Mixed Greens Salad with bacon dressing & Double Dark Lager

Mixed Greens Salad with bacon dressing
Servings - 2

• 3 big handfuls of mixed greens
• 1 hard-boiled egg
• 2 pieces of bacon, diced
• 2 Splashes of red wine vinegar
• 2 squirts Dijon mustard
• Pinch of sugar
• Dash of salt and pepper

1. Split mixed greens on two plates or bowls
2. Slice hard-boiled egg and split between two plates
3. In small sauce pan, sauté bacon, until crisp
4. Drain bacon and about half of drippings
5. Lower heat under sauce pan
6. To sauce pan, add red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, sugar, salt and pepper
7. Stir until incorporated and add bacon back
8. Pour bacon and dressing over greens and egg

I served this salad with schnitzel and spaetzle and it paired well with a German inspired dinner. Therefore, I would recommend a German inspired beer here. I recommend Moerlein’s Barbarossa Dark Lager. Christian Moerlein Brewing Company is out of Cincinnati, OH. This is between Munich-style dunkel and bock. It had a rich, medium bodied flavor and pairs well with the richness of the bacon.

Whiskey BBQ Sausages - Bock

Whiskey BBQ Sausages

Servings – depends on size of sausage

Pecan Smoked Jalapeno sausage (can substitute other sausages, but would use something spicy.  This is not one of my healthy recipes, but definitely would be if you used chicken sausage instead)

¼ cup of whiskey

1/2 cup ketchup

2 T brown sugar

1 T apple cider vinegar

1 T Worcestershire

.5 T lemon juice

1.5 T Dijon

1 t Louisiana hot sauce

1 t onion powder

1 t garlic powder

Dash salt and pepper

As I said before this wasn’t the healthiest with the pork sausage, but if you use chicken sausage you could definitely have one to two of these for a point.  I made these for a 4^th of July party and they were a hit.  I usually don’t even like sausages and I had several.  The mix of spicy and sweet was perfect.

Because these are a little spicy, I would use a strong beer to stand up to them.  Since was the 4^th of July I chose one of the most American Beers I know, while at least in Texas and that’s a Shiner Bock.  Shiner of course is made in the small town of Shiner, Texas.  Shiner Bock is their main beer.  When you visit Texas you must drink shiner.  Every time my Dad comes to visit he looks forward to having it.  It’s a dark beer that can stand up to the strong flavors of these sausages.  It smooth and malty.