Gridiron Grub: Can’t Get Much Wurst

Anyone with internet access or two ears has undoubtedly heard of the recent travesty that  occurred at Penn State University. I will not waste much time discussing the issue on ES. but suffice it to say, it has been an extremely difficult week to spend much time paying attention to football, and particularly being a PSU fan. It’s even harder to add the typical fart jokes you’ve come to expect from ES. Come Saturday though, we’re still looking forward to watching some football.

Trying to think of a relatively simple dish for this week’s football get-together, I remembered I had a voucher for a package of The Original Brat Hans. I don’t normally shill for any specific products but their brats are a tasty guilt-free option for meat-eaters like myself. No antiobiotics, added hormones, preservatives, MSG or nitrates; even the chickens and hogs used are 100% vegetarian-fed. After seeing that voucher I ran to the store to pick some up and had the beginnings of an idea. I pulled out some of my homemade canned chili sauce to make a very typical German food truck dish: Currywurst.


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Gridiron Grub: French Onion Soup Sandwich

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“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”

That is one of my favorite quotes about teamwork and the spirit of those words is part of why I love sports so much. We see time and time again that individual stars get paid the big bucks but often it is the team that works together best that has the most success. The same could be said for cooking. While quality ingredients are important, the simplest ingredients can really come together with just some time, effort, technique and a sense of fun.

With that in mind, it has been a rain-filled and cold week on the East Coast so I was in the mood for soup and a sandwich. Here’s the spin I put on a traditional combo for wifey and I to enjoy while cheering on PSU football Saturday night.

Open-faced French Onion Soup Sandwich

First you must recruit. So to assemble your team of ingredients, here is what I went with: 4tbsp clarified butter, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 lb onions sliced lengthwise, 8 oz beef stock, cup of spiced apple wine (I had it on hand from a local winery but feel free to use any white wine you like), c grated apple wood smoked Gruyere,red onion ciabatta bread and parsley.

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