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Entree

Coconut Pale Ale Curry Cod

Coconut Pale Ale Curry Cod2

This, in one form or another, is my go-to dinner. It’s a pantry recipe and one of the main reasons I always have coconut milk on hand. I’ve made it with every imaginable protein, and even mushrooms when I’m the mood to only consume plants. I’ve replaced the chard with spinach, arugula, basil and even cilantro and it holds up. It’s reliable and filling. It’s a way to make dinner when I don’t have the energy to think. I can double the shallots or the curry paste and it still gives me what I want. I can add tomatoes or jalapeños and I still love it. I can make a triple batch and have it for next three days and It’s still a favorite.

Sometimes, in the midst of trying to give you a recipe that will be clink-inducing-share-worthy I forget that you also need the solid standby recipes that won’t let you down. The culinary equivalent of the faded Levis that you’ve been wearing since high school and that friend that always drives you to the airport even if it’s 5 am. So here it is, my faded-Levis-airport-guy recipe.

I hope you love it as much as I do.

Coconut Pale Ale Curry Cod3

 

Coconut Pale Ale Curry Cod

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • 1 shallot chopped (1/4 cup)
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 3/4 cup pale ale
  • 1 15 wt oz can coconut milk (full fat)
  • 1 tsp red curry paste
  • 1 teaspoons fish sauce
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 Thai green chile chopped (optional)
  • 1 to 2 lbs black cod cut into 4 fillets
  • 1 cups Swiss chard rough chopped
  • rice for serving

Instructions
 

  • In a large, deep skillet with a lid heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the shallots,
  • cooking until softened and slightly browned, about 5 minutes.
  • Stir in the garlic until fragrant, about 30 seconds, stir in the beer.
  • Add coconut milk, curry paste, fish sauce, salt, pepper, and chile (if using) simmer until slightly reduced, about 10 minutes.
  • Add the Cod fillets into the pan, reduce heat to low, cover tightly with a lid and simmer until
  • cooked through and fish flakes easily with a fork, about 10 minutes. Stir in the chard until wilted, about 1 minute.
  • Serve in bowls over rice.

Coconut Pale Ale Curry Cod4

Coq au Ale: Drunk French Chicken + A Case for Proper Glassware

Coq au Ale: Drunk French Chicken  

Coq au Ale 2

I’m in a back room of a brewery a few minutes after delivering the keynote address at a beer conference and I settle in to listen to a presentation about glassware. I’m bracing for the typical arguments, still vaguely uncertain that a "proper" glass has anything more than a minimal impact on my experience. Is it possible that it’s a placebo effect? The visual excitement of the glass convinces me that it does, in fact, taste better?

I’m given a Spiegelau stout glass, filled with, well, a stout. I’m also given a shaker pint, filled also with a stout. "Taste the shaker pint," we’re all instructed and we comply. It’s good. It’s a great stout and I like it. "Now, taste the beer in the stout glass." It’s bigger. The flavors are more pronounced and the carbonation is more even, it has a better head that has survived the trip from the tap-room far better than the first beer. These aren’t the same beer, I can tell. The second is a much better beer with bolder flavors. Then comes the bombshell that has firmly convinced me that glassware matters as much as beer storage, "It’s the same beer. It’s a Shakespeare Stout, you can try the experiment again in the tap-room if you don’t believe me." He’s right. It’s such a pronounced difference that it tastes like a different beer.

Proper glassware has a few key impacts on that brew you love so much. First, it protects the carbonation helping it to survive longer, it does the same with the head. The head of a beer acts like a net for oils, fermentation byproducts, yeast and other aroma producing compounds altering the experience you have when you drink it. This is a key reason that flat beer tastes different: there has been a lot that has left the beer. A proper glass helps hold the aroma producing compounds in the glass where your nose will be able to partake, which has an impact on the perception of taste.

Think about it: have you ever drank wine from a coffee mug? Would you? Try this experiment yourself, even if you don’t have proper glassware. Pour half of a stout into a regular glass or mug, pour the other half into a large bowl wine glass or a whiskey snifter. Try them side by side and they will taste different. This doesn’t mean that you need to invest in hundreds of special glasses for each beer you might want, just have a few at your disposal for when you want to open a bomber of the good stuff. If I could only have one beer glass it would be a tulip pint. Start there, spend some time drinking out of a glass that helps your beer stay at it’s best and expand your collection.

Coq au Ale: Drunk French Chicken

Servings 6 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 6 chicken thighs bone in skin on
  • salt and pepper
  • 3 tbs all purpose flour
  • 4 oz salt pork or thick bacon chopped
  • 2 tbs chopped fresh thyme
  • ½ lbs mushrooms chopped (crimini and white button)
  • 1 white onion chopped
  • 2 carrots chopped
  • 2 ribs celery chopped
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp kosher or sea salt
  • 2 tbs tomato paste
  • 12 ounces stout beer
  • 1 cup chicken stock or low sodium chicken broth

