Steak & Gorgonzola Flatbread – New Belgium Trippel

Steak & Gorgonzola Flatbread

Weight watchers – 3/piece

Servings – 8 (2 pieces/person)

Roll of thin pizza crust from refrigerated section

2t minced garlic

2t onion powder

1 c reduced fat cheddar & jack

1/3 c gorgonzola cheese

5 ounces of grilled filet mignon (rare)

Spray olive oil

1.      Cook pizza crust according to package

2.      Take pizza crust out of oven

3.      Preheat oven to 350

4.      Spray crust with olive oil

5.      Spread garlic & onion powder over crust

6.      Slice filet into strips and sprinkle across crust

7.      Sprinkle both cheese over steak and crust

8.      Heat for 5-10 minutes until cheese is melted

9.      Cut into 16 rectangles

Made this for a paring party and it was a big hit.  So delicious.  I now love making flatbreads, refrigerated crusts make it so easy. I paired this with a New Belgium Trippel, one of Mike’s and my favorite beers.  New Belgium is overall one of our favorite breweries.  This tripel is lighter than most tripels and can be a everyday beers.  It’s malty with a strong coriander flavor.

Bean Dip - Witbier

I have no excuse, but I have completely dropped the ball on the blog lately.  This is one of those recipes that have been in my family for ages.  We have it just about every party.  I believe my mom started it and my brother in law Gage perfected it.  It’s a really simple recipe and most the time I have all the ingredients on hand, so its an easy appetizer to put together for an unexpected party.  This is a basic bean dip and you could add dozens of different ingredients to it, but this is always my favorite.

Bean Dip

Weight watchers – 4/serving using baked tortilla scoops (1/2 cup dip with 5 chips)

Servings – about 20 people

1-16 ounce container light cream cheese

1-16 ounce bag 2% milk Mexican cheese

2-15 ounce cans fat free refried beans

1 packet taco seasoning

*These are the amounts I general use, but adjust to your liking of beans/sour cream/cheese ratio.

1.      Preheat oven to 350

2.      In bowl mix together beans and taco seasoning

3.      In baking dish spread a layer of beans

4.      On top of beans add a layer of sour cream (should be about half as thick as bean layer)

5.      On top of sour cream add layer of cheese

6.      Repeat layering, finish with a cheese layer

7.      Heat in oven about 10 minutes until heated through and cheese is melted

8.      Serve with tortilla chips (baked scoops are great for a healthier choice)

This actually pairs really well with a lot of different beers.  It’s not too bold so you do want to stay away from anything too strong in flavor.  It still being summer, I like this with a witbier.  Mike and I both love witbiers especially in the summer.  Shock Top Belgian White, is pretty good is widely available.

Shock Top is another one, like blue moon, done by the big beer companies, Anheuser-Busch.  If I am craving a wit and I am out a bar and they don’t have blue moon, this is often your only other option.  It’s not the best witbier out there, but it will indeed satisfy the craving.  It is brewed with orange, lemon, lime and coriander.  I always love the coriander spice in a beer and the citrus flavors really come through.  This is refreshing and easy to drink.  It’s a good beer for people who don’t typically like beer.

Hoisin Pork Lettuce Wraps - Dunkelweizen

Hoisin Pork Lettuce Wraps

Weight watchers – 1 point/wrap

Servings – 12 lettuce wraps – 4 people – 3/person

1/3 c of hoisin sauce

1 T lime juice

1 T water

1 c shredded carrots

1 c shredded cabbage or lettuce

1 c shredded cucumber

1 c fresh cilantro or 1 T dried cilantro (I don’t always have fresh on hand)

12 ounce pork tenderloin cut into 24 thin strips

12 Boston or Bibb lettuce leaves

1.      Combine hoisin, lime juice and water

2.      Combine carrots, cabbage, cucumber and cilantro

3.      Cook pork on stove top about 3-4 minutes until browned

4.      Mix pork with sauce

5.      Top each lettuce leave with 2 slices of pork and handful of vegetable mixture

I got the idea for these wraps from weight watchers magazine and there is a similar recipe they go over.  By the way if you are on weight watchers I highly recommend the magazine for recipe ideas.

This will probably go into our regular rotation.  It is filling, but without any carbs it’s so low in calories and points.  This would also be great with chicken and equally as healthy.  If you want to add some carbs, some rice noodles or rice would be good in it as well.  The hoisin provides tons of flavor for minimal points and so easy to open a jar.

I paired this with a dunkelweizen which typically do well with substantial salads and pork.  Dunkelweizen is a southern German wheat beer.  Most of these beers are out of Germany but there are a few good American ones.  One of my favorites is a seasonal beer, so unfortunately is not available right now, but watch for it during Christmas time.  I am giving you a heads up to watch for it in the coming season.

It is Shiner’s holiday cheer.  I have talked about Shiner before and greatly appreciate it.  Even though I am not a native Texan, I have lived in the state for 8 years so while it’s not home like Chicago is, it is a close second.  When I tried this for the first time, I was shocked how good it was.  This is brewed with peaches and pecans and you can definitely taste them.  So it’s definitely fruity for a beer, but for a holiday beer, I like it.

