Cigar Snacks: Cooking With Nick

January 7, 2021

When you’re searching for the ideal cigar snack, you don’t want to have to spend a lot of time preparing and cooking some food.

Here at JR Cigars, we have put together a list of some tasty snacks that will pair perfectly with certain cigars and drinks.

Keep reading to discover both heavy and light snacks that will enhance your entire smoking experience.

Heavy Duty Cheesesteaks Cups

This snack has earnt its name as being “heavy-duty.” The cheesesteak cups are a combination of cheesy and meaty deliciousness that is a treat for your tastebuds.

As this snack is so heavy and hearty, I thought it would be perfect to pair it with a heavy and hearty drink and cigar.

I chose the JR Cigar version of George Dickel whiskey for the drink, which is incredible and compliments the cups perfectly.

For the stogie, I chose one of the most popular cigars in the world, the Joya de Nicaragua Antano. The peppery flavors of the cigar with the rich cheesesteak cups is a great combination.

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Materials

You will need a muffin tin, a skillet, a wooden spoon and some nonstick spray to assist you with this recipe.

Ingredients

  • Provolone cheese
  • Ground black pepper
  • Garlic powder
  • Heavy cream
  • ½ a green pepper
  • ½ an onion
  • Sandwich steak or Steak-umm
  • Milk
  • Salt
  • Olive oil
  • Puff pastry

Steps

Firstly, add some nonstick spray to the different sections of your muffin tray. This will prevent the pastry from sticking once it has come out of the oven.

Once you’ve added the spray, take your puff pastry and add it to each muffin compartment, creating a “cup” shape. Make sure the puff pastry isn’t too thick or thin.

Now, preheat your oven to 400 degrees in preparation for the cups to cook. Add your skillet to the stove and place it on medium to high heat.

Add a drizzle of olive oil into the pan, and add your chopped half a green pepper and half a chopped onion. Immediately, the smell is going to be incredible. Mix the pepper and onion with your wooden spoon and let it simmer for five to six minutes.

While you’re simmering the veg, chop up your meat into nice and fine pieces if you haven’t already.

After five or six minutes of simmering, add your meat into the skillet. Mix it together with the onion and pepper. I know what you’re thinking; it smells like Philly!

Cook the meat for around five minutes until it starts to brown a little and then add your seasoning. Continue to add a little bit of salt, a dash of garlic powder, 1/3 cup of heavy cream, 1/3 cup of milk, and stir the mixture until it creates a thick sauce.

Now the “plot has thickened” (the sauce), give it a good stir and turn your stove off. Take around ¼ cup of the steak mix and add to the puff pastry cups on the muffin tray. Be careful not to overfill, or you’ll have a hot mess to deal with. The mixture we’ve created should provide seven to nine cups.

Once you’ve filled all the puff pastry cups with the steak mix, place the tray into the oven for around ten minutes.

When you take out the tray, it will be really hot, so be careful. Now for my favorite part, it is time to add the cheese. Add a slice of cheese onto the top of the cups. You can fold your cheese or break it in half depending on how thick you’d like it to be.

Once you’ve added your cheese, pop the tray back into the oven for a few minutes until the cheese has melted. Once the cups have cooled down a bit, you can take them easily out of the muffin tray, and they’re ready to eat!

Bacon-Wrapped Sausage Meatballs

cigars and snacks

Bacon-wrapped sausage meatballs are a delicacy that my roommate showed me in the past. It is a hearty and delicious meat-filled treat that pairs perfectly with whiskey and cigars.

Specifically, I paired the creation with High West Whiskey, which is straight bourbon and rye mixed with blended scotch. The cigar I chose to accompany this meaty treat was the AJ Fernandez San Lotano.

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Materials

For this creation, you will simply need toothpicks and a baking tray to accompany the ingredients.

Ingredients

  • Ground breakfast sausage
  • Eggs
  • A box of quick make stuffing
  • One bacon pack to make the meatballs

Steps

First, you need to brown around a pound and a half of the ground breakfast sausage until it has browned in the pan. Once you have done this, allow it to cool for at least ten minutes.

Next, you need to make the stuffing. This should be pretty simple, and there will be instructions on the box you’ve bought. Again, once you’ve done this, allow it to cool for at least ten minutes.