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 325 (unless preparing in advance).
  • Sprinkle the chicken thighs with salt and pepper, then with flour. Rub the flour in until well coated. Set aside and allow to rest while you prepare the rest of the dish.
  • Add the salt pork or bacon to a large skillet over medium heat (medium heat will render more fat than high heat). Cook, stirring frequently until most of the fat has rendered and the pork is crispy, 8 to 10 minutes.
  • Using a slotted spoon, remove the bacon and add to the bottom of a large Dutch oven.
  • Place the chicken in the skillet, skin side down, allowing to cook until the skin has browned and most of the fat has rendered, about 8 minutes. Turn over, cook until just browned. Transfer the chicken to the Dutch oven.
  • Add the mushrooms and the thyme to the skillet, cooking until the mushrooms have turned a darker browned and softened, about 6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon transfer the mushrooms to the Dutch oven.
  • Add the onion, carrots, celery, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper, cooking until all the vegetables have softened and started to brown, about 6 minutes.
  • Add the beer to the pan, scraping to deglaze the bottom. Allow to simmer for about 5 minutes.
  • Stir in the tomato paste, then sprinkle with flour, whisking until sauce has thickened.
  • Add a strainer over the Dutch oven, pour the sauce into the strainer, straining out the onions, carrots and celery. Pour the chicken broth into the strainer to make the process easier. Using a spoon, press the vegetables to make sure all the sauce and broth gets into the Dutch oven. Discard the vegetables.
  • If possible, cover and refrigerate for up to three days. This is will give you a deeper, richer flavor but the dish is ready to cook immediate.
  • When ready to cook,cover and transfer to a 325F oven, baking until the chicken is cooked through, about 30-45 minutes (if the chicken is cold from the refrigerator, the baking will take longer).
  • Remove the chicken from the pot and add the pot to a burner over high heat, simmer until thickened. Add additional salt and pepper to taste. Place the chicken back into the pot.
  • Serve hot over rice or noodles.

Coq au Ale 4

Drunk Pasta Carbonara with Pomegranates

Drunk Pasta Carbonara

Drunk Pasta Carbonara with Pomegranates5

In the guts of Sam Adams I sat in the back of a room filled with beer people. Julia Herz stood at the front, addressing the crowd of beer writers, just thirty minutes before the bottles of Utopias were to be popped by Jim Koch, and we could think of little else. "Raise your hand if you drink beer," Julia said with the perfect touch of sarcasm. Every hand was enthusiastically raised as a small giggle spread across the room. "Keep ’em up. Raise the other hand if you also drink wine." Nearly every hand raised. "Good, me too. Now cross your arms over if you also, at least occasionally, drink liquor." I look towards her as a sea of beer drinking limbs form X’s in front of me.

We drink beer. We drink wine. We drink liquor.  Of course we do.

Outsiders always draw parallels between beer and wine, assuming a rivalry that has yet to be realized. Wine is wine, beer is beer. Both are consumable alcoholic beverages, both take skill, dedication, fermentation, and yeast to produce, but for us, there isn’t a conflict. Do you ask Italian chefs if they eat Japanese food? Do you ask if there is a threat to pasta because of sushi? Of course not.

Cooking with wine is a long-respected practice and beer is just starting to enter into the scene in a legitimate way. Wine and food pairings seem natural, while there still seems to be a need to explain the importance and value of pairing beer and food. Beer has a spectrum of flavors that wine can’t even imagine, the application for cooking with beer far exceed those for wine, and reminding the masses that craft beer is not at all the same substance as that stuff they beer ponged with in college is a fight still being won.

We know the value of beer, and we see where we need to go, but beer is in no way "the new wine." As we expand the knowledge base for craft beer, showcase the flavors and ingredients being presented, we created a bigger space for it rather than devour the space that wine is already in. We won’t stop drinking wine, we don’t need to. There is space at the table for well-made beverages of all sorts, we’re just looking to join the party on an equal footing and we’re getting there.

Drunk Pasta Carbonara with Pomegranates1

Just a few months ago Beer Pairing: The Essential Guide To Pairing From The Pros by Julia Herz and Gwen Conley was released. Essential is the right word to describe it, it’s a book that clearly illustrates the value and possibilities that exist when it comes to the relationship between beer and food. It’s a manifesto on the celebration of the flavors of beer, the importance of glassware and how to bring beer and food to it’s full potential. I took the majority of the photos in the book, with the exception of a few portrait shots, and was able to experience first hand the staggering knowledge these two women possess as well as the full impact of well-paired food and beer. It’s a book that I’ve reached for in the past few months more so than any other beer resource  I own. I highly recommend it.

Drunk Pasta Carbonara with Pomegranates3

Drunk Pasta Carbonara with Pomegranates

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 12 oz wheat beer*
  • 1 ½ cups chicken broth
  • 12 wt oz linguini
  • 4 wt oz diced pancetta
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 3 wt oz shaved parmesan
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1 cup baby arugula leaves
  • ½ cup pomegranate seeds

Instructions
 

  • Add the beer and broth to a pot over medium high heat, bring to a simmer. Add the pasta and cook until just before al dente. Drain pasta, reserving about ¼ cup cooking liquid, add noodles to a serving bowl.
  • In a pan over medium high heat add the pancetta, cooking until crispy.
  • In a mixing bowl whisk together the egg yolks, parmesan, salt pepper and the reserved cooking liquid, pour mixture over the pasta, toss to coat. Sprinkle with pancetta, arugula and pomegranate seeds.

Notes

*For a more assertive beer flavor, replace the chicken broth with beer. Be careful to use a low IBU beer or the end flavor will be overly bitter and intense.

I do not make any money from the sales of Beer Pairings, I was not compensated in any way for this post. All opinions are my own. 

Slow Cooker Tuscan White Bean and Beer Chicken Soup

Slow Cooker Tuscan White Bean and Beer Chicken Soup 

Slow Cooker Tuscan White Bean Beer Chicken Stew3

"You’re not reactionary, you’re rebellious but intentional. You think before you jump off the bridge."

Someone I know well said this to me once. I was the kid your parents warned you about, the one who jumps off the bridge and your parents ask if you’re going to follow me into the cold waters of Lake Washington. "If your friends jumped off a bridge, would you do it too?" My mom never asked me that questions because she knew I was always the first to jump. But the fact is, I only jump if I know with reasonable certainty that it’s safe. When I was homeless in Hollywood at 19, I had a cell phone, a savings account, and a craigslist ad to house sit for free, as long as it was a nice neighborhood.

When I decided to quit my job as a social worker to pursue my dream of being a writer and photographer, I first spent a year doing both. 80 hours a week doing both my day job and my dream job. Then a year part-time at my day job (which, to be fair I still loved), and full-time hustling to work in writing. I jumped, and it seemed brave, but I had a backup plan.

