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Monatsarchive: March 2013

Avocado Risotto with Beer Butter Shrimp

Avocado Risotto with Beer Butter Shrimp5

 Avocado season in California is pretty fantastic, avocados are so easy to come by. Of course, they’re great for you. Lots of minerals, antioxidants, healthy fat, but to be honest this is a food I’d eat even if it was bad for me. It’s flavor, texture and even gorgeous color has me hooked. It’s also my go-to when I want to add creaminess to a vegan meal.

I’ve told you before that Risotto is one of my favorite meals and adding one of my favorite members of the produce family just makes it better. Top it with some beer butter shrimp and you have yourself a dinnertime winner.

For this I used Allagash White, one of my staples of my beer cellar (I wish I had an actual beer cellar, until I figure out how to make that happen my beer selection takes up residence in the bottom shelf of my fridge). Allagash White is clean, bright, and has great spice and citrus flavor. It does not have the typical strong banana notes that most Witbiers have, which puts it over the top in my book, I hate bananas. It has an accessible complexity that makes it great beer to use when introducing people to craft beer.  It’s a great example of the genera, and of craft beer in general.

Allagash White

Avocado Risotto with Beer Butter Shrimp

Ingredients
  

For The Risotto:

  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 3 tbs heavy cream
  • 1 large avocado chopped (skin and seed discarded)
  • 6 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • 2 tbs chopped shallots
  • 3 cloves of garlic minced
  • 1 1/2 cups arborio rice
  • 1 cup Wheat Beer plus 2 tbs, divided
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 2 tbs chopped chives

For The Shrimp:

  • 1 cup wheat beer
  • 3 tbs butter
  • ½ tsp chili powder
  • ¼ tsp smoked paprika
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp pepper
  • 1 lb raw shrimp peeled and deveined

Instructions
 

  • Place the chicken broth in a saucepan and bring to a mild simmer, keeping to warm, but not boiling.
  • In a food processor or blender add the cream, parmesan and avocado, process until smooth, set aside.
  • In a separate pot, add the butter and allow to melt over medium heat. Add the shallots and oil, cook until transparent, but don’t allow to brown. Add the garlic and cook until you can smell it, about 20 seconds
  • Stir in the rice, cooking until the rice is completely coated with butter and it smells slightly nutty, don’t allow to brown. About 2 minutes.
  • Add 1 cup of the beer and cook until the pan begins to dry, stirring frequently. About 6 minutes.
  • Add about ½ cup of broth into the rice. Stir frequently until the rice is almost dry, and then add another ½ cup and repeat. This process should take about 20 minutes. Don’t leave the risotto while it’s cooking, the rice on the bottom of the pan burns easily. (if you run out of broth, just use hot water the same way you would broth)
  • Once your risotto is cooked through (taste it to verify that the rice is cooked and not crunchy), turn heat to low and add the avocado mixture, 2 tbs beer and salt and pepper to taste. Risotto should be soft and wet, not dry like typical rice. It should be firm enough to be served as a side on a plate, but soft enough to jiggle when the plate is shaken.
  • To make the shrimp, add 1 cup beer to a sauce pan over medium high heat, reduce by about half, add the butter and stir until melted. Whisk in the chili powder, smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Add the shrimp and cook until shrimp have turned opaque in the center, about 3 to 5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove shrimp from the cooking liquid.
  • Plate risotto, top with shrimp and sprinkle with chopped chives.

Avocado Risotto with Beer Butter Shrimp

Cheap Eats: Roasted Chicken, Green Beans and Potatoes Feeds 4 for $10

 

 

Cheap Eats: Roast Chicken, Potatoes, Green Beans feed 4 for $10 (with leftovers!)

 

I’ve made a decision. I am going to redefine the word "rich".

When I was a kid, we didn’t have a lot of money, on our best months we lived pay check to pay check. I vividly remember standing in line at a Stater Brothers Market as my mother rapidly added the groceries in her head, factoring in coupons, putting back items and trying to feed ten mouths for the month with a thin envelope of cash. I remember thinking I would be rich if I could go to the grocery store and buy anything I wanted.

As I got older I though this was funny, how small my definition of rich was. But why not? Why is rich defined by excess, yachts and handbags that cost 10 grand? I’m going back to my 10 year old definition. We are rich. We have a refidgerator full of groceries, warm beds, we can turn on the heat and air on a whim, and our kids have several pairs of shoes. In many, many, parts of the world, that is rich. Who cares about billon dollar Hampton Hideaways, Rolls Royce and Hermes bags, we have well fed families!

So, in honor of our new found wealth, I have decided to start a Cheap Eats category as a way to expand the limited resource that is our grocery dollars. I’m in the process of making the switch from Director at my previous company, to freelance stay at home mom and I’ve had to adjust the budget, but I still want to eat great food. I don’t want to add two jars and some meat to a crock pot, I want to eat well, but I want it well priced.

Cheap Eats will be food that’ll be fancy enough for company, cheap enough for a budget, and include real-life ingredients with minimally processed foods. I hope you love these Rich People Dishes as much as I do, and never forget to be grateful for all that we have. Check us out, we 're rich!

Cheap Eats: Roast Chicken, Potatoes, Green Beans feed 4 for $10 (with leftovers!)

 

Roasted Chicken, Green Beans and Potatoes Feeds 4 for $10

Ingredients

For The Chicken:

  • 1 4.5 lb whole chicken
  • 3 tbs softened butter
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1 tsp salt

For The Potatoes:

  • 1 lbs red potatoes (cut into quarters)
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp pepper

For The Green Beans:

  • 1 lb Green Beans, trimmed and cut in half
  • 1 tbs oil
  • 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • ½ tsp pepper

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 425.
  2. In a small bowl mix together the lemon juice, butter, salt and pepper.
  3. Rinse the chicken and pat it dry.
  4. Rub the chicken all over with the butter (under the skin as well as over).
  5. Place chicken in a roasting rack inside a roasting pan.
  6. Roast in a 425 oven for about 1 ½ or until the internal temperature reaches 165.
  7. About 10 minutes before the chicken is finished, start the potatoes.
  8. Add 2 tbs olive oil to cast iron skillet over medium high heat until hot but not smoking.
  9. Add the potatoes, one of the cut sides down.
  10. Cook until browned, about 3 minutes.
  11. Push each piece of potato over, toggling it onto its un-browned cut side.
  12. Cook for about one minute, remove from heat.
  13. Once the chicken is cooked, remove from oven and allow to rest.
  14. Transfer the potatoes to the oven, reduce heat to 375, allow to cook until fork tender, about 10 minutes.
  15. For the Green beans, heat a skillet over high heat with 1 tbs olive oil until hot but not smoking. Add the green beans, toss until starting to blister. Add the balsamic and cook until the balsamic has reduced and the green beans have softened, add the pepper.
  16. Once the chicken has rested (about 10 minutes) transfer to a cutting board and carve.

