I’m getting excited about the week after Mother’s Day. Why… well, first, I know I will be enjoying my new wonderful Mother’s Day gift. Second, Parker Carlson from Carlson Vineyards in Colorado will be visiting all of our stores

Parker Carlson

to sample his wine. Lucky for us, Parker and his wife Mary love Wisconsin and come here every spring for a vacation. They kindly stop and visit us on the way to their fishing destination, probably a top secret spot.

When not vacationing in Wisconsin, Parker is known for his award-winning Riesling and tasty fruit wines, including Peach, Plum, Cherry and his recently re-released Apricot  & Pear-Apple. In these parts, he’s quite famous for

his Sweet Baby Red,  Sweet Gewurztraminer and Unoaked Chardonnay (it’s back!).

I hope that you can stop in, meet Parker and try his wine . If you twist his arm, he may even tell you a few fishing tales. Cheers!

Super fun beer and food pairings will be held at our 8210 Watts Rd, Madison location from 6-8pm on Saturday May 12th.  We will be introducing the brand new “Trés Fem” a Cherry Wheat Ale from Hale’s Ales. Millstream Brewing Co. co-owner Teresa Albert will be in the house sampling their wonderful collection of brews including their newest “Extreme Series” offering. Also, do not miss your chance to purchase a special offering… Uncle Jacob’s Stout, a 17% Bourbon Barrel Aged Beauty that Avery Brewing Company sent to us to in honor of  Craft Beer Week.

Your $5 Admission paid at door will be donated to Gilda’s Club of Madison.

Be here for beer!
Chris

Tart using 2oz shell shown. 10-oz shells also available.

I am  always looking for super easy desserts using fruit and came upon a recipe for fruit tart. It looked so elegant and delicious that I wanted to make it, but I don’t have a tart pan. Hmm. Made me wonder if I have room for another pan in my baking cabinet. I am actually scared every time I open it, despite relegating  rarely used items to the basement. Would a tart pan just end up in the basement, too? Hmm…

Long story short. We teamed up with Clausen’s Bakery to make us shortbread cookie tart shell/crust. Now I don’t have to buy a tart pan and making them just became quite a bit easier. Our new shells are available in a single 10-oz or in two 2-oz shells to create individual tarts. Find them next to our strawberries and create tasty fruit tarts in minutes, like our Easy Fruit Tart. The best thing is that you can swap out the fruit you use with the season to create new combinations. Can’t wait for Chin Drippin’ Peaches!

Saturday April 7- 8:00am- 9:00pm

Sunday April 8- Closed

Happy Easter/Passover from Brennan’s Market!

The great thing about Easter is that the menu is that no one expects you to reinvent the wheel. Most people want a ham, lamb or brunch. It’s tradition, right? So, I’m not going to post a bunch of complicated recipes. In fact, I usually don’t. Instead, here are some very delicious, easy  recipes that we cooked up for a segment on NBC15 and the wines (and beer!) that go with them.

Of course, there’s going to have to be a cheese tray. This is Wisconsin. For ours we selected 3 cheeses that will also be great on leftover ham sammies. We paired World Champ Havarti with Brennan’s Apricot Spreadable Fruit for a tasty combo, and Marieke’s Foenugreek Gouda with it’s mapley characters is another World Champ. Our best-selling Sweet Swiss perfectly rounds out the trio.

For the cheese platter, I recommend a Prosecco like Italia or La Corte. I think of these wines as work-horse wines because they could really take you all the way through  the meal, including dessert. Light, and refreshing, with low alcohol, you create sparkling cocktails like Mimosas or Bellinis or enjoy simply chilled. If want a drier style Prosecco, the Italia Prosecco is rich with lemony notes. The La Corte is a bit lighter and a bit sweeter, but not overly so.

In my family there wasn’t a choice between ham and brunch; it was both, so that’s what we did here. We made an Apricot Mustard Glazed Ham, Lemony Asparagus, Crustless Quiche and a Strawberry Spinach Salad. Again, could do Prosecco , but if you want to mix it up Riesling is a great choice here. Try Tarkine Forest Riesling is a sweeter style. If you love Rose, try Viu Manent Malbec Rose which pairs nicely with the fruity elements of the glaze and the strawberry salad. If you simply must go red, try a lighter-bodied red like Pinot Noir (Tarkine Forest).

Now I would be remiss if I left out micros because we have a brew from Scuttlebutt Brewery that tastes like it was made for Easter– Scuttlebutt Belgian-Style Tripel. It has huge aromas of pear and clove (yes!). Very much a chameleon beer, it will easily adapt to different foods with ease and your Uncle Larry, if necessary.

I hope that try some of these yummy recipes and pairings. Let us know what you think. Happy Easter! Happy Passover! Happy Spring Solstice!

Every week this time of year from our customers I hear the following statement, “I love this time of year when all the contest cheeses come to Brennan’s!” Longtime Brennan’s customers are “in the know” about this event and now you can be to! Here’s a little history: Since the 1980′s owner Skip Brennan has been purchasing all of the available World Championship Cheese  entries after they have been judged. The contest is held every two years and continues to grow in the number of entries submitted. This year over 2,504 cheeses were judged!

Just some of the entries in our coolers awaiting cutting.

Since the Contest (March 5-7), most of those cheeses have now made their way to our New Glarus cheese cellar. We sort them and determine what can be cut right away for our stores and what can be aged.  A big project for us, but we like to say that opening the boxes is like Christmas morning for cheese lovers.