Slow Cooker Tuscan White Bean Beer Chicken Stew7

Maybe it comes from a non-traditional upbringing that required several backup plans, but I’m not afraid to jump. I just need to know what my options are. I can be stranded in a coastal Spanish town at 3 am, or lost in the center of a Moroccan city, my mind will start to formulate a plan, "You’ll be fine, you can figure this out," will be my first thought. I’ve jumped before and it hasn’t gone well. I’ve lost, I’ve failed, I’ve done things I shouldn’t have. But I more regret the things I didn’t do than the things I did.

You’ll never hit the ball if you don’t swing the bat. So, as this year hurdles forward, that’s what you should do. Swing the bat. Jump off the bridge. Maybe you need a backup plan for failure first, but you can do it. It’s better to fail at doing what you want than succeed at doing what you don’t. Grab a beer, make a plan, and swing the bat. Best thing I ever did.

Slow Cooker Tuscan White Bean Beer Chicken Stew6

Slow Cooker Tuscan White Bean and Beer Chicken Soup

Servings 6 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 16 ounces dried Great Northern beans
  • 6 cups chicken broth
  • 12 ounces pale ale
  • 2 carrots diced
  • 2 stalks celery diced
  • ½ cup diced white onion
  • 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tbs chopped fresh thyme
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 2 tbs tomato paste
  • 3 cups Tuscan kale Lacinato kale, sliced into ribbons

Instructions
 

  • Add the beans, broth, beer, carrots, celery, onion, chicken, salt, pepper, garlic, thyme, and oregano to a slow cooker, stir to combine.
  • Cook on low for 8 hours.
  • Remove the large pieces of chicken, shread with two forks, return to slow cooker.
  • Add the tomato paste to a small bowl with 2 tablespoons of very hot water, stir to combine. Add to the slow cooker, stir to combine.
  • Stir in the kale, allow to cook for about ten more minutes on low. Ladle into bowls.

 

 

Beer Brined Lemon Garlic Skillet Chicken

Beer Brined Lemon Garlic Skillet Chicken. 30 minutes, one pot, so good! 

Beer Brined Lemon Garlic Skillet Chicken. 30 minutes, one pot, so good!

They always seem to need to explain themselves to me.

When someone, new to beer or not, tells me they don’t like IPA’s it always comes with a disclaimer at the end. As if the mere fact they don’t respond well to one of the hundreds of beer styles knocks the "beer lover" card out of their hands. IPA’s aren’t the litmus test by which a beer lover is judged, nor are sours, or barrel aged beers or even the enjoyment of an occasional pale lager.

After all, we got into this craft beer drinking game because we enjoy the flavor, not because we were jonesing to drink something we didn’t like. We could do that much cheaper with a macro beer.

You don’t have to like them all, they aren’t your children, it’s OK to have favorites. And least favorites. So what do you do when you’ve tried to like a beer style and can’t? Or if you’ve tried to like beer in general and can’t?

First, realize that you don’t have to. Like what you like because you like it, and leave it at that. But if you do want to, want to like beer, want to like a certain style? Push forward. Be honest at the beer bar about what you are trying to like and ask for tasters. Be willing to try anything, but don’t commit to a pint, you’ll probably end up resenting the tall glass of beer and vow never to do it again. Maybe you don’t hate IPA’s, maybe you just don’t like Amarillo hops. Or you don’t like a cook hop flavor but wet hopped beers are your jam. Maybe you don’t actually hate sours, you just hate that one you had at a beer bar in San Francisco. Be willing to try a few dozen more to see if there might be something there.

A beer lover isn’t build with an unabashed love for every beer ever brewed. There were over 200 categories and subcategories at the Great American Beer Festival this year, no one loves them all. Of course you have favorites, and least favorites. You aren’t a bad beer person for not liking a few. But you are a bit of an asshole for making someone else feel inferior for admitting they don’t like IPA’s.

Beer Brined Lemon Garlic Skillet Chicken. 30 minutes, one pot, so good!

Beer Brined Lemon Garlic Skillet Chicken

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 4 chicken thighs bone-in, skin-on
  • 1 tbs kosher salt
  • 1 cup beer plus ½ cup, divided (pale ale, pilsner)
  • ¼ cup diced shallots or white onions
  • 4 large cloves garlic grated with a microplane
  • 1 ½ tbs flour
  • juice from one lemon about 3 tbs
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¼ cup chopped flat leaf parsley
  • rice for serving

Instructions
 

  • Add the chicken thighs to a shallow bowl, sprinkle with salt, cover with 1 cup beer.
  • Allow chicken to sit at room temperate for 20 minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
  • Rinse the chicken well with cold water, pat dry.
  • Add the chicken to a cast iron skill, off heat, skin side down. Add the pan to medium high heat, allow to cook until skin is golden brown (starting to cook chicken in a cold skillet will render more fat than if you start it in a hot skillet. You do not need any oil, the fat will render quickly making oil unnecessary)
  • Turn the chicken over and cook until browned on the under side, remove from skillet (chicken will not be cooked through).
  • Add the shallots, cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, cooking for about 20 seconds.
  • Whisk in the flour, cooking until all the flour has been dampened.
  • Add the remaining ½ cup beer, scraping to deglaze the pan.
  • Stir in the lemon juice, chicken broth, pepper, and salt.
  • Add the chicken back into the pan, simmer until the sauce has thickened and the chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes (if the skin has turned soggy, place skillet under broiler for about 1 minute to crisp up the skin).
  • Sprinkle with parsley prior to serving.
  • Serve over rice

Beer Brined Lemon Garlic Skillet Chicken. 30 minutes, one pot, so good!

Thanksgiving Leftovers Recipe: Black Friday Empanadas

Thanksgiving Leftovers Recipe: Black Friday Empanadas

Thanksgiving Leftovers Recipe: Black Friday Empanadas

The next day is always better.