Note about the chicken: If you have never roasted a chicken, you should start. It’s fairly easy to buy a whole roasting chicken for about $1 to $2 a pound. They are cheap, healthy and easy. For a step by step on how to roast a chicken, check out my How To Roast A Chicken post.

Beer Candied Pecans

last September I was able to visit Bear Republic. I was able to jump behind the bar, chat with brewers and sample everything from the Peter Brown Tribute to the Grand Am, right from the source.  Solid beers that are becoming easier to find across the US as their distribution expands.

Bear Republic2

Maybe it was the gorgeous Northern California setting, or the charming bar managers, or the fantastically solid beer, but I became a fan of what this growing team is doing up North. And then they go and make a Black IPA, one of my favorite new styles.

Black IPA’s are becoming more common, a great trend that craft breweries are embracing all over the US. Maybe as a way to satisfy people like me, stout lovers who also adore an IPA. A hoppy beer, with a roasted malt that adds a smooth, balanced, nearly stout like flavor. The Black Racer IPA is a great example of this growing beer phenomenon.

Black Racer IPA

Black Racer is just as hoppy as you want an IPA to be, but with a smoother, rounded malty finish. It has a leaning towards a traditional IPA, with high notes like citrus and pine as well as a fairly high carbonation, but with some dark beer flavors of malt and coffee.

Black IPA’s are both a great example of how the creativity of brewers are blurring the lines of beer styles, as well as another great, endless craft beer debate we all love to partake in from time to time. How do you differentiate between a hoppy stout and a dark IPA? Brewers discretion?

When it’s this good, they can call it what they want and the brewers will always have my full support.

Beer Candied Pecans3

Beer Candied Pecans

Ingredients
  

  • 1/2 cup black IPA
  • 1 cup golden brown sugar packed
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tbs butter
  • 2 cups pecan halves

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 250.
  • In a pot over high heat add the beer and brown sugar. Stir until the sugar has dissolved.
  • Clip a candy thermometer on the side of the pan. Bring liquid to 235 degrees, remove from heat.
  • Add the butter, stir until combined.
  • Add salt and pecans; stir until the pecans have all been coated.
  • Pour pecans on to a baking sheet that has been covered with a silicon baking mat (or parchment paper that has been sprayed with cooking spray).
  • Spread pecans evenly over the sheet.
  • Bake at 250 for 15 minutes, stir and bake for an additional 15 minutes (if the pecans look foamy, stir until the bubbles have dissolved).
  • Allow to cool to room temperature, break apart.

Notes

To increase the beer flavor, reduce 1 cup of beer down to 1/2 cup needed for this recipe.

Beer Candied Pecans4

 

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

 

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

Now that I’m home with my (soon to be) 3 year-old on most days, I’ve realized that there are a few things that no one tells you about Stay At Home Mom-hood. Maybe because we don’t want to scare the fertility out of others since we like company in this brave new world of parenthood. For instance:

You will start to dissect the relationships between cartoon characters, "Are Mickey and Minnie Mouse dating? or are they brother and sister?" You may or may not Google it.

You’ll be standing in the backyard in your bathrobe trying to hose out a potty chair that is too gross to clean by way of any other method, and it will feel strangely normal.

You’ll say things like, "Don’t drink the bathwater, it’s been on your butt."

 Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars4

You’ll stop noticing how messy your house is until someone unexpectedly drops by and then all of the messiness will sort of magically appear. I swear it wasn’t this gross two minutes ago.

You’ll quote your toddler like she’s a Will Ferrel movie, but only to your spouse. Because no one else would understand why you call cheddar "turtle cheese" or ask them to move by saying "step PUH side!"

At some point you will have the urge to photograph poop, either to show the pediatrician, "Is this color normal or does she have scurvy?" or to show your husband, "She took a poop today the size of Scuba Steve!" But you won’t, deciding instead to just describe it (the doctor and your husband are grateful for this).

You will start to refer to yourself in the third person, as in "Mommy needs a time out," as well as collectively, as in, "We don’t rub cheese on the window,"

You won’t even think it’s that strange when she refuses to even take one bite of the peanut butter and jelly bars you just made because they "look yucky," but then she immediately tries to eat the orange crayon, because apparently those look delicious.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars2

 

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

Ingredients

For the Crust:

  • 1 ½ cups flour
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • ¾ cup golden brown sugar
  • ¾ cup smooth peanut butter
  • ½ cup butter, softened
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla

For the Jam Filling:

  • 2 cups strawberries (thawed if frozen)
  • 2/3 cup powdered sugar
  • Yield: 9 to 12

Instructions

  1. In a small bowl combine the flour and baking powder.
  2. Add the peanut butter, butter and sugar to a stand mixer, mix on medium high until well combined. Add the egg and vanilla, mix until well combined.
  3. Sprinkle with flour mixture, stir until just combined.
  4. Line and 8×8 inch baking dish with parchment paper, making sure the paper goes up and over the edges. Add half of the peanut butter dough to the pan, press into one even layer. Add the remaining dough to the freezer, put the 8×8 pan to the fridge to chill until ready to use.
  5. Preheat oven to 350.
  6. In a saucepan over high heat, add the strawberries and powdered sugar. Cook, stirring frequently, until thick and syrupy and the strawberries have broken down, about 10 to 15 minutes. While the strawberries are cooking, use a potato masher or spatula to smash and break up strawberries.
  7. Pour strawberries over crust. Retrieve the remaining crust from the freezer, break into pea-sized pieces, and sprinkle over strawberries. Use as much as desired, you may have leftover peanut butter dough.
  8. Bake at 350 until the top crust starts to turn golden brown, about 30 minutes. Allow to cool, remove from pan by grabbing the edges of the parchment paper and lifting out. Cut into squares.

    Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars3

 

Chocolate Stout Muffin Bread

 

Chocolate Stout Muffin Bread7

Let’s talk about chocolate stouts for a minute.

