Double Double Grilled Cheese

You seriously have no idea how good this is....

Look at that cheese....

So if you follow me on Instagram or Twitter you probably know I make grilled cheese quite a bit.  Like
a lot a bit.  So much so I am beginning to think I have a problem.  A delicious problem....

A few recipes I have posted have been grilled cheese recipes.  Now I think they are the easiest thing to come up with and make, yet I still get asked to post recipes on here.  Well here is another grilled cheese recipe for all you cheese lovers out there.

Like usual I don't have a clever name for this one but I think there probably is one.  Let me know if you think of one.

This one is double everything.  Double smoked bacon.  Double cream brie.  And double the awesomeness?  Okay that last one I just made up but still.  I make a ton of grilled cheese and this one was the best one I've in a long time.  It really stood out from the rest, which I think is saying something.

Ingredients :

2 slices of double smoked bacon
4oz of double smoked brie (enough to cover two slices of bread with thin layers of cheese)
butter (or margarine)
2 slices of rye bread (or you know, whatever bread you got)

Steps :

1. Butter each slice of bread.

2. Cook bacon in pan, or microwave if lazy.

3. Place thin layer of cheese on one layer.

4. Put bacon on top of cheese.

5. And more cheese on top of the bacon.

6. Add last piece of bread on top and place in pan.  Turn on stovetop to low to medium.  Add lid if you have (makes making grilled cheese so much easier).

7. Keep an eye on it but flip at about the 6-7 minute mark.

8. This side will cook faster.  Keep an eye on it and can probably flip at the 5 minute mark if other side needs more time (it should - I believe in the extra flip on grilled cheese - unlike a steak).

9. Wait until last side is crispy on outside.  Take out of pan and cut.  Then enjoy the deliciousness.

Pub Chat: Episode 52 - Surly Coffee Bender

My favourite episode - albums of the year!

2013 was an incredible year for music, but somehow we each managed to narrow it down to our top five. Luckily this is one of our favourite episodes of the year to record, because we had to re-record most of it due to some technical difficulties. On the first recording, we drank Surly Coffee Bender, and it was delicious. Enjoy this episode with a good beer.

Download here . Or subscribe in iTunes here .

Show Notes

00:00 – Welcome and introductions
00:55 – Coffee Bender & Surly
07:45 – Technical difficulties
08:50 – Great albums of 2013
10:50 – Chris’ top 5
21:50 – Chris’ #1 – Arctic Monkeys
29:00 – Adrian’s top 5
41:35 – Adrian’s #1 – CHVRCHES
48:05 – Colin’s top 5
1:01:35 – Colin’s #1 – Arctic Monkeys
1:03:15 – Singles of the year
1:18:35 – Signing off

Jacob’s top 5

5. Vampire Weekend
4. Arcade Fire
3. Charles Bradley
2. Arctic Monkeys
1. Haim

The Great Burger Hunt - Fatburger

Somewhere in IKEA land...

Winnipeg has gotten a few of the bigger burger chains in the last couple years. Some are better than
others. Fatburger is one that everyone seemed to know before they arrived, which surprised me that they were more known than Five Guys . Unlike Five Guys though I had never actually had Fatburger before it came to Winnipeg. So I was fairly ecstatic to try it. Plus the local Internet people kept saying how it was better than Five Guys. Or maybe they were still on their euphoric high from their IKEA visit across the street.

So keep in mind I went in with fairly high expectations.

It was busy when we went, as it was a Friday night, just before the rush luckily though. We placed our orders right away and sat down. The woman at the counter told us it would take 6 minutes for our order to be out. That's a very exact time. Could they keep that time?

I didn't stray far into their vast menu and just got the original combo with a drink. Lots of ways to order your burger. And a few different types too. Quite a few actually. Plus they have turkey, veggie, and chicken (wings too) burgers too. Some salads (about half a dozen) and a variety of ways to have your fries.

Kevin and I sat down, and waited for our food. Ten minutes later, debating the entire time what exactly the powder on the table labeled "flavour shaker" was, our food came out. Turns out flavour shaker is just onion seasoning.

The fries were hot, evenly cut, but bland. Adding flavour shaker wasn't enough to save these from mediocrity. Same thing could be said about the burger. It was very plain. Good but just average. Topped with very fresh veggies saved it from being a disaster. Now this burger was okay but it just had nothing separating it from any other average burger place.

Maybe my expectations were out of hand but both of us left disappointed and mentioned we wouldn't go out of our way to come back and try the other burgers. Their burger game could have been off that day too though, as it still seems that everyone thinks this place is the best thing since sliced bread.

What I got: original combo with a drink - $12.40 (after taxes)

Fries Taste : 3/5
Burger Taste : 3/5
Price Value : 2/5
Menu Selection : 4/5
Overall : 3/5

Fatburger
#1 - 640 Sterling Lyon Parkway

Winnipeg, MB R3P 1E9

204-453-2428

Hops and Robbers Hummus

A simple tasty treat

So it's 2014 and I am beginning to not enjoy writing beer reviews.  They aren't going to disappear from the blog but they will be much more sporadic, probably once a month.  Pub Chat will not stop.  I love that shit.  In place of the beer reviews though I think I will put a bit more of a focus on posting recipes on the stuff I cook.  There will be grilled cheese.  I know you all want more of that.  Lots of beer based recipes.  I have an amazing chili recipe I will post soon.

So for those of you trying to eat a bit healthier because of the new year, well then, this recipe is for you.

One of my favourite dishes to have around the house.  Simple, tasty, and you can use it as a dip, or a spread for sandwiches.  This makes enough for one person and then some, so you should have leftovers for the next day.

Ingredients :

1 can of chick peas
4 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon of peanut butter
4-6oz of Hops and Robbers (depends on how thick you want it)
1 generous squirt of Sriracha (I love this stuff!)

Steps :

1. Open and drain the liquid from the chick peas.  Place in blender.

2. Take garlic and put it through a garlic press into the blender.  You don't have too but this pretty much guarantees you won't get a big chunk of garlic that wasn't blended.

3. A spoonful of peanut butter goes into the blender too.  This is what you want to play around with.  Some like it with more and some less.

4. Pour in the beer and a squirt of Sriracha.

5. Blend. Adding more beer if needed.

6. Put in bowl and eat with veggies, naan bread, or whatever your heart desires.

Pub Chat: Episode 51 - Thor’s Equinox

First of the year (but recorded last year)

We’re joined by author Chadwick Ginther ( Twitter ), author of Thunder Road. We drank Thor’s Equinox, a Belgian Strong Ale from Odin Brewing. We talked about the fantasy genre, writing, movies, comics and all sorts of other fiction. Thanks again to Chadwick for joining us!

Download here . Or subscribe in iTunes here .

Show Notes

00:00 – Intro
00:25 – Cracking the beer
01:00 – Beer analysis
03:20 – Getting into writing
04:40 – National Novel Writing Month
11:25 – Fantasy and other genres
19:10 – Beer in movies and television
25:10 – Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad and other shows
31:45 – Favourite fantasy books, comics and movies
42:05 – Wrapping it up