Categories
Appetizer Snack

No need to ‘Harp’ about this amazing pub cheese

Irish pub cheese is a fantastic party dip that goes especially well with salty snacks like pretzels but can also pair with vegetables and even apple slices.

At least 10 years ago, I first tried making homemade soft pretzels for this column.

They were messy, extremely tricky to knot and delicious.

Since that first foray into pretzel-making, I have made the recipe again several times, but I have always opted to make pretzel bites instead of going through the arduous process of knotting dough. It’s hard to have patience when you have freshly baked pretzels in your immediate future.

I made those pretzels again recently, but not just because I had a hankering for pretzels. Instead, I had what promised to be a delicious pub cheese recipe that I wanted to try, and what better way to enjoy a thick, tasty cheese dip than with a warm, homemade pretzel?

And let me tell you, this dip did not disappoint.

The recipe I tried comes from the blog “A Spicy Perspective” by Sommer Collier. You can find her original post at https://www.aspicyperspective.com/irish-pub-cheese/. I changed the amounts of several ingredients in my version below.

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Irish Pub Cheese

Irish pub cheese is a fantastic party dip that goes especially well with salty snacks like pretzels but can also pair with vegetables and even apple slices.
Course Snack
Cuisine Irish
Keyword beer cheese, cheese dip, cream cheese, easy snack, garlic, ground mustard, Harp lager, Irish cheese, paprika, pub cheese, sharp cheddar cheese, spicy brown mustard

Ingredients

  • 16 ounces Irish or sharp cheddar shredded or block
  • 4 ounces cream cheese
  • 1/2 cup Harp lager or another pale lager, like Heineken
  • 6 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 teaspoons ground or spicy brown mustard
  • 1 teaspoon paprika

Instructions

  • Place the cheddar into a food processor (break it into chunks first, if you’re using a block), and process until the cheese is in small crumbles.
  • Add the rest of the ingredients to the food processor and process until the mixture is smooth and all the ingredients are well incorporated.
  • Give it a taste and add ingredients as desired.
  • Transfer the pub cheese to a bowl for serving and serve alongside pretzels, crackers or whatever else sounds good for dipping.

There is a pronounced beer flavor to this cheese dip, but it compliments the taste of the sharp cheese really, really well, so it’s definitely worth adding to the mix. I wouldn’t say a non-drinker would immediately be turned off by the flavors here, but it’s something to keep in mind if you’re serving snacks to someone who has a major aversion to the flavor of beer.

You could easily use a non-alcoholic beer in this, too, if you’d rather. Heineken should be a good substitute for Harp’s, and they have a non-alcoholic version.

As I expected, this pub cheese paired great with some salty soft pretzels. It was also fantastic with good, old-fashioned crunchy pretzels, though. Honestly, you might be able to make cardboard taste good if you dip it in this (not that I’m advocating eating cardboard…).

And, if you’re wondering, I didn’t go for knotted pretzels for my snack table this time around, either. No one seemed to mind the lack of effort, though, as we demolished this bowl of dip with pretzel bites. It was still a huge crowd pleaser on the snack table, believe it or…knot.

This piece first appeared in print on April 13, 2023.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Appetizer Main Dish Snack

It’s time to pig out on rolls from across the pond

Sausage rolls are a popular fast food for groups from the British to the Irish to Australians. They feature seasoned ground pork, baked in a flaky, delicious puff pastry. They’re great for dinner or an appetizer.

I have always loved British entertainment.

Lately, my obsession has been with a British podcast called “Off Menu.” It features comedians Ed Gamble and James Acaster, and the premise is really simple. They ask guests to join them in their fictitious “dream restaurant,” and then they go course by course through the guest’s dream meal.

It’s a fantastic basis for great conversation, and it has not only left me pondering what I would choose for my own best meal, but I have also found myself looking up recipes for a variety of dishes they discuss.

So far, I have tried one: sausage rolls. While it isn’t fancy at all—it’s really just something you grab on the go—after hearing about the concoction several times, I decided I had to give it a try.

The recipe I used for this comes from the blog “Australia’s Best Recipes” by Greer Worsley. You can find the original post at https://www.bestrecipes.com.au/recipes/french-onion-sausage-rolls-recipe/68pmwql0. I added extra seasoning in my version and changed the measurements to U.S. standards.

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Onion sausage rolls

Sausage rolls are a popular fast food for groups from the British to the Irish to Australians. They feature seasoned ground pork, baked ina flaky, delicious puff pastry. They’re great for dinner or an appetizer.
Course Appetizer, Main Course
Keyword catsup, dijon mustart, French onion soup mix, ketchup, minced garlic, onion soup mix, puff pastry, quick appetizer, quick dinner, sausage roll, spicy brown mustard, Worcestershire

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground pork
  • 1 envelope onion soup mix 1 ounce
  • 1 tablespoon ketchup
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tablespoons spicy brown or dijon mustard
  • 4-6 cloves garlic minced
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 sheets puff pastry 17.3 ounces, defrosted
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon milk

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 390 degrees. Prepare a large, rimmed baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper.
  • In a mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, soup mix, ketchup, Worcestershire, mustard, garlic, salt and pepper. Mix it well with a spoon or with your hands until it’s well combined.
  • Roll out the pastry sheets to about nine inches wide, and cut them each into three, even, long strips (there should be a fold seam to guide you).
  • Divide the pork mixture evenly between the six strips, forming a long log down the center of each strip.
  • In a small bowl, whisk the egg and milk together and, using a pastry brush, lightly brush the mixture the entire length on either the left or right side of the meat mixture on each strip. Roll the pastry, starting with the side you didn’t brush, to create a very long tube, surrounding the meat mixture. Press the seam to seal it, and then, using a sharp knife, cut the roll into about six pieces. (You can do fewer pieces if you’d rather have larger sausage rolls.) Place the rolls about an inch apart on the prepared baking sheet.
  • Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and the filling has reached an internal temperature of 160 degrees.
  • Serve with mustard for dipping.

