Wednesday, May. 20, 2009

Chef's Corner: Innovate with beer, sausage in 1 meal

Buckhead Grill executive chef Eric Kilgore and his sous chef, Matthew Teague, take pride in coming up with innovative recipes. Today, they prepare the Buckhead Carnivore’s Spanikopita.

Carnivore’s Spanikopita

2 pounds Italian sausage

1 cup diced onions

1 bottle dark beer

Phyllo pastry sheets

1 pound melted butter

Pastry brush (a good unused paint brush is fine)

Softened cream cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

2 damp towels

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook sausage and onions together in a stock pot until done, add beer and cook until beer reduces halfway.

Strain sausage well, then chill for about an hour.

Place pastry sheets on a cutting board and cover with a damp towel to prevent sheets from drying out.

Roll out 2 sheets at a time and brush with melted butter. Repeat this step twice, layering sheets on top of each other.Sprinkle salt and pepper between each layer.

Place 1 heaping tablespoon of sausage and cream cheese on both sides of pastry sheet 1 inch from sides.

Cut pastry sheet down the middle.

Fold both sides of sheet in toward the center and roll sausage and cheese mixture to the top.

Brush top with butter, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes or until dough turns a deep golden brown.