Spicy Bloody Mary Kabobs
Yields 12 Kabobs
Ingredients:
For the fried pickles:
1 jar of The Real Dill Jalapeno Honey Pickles
4 cups vegetable oil
2 cups flour
2 tbsp dry ranch dressing mix
5 eggs
4 cups panko bread crumbs
1 cup ranch dressing for dipping
For the kabobs:
1 package of Charcutnuvo Smoked Bison and Pork Jalapeno Cheddar Brats | sliced into 1 - ½ inch pieces
1 package of Charcutnuvo Wild Boar Sausages | sliced into 1 - ½ inch pieces
1 yellow bell pepper | chopped into bite sized pieces
1 red onion | chopped into bite sized pieces
1 cup cherry tomatoes
2 tbsp The Real Dill Bloody Mary Rimming Spice | add more or less to taste
2 cups fried pickles
¼ cup roughly chopped parsley
Instructions
Wash and dry all veggies, then chop the yellow pepper and red onion into bite sized pieces. Add pepper, onion, and tomatoes into a medium bowl and season with The Real Dill Bloody Mary Rimming Spice. Mix well and set aside.
Next, let's fry the pickles! Remove The Real Dill pickle spears from their jar and set on a paper towel. Transfer to a cutting board, and slice into thirds.
Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet to 375 F. In a large bowl, mix flour and ranch dressing mix. In a medium bowl, beat 5 eggs. In another large bowl, place panko bread crumbs.
Roll each pickle spear third into the four, then dip into the egg mixture. Roll into the flour once more, then dip into the egg once more, then roll into the panko bread crumbs. Do this with each pickle sear third and set aside.
Fry each pickle spear in hot oil for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oil with tongs or a slotted spoon, and place on a cooling rack.
Once all pickles are fried, let’s build the kabobs!
Thread the seasoned veggies, Charcutnuvo Wild Boar Sausages, Smoked Jalapeno Cheddar Brats, and The Real Dill fried pickles onto your skewers, rotating each how you like.
Preheat grill to medium heat, then grill kabobs for 2-3 minutes on each side.
Place on cooling rack and garnish with chopped parsley.
Serve with ranch dressing for dipping the fried pickles and enjoy!
Outside Dining
It’s Summer of 2021 and we’re here for it! Though we’ve gotten creative in our al fresco dining experiences in the last year, the warm weather allows for outdoor dining experiences that feel a bit more “normal.” Backyards and pools are getting ready for some outside celebrations and we at Charcutnuvo are too. We want to help you have the healthiest, most delicious summer moments with your friends and families as we celebrate being together! Whether you’re sleeping under the stars or hitting the park volleyball tournament, we hope our organic and natural sausages will be on your menu.Summer Fun
As we head into the warmer months, let’s consider some of our familiar Summer activities that are back in business.Camping
Sleeping under the stars. Feeling the fresh air on our faces. Nothing says Summer like spending a few nights out of doors. The campfire is a huge part of the camping experience. Stories, laughing, and of course cooking!! Whether you bring your own portagrill or go old school with hotdogs on sticks, Charcutnuvo matches the natural environment with all natural ingredients. If you’re looking for a fun recipe to bring to the fire pit, try our Sheet pan Jalapeno Cheddar Brats + Veggies. You can use a sheet pan or bring out the foil for an easy clean-up option. As you sit back and relax from a day of hiking or rafting you’ll get your veggies and your organic bratwurst with the added gritty flavor of the campfire. A crowd pleaser that’s both delicious and easy, hungry tummies will go to bed full after this hearty, flavorful meal.Brunch
Summer isn’t all about the soot of the campsite, sometimes you need a weekend spread that is perfect for brunch on the patio. Get out the linens, cut some flowers from the garden, and invite your friends over for weekend brunch! Every brunch menu needs some protein. Why not surprise your guests with the Chicken Italian Frittta? Made with Charcutnuvo’s Organic Chicken Italian Sausage, this egg frittata has roasted bell peppers, baby spinach, and feta to make an elegant menu centerpiece. Add some sliced fruit and a muffin selection and your brunch will not only present beautifully, it will be full of lean, organic protein. You can feel confident your guests will go home satisfied (and maybe even a little impressed) by your brunch spread. Celebrations The summer months offer many annual markers to celebrate. Father’s Day, Fourth of July, and Back to School events all pair beautifully with healthy, delicious sausages. Often days when we gather crowds of people we love, we can make sure we offer our guests the best selection of quality meats. Charcutnuvo has a sausage for every palette, so rotate a few through your summer meal plans and make sure you aren’t missing out on one of our tasty, organic sausage options. On Father’s Day the men in your life might appreciate a unique game sausage like the Smoked Pork and Bison Bratwurst made with grass fed bison. For Fourth of July, you can’t go wrong with the classic uncured frank found in our traditional Wieners. But who are we kidding? If a quality sausage is the perfect celebration food, isn’t a quality sausage wrapped in bacon that much better?! Try our Uncured Mini Franks Wrapped in Bacon if you want to put together a party spread people will remember. A Paleo-friendly crowd pleaser that is perfect for the buffet table. They’ll be so popular, the only issue will be if you’ll make enough.Picnics
