The Trippple Threat

    

      For all of you challenge lovers, Nebraska Brewing Company has a new one just for you. As I sat at work yesterday, I kept thinking of all the good times that the Death Pizza brought to me. The best part of my day was watching challenger after challenger try to eat the monster pizza. All falling short of the prize. As the reputation of the pizza got around, the challengers became less and less. I guess this one will stand for a long time. But I missed the excitement of the challenges. So I thought about making a new one. The pizza is a great challenge and will still be available, but I needed one that will appeal to people who may not love the heat of the pizza. So the Trippple Threat was born.

   The start of this one came from my days as the chef at The Bleu Ox in Council Bluffs. I would spend at least two hours a day, cutting, tenderizing, and breading pork tenderloin. Not just any tenderloin either. These monsters were the size of a dinner plate. So I decided to make this the base of the Trippple Threat.  Then I started to think of what this mighty sandwich might need to make it live up to its  name. So we decided to make a bacon blanket for our sandwich. What is a bacon blanket you may ask? Well, we take 12 slices of bacon and weave them into a tasty bacon blanked that will cover the mighty tenderloin. Now I have two of my 3 P’s for this sandwich. The third, two pork sausages, spit in two and layered atop the bacon. Yea, that’s right, an 8 oz fried pork tenderloin, 12 piece bacon blanket, and two monster sausages. But did we stop there, HELL NO!!! That would be enough to make a grown man cry, but as a fat man myself, it needed more. So, to stick with the Trippple Threat theme, I topped the meat portion of the sandwich with 3 fried eggs. But as I looked at this great creation, I still wanted more, and what goes better with pork and eggs?? CHEESE!! So of course, three slices of three kinds of cheese. YES, nine slices of cheese. And now I had it, the wonder that would become the Trippple Threat. The sandwich had been created, but who can have a sandwich without fries?? Not me. So a pound of fries are added to the side. Oh yea, there is a focaccia bun trying to hold this beast together, kinda an after thought!!

   The rules for this one will be a little different from the pizza.

-You have one hour to eat the pizza

-You can drink whatever you like

-You CAN add any condiment to the sandwich you would like

-This one will cost $20, and if you can defeat it, you will get a Trippple Threat T-Shirt, your picture taken, and put on the wall of fame.

-Losers go to the wall of shame!!

-We encourage bringing a group to cheer you one.

   I will keep everyone updated on when we will start this challenge. I am thinking sometime within the next 3 weeks. When I get back to the lab, I will get all the details figured out, get the shirts made, and get ready for the challengers. Hope to see you all soon to try our new adventure. I look forward to many people defeating this beast and winning themself a place on the wall of fame.

THE REUBEN!!

       Oh the little ol’ Reuben. A sandwich that is shrouded in controversy. It’s origin, unknown. It true creator, unknown. There are many stories about who and where, but none that can be proven. But there is one thing I know about this sandwich, IT IS FREAKIN’ DELICIOUS!!  Up until just the other day, I was in denial. I thought the way we served our Reuben here at Nebraska Brewing Company was the way that EVERYONE served there Reuben. Boy was I wrong. There was a little article in a magazine called Nebraska Life, that  changed the way I not only looked at this sandwich, but the way I will be serving it from now on.. But more about that later. So this magazine traveled all around Nebraska to find the best Reubens. There was about 15 places that got a mention in the magazine, but the main one was from the place that claims to have created this glorious sandwich, The Blackstone Hotel in Omaha, NE.  Now I wont bore you with the details, but, they do have the strongest claim to the Reuben. 

      So as I read the article, I started to see that the way I have been making my sandwich here is socially acceptable by the mass public. But if you know me at all, just being acceptable is not enough. Wanting to serve the Reuben the way it was meant to be served became my only mission. So I started a vigorous internet search to find the truth, sadly there were not any startling finds. But what I did find was that back in the day Russian Dressing was the common condiment on the Reuben. This peaked my interest a little. So I decided to find out a little more about the Russian Dressing. It is my belief that the use of 1000 Island Dressing came from the laziness of people in the service industry, but that is another rant. It was easier to buy 1000 Island than it was to prepare the Russian Dressing. So after finding common ingredients among several different recipes, I decided to make my own. I am so glad I did. This dressing is so much more than processed 1000 Island can ever be. It is bright, tangy, and so, so, flavorful. Before I thought there was no way to make this sandwich better, but boy was I wrong. So, as of today, the Reuben here at Nebraska Brewing Company will be served with Russian Dressing. I believe that this could be one of the best Reubens in Omaha, and as an avid eater of the Reuben, I feel very comfortable saying this. We have also change the bread to a thicker cut marble rye, which makes the sandwich and all its toppings easier to hold.  So stop by and try one, let us know what you think.

Hop Sausage, OH YEA!