If you aren’t aquatinted with these Dark Knights, you might be under the impression that your beer will be like a tall glass of malty chocolate milk. For the most part, that isn’t the case. While I was at Hanger 24, those awesome guys let me taste some of the grains they use in their Chocolate Porter.

 

Hanger 24-2

(By the way, neither of those hands are mine, I’m taking the photo)

It tastes, even pre-brew, more along the lines of unadulterated raw cocoa rather than a giant slice of cake. For me, this is great news. The flavors of cocoa (before the butter, cream and sugar are added) are dry and even bitter, making a great addition to the flavors of a stout. If you’re afraid of a beer flavored Yoo-Hoo, you’re in luck. For the most part, chocolate stouts grab those great dry flavors of that cocoa bean without that cloying sweetness of a dessert that you don’t really need in your pint glass.

Here are some of my favorite chocolate stouts and porters, please let me know if you have a favorite of your one:

Bison Chocolate Stout

Rogue Chocolate Stout

Hanger 24 Chocolate Porter

Ken Schmidt / Iron Fist / Stone Chocolate Mint Stout

Souther Tier Choklat (I have yet to get my hands on this on the West Coast, but it’s on my Must Drink list)

Chocolate Stout Muffin Bread

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2/3 cup coca powder
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1 tbs baking powder
  • 1 tbs cornstarch
  • 2/3 cup chocolate chips
  • 10 ounces stout
  • 2 tbs vegetable oil
  • ¼ cup melted butter divided in half

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350.
  • Add the flour, salt, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, cornstarch, and chocolate chips stir to combine.
  • Pour in the stout, oil and 2 tbs of the melted butter, stir until just combined, some lumps are expected.
  • Pour into a loaf pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Pour the remaining butter over the top.
  • Bake at 350 for 40 to 45 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs on it. Allow to cool before slicing.

Chocolate Stout Muffin Bread8

 

Passover Dessert: Toasted Coconut Pavlova with Cocoa Pudding and Caramel Sauce

Coconut Pavlova with Cocoa Pudding and Caramel Sauce parve_

Do you ever watch Chopped on the Food Network? It’s a food competition that involves a "mystery basket" of food.  The contestants are required to use every item in the basket to come up with the best dish they can. I love Chopped, and always try to think up a dish I would make, if I was in that position with those Mystery Items (think of a dish with: gummy bears, avocados and dried beans!). Culinary challenges to me, are like Scrabble to other people. I love trying to figure out what I can come up with.

When Tori asked me to contribute to her Passover Potluck, it felt a bit like Chopped in reverse, an entire basket of things you can’t use. I was excited for the challenge, and to be back again this year on Tori’s Passover Potluck (to be honest, I was hoping she would ask), but it took me a while, and a few texts to Tori, to get all the Passover Cooking rules down. You can’t use flour, or most grains, no corn, rice or peanuts. You also can’t mix meat and dairy, so if you have meat at dinner, you can’t eat dairy for dessert. I wanted to come up with a dairy free dessert so that anyone could eat it during Passover, I love an inclusive meal. I also wanted it to be great, something that didn’t feel like it would have been better with flour or milk, but something that was great without feeling like it had been created with limitations.

I love Pavlovas, so elegant and pretty, but really simple to make. It also tastes like a gigantic Girl Scout Samoa cookie. It’s gluten free, dairy free and I hope you love it as much as I do.

Get the recipe on Tori’s Site, The Shiksa In The Kitchen!

Happy Passover!

 

Click for the recipe:

Parve Passover Dessert: Toasted Coconut Pavlova with Cocoa Pudding and Caramel Sauce

Coconut Pavlova with Cocoa Pudding and Caramel Sauce parve 2

IPA Lemon Bars

Before I get to the lemon bars that were more than a year in the making, I need to talk about these beer glasses.

These glasses are more than just vessels of craft beer glory, they are a indicator of the thread of craft beer weaving itself through the mainstream.

Crate and Barrel, a mecca for the upwardly mobile, midwestern tract homeowners, and suburban housewives is carrying an entire line of glassware devoted to the service of well-made beer. (I need to stop to note that none of the previous descriptors were meant to be derogatory, merely  an illustration of the mainstreamness of the giant housewares retail store.)

This is proof that craft beer is moving forward, growing in respect and popularity in the minds of Americans and capitalist marketers. I couldn’t be happier. I pillaged the entire line, necessitating a new shelf just for beer glasses.

 Eagle Rock Populist with Beer Mug

The lemon bars I made for you have been in the works for over a year. There have been other recipes in the past that haven’t lives up to my expectations. The filling wasn’t creamy enough, or the crust and filling weren’t distinct layers, or other assorted issues. This recipe finally gave me the results I wanted.

IPA Lemon Bars

A great crust with a slight flakey crispness, not too sweet, and lemony with the right touch of beer flavor.

The beer I used is from Eagle Rock Brewery, a brewery that is just down the road from me, a little over a mile in fact. It would be walking distance if it wasn’t for the hill I live on and the nasty walk home that would create.

IPA Lemon Bars3 Eagle Rock Populist Bottle_

Populist is what I think of as a gateway IPA. It’s an accessible beer with more malt that an IPA usually gives you, and a balanced hop flavor. This isn’t the palate wrecking, massively hopped flavor that most American IPA’s give you, it’s more subtle.

I love a high hoped beer, and I also love a malty balanced pale ale, the amazing thing about this mainstream-craft-beer-glass-world we live in is that there is room for both types of IPA’s. If you aren’t an IPA fan, this might convert you, it shows you hops without punching you in the mouth with them. It might even lead you to further IPA exploration.

Or maybe just some lemon flavored baked goods.

IPA Lemon Bars2

IPA Lemon Bars

Ingredients
  

Crust:

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/3 cup powdered sugar
  • 6 tbs unsalted butter
  • pinch salt

Filling:

  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 ½ cups sugar
  • ¼ cup flour
  • 2 tbs corn starch
  • 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • ¼ cup IPA beer
  • Powdered sugar for dusting
  • Yield: 10 to 12 cookies

Instructions
 

  • In a food processor add the flour, powdered sugar, butter and salt. Process until well combined.
  • Press into the bottom of a greased 8X8 pan (for a 9x13 pan, double the entire recipe).Chill for 15 minutes.
  • Preheat oven to 350.
  • Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool to about room temperature, about 15 minutes (this will help the crust and the filling to stay in two distinct layers.)
  • In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, sugar, flour and corn starch. Add in the lemon juice and beer, stir until combined. Pour the filling over the cooled crust. Bake until the center has set, about 20 to 25 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before refrigerating. Chill for 2 to 3 hours before cutting. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Crust adapted from Shockingly Delicious

Mexican Galette with Roasted Red Pepper, Black Beans and Avocados

 

Mexican Galette with Roasted Red Pepper, Black Beans and Avocados. And the best and easiest tart crust. With a vegan option.