Once the sausage and stuffing have cooled, add them together into a bowl with two eggs. Now it’s time to get mixing; the aim is to create a sausage and stuffing mixture, the egg binds the two together.

Before the next step, you need to preheat your oven to 325°F.

So, to make the balls, you simply get into the mixture with your hands and form them into a ball around the size of a golf ball.

When you’ve formed the balls, take a slice of bacon and wrap it around each one. Put a toothpick into the top to keep the ball structure and fiddle around until it is held together.

Place all the balls onto the baking tray when they’re wrapped and cook for 40-45 minutes on 325°F. Remember, the only ingredient that isn’t already cooked is the bacon, so keep an eye to ensure it’s cooked properly.

The grease and juices from the bacon moisturize the ball and making it flavorful for your palate. If you have any extra stuffing and sausage, you can make sausage balls without the bacon.

The Reuben Dip

cigars and snacks

When I have friends over, I don’t have time to make some fancy food for us all to nibble on. So, I started to create snacks for simple taste and simple pleasures.

If you’ve been to New York City, you’ll have come across the Reuben sandwich. Well, I have adapted this into a delicious and easy dip.

As this recipe is so simple but packed with flavor, I went for the Monkey Shoulder Whisky, which is inexpensive and available at most liquor stores. For the cigar pairing, I chose the JC Newman Brickhouse, which, although simple, is packed with flavor.

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Materials

You will need an ovenproof bowl, a wooden spoon, and a platter plate.

Ingredients

  • Half a pound of corn beef
  • Sauerkraut
  • Swiss cheese
  • Cream cheese
  • Ketchup
  • Mustard
  • Rye bread crackers.

Steps

Firstly, you need to chop or tear your corn beef and place it into a bowl.

Next, you simply need to add a full cup of sauerkraut, a full cup of swiss cheese, half a cup of sour cream, eight ounces of cream cheese, a tablespoon of ketchup, and a tablespoon of spicy brown mustard into the bowl.

Give all the ingredients a big hearty mix and preheat your oven to 350°F. Scoop your mixture into an oven-safe bowl and cook at 350°F for half an hour.

As an extra tip, I like to put a timer on for 25 minutes, then take the bowl out and sprinkle some more cheese to the top to give a nice hard cheese crust. If you choose to do this, put it back in the oven for another two minutes so the cheese can harden.

Once it is done, add your rye bread to your platter and have a big bowl of the delicious dip in the middle to scoop out!

Pizza Bombs

cigars and snacks

No matter the occasion, a pizza bomb is a super easy and quick appetizer that is sure to satisfy your needs. This Italian treat is sure to be a hit with any guests you might be making food for.

As pizza bombs are a rich and heavy snack, I found the perfect pairing with the Crowned Heads La Imperiosa. This cigar is full of great flavor and boasts an oily wrapper, which compliments our pizza bomb snack perfectly.

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Materials

You will need a knife, baking tray, and a couple of small bowls.

Ingredients

  • Biscuit dough, you can easily get a store brand if you’re on a budget.
  • A jar of Italian sauce
  • Pepperoni
  • Mozzarella
  • Parmesan
  • Butter
  • Garlic
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Parsley

Steps

Firstly, you will notice that your biscuit dough comes out in eight pieces; equivalent to one biscuit. You want to cut the dough right in half and roll it into a ball. One tin of biscuit dough should create around 16 pizza bombs.

Once the dough is in a ball shape, flatten it out as much as you can. Then, add a tablespoon of Italian sauce onto the dough.

Continue to add a piece of pepperoni and a little bit of Mozzarella. Now, you need to fold the dough into a shape similar to a hot pocket. Make sure the edges are all sealed so no ingredients can escape.

Preheat your oven to 375°F so it can get ready to cook your pizza bombs to perfection.

While the oven is preheating, melt a half stick of butter into a bowl.

Next, add half a spoon of minced garlic, some salt, a sprinkle of pepper, and some parsley. Coat your completed pizza bombs with the mixture you’ve made and sprinkle some parmesan across them too.

Now it’s time for the oven, pop them in at 375°F for around 15 minutes. Make sure to keep your eye on them as they can cook pretty fast.

Enjoy!

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