It’s calm, relaxed. The cooking is finished, the fridge full of food, the dishes done. The relatives have left, but the house is still full with those special few.

Of course you can slice a few rolls in half and pile them high with turkey, potatoes, corn and a drizzle of gravy. You can just re-heat and set up a mini buffet for those still left in your care. You can and everyone will be happy.

But maybe you want to try something new. Maybe it’s time for change. This dough takes about fifteen minutes and gives your guests a fun new way to experience leftovers. It’s new, but made with the stuff you already have stacked in tupperware in the fridge.

Or maybe you tuck this idea in your back pocket for the next time you have unexpected guests, a few tubs of leftovers, and you want to do something that feel special.

Either way, you’ll look brilliant.

Thanksgiving Leftovers Recipe: Black Friday Empanadas

Thanksgiving Leftovers Recipe: Black Friday Empanadas

Servings 10 -12 empanadas

Ingredients
  

For the dough:

  • 3 cups 350g Masa Harina (corn flour)
  • 1 cup 120g all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp 6g salt
  • 1 cup 226g warm water
  • 1 cup 226g pale ale beer, warmed to body temperature
  • 2 tbs 32g vegetable oil
  • Oil for baking

Filling:

  • Roasted turkey chopped
  • Mashed potatoes
  • Corn
  • Cheddar cheese

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350.
  • Add the masa, flour, salt, water, beer, and oil to a bowl, stir until a soft dough forms. If the dough is too wet, add additional flour. The consistency should be similar to Play-Doh. Cover the bowl and allow to rest for 15 minutes.
  • Form dough into balls about the size of golf balls.
  • One at a time place between two sheets of parchment paper (parchment works better than plastic wrap, the dough removes more easily) and using either a tortilla press or a rolling pin, press/roll into 6 inch circles.
  • Add about 2 tablespoons of filling in the center (use any combination of left over Thanksgiving food that appeals to you). Using the parchment, fold over the dough to form a crescent shape. Peel back the parchment and press the dough to seal the edges. Repeat for all dough balls.
  • Place on a baking sheet, drizzle with oil.
  • Bake for 15 minutes. Flip over and bake for a additional 15 minutes or until dough is golden brown.

Thanksgiving Leftovers Recipe: Black Friday Empanadas

Sriracha Beer Mac N Cheese (15-minutes Stove Top)

Sriracha Beer Mac N Cheese (15-minutes Stove Top)

Sriracha Beer Mac N Cheese 2

These photos were taken at the beginning of a power outage that lasted two days.

Luckily, the light from my window was filtering through breaking storm clouds in an eerie but beautiful way that made it possible to shoot the macaroni I’d finish making by candlelight. It also tastes fantastic in the dark, although the gorgeous slightly pink hue of the Sriracha cheese sauce is lost in the low light, it didn’t matter.

I spend the night trying, and repeatedly failing, to keep the fireplace going and the candles lit. Instinctively trying to flip light switches when I’d enter a room. Reminding myself that I no longer have a gas stove, it’s electric, so cooking is not an option. Realizing that I’m much more dependent on the comforts of electricity that I’d like to admit.

Sriracha Beer Mac N Cheese 3

It gave me a profound appreciation for things I take for granted, the things we refer to as "little things" are only little when you have them, they turn into a giant beast that has your comfort and convince in a stranglehold when you don’t have them. You realize they are so huge they consume your life and hobble your ability to function in the way you’re accustomed to.

So today, as the lights flickered back on, I’m thankful. I’m grateful for warmth, electricity, and the ability to cook again. Tonight I’ll raise a pint to the fact that I almost never have to go without, and in the grand scheme of the world today that makes me fortunate.

Sriracha Beer Mac N Cheese 5

Sriracha Beer Mac N Cheese

Total Time 15 minutes
Servings 6 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lbs elbow macaroni
  • 2 tbs 30g unsalted butter
  • 3 tbs 24g flour
  • 2 tbs 12g cornstarch
  • 2 cup 480mL whole milk
  • 1 cup 240g IPA or Pale Ale
  • 1.5 lbs 681g white cheddar cheese, shredded
  • ½ tsp 3g salt
  • ½ tsp 2g garlic powder
  • 2 tbs 64g Sriracha red chili sauce

Instructions
 

  • Cook the macaroni in lightly salted boiling water until just before al dente, about 5 minutes. Drain, set aside.
  • In a large pot over medium high heat, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and cornstarch until well combined. Add the milk and beer, bring to a low simmer, do not boil.
  • A hand full at a time add the cheese, whisking until all the cheese has melted before adding more.
  • Sitr in the salt, garlic powder and Sriracha (add additional to taste).
  • Add the noodles, stir until well combined, allow the noodles to finish cooking in the sauce, about 3 minutes.
  • Serve warm.

Notes

If the sauce breaks, use an immersion blender to bring it back to life.

 

Slow Cooker Gojuchang Stout Black Bean Soup

Slow Cooker Gojuchang Stout Black Bean Soup 4

A few weeks ago I stopped a radio interview, mid-conversation, to correct the interviewer.

I don’t ever do this. I love talking to people who don’t know beer, who want to ask questions. People who have genuine interest in learning about a subject they have only scratched the surface of. Sometimes I get someone who just pretends to know about beer. It makes things awkward. I’ll let a few things slide, like the radio guy I adore who keeps referring to all beer as "lagers" even when he’s actually talking about ales. We’ll just move forward, no need to correct. But then sometimes it’s just too much and I have to shut things down for a 30 second beer-geek rant. It started a bit like this:

Interviewer: "So this is a big season for beer people, right?! I mean harvest beer! I love harvest beer, you know, because I can’t get enough pumpkin. I love anything that tastes like pumpkins!"