 

I met a lady at the grocery store yesterday who was 92. She was fabulously healthy and spry, you would never have known she was born in the 1920’s.

We started to chat about my daughter. After a few minutes she said, "You’re a good woman. I can tell. And you’re a good mom." I wanted to stop and tell her about the Cheerios on the floor of car, and how some days she stays in pajamas until noon and how since I work from home, there are so many times I have to say, "Mommy’s busy," when she wants me to sit on the couch and watch Mickey’s Clubhouse but I haven’t photographed the tart yet and it’s withering.

Why is it so hard for us to accept a mom-compliments? Why is it so hard to see that we are doing well, see that not being perfect doesn’t mean that you still aren’t doing great?

When someone tells me that they love my recipes, I’m thrilled. If someone tells me I’m a great mom, I want to protest.

Maybe we all need to hear it more often. Maybe you need to hear it as much as I do. You and I aren’t that different, but I hope you find a way to believe this, even if I haven’t:

You’re doing great. Cheerios on the floor means you thought that your kid might want a snack on the way to the park, and cared more about that, than the floor of your SVU.

Taking a moment to yourself means you give so much all day, you need to recharge so that you can give some more.

Your kid in pajamas at noon just means you saw that they were having a good time, and didn’t want to interrupt with something as silly as a wardrobe change.

Putting your kids in front of the TV so you can sit down to talk to your spouse is a great way to show your kids how much you care about that relationship, showing them that their parents love each other.

When you go to bed at night, reliving the days events and focusing on the failures, remember that your kids aren’t. They remember the park, the macaroni and the bed time story. They think you’re doing great, and so do I.

Mexican Galette

Ingredients

For The Crust:

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) of butter (for vegan use shortening)
  • 1/3 cup ice cold water
  • 1 tbs melted butter (for vegan substitute with water or Earth Balance)

For the Filling:

  • 1/4 cup tomato paste
  • 2 tsp minced chipotle pepper
  • 2 tbs oil
  • 2 tbs warm water
  • 1 roma tomato, thinly sliced
  • 2 jalapeno, sliced, stem and seeds removed
  • 1 roasted red pepper, sliced
  • ½ cup cooked black beans, drained and rinsed
  • ¼ cup corn kernels (thawed if frozen)
  • 1 large avocado, diced
  • ¼ cup Mexican Crema (can substitute sour cream) (for vegan use cashew cream)
  • ½ cup cilantro

Instructions

  1. In a food processor add 1 1/3 cup flour, salt, sugar and butter, process until well combined. Add the remaining flour and process again until combined.
  2. Transfer to a bowl and mix in the water until just combined (don’t add the water while the dough is in the food processor or your dough will be brittle and cracker-like).
  3. The dough should be soft. Form dough into a disk, wrap with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Can be made three days ahead of time.
  4. Preheat oven to 375
  5. In a small bowl, add the tomato paste, chipotle, water and oil, stir until combined.
  6. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 16 inch rustic circle. Transfer dough to a baking sheet that has been covered with parchment paper.
  7. Spread the center with the tomato chipotle mixture, leaving about 2 inches of the edges bare.
  8. Add the roasted red pepper, jalapenos, black beans, and corn. Fold the edges up over the filling, leaving a portion of the center still exposed. Brush the edges with melted butter.
  9. Bake at 375 for 30 to 35 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.
  10. Remove from the oven, top with avocado, crema and cilantro.

Mexican Galette with Roasted Red Pepper, Black Beans and Avocados. And the best and easiest tart crust. With a vegan option.

Current Obsessions

Sugar Skull necklace, Moon Raven Designs:

My husband bought this for me for Christmas and I wear it embarrassingly often. In my mind it goes with everything, it’s like the bacon version of accessories. Plus, people are oddly drawn to it (which can be uncomfortable, since it hangs between my little lady lumps) so it’s a conversation starter. Or conversation stopper, since this has happened on more than a few occasions:

Other person: “So, I was telling you about that thing….WAIT! What is that?!” as they grab at my chest.   (Thinking this over, I seem to like near strangers hastily groping me, I may have a problem)

 Skull Necklace

 

10 Cane Rum:

My husband is slightly convinced that rum is the new craft beer. I’m not as easily swayed from my devotion to craft beer, but I will be one of the last to know if beer is no longer “cool,” like those 1980’s Hair Metal hold-outs that were still rockin' the zebra spandex and Aqua Net when everyone else had move on to flannel shirts tie around the waist of their distressed levis. This will be me with my beer, even if everyone else has move on to rum. I’m rambling, back to the rum. This is craft rum, it has incredible depth and flavors that did remind me of the difference between Coors Light and Russian River’s Pliny (Cliff’s Notes for non beer drinkers: Coors=boring, Pliny=awesome).  I also learned from this Cocktail King, that the real, original, daiquiri was just sugar, lime juice, and some rum (he recommended trying it with brown sugar). That sounds amazing and completely unlike the bastardized spring break strawberry Slurpee version of a daiquiri that I’m used to.

10 cane rum

 

Marble Pastry Board, Sur La Table:

I have hideous countertops. But I live with my horrid kitchen because one wall of my kitchen is floor to celling windows. When the sight of my grotesquely mismatched kitchen starts to get me down, I just look out the windows, and I feel better. It helps, momentarily. Other than periodic bouts with tile related depression, the awful counters pose two, more practical problems: dough rolling and photography. I can’t bring myself to ever post a picture with that horrid tile as a backdrop, (I would hear a collective, “MY EYES, MY EYES!!” for everyone who had to suffer the sight of said tile) nor is dough rolling an option on that surface. Answer: Marble Pastry Board for Sur La Table. First, it almost convinces me that I have marble counters when I look at the process photos, like these ones, but it also makes a fantastic dough-rolling surface, and the BEST part is it’s only $39! The same one at William Sonoma is about $130 (which, to be honest seems a fair price for that much marble. The Sur La Table version is shockingly inexpensive). I also have the matching marble rolling pin, which was only about $24 and I love it. Such a great set, and a great gift if you have a dough rolling fool in your life.

