The Belmar Beachcomber's “Taste of Belmar” series features recipes contributed by local restaurants in Belmar, New Jersey, as well as recipes featuring locally sourced ingredients. In this edition, we share a popular recipe for Reuben dip featuring corned beef brisket from Berg’s Smoked Meat & Poutine.
You could say that the Belmar St. Patrick’s Day Parade marks the “unofficial” end of winter in our region of the Jersey Shore. The Belmar Parade has been held the first Sunday in March for over 50 years, so it’s a milestone on the calendar, as locals set their sights on the approaching warmer spring weather — and ultimately the return of our beloved beach season.
Another reason to love the Belmar Parade — aside from the fun floats and pipes and drum bands — is that it provides the perfect excuse to have a party. In my case, a Parade Day brunch with signature cocktails including Bloody Marys, mimosas, and Irish coffee with Bailey’s. In addition to green bagels and spinach dip, my Parade Day brunch typically includes festive fare like Irish soda bread and Guinness brown bread to keep the St. Patrick’s theme going. This year, I tried a new recipe for Reuben dip, which I found on the AllRecipes website (go to recipe).
The star of my rendition of Reuben dip was the tender and flavorful corned beef from Berg’s Smoked Meat & Poutine on Main Street in Belmar. The corned beef gets mixed with shredded Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and a blend of Russian dressing and mayonnaise.
About Berg's Smoked Meat & Poutine
According to their website, Berg’s in Belmar is the “only place in New Jersey offering authentic Montreal smoked meat and poutine.” For those new to poutine, think of it as a Canadian style of New Jersey’s beloved disco fries, only the fries in poutine are topped with cheese curds and beef gravy.
The corned beef at Berg’s is made from beef brisket, which they dry cure with 12 different spices for 21 days. The meat is then smoked over oak wood for eight hours and steamed for three hours before it is hand sliced to order. The Reuben dip recipe calls for 8 ounces of corned beef, so I bought a half-pound piece at Berg’s and shredded it at home, which was very easy to do.
Berg’s Smoked Meat & Poutine
1405 Main Street Belmar, New Jersey 07719 732-749-3266 www.bergssmokedmeat.com
Reuben Dip Recipe
Ingredients
½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup Thousand Island dressing
16 ounces sauerkraut, rinsed and squeezed dry
8 ounces shredded corned beef
16 ounces shredded Swiss cheese
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix mayonnaise and dressing together in a small bowl; set aside. Spread sauerkraut into a 9x13-inch baking dish. Layer corned beef, Swiss cheese, and mayonnaise mixture on top of sauerkraut.
Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Serve hot with crackers or small cocktail breads.
On a personal note, I did not care for the taste of sauerkraut in the dip (not a fan of sauerkraut overall), so the next time I make this recipe, I will substitute it with homemade coleslaw. And I will definitely make this dip for next year's Parade Day brunch — with the delicious corned beef brisket from Berg’s!
Recipe Credit: AllRecipes.com
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Recipe credit: AllRecipes.com. Story and photos © copyright by Christine Cardellino, owner of www.VacationInBelmar.com and publisher of the award-winning Belmar Beachcomber Blog, a travel and tourism guide for the Belmar region of the Jersey Shore. Do not copy any content (including images) without our permission. All rights reserved.
