Wisconsin Boys Weekend 2009 Part 5- Miscellany

This year's trip would not be complete with going to Friday fish fry in Wisconsin. We went back to the Red Fox in Wild Rose. I had a delicious plate of Walleye Pike.
When we were stocking up for the trip in Milwaukee, we grabbed a few Racine Kringles from Sendik's grocery store. We tried apple and strawberry, but I wish they'd had almond.






My friend Dan brought some fresh Hatch chiles from the west coast. Inspired by Kenny Shopsin, we made it in a nice scramble. They were really spicy, and I thought I had washed my hands before I rubbed my eyes, but boy, was I wrong. Ouch.

Wisconsin Boys Weekend 2009 Part 4 - Union Star Cheese Factory

Near the site of out Wisconsin Boys Weekend is the Union Star Cheese Factory. We drove out in the morning to get fresh made cheese curds.
When we arrived there, people were already walking out with armfuls of fresh cheese curds.

Inside, the staff was bagging up the morning's batch. I also picked up some summer sausage, some Colby cheese with bacon, and something called cheese fudge which was like a dense chocolate cheesecake.

The real experience was trying fresh cheese curds- they are squeaky when you chew them. It was amazing- completely different from curds that have already been refrigerated or frozen. I would recommend the experience to anyone.
There might be a part 5.


7742 County Road II
Fremont, WI 54940-9637

Wisconsin Boys Weekend 2009 Part 3- Whole Roast Pig

The centerpiece meal of Boys Weekend up in Wisconsin this year was a whole roast pig. It was the first time for the group to try to cook such a large amount of meat, but we went into it enthusiastically. Our host, Thayer ordered a whole pig up at the local market, Stone Ridge in Wautoma, WI.

It was a little larger than suckling, but no too large. The pig had a "tramp stamp" indicating it was from Wisconsin. We started with a nice meat rub on it and it sat overnight in the cooler.

First thing next morning, we started working on the fire pit. We butterflied the animal, and secured it between two grates, and started cooking.
We had some issues with the pit firing up some, so I think the temperature got a little to hot early in the cooking process. As we got used to managing the pit, we were able to control the temperature in the latter part of the cooking process.

When the pig was finished, we unfortunately lost the skin to our early difficulties with temperature control, but once we started digging in, the meat was spectacular.
At first, we started carving up the meat, but the group collectively started just gathering around the animal, eating various parts straight off the table. It was all very primal- men eating meat with bare hands.
I happily shared a foot and part of the head with my friend Dan.

When we carved up the pork for later in the day, I decided to try my hand at creating a pig dip. Inspired by the vinegar style of dip from North Carolina, I whipped together a mix of the available spices in some apple vinegar and behold, we had some yummy pig dip.
Yes, there is a part 4.

Wisconsin Boys Weekend 2009 Part 2- Molecular Gastronomy

My friend Dan, at this years annual Boys Weekend trip brought up a bunch of chemicals to perform an amazing feat of molecular gastronomy, recreating Fabio Viviani's beef carpacchio salad with spherical olives from the 5th season of Top Chef.
First, he started by putting all the olives into a blender to puree them as much as possible.
He dumped the olive mix into a special bag so that he could strain out all the liquid from the olive mixture for use. I tried the residual solid left in the bag, and discovered it had absolutely no flavor at all.
With the olive liquid extracted from the mix, he then added a specific amount of Calcium Chloride.
Dan mentioned that the only place he could find an incredibly accurate scale was not the kitchen store, but at the head shop.
He then prepared and alginate solution in another bowl, and taking small amounts of the olive liquid, he dropped them into the alginate. This reaction created the "skin" around the olive mixture.
After a small time sitting, he removed the "spherical olives" rinsed them and placed them in some olive oil for more flavor. He then finished the rest of the salad and carpacchio and, voila, the dish was complete.
Biting into the spherical olives was a unique experience. They seemed to pop like a grape releasing the olive flavor.
Stay tuned for part 3.

Wisconsin Boys Weekend 2009 Part 1 - Sausage and Booze

So Fougoo has her monthly girls cooking nights known on this blog, but every year, I have an annual Boys Weekend in Wisconsin where we share food, drink and good times.
This year's trip was the most "foodie" we've ever had. This year, our host Thayer has been really taking Michael Ruhlman's Charcuterie book as inspiration to, first off, making homemade Italian and Hungarian sausages. They were incredible, fresh, and juicy. There is nothing like the snap of natural casings.
He also cured his own Lox, using a nice amount of star anise that was just delicious.

My fried Karl, brought an incredible sausage from Zingerman's of Ann Arbor that was infused with black truffles. Before you cut into it, it had that stinky amazing smell of a good cheese.

Certainly, no weekend is complete without some delicious alcoholic beverages. After our experience with the Caldera canned beers in previous trips, we had several other canned craft beers. I liked the Modus Hoperandi from Ska Brewing in Colorado. The can was all decked out in the Two Tone style and it said "Lip up Fatty" on the bsck.
For a lighter flavor, the Mama's Little Yella Pils from Oskar Blues was really nice.
We tried some Tito's Handmade Vodka from Austin, TX that was more like a whiskey in it's bite and more character than more widely available vodka.
Stay tuned for part 2.

