while the hives with fewer bees many manage only one or one-and-a-half.

We pack our supers of honey in a trailer and drive to Oxford to visit our friends at the Bee Biz commercial beekeeping company. There, Bee Biz beekeepers place the frames on a conveyor belt that carries them through a honey extractor process. The Buzz Savories honey our own bees make returns to us in containers that weigh between 55 and 60 lbs. each.

In September we also feed the bees a corn syrup product enabling them to make more honey for their survival over the winter.

We also fumigate each hive once per week over three weeks with oxalic acid fumes to kill the varroa mites that increase their populations in the hives over the summer. Varroa mites are a significant factor in bee loss around the world.

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Maple Mustard Grilled Chicken

Tangy, sweet, salty and memorable barbecue sauce for chicken thighs, pork chops or pork cubes on a skewer
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Keyword Easy Cooking, Light Dinner Meal, Quick Meal, spicy beer mustard dressing
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Servings 4

Equipment

  • grill

What You'll Need:

  • 3 lbs. chicken thighs
  • ¾ cup Spicy Beer Mustard or Buzz Savories Honey Mustard
  • 2 Tb. Maple syrup
  • 1 Tb. Soy Sauce
  • 2 Tb. apple cider vinegar
  • 2 Tb. olive oil
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • ½ tsp. pepper

How To Prepare:

  • Whisk maple syrup, mustard, vinegar, and Soy Sauce in a small bowl.
  • Split sauce into 2 bowls: one for serving and the other for cooking.
  • Heat grill to medium and rub chicken with oil, salt, and pepper.
  • Grill chicken about 5 minutes on each side or until grill marks are visible.
  • Flip chicken again and generously brush with the sauce. Flip and brush the chicken every 5 minutes until a thermometer inserted into the thickest piece reads 160 Degrees F to 165 Degrees F.

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Spicy Sausage Bites with Creamy Mustard Dipping Sauce

Spicy Sausage Bites with Creamy Mustard Dipping Sauce

The Season’s Best Holiday Hors d’oeuvre

Hello, Mustard Merchants, Mustard Mavens, and All who live and like the spicy and savory side of life,

 

Buzz Savories features the Season’s best Hors d’oeuvre  – Sausage Bites with Spicy Beer, Creamy Mustard Dipping Sauce – These meaty and saucy morsels will delight you and your guests. From experience, I advise you to double this recipe because they disappear fast.

 

Sausage Bites with a creamy Spicy Beer Mustard dipping sauce takes only minutes of time to construct an appetizing and colorful Hors d’eourve Board.

 

Pickles compliment the sausages  – both sweet and dill, and I recommend “Pickles with a Purpose” sold  at  Rustic and Red in Cozad, NE. I like them for their crunch with heat. I like dill pickle spears too. Celery and carrot sticks add color and easy dipping.

 

Grapes look alive on the hors d’oeuvre board, and  clusters of red and green grapes add color and bursts of flavor that also compliment a crispy browned sausage bite.

 

Throw on crackers of your choice and a cheddar cheese. Serve with soda, wine, your favorite craft beer, a fizzy water, a cocktail from yesteryear.

Sausage Bites with a Spicy Beer Creamy Mustard Dipping Sauce star in this show, and the delicious combo offers you an opportunity to keep it simple yet guests will rave.

Spicy Sausage Bites with Creamy Mustard Dipping Sauce
Spicy Sausage Bites with Creamy Mustard Dipping Sauce

I cooked a more hearty recipe made with steak tips instead of sausage bites – Garlic Butter and Mustard Steak Tips.

 

A Lincoln, Nebraska Buzz Savories mustard fan notified me of this recipe that was published in the November 11, 2020 Omaha World Herald in the Savor Section.

See the steak tips recipe at The Fancy Rancher and read their Nebraska origin story featuring Certified Piedmontese grass-fed beef and meet Chef Jordan Reed.