Nothing says summer like the red and white checked table cloth, some lemonade, and a picnic table. A casual way to get everyone to meet up at the park and let the kids play or the dogs run for the frisbee, picnic food will certainly be a draw. The lovely thing about a picnic is that you can go uber casual or a bit gourmet. Regardless of your picnic vibe, incorporating Charcutnuvo’s natural meats into your menu will add flavor, texture, and protein without any added preservatives or antibiotics. It wouldn’t be fair to you if we didn’t recommend our signature potato salad recipe to your picnic menu must-do list. A twist on the classic picnic staple, the Potato Salad with Smoked Uncured BBQ Sausage + Pederson’s Bacon combines our Smoked Bacon Brat with BBQ Sauce with bacon from our friends over at Pederson’s Farms. With green onions, chives, dijon mustard, and baby potatoes, this falls into the foodie arena without requiring any special cooking skills. Serve it cold or at room temperature for a potato salad with solid protein.Grilling
The weeknight staple to the summer meal plan, grilling keeps the heat outside so the cook can be part of the gathering. Fortunately all of our organic and natural sausages do great on the grill and make for an easy meal. Whether it’s the traditional hot dog in a bun or a gourmet sausage with some spice, there is something in Charcutnuvo’s selection for everyone. For an easy take on a classic, stock up on our Bratwurst With Pork and Veal and offer a condiment bar with all of the fixings. Ketchup, mustard, relish of course. But also grilled onions, fresh onions, jalapeños, and cheese. Nothing’s off limits when it comes to what can be added to our brats. What matters is that the grill master has enough sausage to feed the crowd. He or she must be ready to offer seconds because one person’s unique topping selection will inspire another to try a new tasty combination.A Great Summer Sampler
No matter the outdoor activity, we at the Charcutnuvo family wish your family lots of healthy gatherings this summer. We know being outside is safe and healthy and our natural and organic sausages are the safe and healthy protein option for your crew. Our CEO Eric, has picked out his favorite combination of Charcutnuvo products for a sampler package you won’t want to miss. Aptly named Eric’s Favorite Set, the bundle has six delicious sausages to get you familiar with Charcutnuvo’s wide range of options. For only $55 the sampler includes: Organic Breakfast Links Bratwurst With Pork and Veal Smoked Pork and Bison Jalapeño Cheddar Brats Organic Chicken Italian Sausage Smoked Pork and Bison Bratwurst Wild Boar Sausage Consider Eric’s Favorite Set as our insider suggestions on where to start. Once you find a product you like, you try others in the same family.Let’s Get Cooking!
Now that we’ve given you our best recipes for your outdoor get togethers, you can pick a date (maybe even tonight), gather your people (5 or 50, it doesn’t matter), and decide what your activity will be. Regardless of the setting, we know al fresco dining with hormone free, antibiotic free meats will add flavor to your fun without sacrificing your health. We’d love to see how you are using Charcutnuvo products to celebrate your summer. Tag us in your photos @charcut.nuvo and use the hashtag #charcutnuvo so we can get inspired for some new recipes. Here’s to good food, good friends, and being together. May this be a summer when we recognize how fortunate we are for health and the food on our plates reflects this value of healthy living.Eric Gutknecht - May 23rd, 2021
For big races, I traditionally write up a long race report. I do this for my friends, family, and supporters that crave the details (both athletes and non-athletes). It saves me a lot of energy with all the texting, emails, phone calls, etc. This report is especially long at 3.5 pages. I also do this so that I can preserve my own memories and re-live the experience later on in life. Ironman is a life changing event. It affects people in different ways, and for me, I always learn a lot about myself. There is nothing better than hearing “You are an Ironman” when you complete this tremendous event. For those that don’t want to read the whole thing, I finished in 10 hours, 13 minutes, 55 seconds. This was good enough for 8th place in my age group, and I earned my place at the Ironman world championships in Kona.
Pre-Race and an Unconventional Build-Up
Ironman Tulsa has been my main objective for over a year. My entire training program has focused on competing in this race in hopes of qualifying for Kona. My wish came true on Sunday, but it sure didn’t come easy. My training program and race calendar leading up to the race was all going according to plan until I went to Miami in mid-March to participate in a ½ ironman race to measure my fitness and practice my race strategy. It all went horribly wrong on the bike at mile 20 when a fellow competitor caused a 6-person bike crash, and unfortunately, I was the 4th person in. Finished the race bloodied and bruised with head-to-toe road rash, but didn’t understand the severity of my elbow injury until the next day. Turns out I had a deep enough gash that you could see my bone and tendons.
