Pitzotl Stuffed Jalapenos: Spice Up Your Appetizers

I've gotta admit it. I love a great stuffed pepper. But, I have a particular affection for the bite-sized variety.

Jalapeno poppers are a great example. Creamy. Cheesy. Delicious. Right?  But, they're puttery to make, since they need to be battered and fried.  So, how about a slightly easier version?

These peppers are stuffed with a cream cheese and Monterey Jack cheese mixture that matches (or beats) that of the usual jalapeno poppers. It's made even more delicious with the addition of a bit of finely diced Bolzano Pitzotl, an artisan salami made from heirloom pork flavored with chiles and cocoa powder.

Just slice open the jalapenos, scrape out the seeds, stuff with the cheese mixture, and bake.

They're absolutely delicious -- reminiscent of a cross between jalapeno poppers and pepperoni pizza -- and perfect for your next party.  I'm thinking they'd even be delicious made on the grill in the summertime.

Oh, yeah.
Easy Salami Stuffed Jalapeno Peppers


Want to try one of Bolzano's salami products for yourself?
We're giving away one stick of salami away to a lucky reader. All you have to do is tell us which salami flavor you'd like to try -- and how you'd use it.

You have until NOON on Wednesday, April 10, 2013 when we'll randomly choose one lucky winner to receive a stick of Bolzano salami for your very own. Winners will be notified by email, so please leave your email addy with your comment if it's not included with your Blogger profile. Entries from the U.S. only, please.

Choose from the following flavors:

Pamploma Runner
RauchZwiebel 
Old School
Fin Oh Kee Oh Na 
Pig Red Salami
Pitzotl


©BURP!

Salami Stuffed Chicken Breast: Easy Company Worthy Fare

I'll admit that when we first tackled this Bolzano Blogger project, I wasn't sure exactly what we were going to make for our first recipe. Bolzano salami is delicious, but we generally eat it out of hand, as part of an antipasto platter, or prepared simply on a sandwich. So, thinking about creating a recipe that really made the most of the flavors of the meat felt like a bit of a challenge.

We were lucky enough to be given a stick of the newest flavor of Bolzano Salami -- the Pitzotl, featuring the zip of chiles and the deep dark flavor of delicious cocoa powder. So, we decided to focus on recipes that show-cased the "mole-esque" qualities of the product.

This delicious recipe features quick-brined chicken breasts stuffed with cumin garlic butter, and stuffed to the brim with Pitzotl salami, sundried tomatoes, and Queso Fresco. The chicken breasts are easy to throw together, they hold their shape thanks to a bit of kitchen twine, and they're perfect for making ahead. Both the brine and the butter ensure a deliciously tender chicken breast, and the basic filling offers just the right pop of sweet salty flavor.

The chicken breasts cook up beautifully in the oven, and when sliced into medallions, they make a fabulous presentation on the dinner plate. Pair them with Mexican rice, sauteed squash, and refried black beans. And eat the leftover medallions piled high on a sandwich with crisp lettuce, maybe a slice of melted cheese, and a bit of chile-spiked mayo.

Pitzotl Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Perfect for your next dinner party. Make it and tell us what you think!

Want to try one of Bolzano's salami products for yourself?
We're giving away one stick of salami away to a lucky reader. All you have to do is tell us which salami flavor you'd like to try -- and how you'd use it.

You have until NOON on Wednesday, April 10, 2013 when we'll randomly choose one lucky winner to receive a stick of Bolzano salami for your very own. Winners will be notified by email, so please leave your email addy with your comment if it's not included with your Blogger profile. Entries from the U.S. only, please.

Choose from the following flavors:

Pamploma Runner
RauchZwiebel 
Old School
Fin Oh Kee Oh Na 
Pig Red Salami
Pitzotl


©BURP!

Full disclosure:  The product for our recipe development was provided by Bolzano Artisan Meats, free of charge. But, all opinions expressed are our own, and we are footing the bill for the salami giveaway.

Salami Week on the Blog: Featuring Bolzano Pitzotl

We love living in Milwaukee. It's a lovely "big" small town with friendly people, a beautiful lake view, a nice dose of culture, plenty of universities to keep things interesting, and a growing food scene with some of the best artisan producers of delicious food products in the nation.

Among those artisans, we're lucky to claim Bolzano Artisan Meats, producer of seven of the finest handcrafted salamis you'll ever eat.  They are the first company in Wisconsin to bring back the lost art of dry curing, and one of the only in the nation to make their products from locally raised heirloom hogs.  Best of all,  their products are delicious.

That's why we were tickled when Scott Buer, owner of Bolzano, approached us and asked if we'd coordinate a Wisconsin food blogger project, wherein 6 food bloggers would receive samples of Bolzano salamis, and -- in return-- create two delicious recipes using the products.  We solicited volunteers, and got a great group of bloggers to participate (see the list at the end of this post).

For our part, we got to sample the newest variety of salami - Pitzotl - made with chiles and cocao. The flavor of the salami is pretty special. It's salty and spicy, with the kick of a quality pepperoni and a bit of depth we can only attribute to the addition of the cocoa.

We developed two recipes that we feel showcase the best qualities of the salami -- including some delicious stuffed jalapeno peppers (a bit like poppers), and a dinner-party-appropriate stuffed chicken breast with salami, sundried tomatoes, cumin garlic butter, and Queso Fresco.

So, this week is Salami Week on the Burp! blog.  Be sure to check back on Wednesday and Saturday for two great recipes ... and your chance to win a stick of the salami of your choice!