So we stopped to talk about harvest beers. The fact that "harvest" actually refers to hop harvest and beers made with freshly harvested hops. Hops are only harvested once a year making the beer made that special time of year—that small window of time when you can use freshly harvested hops—incredibly rare and sought after. But only if your brewery is within driving distance of the farm, hops start to go bad fairly quickly. The rest of the year you can only use dried hops in one form or another. Harvest is a big deal for us. No matter where we are, it’s the first beer we want to try if we see it on tap. After all, it’s only a matter of time before all the wet hopped kegs are dry and the moment has passed.

The good news is that I got to talk about hop harvest and what a huge deal it is, especially in the Pacific Northwest where 80% of the hops in the USA are grown. I also got to talk about how beer people will push a case of pumpkin beer down the stairs just to get to a fresh hop beer. I was nice, because we’ve all been there. We’ve all been in a situation when we though we knew what we were talking about, but really had no idea. I thanked the interviewer for letting me talk about fresh hop beers, they are my favorite right now. And I hope fresh hop beer sales went up just a tick in that broadcast network. Even if it meant that pumpkin beer sales went down.

Slow Cooker Gojuchang Stout Black Bean Soup 7

 

Slow Cooker Gojuchang Stout Black Bean Soup

Servings 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lbs dried black beans
  • ½ sweet white onion diced
  • 1 large carrot chopped
  • 1 large red bell pepper chopped
  • 2 tbs tomato paste
  • 12 ounces smoked stout or porter
  • 4 cups broth vegetable or beef
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • ½ tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 2 tbs Gochujang Korean hot sauce*
  • 1 large avocado diced
  • ½ cup cilantro chopped

Instructions
 

  • Add the beans, onions, carrots, bell pepper, tomato paste, beer, broth, salt, pepper, cumin, garlic powder, smoked paprika and hot sauce to a slow cooker, stir to combine.
  • Cook on low for 10 hours or high for 6 hours, stir occasionally if possible.
  • Ladle into bowls, top with avocado and cilantro before serving.

Notes

--Gojuchang is a Korean hot sauce that is easy to find in the Asian section of most major super markets, even Target. It's sweet, spicy and smokey.
--You don't need to pre soak the beans, the beer does a great job of breaking them down and making them creamy inside.
-- If you have time, sautéing the onions, carrots and bell peppers for 10 minutes before adding to the slow cooker will improve the final flavor.

I use this slow cooker (affiliate link).

Slow Cooker Gojuchang Stout Black Bean Soup 2

Corn and Black Bean Enchiladas with Chipotle Stout Red Sauce

Corn and Black Bean Enchiladas with Chipotle Stout Red Sauce

Bet vegan meal I've ever made. Corn and Black Bean Enchiladas with Chipotle Stout Red Sauce #vegan #recipe #meatless #vegetarian

Let’s say you had someone coming over for dinner.

This is a person you like, a person that happened to be vegan. But for you, that’s not a big deal. You’ve got this. Except you don’t. Because salad is boring, and pasta is predictable. You don’t want anything complicated, you want the "this old thing?" version of a meal.

But then you freeze up. It’s a simple dinner, a "I hardly have more than 20 minutes to throw this together" meal, but it still has to be great. So you go back to your childhood comfort foods. And although what your mom made was less "enchiladas" and more of a "burrito casserole," it was still one of your favorites.

Bet vegan meal I've ever made. Corn and Black Bean Enchiladas with Chipotle Stout Red Sauce #vegan #recipe #meatless #vegetarian

Tortillas are vegan. So is corn and beans and avocados. Beer is vegan, for the most part. And even though you still put cotija cheese on half of it, it’s still a damn good meal, vegan or not. Because produce is amazing and celebrating it in a big 'ol pan of spicy sauce will a malty stout should be something that everyone does more often.

Because plants are awesome.

Bet vegan meal I've ever made. Corn and Black Bean Enchiladas with Chipotle Stout Red Sauce #vegan #recipe #meatless #vegetarian

This is how I make corn tortillas, once you start, you’ll never go back to store bought.

Corn and Black Bean Enchiladas with Chipotle Stout Red Sauce

Servings 2 -4 servings

Ingredients
  

Sauce:

  • 2 tbs cornstarch
  • 2 tbs tomato paste
  • ½ cup tomato sauce
  • 1 chipotle chili in adobo finely minced
  • 2 tbs adobo sauce
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • ½ tsp onion powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp cumin
  • ¾ cup stout

Enchiladas:

  • 2 large avocados
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp pepper
  • 8-10 homemade or good quality corn tortillas
  • 1 can 425g black beans, rinsed and drained
  • kernels from one ear of corn
  • ¼ cup cotija cheese optional. Omit for vegan
  • ¼ cup chopped cilantro

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 425.
  • Add the cornstarch, tomato paste and tomato sauce to a pot, whisk until well combined. Add to medium heat, stir in the chipotles, adobo sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, cumin and stout.
  • Allow to simmer until slightly thickened, about five minutes.
  • In a small bowl mash together the avocados, salt and pepper.
  • Heat the tortillas slightly to make them more pliable.
  • One at a time spread tortillas with avocado, fill with black beans and corn, roll tightly.
  • Place into an 8X8 pan in a tight row.
  • Pour the sauce evenly over the pan.
  • Bake at 425 for 12-15 minutes or until warm and bubbly.
  • Top with remaining ingredients, serve warm.

Notes

*For an 9x13 pan, double the recipe

Stout Brined Pan Seared Flank Steak with Sage Chimichurri

Stout Brined Pan Seared Flank Steak with Sage Chimichurri

Beer Brined Pan Seared Flank Steak with Sage Chimichurri

I’m going to tell you why I’m not a good person, at least not at first.