Fast forward 6 weeks after the crash, and nothing had healed. In fact, it had gotten worse. Due to the fact that I am immuno- compromised with rheumatoid arthritis, healing didn’t even start. In fact, the tissue underneath my skin had not regenerated at all, and I developed a tunnel underneath my skin and a gigantic and disgusting looking hole in my elbow. Fortunately, I have a good Doctor friend who saw the wound and advised me to take action. After some convincing (and 3 weeks before my Ironman) I was able to get into Kaiser and build my team of Dr’s, all of whom are athletes and could relate to my goals. We had to make some aggressive decisions all centered around getting me to the start line. One decision was to not perform an immediate surgery which would have closed the wound, but would only give me 1 week in the water before my big race. With the help of some amazing doctors and close friends, we had to pack my elbow every other day with 6 inches of gauze, and then figure out a way for me to get into the water with enough water proof bandages and wrap to keep the wound completely dry. Then following each swim, my amazing friends would help me repack the wound and prepare it for the next 2 days. This worked beautifully, and although I lost 6 weeks of swim training, I didn’t lose all of my swim fitness. I lost a lot of it, but I knew I was in good enough shape to complete the 2.4 mile swim, but understood that it would not be pretty…or fast.
Race Day
It was the first time Tulsa has hosted an Ironman, so some logistics and course challenges were to be expected. It was also the first race post covid, so this created a whole different set of rules and distancing requirements. On top of being a first-time race, this race was also a point-to-point race, meaning that there were different locations for the transitions. There were certainly some logistical challenges, but in my opinion, Ironman did a great job of executing a great race.
The Swim
Following a 2:45 AM wake –up call, we left for the shuttles around 3:45. Figured the first shuttle left at 4:00, and I preferred to be on an early shuttle just in case things were complicated. So glad that I did this, as it was a complete cluster. 2000 athletes were all descending into this bottleneck, and needless to say, the Tulsa police/traffic control had no idea what to do. I ended up jumping out of the car and just walking the ¾ mile. Got on the bus and headed to the lake…or so we thought. The bus driver missed the exit and caused major upheaval for the anxious participants on the bus. A complicated U-turn on the highway, and 20 minutes later, we were back on track to the lake. Got off the bus, prepped my bike, and then heard the announcement that the 1:00 hour and under swimmers needed to line up and start making the 1-mile trek from transition to the start line. This was at 5:15 and not even 20% of the athletes had even arrived yet. It was also raining so this created a few other challenges during the transition setup. My group (estimated time between 1:00 and 1:10) was next, which I promptly missed as I was still getting setup in transition. Fortunately, it was a mile walk and I had my extra pair of running shoes on, so I scurried my way through the crowds and made it to the front of this group. We loaded corals at 5:30 (25 socially distanced athletes per coral) separated by estimated swim times, and I was safe and sound in the 2nd coral. Had an hour of sitting and stretching before my time to start. Pros started at 6:20 and 6:30 and we went off at 6:40 in groups of 4 socially distanced athletes. I got in the water at 6:42. The first mile and a half went quite well then it all began to fall apart for me. Without a lot of recent swim training, my body wasn’t used to being horizontal for such an extended period of time. Things began to twinge and cramp…. both calves and hamstrings started cramping and I spent the next mile swimming from buoy to buoy with an occasional stop and stretch. Fortunately, I was able to complete the swim, but came in at 1:08 vs the 1:00 that I had originally hoped for….and perhaps had a strained calf. Turns out this was nothing. I was actually super relieved that I made it through relatively unscathed. Was 21st in my age group at this point. Had to remove my elbow bandages during my transition, and jumped on the bike in a torrential downpour.