Ardy and Ed's Drive-In, Oshkosh, WI

On our way to our annual boys weekend in Wisconsin, we stopped in Oshkosh to Ardy & Ed's Drive-In on the shores of Lake Winnebago for a snack.
They had waitresses on roller skates who rolled up to take our orders. Certainly, because Ardy and Ed's make their own root beer and ice cream, we had one of their famous root beer floats. Despite it coming in a styrofoam cup, and not being very photogenic, the root beer float was one of the best I've ever had.
I also had a brat sandwich, which consisted of bratwurst contents molded into a hamburger patty with onions and mustard.


2413 S Main St
Oshkosh, WI 54902-7244
(920) 231-5455

Benji's in Milwaukee, WI

Last month, I was passing through Milwaukee, and I went for breakfast at Benji's. After having the Hoffel Poffel from Jo's last year, I had to order the Super Hoppel Poppel at Benji's.
The Super Hoppel Poppel was eggs, spicy salami chunks, potato, onions, peppers, and mushrooms topped with American cheese. It really hit the spot.

4156 N. Oakland Ave.
Milwaukee, WI
414-332-7777

Weekend in Wisconsin

I was up in Wisconsin this summer for my annual Boys Weekend. It was a time for local Wisconsin food, good beer from Caldera and Three Floyds, swimming in Lake Gilbert, games of horseshoes, and inappropriate nudity

We went to Waupaca for our first dinner Friday night at Simpson's Indian Room. Of course, we had to go for the traditional Wisconsin Friday fish fry. For appetizers, the find was deep fried sauerkraut balls. They were mixed with mashed potato- like a croquette and came with Thousand Island dressing for dipping.

For dinner, I opted for the fried Walleye- it's got to be my favorite of the lake fishes to fry up. Some people in the group got Blue Gill, but I was told that they could have been a little more fresh.

During the day, we started a small campfire while playing horseshoes, and we cooked up some bratwursts and Hungarian sausages from a local butcher Schwai's. The brats seemed to have a hint of fennel in them- with a little mustard on a bun, so delicious.

For our second dinner, we got a small pork shoulder and smoked it in a green egg for the whole day. Then, the meat was pulled apart with a fork- it was unbelievable. The pork was juicy and flavorful.



Before heading off the the airport to go home, we stopped off at Kopp's for a delicious bacon cheeseburger and a chocolate malted milkshake.

Simpson's Indian Room
222 S Main St
Waupaca, WI 54981
Phone:(715) 258-2330

Kopp's Frozen Custard
5373 N. Port Washington Rd.
Glendale, WI 53217

Breakfast at Jo's Cafe, Milwaukee, WI

After flying into Milwaukee for my annual weekend with the boys, Lickingpants and I went for breakfast at Jo's Cafe in the north side of town.
After some tasty coffee, we both split a plate of biscuits and gravy. The ladies next to us called it a "heart attack on a plate".
We then ordered the places specialty, the Hoffel Poffel: a dish of scrambled egg, spicy salami chunks, potatoes, onion, and cheese. The salami was awesome.
Our waitress, upon delivering our plate said, "You guys sure are hungry."

3519 W Silver Spring Dr
Milwaukee, WI 53209
(414) 461-0210

Kopp's Frozen Custard, Jumbo Burgers in Milwaukee

When I went to Wisconsin, I flew into Milwaukee, and on the way back to the airport, we stopped at Kopp's for their famous custard and burgers.
When entering the place, you can't help noticing the all stainless steel kitchen with several custard machines making fresh custard flavors up front.
I started with a cheeseburger with the works and onion rings. The burger was not your usual piled high made to order burger that you can't get your mouth around. It was more like a Whopper- flatter and easier to bite into. It was also pretty greasey.
The onion rings were tasty as well. For my custard, one of the flavors of the day was the butter pecan.

Boys Weekend in Wisconsin, Pt. 2 - Lengua Tacos

While up in Wisconsin with the boys, we enjoyed delicious BBQ'd bratwursts and Hungarian sausages (with paprika) from Schwai's butchers and microbrewed pale ale and I.P.A. from Caldera Brewing smuggled in lickingpants suitcase from Portland, OR.
One of the highlights was our friend Steve making homemade tongue tacos. He started with a large cow tongue from the butcher, and then he proceeded to smoke it all day on the BBQ.
While waiting for it to reach the right temperature, he made homemade pico de gallo with fresh tomatoes, onions, fresh cilasntro, jalepenos, and limes. He also started to warm up fresh corn tortillas he brought from a tortilleria.
When the tongue was ready, he then proceeded to chop it up into little chunks, seasoned it on a grill, and then we all made our own tacos a la carte.

Boys Weekend in Wisconsin, Pt. 1 - Fish Fry

So I was up in Wisconsin this past weekend to have a boys weekend with some of my good friends including lickingpants. Luckily, we all like food!
Friday night in Wisconsin is all about the fish fry - perhaps a remnant of the Catholic tradition of eating only fish on fridays. We headed out to a local joint near the lake house we were staying at called The Red Fox.
We started with an appetizer of deep fried cheese curds, a regional speciality, followed by a trip to the bountiful salad bar. The best item was the BLT salad.
For the fish fry, I got to try the walleye (above) and the perch. In Wisconsin, you just have lemon and tartar sauce- no vinegar. The walleye was great. I thought the perch, because it was a smaller piece of fish, was too firm after being fried. My side of German potato salad was delicious.


Red Fox Food & Spirits
N5285 E Little Silver Lake Rd
Wild Rose, WI
(920) 622-5300