I was late a few days ago, trying to get to a place that had me stress-rushing but wasn’t important enough to remember now, three days later. The car in front of me, a Volvo station wagon as old as I am was making very slow forward progress, slightly swerving, down a winding back road in the Wine Country of King County. I’m annoyed, irritated, wondering if Seattle drivers do this on purpose. Do they see that you’re in a rush and slow down to make a point? Everyone in LA was always in a hurry and driving less than the speed limit wasn’t even physically possible. What the hell was this guys problem? At the first opportunity I speed past him, out of the corner of my eye I see his car slow to a stop in the middle of the road, his hazards flip on, and his body slump over the steering wheel.

I stop, my I-Need-To-Get-There-Now destination on hold. I turn around and go back to check on him. I pull off on the soft shoulder of the road, my tires scrapping a few blackberry bushes that have just gone dormant. I see his old, frail body shaking a bit.

I grab the thick black handle on the faded blue door of his car and pull it open with a loud creak, "Are you OK?" he looks up, smiles. He is easily 80 years old. He tells me that the car has been acting funny, but he thought he would be able to make it to the store, but then it just stopped. He’s shaken, unsure what to do. This is the man I though was an asshole for going so slow just three minutes earlier. I feel awful.

 A small market is right across the street and a few employees have come outside to see what the action is. I wave them over. We push the car out of the road for him, and help him call a tow truck.

When I leave, he’s fine, his car problem assessed and fixed. But I wondered why I do that. Why do I first assume the worse about strangers? Maybe the guy in traffic is having car problems. Maybe the rude waitress isn’t a bitch, maybe she just got the worst news of her life and she’s only trying to hold it together. Maybe we should all just give each other a break and assume the best until proven otherwise. Maybe I need to stop driving like I still live in LA, and stop freaking out when I’m late.

Maybe we just need to get some beer and hug it out.

Beer Brined Pan Seared Flank Steak with Sage Chimichurri

Beer Brined Pan Seared Flank Steak with Sage Chimichurri

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

For the Steak:

  • 1 ½ lbs flank steak
  • 1 ½ cups stout or porter
  • 2 tbs Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • ½ tsp salt
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 tbs butter

Chimichurri:

  • 2 tbs 20g finley chopped shallots
  • ½ cup 6g fresh parsley
  • ¼ cup 6g fresh sage leaves
  • 1/3 cup 72g olive oil
  • 1 tsp 3g red pepper flakes
  • 2 tbs 15g red wine vinegar
  • 1 tbs l 15g lemon juice
  • 1 clove 3g garlic, smashed
  • ¼ tsp 1.5g salt
  • ¼ tsp .5g black pepper

Instructions
 

  • In a small bowl, whisk together the beer, Worcestershire, onion powder, paprika and salt.
  • Place the steak in a baking dish, cover with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 6 hours and up to 24, turning at least once while marinating.
  • To make the chimichurri combine all ingredients in a food processor, pulse several times until combined.
  • Remove the steak from the marinade, pat dry. Allow to sit at room temperature for 15 to 20 minutes.
  • Preheat the oven to 400.
  • Pat the steak dry again, if needed, sprinkle on both sides with salt and pepper.
  • Melt the butter in a cast iron skillet over high heat.
  • Add the steak, cook for two minutes, flip and cook on the other side for one minute.
  • Transfer to the oven and cook for 7 minutes or until the thickest part of the steak reads 120 on a meat thermometer.
  • Remove from the pan and allow to rest for ten minutes. Slice against the grain and serve with the chimichurri sauce

Beer Brined Pan Seared Flank Steak with Sage Chimichurri

Coconut Beer Steamer Clam Chowder

Coconut Beer Steamer Clam Chowder

Coconut Beer Steamer Chowder2

I remember the walls were dirty. Before he tried to push the glass table through my torso, I could only focus on the stains spread like a grease constellation across the Navajo White walls of the government subsidized apartment I was trapped in. His mom’s girlfriend wrapped her dark, sinewy arms around him, pinning his arms to his sides. Their tandem screams, dulled by the shock that had numbed my brain, tumbled together like puppies rolling down a hill…

I have these narratives rolling around inside me, fighting to get to the surface. They wake me up at night. Sentences form out of nowhere that take me back to a forgotten time and place.

Mostly, it’s repressed memories from my days in Hollywood, and the times I worked with gang members in South Central Los Angeles. It’s parts, mostly, of experiences I can’t remember entirely. Feelings searching for words. But the thing is, experiences are made up of an amalgamation of your senses. It’s a big ball of touch, smell, taste, sight, and sound. Words don’t fit well in that sensation cocktail. Even when the words leave me, I know they are so small, so inadequate. But it’s all I have. It has me, more than I have it. I’ll never claim that editing and technical writing is my calling in life, it’s always been a struggle.  But creative expressions via words and images has sucked me into it’s undertow.

So, please. Give me a pass when the verbs and tenses don’t stand in a perfect line, and typos come en masse. I’m trying to turn feelings into words, and there is only one part of that I can do at a time.

Coconut Beer Steamer Chowder3

Coconut Beer Steamer Clam Chowder

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 4 wt oz 114g pancetta, diced
  • 1 large 43g shallot, diced
  • 1 large 110g carrot, diced
  • 3 tbs 22g flour
  • 1 cup 236g wheat beer
  • 1 ½ cup 360 mL chicken broth
  • 13.5 fl oz 400 mL coconut milk
  • ½ tsp 4g salt
  • ½ tsp 1.3g black pepper
  • ½ tsp 1.3g garlic powder
  • ½ tsp 1.3g smoked paprika
  • 3 medium sized 300g red potatoes, diced
  • 1 lbs manila clams
  • 2 cups 44g sliced Swiss chard (or spinach)

Instructions
 

  • Add the pancetta to a large pot or Dutch oven (add pancetta to a cold pan, it will render better than if you add it to a hot pan). Cook over medium high heat until crispy, remove with a slotted spoon.
  • Pour off about half of the fat in the pot, leaving about 2 tablespoons.
  • Return to medium heat, add the shallots and carrots, cooking until very soft and slightly caramelized, about 15 minutes (if the pan dries too much, add a bit of olive oil).
  • Sprinkle flour on top, whisking until the flour turns slightly brown.
  • Add the beer, scraping to deglaze the bottom of the pot.
  • Stir in the broth, coconut milk, potatoes, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, smoked paprika and red potatoes. Simmer until slightly thickened and potatoes have softened, about 15 minutes.
  • Reduce heat to low, add the clams and chard, cover and allow to cook for 6 minutes. Discard any clams that have not opened. Serve immediately.