Certified Piedmontese Steak Tips
Steak Tips and Buzz Savories Creamy Mustard Sauce

The Sausage Bites with Creamy Spicy Beer Mustard Dipping Sauce recipe follows but before you go there, consider honey, a prominent ingredient of Buzz Savories mustards and produced by honey bees in our Plate River Valley apiary.

Honey Bee Facts

Bee Notes
Don Brockmeier Photographer

Who lives in a bee hive?

  • the hive members consist of one queen bee, meaning an especially bred and fertilized egg-laying female bee
  • her daughters, 6,000 or more worker bees, all related as sisters
  • approximately 100 drones, male honey bees  living in the hive during the summer with one purpose – to fertilize virgin queens that appear in their flight region.  Drones do no work in the hive, and are kicked out in the winter and die.
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Spicy Sausage Bites with Creamy Mustard Dipping Sauce

A fresh sausage simmered in white wine, browned in the skillet and served with a creamy, mustard dipping sauce.
Course Appetizer
Cuisine American
Keyword Easy Cooking
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings 6 people

What You'll Need:

  • 1 # freshly made sausage potato sausage, spicy Italian, German
  • ½ cup dry white wine
  • 1 Tb. vegetable oil

Creamy Mustard Dipping Sauce

  • ½ cup sour cream
  • ¼ cup Buzz Savories Spicy Beer Mustard
  • 1-2 tsp. hot sauce - Tapitio or your favorite
  • 1 medium clove garlic finely grated

How To Prepare:

  • Slice sausages into 1 inch pieces.
  • Place sausages in a heavy bottomed skillet large enough to contain the sausages without crowding them.
  • Pour wine over the sausages.
  • Heat skillet until wine is simmering and cover the skillet for 20 minutes or when internal temperature reaches 165 Degrees.
  • Remove the sausage and pour out remaining wine.
  • Add 1 Tb. vegetable oil to the skillet andl brown the sausages to a toasty bronze color.
  • Serve the sausage bites warm.

Creamy Mustard Dipping Sauce

  • Combine the 4 ingredients in a bowl, blend, cover and refrigerate until serving time.
  • I like serving the Creamy Spicy Beer Mustard Sauce at room temperature.

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Ham, Gruyere and Tomato Toast with Spicy Beer Mustard Spread

The Taste of Summer in a Sandwich

Ham, Gruyere and Tomato Toast, with Spicy Beer Mustard Spread

Summer is rushing past and I’m feeling pushed into September.  As the sunlight wanes and temperatures cool, my appreciation increases for the lush and delicious vegetables on display at our Farmer’s Market. 

Mid-August is the peak of the season for Farmer’s Market. As I pass by tables heaped with produce, I see and smell and touch the tomatoes, cucumbers, red and green peppers, red onions and potatoes, and luxuriate in the green and wax beans, sweet corn, winter and summer squash and melons.

Ham, Gruyere and Tomato Toast with Spicy Beer Mustard Spread

Nebraska-raised tomatoes and sweet corn make eating and cooking an added pleasure in the summer. Call it terroir or the skill of the gardener/farmer, the hours of sunlight or the irrigation water drawn fresh from the Ogallala aquifer, but all these elements together produce extraordinary flavors for sun-loving vegetables. And now is the time to savor them.

These straw-hat days, taste summer in a sandwich with ham, gruyere and tomato toast topped off with a Buzz Savories Spicy Beer Mustard spread. The combination of rich, smoky ham, tangy mustard, melty cheese and a fresh, ripe tomato is perfect for breakfast or lunch or a light supper.

The Buzz

Don Brockmeier Photographer

Life Lessons from Beekeepers  

Stop mowing the lawn, don’t pave the driveway, and get used to bugs in your salad 

By Siobhan Maderson, Aberstwyth University

For many people, the past year has led to an increased appreciation for our fragile natural world. This is important because, alongside COVID, we are experiencing habitat loss, a global climate and biodiversity crisis.    

Here are the main lessons I’ve learned from my time spent researching and working with beekeepers.