Sur La Table Pastry Board

 

Drink Specific Glassware:

Crate and Barrel has a great set of specialty beer glass, which of course, I love. I also love these Old Fashion Rocks Glasses from Sur La Table and the bee glasses from World Market. We have three floating shelves of specialty glassware on the wall in our dining room, if there is an earthquake, we’re screwed.

 

Eagle Rock Populist with Beer Mug

Quinoa Crab Salad with Jalapeno Vinaigrette

Quinoa Crab Salad with Jalapeno vinaigrette

I could eat this salad every day.

I realize that quinoa has become a food trend that will inevitably run it’s course, I don’t care. I’ll love it and I’ll eat it long after it’s no longer cool.

The first time I made it, I cooked it the same way I cook rice and the results were pretty sad and mushy. I did some digging and figure out a few quinoa tricks and started to cook it this way. It has more flavor and better texture and it isn’t mushy at all, now I’m hooked.

Quinoa Crab Salad with Jalapeno vinaigrette4

After I made the jalapenos dressing I wandered around my kitchen looking for more things to eat it with, it’s amazing. I’m so glad I started making my own dressing, it takes about 30 seconds. It’s great to be able to through a bunch of ingredients in a blender and those little ingredients come out as a delicious sauce.

Quinoa Crab Salad with Jalapeno Vinaigrette

Ingredients

For the Salad:

  • ½ cup dry quinoa
  • ¾ cup water
  • 2 cup baby arugula, washed
  • 6 ounces lump crab meat, drained
  • 1 heirloom tomato, chopped
  • Yield: 4 side dish portions

For The Jalapeno Vinaigrette:

  • 1 large jalapeno, stem and seeds removed, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, rough chopped
  • 1 small shallot, rough chopped
  • 1 tbs lemon juice
  • 2 tbs aple cider vinegar
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • pinch salt and pepper

Instructions

  1. Add the quinoa to a dry pan, toast until you can smell it cooking, about 3 minutes. Add the water, bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add the lid at a vent. Cook for 16 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and allow to steam for 10 minutes. Let the quinoa cool to room temperature.
  2. Add quinoa, arugula, crab meat, and tomatoes to a bowl , toss to combine.
  3. In a blender add the jalapeno, garlic, shallots, lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Blend until well combined. Drizzle desire amount of vinaigrette to the salad (this recipe makes more dressing than this salad needs, save the extra for future salads).

Quinoa Crab Salad with Jalapeno vinaigrette2

 

Smoky Chocolate Porter Ice Cream with Beer Candied Bacon

Smoky Porter Ice Cream with Beer Candied Bacon4

Yesterday I was a guest on KCRW’s St. Patricks day episode of Good Food. The host was Evan Kleiman, a chef, author and Los Angeles food scene legend. She called my recipes, "smart," which if you are a home cook, sitting in front of an accomplished chef, is the best word you can hear.

Smoky Porter Ice Cream with Beer Candied Bacon3

We chatted about stouts, one of my favorite beer topics. Forget about pale lagers and green food dye, stouts are the life blood of St. Patrick’s day. In preparation for our stout conversation, I asked my Facebook readers what their favorite stouts are, and the response was amazing. My non-scientific poll concluded the most popular stouts among those who have clicked "like" on The Beeroness Facebook page are: Old Rasputin, Souther Tier Choklat, Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout and Founders Breakfast Stout. All of which would be amazing in this recipes, but I used Alaskan Brewing Smoked Porter. Just goes to show how many amazing dark craft beers there are in this nation. If you have a stout or porter that you love, let me know about it. I’m always up for a tall glass of dark beer.

Whatever you use, don’t forget to make it a chocolate bacon beer float.

Smoky Porter Ice Cream with Beer Candied Bacon5

Beer Candied Bacon

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup brown sugar packed
  • 3 tbs stout
  • pinch cayenne
  • 12 thick cut strips of bacon

Instructions
 

  • Combine the brown sugar, stout and cayenne until thick and syrupy.
  • Lay bacon on a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet.
  • Brush bacon with beer syrup on both sides.
  • Cook at 350 for ten minutes, flip and re-brush with beer syrup.
  • Cook for 8 to 10 more minutes or until the bacon is an amber color.
  • Remove from oven and allow to cool. Bacon will harden as it cools.

Beer Candied Bacon

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup brown sugar packed
  • 3 tbs stout
  • pinch cayenne
  • 12 thick cut strips of bacon

Instructions
 

  • Combine the brown sugar, stout and cayenne until thick and syrupy.
  • Lay bacon on a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet.
  • Brush bacon with beer syrup on both sides.
  • Cook at 350 for ten minutes, flip and re-brush with beer syrup.
  • Cook for 8 to 10 more minutes or until the bacon is an amber color.
  • Remove from oven and allow to cool. Bacon will harden as it cools.

Beer Candied Bacon Adapted from Oskar Blues via Tide and Thyme.

 Smoky Porter Ice Cream with Beer Candied Bacon2

Coconut Brioche

Coconut Brioche2

I was scared of bread making for years. I scoured the internet for non-yeast rolls, because I was so convinced that I could never make anything that required proofing or rising. A few years ago I decided that I needed to figure this out, I needed to learn. What’s the worse that could happen?

Over the years I’ve had more than a few flat lumps of dough tossed in the trash, and I’ve even been so frustrated that I’ve actually cried (my poor husband). All the bread fails have lead me to a few yeast discoveries and bread making is now one of my favorite kitchen related activities.

Coconut Brioche3

Here are my tips, the ways to reduce the odds of curse words, tears and flat dough:

First, salt can kill yeast, so don’t add it until one of the last steps. Salt is still important to brighten the flavors, so don’t skip it. Just don’t add it at the same time as the yeast.

Second, rapid rise yeast and dry active yeast aren’t the same. Rapid rise yeast needs to activated with liquid between 120 and 130 degrees fahrenheit and dry active yeast needs liquid about 110 degrees, it will be killed at temperatures much higher than that.

Third, check the expiration date! Once yeast expires, it’s actually dead and it won’t work.