Teriyaki Chicken Wings – Abbey Dubbel

Teriyaki Chicken Wings

Weight Watchers points – 3/chicken wing

Servings – 15 people (about 3/person)

5 lbs chicken wings, disjointed

1 c soy sauce

½ c Splenda brown sugar mix

¼ c lemon juice

1 T garlic powder

1.      Heat oven to 300

2.      Combine last 4 ingredients

3.      Place chicken wings in a greased pan in a single layer

4.      Pour sauce over wings

5.      Bake 2.5 hours, turning wings every 20-30 minutes

6.      Wings become very dark in color

Although I don’t know where this recipe originally came from, my mom taught it to me and I just love it.  I can eat pounds of these wings all by myself.  They are great as an appetizer or even as a main dish.  Chicken Wings aren't healthy even when baked, they aare 3 points just for one, but these are a far better alternative then deep friend.  A plain chicken wing has a good amount of fat and thus should be a treat rather then a regular choice.  When I eat them, I always make them or order then grilled or baked and "naked" without breading.  I also pair with a salad or lots of veggies so I have just a handful of wings.

I paired these with an abbey dubbel.  I don’t generally drink many dubbels, but Mike loves them.  One we both like is the New Belgium abbey ale.  Almost every single beer out of New Belgium is awesome.  One of the things we were most upset about cancelling our wedding in Denver was not being able to tour the New Belgium brewery.  If you ever plan to go you need to register at least 6 weeks in advance. 

Abbey Dubbels are also called Belgian dubbel. Traditionally abbey dubbels are trappist ales.  Meaning they were brewed by Trappist (a Roman Catholic religious order who follow rule of St. Benedicct) monks.  They have mild hoppiness without a lingering hop flavor.  They have fruit aromas and caramel flavors due to crystal malt used. 

The New Belgium Abbey Ale has won a lot of recognition and awards at the Great American Beer Fest.  It is brewed with 6 different malts and a Belgian yeast strain.  It has a sweet flavor reminiscent of banana and is well balanced.

Strawberry Salad with Raspberry vinaigrette- Hefeweisen

Strawberry Salad with Raspberry vinaigrette

Weight watchers – 2 points/serving

Servings – 4

2 cups romaine or butter lettuce

2 cups baby spinach

2 cups sliced strawberries

3T sunflower seeds

.5 cup low fat feta

Dressing –

1.5t reduced sugar raspberry jam

1T balsamic vinegar

1T water

1t splenda

Pinch of paprika

Pinch of salt

Pinch of pepper

1.      Whisk together all ingredient of dressing

2.      Place lettuce & spinach into large bowl

3.      Top with dressing and mix

4.      Top with strawberries, feta and seeds

This is an easy and delicious summer time salad.  You can do it with all different types of fruit, different jams, different seeds or nuts & different cheese.  Really whatever you have on hand.  There is no oil in the vinaigrette saving you a lot of fat and calories.  Adjust if you prefer more dressing, but I prefer my salads mores on the drier side.

I paired this with a hefeweizen, a light, summery, citrusy beer.  I chose a Texas classic, Spoetzl Shiiner Hefeweizen.  Spoetzl Brewery is located in the small town of Shiner Texas, founded over a hundred years ago.  The hefeweizen is one of their year round, active beers.  It has flavors of orange, lemon and honey.  A perfect compliment and pairing to a light summer salad.

Spinach & Canadian Bacon Grilled Cheese - IPA

I have been so behind on my postings.  To get back on track....

Spinach & Canadian Bacon Grilled Cheese

Weight watchers – 8 points

Serving – 1

1 Whole wheat Bread bread thins

2 T (3/4 slice) Hot pepper muenster cheese

2 T (3/4 slice) 2% sharp cheddar cheese

 1.5 slices of Canadian bacon, cooked

1 t light butter

Handful of baby spinach

1.      Put .5 t of butter on each outside of bun

2.      Flip over buns

3.      On each side place half of each type of cheese

4.      On top side, put handful of fresh spinach

5.      On bottom side, put Canadian bacon slices

6.      Put sides together

7.      Heat in non-stick skillet, under medium heat, a few minutes on each side until cheese is melted and bread is toasted

I was craving a grilled cheese.  A grilled cheese is normally at least 14 weight watchers points and possibly more.  Plus it’s not very well rounded.  I decided to see what I could make with what was in my fridge, add some more protein and a vegetable.  It was amazingly delicious and satisfying.

This does have a little kick to it with the hot pepper muenster.  An IPA always stands up great to spicy rich food.  My husband asked around and researched and found an IPA everyone was recommending.  Yes, we are now married now.  We had a surprise wedding at our Bar Food Pairing wedding a few weeks ago.

The IPA is Abita Brewing Company’s Jockamo IPA.  The brewery is located in Abita Springs, Louisiana.  The Jockamo IPA is a year round beer.  It has a strong piney hoppiness to start with and finishes with a more mild caramel maltiness.  There is also some background orange citrus.