Tailgatin' at home

College football season is upon us, but unfortunately, neither Rick nor I live close to where our teams playing this weekend. The Heels played at noon, but since the game was on ESPNU, I didn't get to watch it. Rick's game, however, was on Saturday night so we watched it here. I decided to do appetizer/hor d'oeuvre type dishes for dinner to give us a kinda tailgating feeling.

For our finger food feast, I made Bratwurst Bites with Beer and Mustard Sauce and Mini Provolone Popovers. Once again, I didn't make homemade bratwurst but instead picked some up at Publix. I did have an amusing conversation with the checkout guy about the difference between hot dogs and bratwurst. The poor kid thought that they were just expensive hot dogs while his friend who was working in the checkout lane beside of him and I just shook our heads at him. Ahh, to be young and clueless again! I also cheated on the beer and horseradish mustard sauce and used the test kitchen's tip at the bottom of the recipe to save some time and energy. I didn't have the whole grain Dijon mustard so I used 1/2 cup of stone ground mustard and 1 cup of regular Dijon mustard. The mini-provolone popovers were featured as the recipe of the day on epicurious.com, and being the cheese lover that I am, they definitely caught my eye. Rick suggested that I make some in the Tar Heel muffin pan that he got me so some of them were done in the mini-muffin pan and six in the larger Tar Heel pan. The ones in the mini-muffin pan got a little overdone, but they were all yummy. How can you go wrong with all that cheese?

Here are the recipes that I used:

Bratwurst with Beer and Mustard Horseradish sauce

Ingredients
Bratwurst
1/2 cup beer

Directions
Cut Bratwurst into 1to 1 1/2 inch thick pieces. Heat large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add Bratwurst to skillet and cook until browned on bottom, about 5 minutes. Add remaining 1/2 cup beer to skillet; cover with lid slightly ajar and cook until beer evaporates, 6 to 7 minutes. Turn patties over and cook until brown on bottom and cooked through, about 5 minutes longer.

Serve with:

Beer and Horseradish Mustard Sauce

Ingredients
1/2 cup stone ground mustard
1 cup Dijon Mustard
1/4 cup beer
1/4 cup prepared horseradish

Directions
Mix all four ingredients in a small bowl and chill for one hour before serving.



Mini Provolone Popovers

Ingredients

• 1 cup 2% milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/3 cup finely chopped provolone
• 2 tablespoons grated parmesan
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped chives

Directions

Whisk together milk, eggs, flour, 1 tablespoon butter, salt, and pepper until smooth, then stir in cheeses and chives. Chill 1 hour to allow batter to rest.

Preheat oven to 425°F with rack in upper third.

Butter muffin pan with remaining tablespoon butter, then heat in oven until butter sizzles, about 2 minutes.

Gently stir batter, then divide among muffin cups (they will be about two-thirds full). Bake until puffed and golden-brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Serve immediately.