Coconut Beer Steamer Chowder5

Stout Bolognese and I Brewed A Beer with Fort George Brewing

Ft George Beeroness Beer

It started with a phone call.

A question. Would I be interested in teaming up with Fort George Brewery out of Astoria, Oregon to brew a beer for this years Willamette Week’s Beer Pro/Am in Portland, Oregon?

Of course I would, what kind of questions is that? I’d love to, not-be-able-to-sleep thrilled to. First step: deciding what I want to brew. I thought about the beers I’d fallen in love with over the years, the first beers, the best ones, the most memorable pints. I decided on a stout, the dark beers will always have my heart.  The beer I brewed was inspired by food, a decision that seemed fairly fated. Head brewer Jack Harris and I brewed a deep, malty, stout with candied and roasted pecans that we’ve decided to call Glazed and Confused Praline Stout. I’m thrilled with how it’s turned out, it’s delicious, the notes of brown sugar and pecans melt into the malty backbone of the stout.

 

This weekend Jack and I will be pouring our Glazed and Confused , hoping you’ll love it as much as we do. If you’re at the event, come say hi. Try my beer and let me know what you think.

 

Stout Bolognese

Servings 6 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tbs 20g olive oil
  • 2 ribs 100g celery, chopped
  • 1 large 350g white onion, chopped
  • 1 large 120g carrot, chopped
  • 1 lbs 454g ground chuck (85% lean)
  • 12 wt oz 340g ground pork
  • 2 tsp 16g salt
  • 2 tsp 8g black pepper
  • 1 tsp 6g red peppers
  • ¼ cup 50g Mama Lil’s (pickled Hungarian goat horn peppers)
  • 1 cup 268g whole milk
  • 12 ounces 340g stout
  • 1.5 lbs 680g crushed tomatoes
  • 1 tbs 16g tomato puree
  • 1 cup 80g fresh shaved or shredded parmesan
  • 6 servings parppardelle pasta about 1 ½ lbs 525g

Instructions
 

  • Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the celery, onions, and carrot. Cook until the vegetables have softened and the onions have started to caramelize, at least 15 minutes and up to 45 (the longer you allow the onions to caramelize, the better the overall flavor).
  • Add the beef, pork, salt, black pepper, red pepper and Mam Lil’s, allow meat to brown, breaking up as it cooks.
  • Add the milk and allow to cook until the milk looks as though it is mostly cooked off, and the pan looks mostly dry, about 10 minutes.
  • Add the stout, cooking until the beer is mostly gone, about 15 minutes.
  • Stir in the tomatoes and tomato puree, cook over medium/low heat (very low simmer), for three to four hours (you can transfer the sauce to a slow cooker instead, cook on low for 8 hours).
  • Stir in the parmaesan in the last ten minutes of cooking.
  • Serve over pasta, sprinkle with additional parmesan if desired.
Stout Bolognese 4

Stout Braised Pork and Black Bean Empanadas and a Craft Beer Adventure in South America

Stout Braised Pork and Black Bean Empanadas

Stout Braised Pork and Black Bean Empanadas 6

The first thing you notice about the owners of Bogota Beer Company is how much they care. About each other, about the people who work for them, about the brand and every detail of it. It conveys so strong, the minute they picked me up from an airport in Panama, I could feel it instantly. The entire reason they’d flown me thousands of miles was because of how much they care. The menu they had in the 27 pubs spread over 2 countries was good, but they wanted it to be great. They wanted me to revamp it, add some beer, make it exciting.

Colombia Panama

The week was peppered with new experiences every day. A fish market in Panama, foods and flavors that were new to me, gorgeous dinners, late nights walks around a rain slicked city, a private coffee class in the hills of Bogota, Colombia. All the while I was reworking an already decent menu. A menu that, to be honest, was better than most American pubs. We made it exciting. We added a burger with a bacon jam made with their porter, doughnuts served with sauces infused with their beer, fried chicken made the way American Southern women make it, and a pizza menu that feels as artisan as their beer.

Colombia Panama2

I’m proud of what we did. Proud to work with a company that is paving the way for great craft beer in countries that are brand new to even the idea of a beer that isn’t a pale lager. The beer is fantastic, and the company is even better. If you’re in Bogota, Colombia, stop in the BBC for a pint and sample the menu I helped create. Or stop by one of the micro-pubs they’re dotted across the country in renovated shipping containers. If you visit Panama City, stop by La Rana Dorada. Stop by and have a pint, have some food, and make some friends. They are the best people you can hope to come across while traveling.