I know that I would need to take a trip across the pond to get “real deal” sausage rolls, but these were really yummy. Cutting them into the smaller pieces also makes them perfect for an appetizer table, but we ended up just eating a few for dinner, and they were filling and delicious. The flavor profile actually reminded me just a bit of bierocks—without the cabbage, of course.

The puff pastry was also a great touch, making the rolls awesome and flaky. I highly recommend giving them a try.

If I were challenged to create my dream menu, I don’t think sausage rolls would make the cut—I have had way too many great dishes, I’m afraid. But I do think I’ll make these again sometime. They were a nice change of pace, an easy dinner, and it finally satisfied my craving. Win-win-win.

This piece first appeared in print on March 23, 2023.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Main Dish

It’s ‘Tim’ to try a brand new sandwich

The Timbo sandwich is the creation of Tim Daniels, a podcaster, who said he wanted to cement his legacy by creating his own signature sandwich, which features melty cheese, caramelized onions, and a spicy kick.

Quarantine has been a strange time for all of us. 

Despite many businesses and people moving to regular operations, especially as some people have been able to receive a vaccine, I still consider myself in quarantine.

Joey and I have a very small group of people in our “COVID bubble,” and socializing has been relegated to either those few, select souls or electronic means. I can’t imagine I’m the only one feeling a bit stir crazy and craving more interactions.

That’s probably why I did something weird this week: I made a sandwich from a podcast I listen to, and I decided to share it with you.

The podcast, “The Complete Guide to Everything,” is the brainchild of New Yorkers Tim Daniels and Tom Reynolds. Every week, they riff on a new topic, and I find the two of them and their dynamic hilarious. Back on Jan. 3, Tim announced that he wanted to use his New Year’s resolution to create a legacy for himself by getting a sandwich named after him. He described his prototype and said it was called the “Timbo.”

Now, over a month later, fans of the podcast have been posting photos of the Timbo online and talking about the creation. It’s a little silly. It’s a little weird. But it’s a way to reach out and interact with someone and something new.

So, this week, I’m sharing the Timbo with you, both to help a long-distance friend I’ve never met cement his legacy and to give you something new to try, too.

You can listen to the explanation of this sandwich on “The Complete Guide to Everything” website at tcgte.com. The episode is entitled “Hot Beverages.” I chose not to tweak the recipe this time, outside of adding some amounts and directions, since I figured it should remain the way Tim envisioned it.

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The Timbo Sandwich

The Timbo sandwich is the creation of Tim Daniels, a podcaster, who said he wanted to cement his legacy by creating his own signature sandwich, which features melty cheese, caramelized onions, and a spicy kick.
Course Main Course, Salad
Keyword American cheese, caramelized onions, pickled jalapenos, potato bread, shredded cheese, spicy brown mustard

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive or canola oil
  • 1 medium-sized yellow onion sliced
  • 1-2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 slices potato bread
  • 1-2 teaspoons spicy brown mustard
  • 3 slices American cheese
  • 1/4-1/3 cup Mexican blend cheese shredded
  • 6-8 pickled jalapeno slices

Instructions

  • In a pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the sliced onions and stir to coat them in the oil. Continue to cook, stirring regularly, until the onions are completely caramelized to a nice, deep brown. (This could take quite awhile, so be patient.)
  • Once the onions are done, remove them from the heat and set aside.
  • Lightly spray a skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium-low heat.
  • While the skillet warms, thoroughly butter one side of each slice of bread.
  • Once the skillet is hot, add the first slice of bread, butter side down, and spread a thin layer of spicy brown mustard on it. Place one and one-half slices of American cheese on the bread next, followed by the jalapeno slices, as many caramelized onions as desired and shredded cheese. Add the final slice and a half of American cheese, and complete the sandwich by lightly spreading mustard on the non-buttered side of the remaining piece of bread, before placing it on top of the sandwich, butter side up.
  • Let the sandwich toast for a couple minutes, flipping the entire thing over when the bread on the bottom reaches your desired level of toastiness.
  • Once you flip the sandwich, press it down firmly with your spatula to compress it. Let the sandwich toast for another couple of minutes until the bread has reached your desired level of toastiness. Remove it from the skillet and serve.

This was actually really delicious, especially if you like things that are just a touch spicy. The flavors melded well, and while it does seem like a lot of work to caramelize onions just for a sandwich, it was worth it, and now I have leftover onions to toss into something else, too.

Joey thought I was absolutely nuts while I was tossing the ingredients for this into the cart on our last shopping trip, but he did have to concede that making a sandwich from a podcast is not even close to the weirdest recipe I’ve tried over the years while writing this column.

Plus, if (and when) the Timbo really does become a worldwide sensation, we can all say we got in on the ground floor of history.

This piece first appeared in print on Feb. 25, 2021.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

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