Forth, even though the recipe might say, "allow to rise at room temperature until double in size, about 60 minutes," it might actually take 2 hours, or even three. Especially if your house is cold.

lastly, sometimes, every once in a while, it still just doesn’t work. This is pretty rare for me right now, but occasionally the completely unexplainable bread failure still happens. Even with that, it’s still absolutely worth it. Nothing beats  homemade bread.

Coconut Brioche4

Coconut Brioche

Ingredients

  • 2 cup bread flour
  • ¼ cup bakers special dry milk (I use King Arthur Flour)
  • 1 packet ( 2 1/2 teaspoons) Rapid Rise yeast (I used Red Star Platinum)
  • 1 tbs sugar
  • 3/4 cup full fat coconut milk
  • 1 eggs, room temperature
  • 2 tbs vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ¼ cup butter, softened to room temperature
  • Egg wash (1 egg, 1 tbs water, whisked)
  • coarse sea salt
  • Yield: 1 loaf, 8 rolls

Instructions

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, add the flour, dry milk, yeast and sugar. Stir to combine.
  2. Add the coconut milk to a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for 20 seconds, test temperature and repeat until liquid is between 120 and 130 degrees.
  3. Add the coconut milk to the flour and mix on medium speed until incorporated, and shaggy lumps form.
  4. Add the egg , oil and salt, mix until well incorporated.
  5. Add the butter, mixing well.
  6. The dough will be very soft.
  7. Mix on medium/high speed until the dough gathers around the dough hook, about 8 minutes.
  8. Remove from the mixer and place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and allow to sit in a warm room until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
  9. Cut the dough into into 8 equal pieces.
  10. One at a time, flatten each dough piece into a 6-inch circle (resembling a small tortilla).
  11. Grab the edge of the circle and pull it into the center. Repeat until a tight ball is formed.
  12. Place the dough balls, smooth side up, into a loaf pan or 8X8 baking pan, in two parallel rows, 4 dough balls in each row.
  13. Cover and allow to rise until almost doubled in size, about 1 hour. (*Note: You can also do what is called a “Fridge Rise” if you want to make these a day ahead of time. The second rise will take about 12 hours in the fridge instead of 1 hour in a warm room. As soon as you placed the dough balls in the loaf pan, cover and refrigerate for 12 hours instead of allowing to rise at room temperature. Remove from the fridge the following day and allow to come to room temperature before baking)
  14. Preheat oven to 375. Brush the tops of each loaf with egg wash, sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake at 375 for 28-32 minutes or until a golden brown.

Coconut Brioche

Orecchiette Pasta with Pale Ale Parmesan Cream Sauce

Orecchiette Pasta with Pale Ale Parmesan Cream Sauce

I would venture a guess, that of all the industries in the world, the best people gravitate towards the world of craft beer. These are guys who are more than willing to take a pay cut to make sure the beer they make for you has the best ingredients. These are people who gladly work around the clock, if that’s what will make a better product. Craft brewers never start their journey with, "You know how I can get rich…" the conversation starts with, "I want to make some good beer, and I want to share it with people."

Orecchiette Pasta with Pale Ale Parmesan Cream Sauce (Hanger 24 Brewery)

Craft beer people want to do well by you, by their beer, and by their community. Most often, thoughts of their own prosperity rates a distant third. No one embodies this more than those guys at Hangar 24. This is a newer brewery out of Redlands, California, about an hours drive east of Los Angeles. Hangar 24 isn’t even 5 years old, and is producing beer that has a bit of an old soul quality. It’s not a brewery that plays lemming to the craft beer trends, or seeks to out beer-snob other breweries, these are brewers that just want to make great beer. Beer that stand the test of time and showcases the local ingredients.

Orecchiette Pasta with Pale Ale Parmesan Cream Sauce (Hangar 24 Brewery)

I was a guest on the Beerisode of the Table Set last week, the podcast beginning with a beer field trip to Hanger, complete with a tour and a tasting. Although I got rather excited about the bourbon barrel aged stout that is currently in the works for release in the fall, the beer I was able to work with today was the Amarillo Pale Ale. This is a great example of a pale ale, hop forward, but still very well-balanced and the Amarillo hops making a star appearance. Hangar 24 is brilliantly expanding, in a responsible and thoughtful way, making it easier for more and more people to enjoy these fantastic beer. If you find yourself somewhere west of Palm Springs, but still east of Los Angles, stop in for a pint, you won’t regret it.

Orecchiette Pasta with Pale Ale Parmesan Cream Sauce (Hangar 24 brewery)

After indulging in a sampling of every beer Hangar 24 has to offer, I went back to the Table Set Studios, and I got to give my two cents on their beer episode. If you get a chance, the podcast is free, give it a listen, we had a great time.

Orecchiette Pasta with Pale Ale Parmesan Cream Sauce

Orecchiette Pasta with Pale Ale Parmesan Cream Sauce

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tbs butter
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 cup pale ale
  • 1 cup cream
  • 1 tbs lemon juice
  • ½ cup parmesan
  • ½ tsp pepper
  • ½ salt
  • pinch cayenne
  • ½ cup English peas
  • 3 cups Orecchiette Pasta
  • 1 cup water

Instructions
 

  • In a pot over medium high heat, melt the butter. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
  • Add the beer, cream and lemon juice; reduce heat to maintain a simmer. About a tablespoon at a time, add the Parmesan, stirring until melted before adding more.
  • Add the dry pasta, water and peas, simmer, stirring frequently, until pasta is al dente and the sauce has thickened, about 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

Notes

To make this recipe using fresh, not dried, pasta, omit the water.

Orecchiette Pasta with Pale Ale Parmesan Cream Sauce

Current Obsessions

Lovely Things:

  • Naked 2 Palate.  I’ve had this since November, it was a birthday present from my awesome sister, and I haven’t strayed from it. It’s perfect. Unlike those other palates that have three great colors, two OK colors and about 5 what the heck where they thinking? colors, these are all winners (seriously, I’ve used everyone). It’s pricey but worth it.
naked 2 eyeshadows
  • Iwatani Kitchen Torch. This thing will take your eyebrows off. It’s insanely powerful for something so small. I use to have this one, which cost more and had half the power. It also broke after just a year (there is a chance I’m really clumsy and that may have been that cause of said breakage). Unlike the other one, the Iwantani feels and acts like a pro tool, it means business. You do have to buy their propane canisters but those are fairly cheap. You also just attach the torch to the canister, which I massively prefer, rather than struggle to fill the torch with propane.