And don't forget to check out all the great salami recipes being featured this week on these other Wisconsin Food Blogs:

• Rebecca from CakeWalk: featuring Pamploma Runner Chorizo with smoked paprika
• Molly from Peanut Butter & Pickles: featuring RauchZwiebel Salami with smoked sea salt and onion
• Susan from Little French Bakery: featuring Old School Salami with cracked black pepper
• Melanie from From Fast Food to Fresh Food: featuring Fin Oh Kee Oh Na Salami with ground fennel seed
• Anna from Tallgrass Kitchen: featuring Pig Red Salami made from heirloom Red Wattle pork

©BURP!

Five Spice Carrot Soup: Winter Inspiration

It's that time of the year.

Spring is official -- and yet, here in the Midwest, we haven't quite moved officially into any semblance of a "growing season."  And yet, I can just taste all of the deliciously fresh spring greens that will soon be coming out of the cold frames and greenhouses.  I'm starting to get a taste for that first obnoxiously delicious batch of truly local asparagus that's just bursting with

In the meantime, it seems we're stuck with the root vegetables.

I shouldn't malign those hearty vegetables whose veracity allows them to withstand even the initial bite of Wisconsin winter weather, and whose thick skin allows them to submit gracefully to the challenges of storage in cellars, produce drawers, and basements.

But, I must admit that I get tired of them.  By the time March rolls around, I'm tired of eating produce from last fall. I want something fresh and green.

Fortunately, just when I'm about to give up hope, I always seem to be apt to stumble upon awesome recipes like this one that give me the courage to persist a little bit longer.

Inspired by a recipe sent over to me by Rachel from Healthy Food Whole Life, and a bin of vegetables obtained from the great people over at Fresh Picks, a delivery service that offers year-round delivery of a wide range of local and organic vegetables, I made this recipe for the first time in February for one of our annual Soup Night events.

It's sweet and lively, thanks to the rich combination of carrots and sweet potatoes, with just the right amount of spice from a dash of Chinese five spice powder, which offers up a series of complex notes from cinnamon to fennel to star anise.

Although a garnish certainly would have made the photo prettier, this is the sort of soup that holds its own, and needs very little in the way of embellishment -- though a scattering of something crunchy would only enhance its silky charms.

Five Spice Carrot Soup

©BURP!

Shallot Mustard Sauce: Another Versatile Endeavor

Tired of making the same old grilled chicken breasts or pork chops for dinner?  

Yeah, we were too. We got tired of having to think ahead and marinate our proteins. We'd used up most of our inspiration regarding dry rubs.  We'd tried grilling, roasting, braising, and pan-frying.  And still, it seemed that dinner was growing a bit dull and uninspired.  

So, we decided to learn something new... which is how we got caught up in the effort of creating a few quick, easy master sauces.  

First, we became enamoured of the oh-so-tasty classic brandy peppercorn sauce... and now, I must confess,  we've gotten addicted to this beauty. 

One of the great things about sauces is that they're generally quick to throw together, and they don't require much fore-thought if you have a decent collection of staple items in your fridge. Our suggestions for a starter collection would be butter, cream, white wine, garlic, shallots and citrus juice. Even bottled lemon or lime juice generally works in a pinch.

Oh, yeah - and don't forget about the mustard.

In this case, the flavor of plain old Dijon mustard is enhanced by the richness of butter and the sweetness of shallots in this high end sauce that... well, we thinking it has the potential to take just about any dish from the realm of good into the territory of really great.

It will dress up an otherwise plain chicken breast. And it's pretty fabulous on roasted salmon. And pork medallions... and, well, you get the idea.  If you like the flavors that mustard brings to the table, I'm pretty sure this recipe is a fail-safe.

Looking for something different? Use it as a dipping sauce for homemade chicken tenders or as a topping for steamed broccoli or green beans.

Mustard Shallot Sauce

©BURP!

Brandy Peppercorn Sauce: So good you could bathe in it

We've been into mastering some of the classics lately. For instance, I think I've finally mastered the art of hollandaise. And I'm currently working on creating a perfect fudgey brownie (thanks to some inspiration from Nigella, I think I'm coming very close).  I think this recipe probably also fits nicely into the "classic" category.

There is a steakhouse here in Milwaukee that serves up perfectly cooked New York strip accompanied by the diner’s choice of any number of delicious sauces, including Bearnaise, blue cheese butter, au jus, and a rich beef gravy.

It happens that my favorite is the brandy peppercorn sauce, which marries the delicate sweetness of shallots and cream with the assertive punch of brandy and peppercorns. In fact, the first time I tried it, I liked it so much I  declared that I could “bathe in it."

While I probably wouldn’t recommend taking a bath in it (as appealing as that might sound), this recreation of that delicious sauce is pretty darned delicious poured over steak. Or pork chops. Or... just about anything, really.

Brandy Peppercorn Sauce

©BURP!

Homemade is Always Better: Baked Chicken Taquitos

So, I've been wondering -- who buys those taquitos that they sell in the frozen foods section of the grocery store?  And -- are they actually good?

And also -- why don't people just make them at home?  They're really not difficult to construct. They take minutes to cook. And, contrary to popular believe, they don't require a deep fryer to get that uber crispy delicious exterior.

Now, we should disclose that we really hate cookbook claims that healthier versions of traditionally unhealthy foods taste just as good as their fat-laden counterparts, in part because it’s almost never true.

Fortunately, we found at least one instance where the baked version is just as good as fried, and maybe even better.

These deliciously smoky chicken taquitos bake up crispy and delicious thanks to a brush of melted butter and some time in a hot oven.  They’re the perfect snack for game day, or any time you’re craving that fast Tex-Mex food fix.

Baked Chicken Taquitos

©BURP!