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: Plus Bonus Best of 2017

5 Things

1. We got to feed the new senator! Tina Smith celebrated her first public appearance in Duluth right down the street at Hoops Brewing, and we supplied the snacks! Jeremy and I threw together some adorable little “bites” – gravlax, ham and pimiento, and salmon pate all made appearances. We enjoyed a pint and watched as hundreds of folks piled into the taproom.

2. Superbowl Madness! We are concocting specials, unique grab-n-go items, fantastic décor, and many an attempted sports pun this month in preparation for the big game (it’s in Minnesota this year, doncha know). Flo has been sending ADORABLE “Stadium Status” newsletters and postcards, and the shop is looking cute enough for ‘Ye. Annemarie is a closeted football fanatic (Go Seahawks), so it’s been pretty fun to watch her squirm as the rest of us in officeland struggle with the terminology.

3. Budget Task Force has new members, and a bigger whiteboard. We’re rearing to go for 2018. We even created a wish list, with new ovens at the top. Jerry’s going to be BUSY this year, guaranteed.

4. We sliced cheese on the electric slicer, and life will never be the same. We did this years ago, but the dulling effects and overwhelming prep list shut us down, but we now know that it’s a (nother) goal for 2018 to bring back the fresh-sliced cheese – it is delicious!

5. Cookbook genesis: we are beginning in earnest to create a Smokehaus cookbook! We’ve amassed tons of recipes, images, stories, and artifacts over the past 20 years, and we’re ready to compile it into some kind of (gorgeous) semblance of order. Stay tuned!

EXTRA 7, Best Of 2017 (According to Mary, General Manager):

1. New website pictures: with Flo’s styling, Stephen’s photography, and the collective editing of Smokehaus Team Creative, the website looks like a million dollars. Our food deserves it.

2. Boot in the Barn: a dream come true feast at Hemlock Preserve, this event was smashing. We plan to sell the very special porchetta in upcoming holiday seasons (and for events), and now know the secret behind great limoncello (hint: it’s lemons and time).

1. T.K.’s (and others’) experiments: from half-sour pickles with chile to cumin slaw to “Tickle Sauce,” there are some truly awesome new things coming down the pike at NWSH. As soon as we have the proper space and plans, customers can expect to jump on the pickle/tickle train, too. In the meantime, Nic’s romesco and Caesar salad may make appearances as soon as this winter.

4. The big board: we’ve used it several times this year and every time it’s absolutely glorious.

5. “Goodbye Horses” radio on Spotify.

6. The Budget Task Force – we are starting to practice open book management and it’s awesome! We already have several ideas for business development, and the energy and ideas during these meetings are genuinely enjoyable.

7. So many wonderful times at the Restaurant: I haven’t even begun to process the fact that I can’t eat those wings whenever I want, but instead I’m feeling grateful that we had our time together. From the wine list to the INCREDIBLE staff, the restaurant defines a lot about what made 2017 great.

Deep Cuts, Volume 1: Pancetta Fantasia

Now that the summer rush is over, and the mayhem of December has only begun to fully impact our shop, I have had a lot of time to reflect on our products. Sure, they’re great (some award-winning). Sure, we as a deli have concocted a large number of sandwiches and platters to show them off. Sure, you may have read the blog posts and online reviews, or have yourself experienced dreaming about them. But have any of us fully experienced their potential? This new column is a stab at indexing the various applications and combinations of the products available at our humble deli. It originates from discussions with coworkers, my own experimentation, standard (free!) sample combinations we’re fond of offering to our beloved patrons, and NWS takes on classic dishes. Hopefully, it will someday incorporate NWS crew-approved suggestions from you, dear reader. These are some ideas from my first day of R&D. This will be serial. This is only the beginning.

First up, we have pancetta recipes. Pancetta is an Italian-style bacon made of pork belly meat. Here at NWS, we make our pancetta with high-quality Minnesota-raised Berkshire pork and smoke it to savory perfection. Though it is commonly served cold-cut, we most prominently feature crispy pancetta alongside maple-sage smoked turkey breast on our best-selling daily (Thursday) special, the Clubhaus. It’s also available for purchase by-weight from our deli—sliced is best for sandwiches, charcuterie arrangements and crispy bacon; otherwise I’d recommend a slab 1-2” thick.

Pancetta combinations

• Pancetta & peas - This one speaks for itself. Cube some pancetta, strain a can of peas, fry up the pancetta in a pan, and once it’s bubbling in its own grease, throw in the peas. Serve it as is, as a side; or throw it over brown rice and call it a light meal.

• Pancetta potatoes - Looking for a bit more bang for your buck? This tip is a favorite of our beloved owner, Eric. When you fry your pancetta, save the grease for delicious fried potatoes. Season with rosemary, thyme, or your choice of herbs.