The Bike
Got through transition and carefully navigated through the dangerous and super slick park roads onto the course. Witnessed 2 crashes in the first 2 miles so I dialed it back and made sure that I stayed to true to my motto “Upright at All Costs”. Amongst the athletes, there was a lot of anxiety and fear over the 2-3 mile Water Tower hill road around mile 10, and I wanted to make sure I was at the front of the race before hitting this section….so glad I did. This was a steep descent over a super rough road filled with pot holes, uneven and slick surfaces (did I mention pouring rain), and mud. Coming through this section, there were already 2 crashes and 3 flat tires that I saw, but I made it through fine with some white-knuckle bike handling. From what I heard, this section took a lot of competitors out of the race, so again, so happy that I was at the front of the race and pretty much had the entire road to myself. With this behind me, I settled into my groove and tried to hold 220 watts for the remainder of the race. This proved somewhat difficult as the entire day it felt like there was a headwind at every turn. This, and the constant rain, was super demoralizing. Fortunately, around mile 30, I caught up with my Spanish buddy Josep, a guy I rode with in Daytona 6 months earlier. Had no idea he was racing too, and it was fun to have someone who rides at my same pace….and help keep me motivated to maintain pace…and just to talk to as it is such a long and lonely day. My superstar cheerleader, Tatsiana, informed me that I was steadily moving up in the standings, and was around the top 10 half way through the bike. This was super encouraging, as I knew if I could be in the top 12, I for sure would qualify for Kona. Tatsiana was all over the course, and helped me tremendously. We never had a consistent group of people around us on the bike, as people really started to suffer during the last ½ of the race. There was one guy though, dressed in an all purple outfit, that drove me crazy…. he pretty much stayed right behind me for the last 50 miles and never went to the front. He definitely pushed the drafting rules and should have been penalized. With 1 mile to go, Josep and I descended the last steep hill and made a sharp 90 degree turn, and it was here where this purple cheater may have had karma catch up with him. He crashed super hard and was probably done for…. never saw him on the run.
Based on the course profile, I predicted the bike would take around 4 hours, 45 minutes. I sure was wrong about this, as I came in at 5:20 totally exhausted and demoralized by the wind and constant rain. It was probably the hardest ride I’ve ever done, and my plan on coming off the bike feeling like I just went for a leisurely 5 hour ride certainly was not the case. It was a total slog where I really started to hate the bike. It required so much mental energy and focus trying to see all the potholes and road imperfections (and stay upright) in the pouring rain and super strong and incredibly annoying wind. Tatsiana was at transition and confirmed that I had moved into 10th for the start of the run. Since I started nice and early, a lot of the guys in the top 10 may have actually been behind me on the course.
The Run
Fortunately, I had some dry socks in my transition bag. Put those on and headed out. The course was super flat and was 2 loops. Since I was at the front of the race, there were only probably a few pros on the course and maybe 30 runners. Over 1650 people were behind me. This made for a super boring and lonely run….no one to talk to and I really didn’t see many folks until the 2nd lap. However, I am a part of an amazing Team, Team Zoot…and there were a lot of Zooters on the course (in our neon green outfits) as well as tons of cheering Zoot fans, so I did receive a ton of encouragement.
After the bike, I felt totally spent and I definitely didn’t feel like I had enough in the tank to hold my position. Fortunately, the first 1.5 miles of the run were downhill so I was able to get my legs going and was doing 7:30 per mile splits. My goal was to average 7:45’s, and I was pretty much dead on at mile 6. This is where my feet started to really hurt. I purchased new shoes and cushions shortly before the race, in hopes of avoiding foot pain, but it seemed like it was all for not. My feet were killing me and it just got steadily worse as the race wore on. I felt like I was going to have to stop and massage my feet, but I knew that if I had, my top 10 position (and Kona slot) would be in serious jeopardy. This is what kept me going. I decided that I just couldn’t hold the 7:45’s, but if I could hold 8:00 – 8:30 for the remainder of the race, I think I could hold my position. I knew that there would be some folks that would run faster than me, but there also would be some folks that would have to slow down for whatever reason. I felt like it was the longest and most miserable marathon of my entire life, but fortunately, I had Tatsiana driving up and down the course confirming that I was holding my 10th place position. Without this info, I may have stopped to deal with my feet. It hurt so bad and I was taking it mile by mile…. saying to myself, don’t stop…. just need to get to the next mile in under 8:30. I told myself that I wouldn’t start drinking coke until mile 13, so I had something to look forward to for the 2nd half of the marathon. Then I could look forward to future aid stations and grab my sips of coke. This just tastes so good during a marathon. The sugar provides instant energy. I felt miserable all day, and couldn’t eat anything solid, so I just used my energy gels to get me through. It was such a grind, but I persevered through the rain to finish the marathon in 3:35…. Good enough, moved me into 8th place in my age group and for sure a Kona slot. Just short of 10 hours and 14 minutes (10:13:55). Turns out that there were actually 17 slots in my age group, so had plenty of cushion. The whole race was totally miserable. I usually can figure out business challenges, life problems, math equations, personal goals, whatever during this long day, but for this event I couldn’t process anything….it was just getting to that next mile, grinding it out, and trying to erase the pain. I for sure didn’t smile as much as I usually do, but just lived mile by mile and accomplished what I was there to do. Tatsiana said I frowned and looked miserable the entire time. The pictures she took certainly show this. Next stop, Kona, and probably my last ironman distance event, unless I can figure out how to solve my foot pain issue on the marathon. I look forward to smiling more.
According to Garmin:
- 45,262 steps
- 8399 calories
- 1:46 per 100 meters on the swim
- 206 watts average on the bike
- 95 mph bike average
- 8:12 minutes per mile on the run
- And Garmin said I was unproductive…. ha
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