Go wild in the garden

Beekeepers recognize that an untidy garden is a wildlife haven and advise letting a little mess into our outdoor spaces. Some beekeepers told me how they’ve stopped mowing their lawns altogether.

In my experience, UK beekeepers avoid using any chemicals in their gardens, as they are all too aware of the damage they cause. In many other countries, and in the EU, domestic and municipal use of garden chemicals has been banned.

Whatever you do, don’t pave over your front garden.  Both of these lead to less habitat for wildlife. If you must park your car on a hard surface at home, add in climbing plants and hedges to absorb CO2 and provide forage for insects.

Learn about your neighborhood

Beekeepers often work in one area for years – sometimes even generations. These years of experience in one place show them what’s growing, and what’s living in their area, and what has changed over time.  Know your area and what grows nearby. Get to know your local area and what grows nearby.

Think global, act local

If we want to live in a world that is good for pollinators, as well as the rest of us, big changes are needed in our environment, and our food system. This is why many beekeepers change their diet and their shopping, eating more locally grown vegetables that aren’t treated with pesticides.

Being willing to buy fruit and vegetables that may have the occasional insect living in it is better for us and for nature. To live more harmoniously with the natural world, we need to relax about larvae in the lettuce and slugs in the spinach.

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Ham, Gruyere and Tomato Toast with Spicy Beer Mustard Spread

A combination of rich, smoky ham, tangy mustard, melty cheese and ripe tomato is perfect for breakfast, a lunch or light supper.
Course Breakfast, Main Course
Cuisine American
Keyword Light Dinner Meal, Lunch, sandwich, spicy beer mustard dressing
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 4 minutes
Servings 6 people

Equipment

  • broiler or toaster oven

What You'll Need:

Ham, Gruyere and Tomato Toast with Spicy Beer Mustard Spread

  • 6 slices sour-dough bread - toasted a firm, grainy bread of your choice may also work for this sandwich
  • 2 Tb. Spicy Beer Mustard or more as needed
  • 6 thin slices smoked ham (select for smoky, salty flavor)
  • 1 large tomato, sliced into 6 slices
  • 8 oz. Gruyere Cheese or a block of Swiss Cheese grated (2 cups) A block of Swiss Cheese may be exchanged for the Gruyere. Buy the block because the cheese needs grating for this sandwich
  • 3 tsp. fresh oregano, chopped fine
  • ½ tsp. freshly ground pepper and salt (to taste)

How To Prepare:

Ham, Gruyere, Tomato, and Spicy Beer Mustard Toast

  • preheat broiler
  • toast each slice of sour-dough bread in a toaster
  • spread toast with Spicy Beer Mustard
  • top each with a ham slice or if thin maybe 2-3 slices
  • top with a slice of tomato
  • top evenly with shredded Gruyere Cheese or shredded Swiss Cheese
  • sprinkle with the the oregano (optional)
  • dust with salt and freshly ground pepper (to taste)
  • broil for 3-4 minutes until cheese is bubbly (watch with care)

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Summer’s Centerpiece – Grilled Sweet Corn

Summer's Centerpiece - Grilled Sweet Corn

For me, sweetcorn is the centerpiece of summer like the Ferris Wheel is to the carnival.  Our mid-summer menus circle around fresh-from-the-field sweet corn.

The delights of sweet corn inspired James Stevenson to write:

“Why am I happy
that I was Born?
the reason (in season)
sweet corn!”

Sweet corn is woven into the fabric of our country’s heritage. Varieties of corn were propagated by the continent’s Indigenous people who were the first farmers.

The tender, sweet, juicy ears ripen in late July, and I bought my first dozen at 8:00 a.m. from a grower at a curbside stand.

So today is the day I celebrate the Centerpiece of summer with my favorite sweet corn recipe – Buzz Savories Grilled and Charred Corn-on-the-Cob.

I like to grill sweet corn until the kernels char, and then slather each ear of corn with a mixture of Spicy Beer Mustard blended with olive oil, garlic and salt then back to the grill for more charring and more flavor.