Iwatani Kitchen Torch

  • Quick Defense. This stuff works. I’m like a canary in a coal mine, I’m always the first to drop. If something is going around, I always get it. For the past two winters, I’ve taken this stuff if I even hear of anyone (anywhere) getting a cold, and I’ve been sickness free for two years! I now buy this in bulk. (p.s. I totally should have told you about this before flu season, don’t hate me)

Quick-Defense

  • This crazy indestructible GIR spatula. I got an email from the GIR PR representative asking if I wanted one. I almost always say no to these emails, but I was intrigued. I’ve had this thing for 4 months and I’ve made caramel, marinara, homemade ketchup and nothing has stained or stuck to my light blue version of this spatula. I’ve also accidently left it on a live burner, and it didn’t melt or even discolor (as mentioned before, I’m clumsy. I’m also really hard on all of my belongings, I break everything, I’m like a toddler). It still looks factory new. If they made wine glasses, I’d buy a case. Speaking of which, I broke another one last night (I suck).

GIR Ultimate Spatula

  • Picture Porefect. More pores are huge. You could hide Ann Frank in my pores (gross). I’ve tried so many products to reduce the hideousness of my manholes (I mean pores) and nothing has made one bit of difference. I even bought this stuff in a small .3 ounce trial size because I was so skeptical about it’s magical powers (also, the name is ridiculous), but I am now fully convinced and have upgraded to the full sized version. After three weeks my pores look noticeably smaller, like actually normal people sized pores.

porefect

  • Shishito Peppers! My favorite right now. If you can find these at at farmers market or a japanese market, grab them. Just toss them in a hot skillet with a few tbs sesame oil until they blister, put them on a plate and sprinkle them with some flakey sea salt. SO great. Perfect appetizer or afternoon snack. Even better than potato chips, and so much healthier.

Shishito-Peppers-3

Creamy Kale Pesto Pasta

Creamy Kale Pesto Pasta

Have I told you yet that I finished my book this week?

Well, mostly finished. There are still  a few more stages, a back and forth that is still yet to be had, but I sent the manuscript with 65 photos to my publisher. I’m still dealing with momentary panics, the nightmares of ingredients left out of instructions and egregious spellings errors (I do that, a lot), but I am happily back to cooking more "normal" food.

I also made this pasta again. I love the ritual of homemade pasta and even though I own Kitchen Aid pasta rollers, I still like the no-roller method.  I like getting my hands covered in raw dough, my shoulders aching with the repetition of dragging my bench knife across the counter, turning a dime size slice of dough into a little canoe shaped sauce vessel. I even like that it takes me all day, working in fifteen minute spurts, to get enough for dinner.

The pesto, in complete contrast, takes about 15 minutes. You can keep it just pesto, store it in the fridge, it keeps pretty well, or you can cook it up with some cream and smother your pasta with it. I’m not sure how long it lasts, because in my kitchen it didn’t even make it through the day.

There is a good chance I’ll make it again really soon. And this pasta, too.

Creamy Kale Pesto Pasta4

Creamy Kale Pesto Pasta

Ingredients

  • 2 cups roughly chopped black Kale, packed
  • 1 large cloves garlic, chopped or smashed
  • ¼ cup parmesan, shaved or shredded
  • ¼ cup hazelnuts
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 2 tsp lemon juice
  • 4 servings of pasta, cooked (recommended: cavatelli, orecchiette, fusilli)
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • 1 large heirloom tomato, chopped
  • salt & pepper

Yield: 4 servings

Instructions

  1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil. Have a large bowl of ice water ready. Add the kale to boiling water, cook for about 3 minutes. Remove kale from boiling water and immediately plunge the kale into the ice water (This is called blanching, it stops the cooking process and blanching will make kale less bitter).
  2. Lay the kale on a stack of papper towels to dry. It does not have to be completely dry.
  3. Add kale, garlic, parmesan, hazelnuts, and black pepper, to a food processor, process until well combined.
  4. While the food processor is running, slowly add the olive oil and the lemon juice. Process until well combined.
  5. In a saucepan over medium high heat, add the pesto and cream. Cook until warmed, and just starting to bubble. Toss with pasta and tomatoes just prior to serving. Salt and pepper to taste.

 

Creamy Kale Pesto Pasta2

Green Beer Cheese Soup (Broccoli Cheddar) with Pesto Croutons

 Green Beer Cheese Soup (Broccoli Cheddar) with Pesto Croutons (no food dye)

I promise you that this is the last St. Patricks day post. Until next year when I will further assault you with recipes for celebrating my love 'o the Irish, and forcing you to read more stories of my visit to Dublin.

Until then, here is a Green Beer cheese soup that contains not a drop of food dye, relying on the natural pigment of broccoli to get the job done. Although I don’t know who’s to blame for fouling up beer with green dye, I can’t imagine the Irish, with their deliciously dark stouts, are to blame. I’d wager the fault goes to America. No matter how you choose to celebrate, green beer-food just feels festive. I just wish I had some shamrock shaped soup bowls for the occasion.

Green Beer Cheese Soup (Broccoli Cheddar) with Pesto Croutons (no food dye)

To up the Irish in this dish, I used Kerrygold Dubliner cheese. I’ve been using Kerrygold for years, and not just because I have a soft spot for Ireland. Kerrygold uses natural, sustainable methods, uses co-op farmers, grass-fed cows, and zero artificial colors or flavors (not sponsored post, I swear!). While at a pub in Dublin, I met the son of a sheep farmer.

 Green Beer Cheese Soup (Broccoli Cheddar) with Pesto Croutons (no food dye)

We talked for hours about farming (I also grew up on a farm) and even when he wanted to change the subject to his love of Eddie Murphy, I kept steering the conversation back to farming in Ireland. Irish farmers are unlike any farmers I’ve ever met. Because the herds are always small, due to land limitations, the relationships between farmers and animals is unusually devoted and affectionate. Although Kerrygold is readily available at most grocery stores, it has a small farm feel to it.

Even if you do end up throwing in some green food dye to up the color, I hope you love this soup as much as I do, and raise your pint to Ireland.


