We're Going To The Super Bowl!

In a mere week and a half, our amazing catering crew are going to pack two vans, four coolers, our 6-foot-long Douglas fir serving board, and around 100 pounds of smoked goodness and head to Minneapolis to cater (along with several other folks) the Official Super Bowl Tailgate Party. It’s the biggest crowd we’ve ever catered, but we feel like all our years of catering have been great training for an event like the Superbowl.

We were thrilled to get an email from a company that organizes the Superbowl village vendors: it was a huge logistical challenge but in typical Smokehaus fashion we rapidly decided to do it and figure out how later. I filled out the application, answered some follow-up questions, and left it on the horizon for the better part of December. To participate, we would need to essentially staff a condensed version of our already-condensed deli in Duluth: sandwich coolers, prep areas, abridged menus, and (most troublingly) a staff who a) could find an affordable place to stay in the Twin Cities for a week during the Superbowl inundation and b) would not leave a hole in the schedule with their absence.

I was in the middle of loosely sorting this out and fielding plenty of interest from all corners of the Smokehaus when we got the congratulatory email, and above all the logistical concerns I knew we were in for a great adventure. About a half an hour after that the second email came in explaining that the first missive was sent by mistake – but congratulations, we were first on the waiting list. Annoyance was mixed with a splash of relief, but every time the Superbowl came up, I felt a little baby kick of rejection.

A few weeks later, Eric was contacted through an old friend from Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives and was asked to participate in a different Superbowl event: as a caterer at the 2018 Players Tailgate Party. This was a BIG deal – 2,000 people – by far our largest headcount, kitty-corner to a major event in Minnesota, with plenty of opportunities to share our smoked fish, charcuterie, and years of food styling trial and error with a brand new group of customers. We once again assumed the formation, said yes, and figured it out. Staffed, condo’d (thanks to a staffer’s parents), prep listed, and fully stoked, we’re going to the Superbowl(!), and once again, we’re in for a great adventure.

Perfect Party Peanut Mix

A Recipe for (Snacking) Success By Deli Manager Taylor Kline

Peanut and Pretzel Mix: a football Sunday Kline family tradition, which in all reality became a requirement for every Menard’s run. By no means is this a high society party mix. It is a simple mix made for the simple pleasure of all day snacking and its often what we had in our “snack” dry pantry.

The best part about party mixes are that they can be used seasonally or as basic as desired. Think the Holiday season with almond bark-dipped pretzels or for Thanksgiving throw in some roasted pumpkin seeds.  But for snack simplicity, this is what I crave with an ice cold pilsner and the refreshing disappointment of Minnesota professional sports, minus the Lynx.

Basic necessities:

• Pretzels 1 bag (12 oz) / Stick Pretzels - or tub (32 oz is typically what the Butter Spindles come in)
  Any basic snack-size sticks work great. But when we discovered Butter Spindles, our mix hit the next level of salty, buttery greatness.

• Dry Roasted Peanuts - 2 containers (they typically come in 14 oz containers).   1 container of dry roasted & 1 container of honey roasted.

• M & M’s - 1 bag (12 oz) - Regular M & M’s are absolutely fine, but come on, this is indulgent. Go for the peanut, peanut butter, or even the pretzel M & M’s.

• Rice and/or Wheat Chex Cereal - 1 box of Rice and or 1 box of Wheat

• -Raisins - 1 bag (10 oz)

The Mix

• Pour into a large bowl:

  • Full bag of pretzels ( if you are using the Butter Spindles, use half the tub)
    Each container of peanuts. 

  • Half a bag of M & M’s

  • Half a box of Rice Chex & half box of Wheat Chex

  • Half bag of raisins (if you prefer more raisins to mix ratio, add more.)

Store unused items in cupboard for the next batch. 

There is nothing better than snacking the Big Game Day away and enjoying bevs with your friends and family. Enjoy this simple, yet delicious recipe, while watching two teams that Minnesotans dislike in our hometown stadium - No deflated footballs here!

SKOL 

Blanket Buds

Besides being incredibly tasty and hand-made with love by our surly team of smokers, our Bison Buddies are versatile. You can eat them on their own, pair them with your favorite spicy mustard or use them as a non-mysterious hot dog meat alternative. But, if you have 9-12 minutes and you want to make some extra special buttery, flaky snacks, we suggest: Blanket Buds. You only need two ingredients plus what ever adventurous dipping sauce you prefer.

Ingredients

Pillsbury™ Butter Flake Crescent Dinner Rolls

A six pack of Bison Buddies

Instructions

Pre-heat your oven and cut your Bison Buddies into smaller pieces. After prepping your buds, you're going to follow the Pillsbury™ instructions word-for-word with an additional and easy step of cutting the pre-indented dough into smaller triangles.  Number of buds = number of triangles you'll need. Six buds should yield around 20 +/- Blanket Buds. It's up to your math.

Bake the buds and share with friends!

FOR AN EXTRA CHALLENGE:

Add cheese. You won't regret it. Add the cheese.  

5 Things To Do With Porketta

5 Ways to Cook Smokehaus Porketta

So, you’ve got your beautiful hand-rolled slab of heaven – now what? There are many ways to cook Porketta, including a straightforward, roast til it’s hot approach. But for the creative-hearted and culinarily curious we have assembled a short list of preparations for your dining pleasure.

1. Low and Slow: Roast Porketta at 325, covered and doused with a cup or so of liquid (white wine, lager, chicken stock or even a mild fruit juice such as apple will do). Keep it covered for the first hour and a half, then uncover and continue to roast until fall-apart tender (maybe another 45-60 minutes). When ready, take the roast out, let it sit for 5 minutes, and then shred like your life depends on it. You can use forks, tongs, or even gloved hands (but be careful – it will be hot!). Eat the whole delicious mixture over mashed potatoes, with your favorite pasta, or on a hard roll.

2. Grill it: Because the Porketta is fully cooked, you need not worry about finessing your fire too much. You can reheat the Porketta in your oven at a higher temperature (say, 375) and when it because hot to the touch, transfer to a hot grill to crisp up the exterior crust. The results will be crunchy, smoky, and oh-so-meaty.

3. Cute it Up: Cube it up? Cube your Porketta by cutting it into ½ inch chunks. Sprinkle with paprika and gently fry on a medium-heat skillet until the sides are crispy. Skewer them with other bite-sized cubed items like potatoes, cocktail onions, fennel, or sweet peppers (or our favorite – all of the above!). Serve on your holiday menu, or as an appetizer for a dinner party, or as a very high class midnight snack.

4. Take it to the Club: Make an incredibly savory club sandwich by layering thin slices of Porketta, right out of the package (it’s fully cooked, you know) with shaved fennel, sundried tomatoes, and crispy pancetta, and lemon basil mayonnaise (you can just amp up your Hellman’s with a dusting of lemon zest and handful of shredded basil or you can make your own). You can serve it on stirato or focaccia, but if you’re feeling sinister might we recommend a triple-decker with slices of your local grocery store’s most pillowy version of Italian bread, toasted.

5.  Go Full Holiday Roast: Place your Porketta on a rack in a large roasting pan, uncovered. Begin roasting the Porketta at 375 while you prepare your other ingredients. Wash fingerling potatoes or quarter them, quarter fennel, rutabaga, and or sweet potatoes. Toss all with olive oil and light salt (the Porketta is going to help flavor them all) and arrange them in the now-hot roaster when they’re ready (make sure you take the roaster out of the oven to accomplish this – safety first!). Cook all until vegetables are soft – around 45 minutes to an hour. Serve with something green, like Swiss chard, Brussels sprouts, or green beans. Buon appetito!