The 2nd and equally important piece of the grilled corn story involves a time-saving, crisp, light  and savory Corn Salsa that combines black beans, diced red pepper, green onions and herbs mixed with grilled and charred sweet corn and a savory dressing.

Recipes for Buzz Savories Charred Sweet Corn and Salsa follow:

The Buzz

Don Brockmeier Photographer

August and the honey flow diminishes meaning nectar producing flowers dry down.  Bees are cranky, and taking the honey supers from the hives requires a huge dose of beekeeper courage and appreciation for velcro and zippers in the bee suit whereas before velcro closures, cranky bees, protecting their summer’s labor could find a tiny opening  in the bee suit and crawl in uninvited and possibly sting the wearer.  Oh, yes, I know of which I speak, and once again, I say, “Bee stings hurt!”

We  check our suits twice for a tight seal around neck, ankles, wrists, then light the smoker, a skill of its own to master, puff smoke into the openings of the hive and especially the top of the hive after we lift the lid. 

Why do beekeepers use smoke?  Smoke calms bees.  When bees sense danger, they release an alarm pheromone called isopentyl acetate from a gland near their stingers. This chemical wafts through the air and alerts other bees to be ready to attack.  Smoking a beehive masks this pheromone, allowing the beekeeper to safely take-off the honey supers.

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Spicy Beer Mustard Grilled Sweet Corn

A simple recipe to celebrate summer with sweet corn, Spicy Beer Mustard, a hot grill and also a Charred Corn Relish
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword Light Dinner Meal, tine-saving, vegetables
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Servings 6

Equipment

  • grill pan for stove top or grill for outside grilling

What You'll Need:

Spicy Beer Mustard Grilled Sweet Corn

  • 2 Tb. Spicy Beer Mustard
  • 1 tsp. dried minced garlic
  • 2 Tb. olive oil
  • 1 tsp. salt

How To Prepare:

  • Preheat grill on medium heat.
  • Whip together mustard, garlic, salt and slowly add olive oil to form an emulsion
  • Brush corn with olive oil and grill for 8 to 10 minutes or until charred, turning occasionally
  • Brush with Spicy Beer Mustard mixture and grill another 2-3 minutes
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Spicy Beer Mustard Charred Sweet Corn Salsa

A light, tangy relish, a time-saver for picnics, parties and lunch
Course Appetizer, Salad
Cuisine American
Keyword Easy Cooking, flavor rich, Lunch, picnic, vegetables
Prep Time 10 minutes
Servings 6

What You'll Need:

Spicy Beer Mustard Charred Sweet Corn Salsa

  • 1 cup (or 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 including the fresh green tops
  • ¼ cup cilantro or parsley or basil or oregano, or all together chopped fine

Salsa Dressing

  • 3 Tb. olive oil
  • 3 Tb. fresh lime juice
  • 1 tsp. cumin
  • 1 tsp. salt and more to taste
  • ½ tsp freshly ground pepper

How To Prepare:

Salsa Dressing

  • Whip together the ingredients
  • Mix them with the corn, black beans, onions, peppers and herbs
  • Serve room temperature or chilled - keeps easily refrigerated for a week or more.

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Spicy Mustard Aioli

Spicy Mustard Aioli for Fresh & Easy

Why I Cook

Spicy Mustard Aioli

Fresh, Easy Aioli
Fresh, Easy Aioli

“Cooking is therapy, and the kitchen, a place of sanity. It’s worth having cooking in your life.”
     Francis Lam, Host of the Splendid Table

Whatever the reason, season, or the time, I believe it is worth having cooking in my life.   To me, cooking is like a meditation.  Whatever unfinished tasks, or unsolved problems are worrying  me, when  I step into a  kitchen at day’s end,  my focus turns to  the tasks at hand. I  notice the ravishing color of the eggplant or the sweet and acidic  taste of a garden-fresh tomato.   I note the texture and feel in my mouth when I bite into it. Then I smell  the spice or the vinegar or the garlic called for in my recipe.  