Green Beer Cheese Soup (Broccoli Cheddar) with Pesto Croutons (no food dye)

Green Beer Cheese Soup (Broccoli Cheddar) with Pesto Croutons

Ingredients
  

For The Soup

  • 3 cups broccoli florets chopped
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • ½ large sweet onion finely diced
  • 1 large carrot peeled and diced
  • 2 ribs celery chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 2 cups wheat beer or pale ale
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 7 ounces Dubliner cheese grated (or sharp white cheddar)
  • 8 ounces gouda grated
  • 1 cup vegetable broth
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • salt and pepper to taste

For the Croutons:

  • 1 French baguette cut into cubes
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons pesto

Instructions
 

  • In a large pot of lightly salted water, cook the broccoli until very soft, drain and set aside.
  • In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, melt 4 tbs butter. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and cook until the carrots are very soft, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic, cook for about 30 seconds, remove from heat.
  • In a large food processor or blender, add 1 cup beer, cornstarch, both kids of cheese and as well as the carrot and celery mixture, process until very smooth, about 5 to 8 minutes. Return mixture to the pot along with the remaining beer.
  • In the same food processor (no need to clean between jobs) add the broccoli and the broth, process until very smooth. Add pureed broccoli, as well as the cream, to the soup.
  • Bring the soup to a low simmer, stirring occasionally until warmed and slightly thickened. Salt and pepper to taste.
  • In a skillet over medium-high heat, melt 2 tbs butter. Add the bread cubes and toss until browned. Remove from heat and immediately add in the pesto, toss to coat.
  • Serve the soup topped with croutons.

*This is not a sponsored post. I actually feel this way. 

Rum Soaked Pineapple Pops

Rum Soaked Pineapple Pops

Pineapple season is here! Although it’s still a tad colder here in the US than in the tropics, it’s still completely acceptable to soak your vacation-related produce in booze. My hard liquor consumption is fairly infrequent, but lately booze has worked it’s way into my kitchen. I’m much more of a beer and wine kind of girl, but rum has some beautiful flavors that pair nicely with pineapples.

Although this would make an excellent blended drink, there is something that feels special about eating liquor right off a stick.

Just soak

Pinneapple Rum Pops

 

Skewer

Pinneapple Rum Pops2

 

and freeze

Rum Soaked Pineapple Pops2

Rum Soaked Pineapple Pops

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup water
  • 1 cup rum
  • 1 large pineapple, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces

Instructions

  1. In a pot over medium high heat, add the water and sugar. Stir until all the sugar has dissolved, remove from heat. Allow to cool to room temperature, stir in the rum.
  2. Add the pineapple pieces to a 9×13 inch baking dish, pour rum syrup over the pineapple and allow to soak at room temperature for 30 to 45 minutes.
  3. Remove pineapples from soak, skewer with toothpicks or small skewers.
  4. Place on a baking dish that has been covered with aluminum foil.
  5. Freese pineapple for 1 to 2 hours, serve immediately.

Rum Soaked Pineapple Pops3

Beer Brined Corned Beef Sliders with Pickled Cabbage Slaw

 Beer Brined Corned Beer Sliders with Pickled Cabbage Slaw 

Conred Beef Sliders with Pickled Cabbage Slaw3

I just turned my completed book into my publisher.

One hundred recipes, along with sixty-five photos, are now out of my hands. You’d think I’d be relieved, so did I, but I’m worried. I just let go of the summation of 90 percent of my waking hours from the past 4 months. It’s in someone else’s care, and that scares the crap out of me.

I have these momentary panics:

Did I make the pavlovas enough, do the directions make sense?

I say jackass in the book, will people hate that?! 

Was I clear about how grateful I am for this, or will I come off as smug?!

I even worry about whether or not you’ll like it, as if I’m just an insecure school girl. I thought I would be relieved and elated, but I’m more anxious than I’ve been during this entire process. I want people to love it, to leave me glowing reviews on Amazon and tell their friends about how much they love it. I hope that happens, but for now, I’m still losing sleep.

For the time being, I have a St. Patricks Day recipe for you. I posted my veggie lovers St Patricks Day offering last week, but this one is about that corned beef we all associate with that Irish Holiday.

So if you will, drink a pint and say an Irish prayer for me and my forthcoming book.

Conred Beef Sliders with Pickled Cabbage Slaw

Beer Brined Corned Beef Sliders with Pickled Cabbage Slaw

Ingredients
  

Corned Beef

  • 3.5 lb beef brisket
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup kosher salt
  • 3 tablespoons curing salt this will make the meat pink
  • 3 tbs whole allspice berries
  • 1 tbs whole cloves
  • 1 tbs ground ginger
  • 2 tbs mustard seeds
  • 2 tbs whole peppercorns
  • 1 yellow onion quartered
  • 2 cups water
  • 3 12 ounces bottles of stout
  • 8 cups ice

Pickled slaw:

  • 2 cup red cabbage shredded
  • 2 cup savoy cabbage shredded
  • ½ red onion thinly sliced
  • 1/3 cup lemon juice
  • 2 cups apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tbs kosher salt
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • ¼ tsp groung ginger
  • 2 tbs whole dried allspice berries
  • 2 tsp whole cloves
  • 2 tsp black peppercorns
  • _
  • 12 soft potato dinner rolls split to resemble hamburger buns

Instructions
 

  • In a large pot or Dutch oven, add brown sugar, 3 tbs curing salt, 1 cup kosher salt, 3 tbs allspice berries, 1 tbs cloves, ginger, mustard seeds, 2 tbs peppercorns, along with 2 cups of water.
  • Cook on high just until the salt and sugar dissolve, remove from heat. Add 2 bottles of stout (reserve the last bottle for cooking) and 8 cups of ice, stir until ice has melted and brine is cool.
  • Add the brisket, cover with lid and refrigerate for 3 days and up to 10.
  • Remove from brine and rinse well. Discard the brine and clean the Dutch oven well.
  • Place the brisket back in the cleaned pot, along with the onion, pour the remaining bottle of stout and then cover with cold water until the brisket is fully cover with one to two inches of water above the beef.
  • Bring to a low boil, cover and reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Simmer for 3 hours or until the meat if fork tender. Move to a carving board, thinly slice against the grain.
  • While the brisket cooks, make the pickled slaw. In a sauce pan over medium heat, add the lemon juice, vinegar, salt, sugar, ginger, allspice, cloves and peppercorns in a pot. Bring to simmer just until the salt and sugar dissolve, remove from heat. Allow to cool to room temperature. In a large bowl, add the cabbage and onion. Pour the cooled pickling liquid over the cabbage and onion, refrigerate for one hour.
  • Slightly warm the buns, fill with corned beef and slaw before serving.