      Let me just start out by saying this is not my first attempt at using hops in food. I vividly remember the horrendous ”hop chocolate” we tried to make last year. It was more hops than chocolate. Now to be honest, I don’t blame the hops. I knew their potency when I started my little experiment. When trying to use hops in food it is always trial and error. You have to experiment to get the level right. To little, and no one knows they are even in there, too much, and it is little someone punched you in the back of the throat! So I was a little sceptical when I came across an article on Hop Sausage. But I thought, what can go wrong? Luckey for me nothing did and a wonderful tasting sausage was born. I deviated from the original recipe in order to make for an all around better tasting sausage. So without further rambling from me, here is my attempt at sausage making.

INGREDIENTS:

5 lbs Pork Shoulder

1 Cup Farrells Irish Red

4 Cloves garlic, minced

5Tbs Sea salt

3Tbs Garam Marsala

2Tbs Thyme

1Tbs Dried hops of choice

2Tsp Black Pepper

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

3Tbs Smoked Paprika

1 Pack Natural Sausage Casings

EQUIPMENT:

Boning Knife

Chef’s Knife

Cutting Board

2 Large Mixing Bowls

Meat Grinder/Stuffer

Spice Grinder

 Ok, so I lied. There will be some more rambling before we get into making the sausage. There are some very important aspects  you must know to make the sausage not only safe but to maximize flavor and texture. To start with, when I bought the 5 lbs of pork shoulder I purchased it off the bone. This will save you time in the process. The butcher will be happy to do this for you. You can talk to them about the meat to fat ratio and what it should be. Any good butcher shop, (Frank Stoysich Meats 5107  Q Street!) will be able to make sure you have the proper amount of each. Once you get all the things you need, SANITATION is the biggest thing to worry about. Having a dirty work station or equipment will lead to contaminated sausage and overall horrible flavor. So make sure you have a clean area to work in and plenty of towels for clean up. The last crucial area of concern is to make sure that the meat and grinder are put in the freezer 30 prior to starting to make the sausage. It needs to be very cold before you start. Otherwise, you will just have meat goop once you grind it! So let get it on now.

Put the meat in one of the large mixing bowls. Place the meat and the grinder into the freezer to chill. While this is happening you will need to take out 3-4 of the casings and get them soaking in water. This will remove the salt from the casing and rehydrated it.

Now take the hops, thyme, garam marsala, salt, paprika, and black pepper and place in the spice grinder. Blend for about 30 seconds untill it is a fine powder. Mix this with the garlic and brown sugar. This will become your “meat rub”. Remove the meat from the freezer and incorporate the spices into the meat. Make sure that each piece of meat is completely coated in spice. Place pork back in the freezer and remove grinder. Set up the grinder with the coarse die. Remove meat from freezer and cut into 1X1 inch cubes. This will make grinder a lot easier. Run all the pork through the grinder into the second bowl.

Now comes the best part, adding the beer. For this sausage we used the Farrell’s Irish Red. You can use whatever beer you like. Make sure the beer is cold when pouring into mix. When the beer is all in, the mix will feel “soupy” but that is ok. Just make sure to put it back into the freezer as soon as possible. At this time, you can also cook off a small amount of the pork to check the seasoning of the meat. This is the last chance you will have to make changes to the flavor. Once it is up to your standard, place it back in the freezer.

 

Rinse the inside of the sausage casings with tap water and place one of the casings over the stuffer tube. Make sure the tube and the casing are both very “wet”. This will make it easier to get the casing on the tube. Once the sausage reaches the tip of the tube, tie a knot in the casing. Pass the seasoned pork through the stuffer and into the casing, twisting the sausages at 6 inch intervals. Continue until all the pork is gone.

Now that all the sausages are stuffed, place them on a plate and into the refrigerator they go. I let mine sit overnight but a couple of hours will do just fine. It depends on you patience! Then you can cook them up like any other sausage. I like to cook mine in a saute pan with 1/2 cup of water for 5 minutes on each side. Then take them to the grill to finish cooking.

This is the end result. After cooking I like to slice the sausage on a bias. I topped this one with Dijon Mustard, carmalized onions, and sauerkraut. But be creative and come up with your own outrageous toppings for this one. Hope you enjoyed the first of many of my ramblings!

The Revolution Has Begun!!

Well guys, the time has finally come. I finally have my own blog to keep you informed on ALL the exciting things going on here at NBC. It has been a long road to get where we are now, but that will make for a good post in the future! Just know we are not looking back and are constantly looking to be the best. Hope you will come along for the ride with us.

Welcome!

Welcome to Nebraska Brewing Company’s blog where we talk about everything food – and sometimes, the beers that complement them.

Hosted and updated by our very own, Chef Adam Graybill.

Chef Adam loves to experiment with foods, spices, and is always diving deep into the rich aspects of Craft Beer & Food Pairings.  Here, he’ll let you look over his shoulder a little.

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