Now the cheese has begun to arrive in our stores! First to land are soft  fresh cheeses like Brie, Blue, Fresh Mozzarella  and some semi-soft cheese. Every Brennan’s store has a different mix, and we are sampling one variety every day. One of the most exciting things to me is that I know how much effort and time cheesemakers put into selecting the cheese they enter into the contest. About 7 years ago, Brennan’s visited one of our favorite cheesemakers. While going through his coolers, I noticed a wheel of cheese sitting all by itself on a stainless steel table. I asked what it was. The cheesemaker replied, “That’s the cheese I’m submitting the World Championship Cheese Contest.” It was like his baby.

Our cheese team with award-winning cheesemaker Marieke Penterman at the final judging.

So, don’t miss this  awesome one time opportunity to try cheeses that cheesemakers around the world selected as their best. Stop in and ask your Brennan’s store cheese specialist about all the options, and don’t forget to visit our microbeer and wine selectors for some perfect pairings.

Happy World Championship Cheese Season!

Rhubarb season has begun! While we’ve had mild winter, rhubarb isn’t quite field-grown (called cherry rhubarb) yet. Not until March.  Right now, Rhubarb is hothouse, or strawberry rhubarb.

Did you know that Rhubarb, botanically speaking, is considered a vegetable? Most often though, we treat it as a fruit, though it is very rarely eaten raw due to its tart nature. Rhubarb needs some sweetness like fruit juice, agave nectar, sugar or honey to balance out the acidity. Nicknamed the “pie plant” because that is the most common use for this veggie, but Rhubarb is equally delicious in savory and sweet dishes.

Here are a few easy and delicious ways to enjoy:

Rhubarb and strawberries have a natural affinity and can be combined with yummy results.

Rhubarb & Strawberry Pie

Rhubarb & Strawberry Pudding Cake

Rhubarb & Strawberry Compote with Fresh Mint

For a savory treat, try Pork Chops with Rhubarb, Onion & Raisin Chutney.

Just a few rhubarb tips:

• Never, ever eat rhubarb leaves, as they are poisonous.
• Wrap rhubarb in plastic wrap and store it in the coldest part of your refrigerator for one week.
• Cooked and raw rhubarb both freeze well.

Tailgating Dip and Super Queso Dip with Brats.

Since the Packers aren’t in the Super Bowl this year (don’t get me started), this year’s game will be all about eating great snacks with a few commercials thrown in. I considered putting together a New York or New England menu, but  realized that just because our team’s not playing doensn’t mean we need to eat Chowder. So, I put together a menu that consists of Wisconsin classics with a few healthy options, too. That way you won’t feel guilty about dessert!

Vegetable Crunch Dip with Romaine Scoops

For another hot dip recipe, try our Super Queso Dip made with our Brennan’s Pilsner Jalapeno Cheese Spread. Serve with sliced brats, tortilla chips and fresh veggies.

long van ride with no snacks. I wondered if I would like this dip as much when I wasn’t starving. Turns out I do. You can serve it already in the lettuce leaves or serve with the lettuce on the side. Either way delicious and very fast to make.

Of course, salsa and Guacamole are synomous with football snacks. Rather than a traditional tomato based salsa, I made one with blood oranges and Cara Cara Navel Oranges. So yummy and colorful! The key to this tasty

Cara Cara and Blood Orange Salsa with cut Pretty Belle Navel, Blood Oranges and Cara Caras for color comparison.

recipe is knowing how to segment oranges. After that, it is a snap.

Super Fruit Dip

Finally for the afor mentioned dessert, I made a super easy fruit dip with cream cheese, mascarpone, vanilla and a little sugar.  I paired it with our Florida Strawberries, 900 Series Grapes, Honeygold Pineapple and blueberries. When you dip strawberries in, it tastes like strawberry cheesecake! Coincidently, chocolate brownies also pair well with it. Let your kids make little skewers and dunk them in. At least they’re eating fruit, right!

I hope that you put together a fun menu for game day, try some of these recipes and enjoy watching the ads, and perhaps a bit of football, too!

OK, it’s January. Lucky for us the Packers are in the playoffs, so there is still that hint of celebration in the air (GO PACKERS!). But football is just Sunday, what about the rest of the week?  Why not add a little zest to your meals with a burst of citrusy tangerine flavor?

Tangerines are a type of mandarin, like satsumas and clemintines (no seeds). The name tangerine comes from Tangier, Morroco which is the port that shipped the first batch of tangerines. No wonder! Besides being tangy, sweet and  loaded with vitamin C,  they’re easy-to-peel!

So, give these recipes a try.  You can ward off scurvy and enjoy some delicious meals. A double bonus!

Cocktail course (That is a course right?):  Frozen Tangerine Margaritas

Salad: Radish, Arugula and Red Onion Salad with Tangerines

Entree: Tangerine-Glazed Ham with Baby Carrots.  Don’t just reserve ham for the holidays!

Entree: Tangerine Chicken

Breakfast: Citrus Salad with Gingered Yogurt

Dessert: Flambeed Tangerines with Vanilla Ice Cream

I hope that you give some of these recipes a try and and some zest (:)) to your winter!

New Year’s Eve: Open until 6pm

 New Year’s Day: Closed

Rose Bowl Monday January 2: 8am- 9pm

Have a safe and happy New Year’s from all of us at Brennan’s!