Old Major & Cheff JJs Collaboration!
Yesterday I had the opportunity to invade Cheff JJs downtown location to work with his team to develop a bacon and make plans for the first, of hopefully several, Old Major & Cheff JJs dinners. Cheff JJs is a really cool event-based restaurant with locations in Broad Ripple and Downtown Indianapolis. They do all sorts of themed dinners, beer dinners, wine dinners, cooking classes, team building, training and more. What’s uber unique about them is that they do all of their cooking on the big green egg. I you haven’t checked out the Big Green Egg, you should put a little google on it and check it out. It’s a Kamado-style grill that is hyper efficient and capable of getting to extremely hot temperatures.
The Old Major themed dinner at Cheff JJs will be announced very soon but I think the date will be 4/20/2017 at the downtown location. I’m excited to taste some OM products with the team @ Cheff JJs so we can spark some ideas and excitement for the menu. Expect to see a collaboration Bacon coming soon from Old Major and Cheff JJs. We are utilizing the Old Major recipe and process but instead of barrel smoking in our portable pit smoker, we are going to be smoking the bacon on 20 Big Green Eggs! #Collaborbacon will be available at the Dinner, OldMajorMarket.com and the Farmer’s markets while supplies last. I can’t wait to do more collaborations! Stay tuned for another update!
READ MORESuper Bowl Eats
I can’t tell you how unenthused I am for the Super Bowl this year, but hey! If you love sportsball and even more, if you love Atlanta or the Patriots, then this is your big night! Carrie and I will more than likely have some friends over to watch the commercials while playing a few epic games of Euchre. Regardless of how much attention you are going to be giving the “big game,” you’re going to need some epic snacks for you and your guests. Here are a couple ideas to kick around!:
Bacon Wrapped Dates – Who doesn’t love salty and sweet? This snack is super easy to prepare. Here’s the scoop: take a pound of Old Major Bacon and cut each slice into halves or thirds depending on the size of the bacon strip. The goal is to have enough bacon to wrap around a date once. Get out your pitted Deglet Noor dates and begin stuffing each date with goat cheese. Don’t be afraid to use your hands and fingers. Just make sure you wash your hands really well. Once stuffed, wrap each date with bacon and hold in place with a tooth pick. Next, line a biscuit tray with parchment paper and place dates on the tray with about an inch of space between them. Bake on 375 until the bacon starts to brown up. Remove and allow to cool before eating, otherwise the nuclear goat cheese will destroy your mouth!
Mini Bratwurst – I love bratwurst especially if it comes with a healthy dose of spicy mustard and sauerkraut! Get out a pound of Old Major Bratwurst. There will be 4 in the package. Place the thawed brats into a pan and place into an oven that is preheated to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Allow to cook for 10-12 minutes and then flip the brats. Allow to cook for an additional 5-7 minutes. If you have a meat thermometer, check the temp to make sure it is at least 145 degrees internal temp. If not, You should be fine, just remove from the oven and allow to rest for at least 5 minutes. Resting is important because you don’t want all of the juices to just run out when you cut. While the brats are resting, cut your buns into thirds. Next slice, your brats into thirds and place into the bun. You can hold together by using a tooth pick through the bun and brat, just make sure you tell your guests to remove before eating. Put room temperature spicy mustard out along with warm sauerkraut. Let your guests dress the brats to their liking. Don’t put ketchup out. If someone asks for Ketchup, ask them to leave.
Italian Meat Balls – I love meatballs. LOVE. They are a great finger food. These meatballs are great for an appetizer or a main course. You choose. Get a 2 pounds of Old Major Italian Sausage out of the fridge. If it is cased, cut the sausages and remove the ground meat from the casings and place in a bowl. Sauté a cup of chopped yellow onion with 3 cloves of chopped garlic in two tablespoons of cooking oil. Remove from heat when onions begin turning a golden color. Mix in a cup of bread crumbs into your Italian sausage. Add your onion and garlic mixture and toss in one raw egg. Use your hands to mix this mixture up nicely. Make sure your hands are properly washed. Using your hands, form meat balls no larger than a golf ball. Slightly smaller than that is best. Place onto a biscuit tray that is lined with parchment paper. Bake on 375 for 20 minutes. Finish under the broiler so the meat balls get some crust on the top. Place the hot meatballs into a tray containing warm marinara. Side note, if you have some parmesan for topping or a soft cheese to smear on the meat ball before eating, I suggest you try it!
Tacos – I have yet to meat anyone I like being around that doesn’t like tacos. Tacos are great because they can be made on the fly as long as you keep your corn tortillas warm. That said, get some Old Major Al Pastor or Chorizo, cut it out of the casing and fry it up until crispy. I prefer doing this in cast iron because I love cast iron. Next you are going to need chopped white onion, chopped cilantro, fresh limes and traditional yellow corn tortillas. Warm a cast iron flat top or a large fry or sauce pan up on your stove. Toss a little coconut oil into the pan and place two tortillas together in the pan. Yes, one on top of the other. When the tortillas get hot they will steam each other a little and cause them to stick together. Flip once and then remove and place on a pan in a warm oven. Each taco you make should be the two tortillas plus Chorizo or Al Pastor, chopped white onion and cilantro, fresh squeeze of lime and some red hot sauce if you want some pop!
Good luck with your party! Post pictures to Instagram and tag us! @OldMajorMarket
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