That said, I know that cooking requires attention because when my thoughts do wander to other places, I know I can fail in some part of the cooking process. Cooking asks me to focus.

I cook for therapy. I cook for fun.  I cook for flavor and for my health. I cook because I like eating fresh from a local garden. 

For all the above reasons, I like to make this Spicy Beer Mustard Aioli inspired by the chefs at Epicurious. The recipe is rooted in French cuisine, and I make it when garden fresh vegetables ripen, the temperature rises, and I want an easy, light, chilled and delicious path to nourishing food.

Try it yourself. I think you’ll agree.

The Buzz

Don Brockmeier Photographer

Mid July, and the productive hives are busting out with bees, upwards of 60,000/hive.  The nectar flow is on, the queen is laying fewer eggs because after June 21 and Summer Solstice, the angle of the sun tells her to slow down egg-laying to prepare for the approach of winter.  All bees that can be spared from baby bee care and housekeeping and honey packing are flying to the nectar sources.  In our area of Nebraska, the honey flow correlates with the bloom of yellow clover, alfalfa, yarrow, hyssop, milkweeds, soybeans and other prairie plants.

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Fresh, Easy and Grand Aioli

The recipe is rooted in French cuisine, and I make it when garden fresh vegetables ripen, the temperature rises, and I want an easy, light, chilled and  delicious path to nourishing food.
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Keyword Easy Cooking, Light Dinner Meal, Quick Meal, vegetable dipping sauce, vegetables
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings 8

Equipment

  • wire whisk glass or ceramic bowls and ice

What You'll Need:

  • 1 lb. new red potatoes steam or boil with skin on
  • 1 lb. garden fresh green beans trim stem end
  • 4 large eggs Farmer's Market fresh
  • 4 hearts of romaine, or Butter Lettuce, quartered any fresh garden lettuce
  • 2 medium cucumbers or 4 Persian cucumbers Peel in stripes leaving ribbons of green and slice 1/8" slices
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes
  • 1 medium bag of ice for chilling potatoes, beans and hard-boiled eggs

Aioli

  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 2 Tb Spicy Beer Mustard
  • 2 Tb fresh lemon juice More if needed
  • 2 tsp. garlic powder
  • ¼ tsp cayenne pepper or more to taste
  • ½ tsp salt add more to taste
  • ¼ tsp. Fresh ground pepper
  • 1 ¼ cup olive oil

How To Prepare:

Aioli

  • In a medium ceramic or glass bowl, whsk together the egg yolks, Spicy Beer Mustard and lemon juice
  • Slowly stream in the olive oil, whisking the entire time until it becomes thick and creamy.
  • Stir in garlic powder, cayenne, and salt and pepper and taste
  • If you would like to thin it out, add a teaspoon or more of water and whisk

Preparation

  • Place potatoes in a medium pot; add cold water to cover by 1" or steam the potatoes. Cook only until tender, approximately 12 minutes. Then transfer to a large bowl of ice water and chill until cold, about 3 minutes. Transfer to towels and pat dry, reserving bowl of ice water.
  • Meanwhile bring another medium pot of salted water to a boil. Add green beans and cook until crisp-tender, 2-4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer beans to ice water. Chill for 5 minutes and pat dry. Reserve the pot of hot water.
  • Return water in green bean pot to a boil, carefully add eggs, and cook 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer eggs to ice water. Chill eggs until cold, about 5 minutes.

Arrange the serving platter

  • Transfer aioli to a serving bowl. Arrange potatoes, green beans, halved eggs, lettuces, cucumbers, and tomatoes on a platter and drizzle the aioli or serve as a dipping sauce or both.

Do Ahead

  • Potatoes, green beans, and eggs can be cooked 2 days ahead. Transfer to an airtight container and chill. Aioli can be made 1 day ahead. Transfer to an airtight container and chill.

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