• The Pan-Cheddar - Brace yourself. To be honest, I am salivating, perspiring, and hyperventilating thinking about this one. It begins with a story:

Once upon a time, when NWS began selling Widmer’s (amazing!) Two-Year Cheddar, the staff lost their collective mind. We are big fans of snacking around here, and as such, we began experimenting with and munching on cubes of that sweet, sweet cheddar, until the time came that we had eaten more of the “Forbidden Cheddar” than we had sold. Those were decadent and magical times, and though they are missed, they will never be forgotten. One of my favorite experiments is a sandwich, which will probably never make it onto our menu, but is easily attainable for our customers. It has three ingredients—all available for purchase from our deli: pancetta, Widmer’s Two-Year Cheddar, and a bagel. The instructions are simple: in a pan or in the oven, melt as much cheddar as you see fit on top of as much pancetta as you see fit (a thin layer of cheddar over a quarter inch-thick slice of pancetta works for me, but really, go crazy); toast a bagel; put the two together; die and go to food heaven.

The possibilities of NWS smoked pancetta are as limitless as your imagination. Customers have often bragged to me of their delicious pancetta jam and soup recipes, though since they have yet to bring me any samples, the jury is still out—If I’m talking about you and you’re reading this, get at me: sales@nwsmokehaus.com cc: Ned. Anywhere you want a high flavor-impact meat to influence your dish, smoked pancetta is a worthwhile option. Or you could just take a page from my playbook and treat it as its own dish right off the slicer. I won’t judge you.

Like what you read? Stay tuned for more of Ned’s natterings, Recipes, 5 Things, and more by following us.

5 Things... It starts with just 5 things.

Well, another fantastic week has passed on once again. We at NW Smokehaus and NW Restaurant have been taking in the lessened business that seems to come with November in stride. Trying to rally for the inevitable lashing that seems to come with December is old hat to some, and fresh fresh for others… But, you know, it starts with just 5 things.  It always starts with just 5 things…

#1.    PIIIIIIIGS IIIIIIIIINNNN SPAAAAAAAACE: You know, you leave something up to the creative types and sometimes they really deliver. Our friends Anne Marie and Flo came up with a cute and concise offer; for a mere $125 dollars in purchase (and for a mere  24 hours) you could receive FREE shipping… Who doesn’t love getting something for free? The answer is: not very many people; IE we had a lot of people take us up on the offer. Making space for all (even pigs) is about as inclusive as you can get, and The Smokehaus is all about inclusivity.

#2. YOU SHOULD TOTES GET ONE OF OUR TOTES: Screaming deals are the name of the game this December, and why should the deli be any different from any of our other departments? For a limited time if you stop by our deli and spend $100, you will receive one of our beautiful canvas bags for free. They don’t just hold Smokehaus food either! Oh no, they can hold a LOT of other stuff. Too much stuff to get into here, but you get the drift. Although, if you have any questions about what you can stuff into the bag, just give us a call and ask for Smokehaus General Manager Mary. She will be happy to direct you.

#3. RESTAURANT SELECTOR: Ok, so as not to be outdone by her older sister The Smokehaus, Northern Waters Restaurant is now offering a free $20 gift card when you purchase $100 in gift cards. These gift cards are good at either location, offering a much different but equally enjoyable experience at either place, AKA the best of both worlds. So, basically you get gifts for the people you love and also give a gift to yourself. Self love is an important concept, so take care of yourselves my little beauties!

#4. IT’S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE WINTER… VILLAGE: Our presence at last year’s Winter Village on the grounds of Glensheen Mansion caused quite a stir! You really just never know where we will pop up. But, we always pop up when people really need us, and those moments shopping for holiday gifts that can seem incredibly daunting are when we shine. In the spirit of that, we will be cutening up our little cabin by the lake again at this year’s event (this Saturday and Sunday) and offering you the ease of buying gifts that you know will be a hit. And there’s no shortage of other great vendors selling, including our friends and partners at Lake Superior Bakehouse (think sweet treats for your holiday). There’s also alcohol and food being served all day long, so no excuse for losing your momentum!

#5. PHOTO REDUX MANIA!!!!!!!: As you might remember, about a month ago we tasked Smokehaus creatives Flo and Stephen (and a late-in-the-game assist by Jacob) with a complete overhaul of the photos on our website. It was a huge undertaking, but one that we knew they were up to. The results exceeded our expectations a hundred-fold, and what we are now looking at every time we open the page makes our hearts sing! We feel as though our food is elegant in it’s preparation and beauty, and we finally have images that match those qualities. We could not be happier with the end product. Check us out at nwsmokehaus.com for the long lasting food love that these pictures so effortlessly convey.