Colombia Panama3

Stout Braised Pork and Black Bean Empanadas

Servings 12 empanadas

Ingredients
  

Dough:

  • 3 cups 350g Masa Harina (corn flour)
  • 1 cup 120g all purpose flour
  • 2 cup 450g warm water
  • 2 tbs 32g oil

Filling:

  • 1 tbs oil
  • ½ large 160g white onion, chopped
  • 12 wt oz 340g Ground pork
  • 1 cup 226g stout
  • 2 tbs 32g Tomato puree
  • 15 oz 425g Black beans
  • ¼ tsp 0.6g smoked paprika
  • ½ tsp 1.5g garlic powder
  • ½ tsp 3g salt
  • 1 tsp 1g black pepper
  • Oil for frying

Instructions
 

  • Add the masa, flour, water, and oil to a bowl, stir until a soft dough forms. If the dough is too wet, add additional flour. The consistency should be similar to Play-Doh. Cover the bowl and allow to rest while you prepare the filling.
  • Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Cook the onions until slightly caramelized, about ten minutes. Add the pork, cooking until browned, breaking up into small pieces.
  • Add the stout and allow to cook until the beer is almost completely gone.
  • Add the tomato puree, black beans, smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt and black pepper, cook until well combined. Remove from heat.
  • Form dough into balls about the size of golf balls.
  • One at a time place between two sheets of parchment paper (parchment works better than plastic wrap, the dough removes more easily) and using either a tortilla press or a rolling pin, press/roll into 6 inch circles.
  • Add about 2 tablespoons of filling in the center. Using the parchment, fold over the dough to form a crescent shape. Peel back the parchment and press the dough to seal the edges. Repeat for all dough balls.
  • Heat the oil (canola or peanut oil), in a large pot over medium high heat. Using a cooking thermometer adjust heat to maintain 350F degrees.
  • A few at a time, fry the empanadas until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Allow to drain on a stack of paper towels.

Notes

Masa Harina is sold in most major markets, look for it in the Hispanic food section.
To make ahead of time: After frying allow to cool. Place on a plate and loosely cover, chill for up to three days. Once ready to serve, drizzle with oil and bake at 425 for 12 minutes.

Stout Braised Pork and Black Bean Empanadas 7

10-Minute Tater Tot Beer Cheese and Chives Soup

10-Minute Tater Tot Beer Cheese and Chives Soup

10-Minute Tater Tot Beer Cheese and Chives Soup 1You don’t have to make a decision.

There’s no pressure to decide if you really want to give this a try, or if you think it’s a new deviant low in beer cooking. It can always be both. More than anything, its a reminder. Don’t look both ways before crossing the food trend street. Don’t check the paper next to you  when searching for the right answer to whether or not something is desirable. Blink. What’s your blink reaction? There needs to be no further explanation. There needs to be no additional analysis. This seems to be difficult. It’s hard, in a way, to just like what we like because we like it. We seem to need constant validation as to our decision making and preferences.

Let’s just stop. Let’s just like stuff, because, well, we like it. Let’s drink without checking reviews on Untapped or Beer Advocate. Let us eat, cook with, order and enjoy stuff regardless of trending hashtags. Just for a while, just to see how it feels.

 10-Minute Tater Tot Beer Cheese and Chives Soup 4

10-Minute Tater Tot Beer Cheese and Chives Soup

Total Time 10 minutes
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups 450g wheat beer, pale lager, pilsner
  • 3 tbs 30g cornstarch
  • 16 ounces 450g sharp white cheddar, grated
  • 1 cup 240g broth (vegetable or chicken)
  • ½ cup 120g heavy cream
  • 1 tsp 4g red pepper sauce
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • ¼ cup chopped chives
  • 2 cup 200g tater tots, cooked according to package directions*

Instructions
 

  • Add the beer, cornstarch, cheddar, broth, heavy cream, and red pepper sauce to a blender. Blend on high until very well combined, about 5 minutes.
  • Add to a pot over medium high heat, simmer until warmed and slightly thickened.
  • Season with salt and pepper to taste, stir in chives.
  • Ladle into serving bowls, top with tater tots, serve immediately.

Notes

*To bake crispy tater tots, rather than soft ones, drizzle with oil just prior to baking.

10-Minute Tater Tot Beer Cheese and Chives Soup 3

 

Crispy Honey Porter Sticky Chicken Wings

Crispy Honey Porter Sticky Chicken Wings

Crispy Honey Porter Sticky Baked Chicken Wings 3

This was version 6 of this recipe.

Usually, it doesn’t take me that long to get a recipe right. More often than not, I get it on the first try, maybe a few small tweeks, but this one took some trail and a lot of error.

None of the versions were bad, they just weren’t what I was looking for. Like that guy you dated a few years ago that just wasn’t a fit. Although I’m sure your issue with him had nothing to do with how crispy his skin is, or how thickly glazed he was. Although, I don’t know your life.

I had a very specific vision. I wanted wings that are baked-not-fried, skin so crispy it could hold up to glaze without getting soggy, I wanted a thick glaze that was sticky and sweet, and although I’m Ok with a few steps, I didn’t want it to be a huge pain in the ass. I’ve told you that I’d found the secret to crispy skinned baked chicken wings that are even better and crispier than fried (these crispy chicken wings) so I used that as a base. I brined them in beer, which made a remarkable difference in the fall-off-the-bone texture, and I finally got the glaze right.

This will officially be my go-to chicken wings recipe for this football season. Although I’m sure it won’t be long until I make a spicy version. I tend to do that.

Crispy Honey Porter Sticky Baked Chicken Wings 1

Crispy Honey Porter Sticky Chicken Wings

Servings 6 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 2.5 lbs chicken party wings
  • 1 tbs 4g salt
  • 12 wt oz 355 ml beer (wheat, brown ale or pilsner)
  • 2 tbs 16g baking powder
  • 1 cup 226g porter or stout beer
  • ½ cup 170g honey
  • 2 clove 8g garlic, grated with a microplane
  • 3 tbs 46g soy sauce
  • 1 tsp 2g black pepper
  • ½ tsp 1g smoked paprika
  • 2 tsp 8g chili powder
  • 2 tbs 16g cornstarch
  • Chopped cilantro optional

Instructions
 

  • Add the wings to a shallow bowl or baking dish, sprinkle with salt. Pour beer over the wings, cover and refrigerate for one hour and up to over night.
  • Preheat oven to 250.
  • Remove from the beer, rinse and pat dry, making sure wings are as dry as possible. .
  • Add the wings to a large bowl. Sprinkle with baking powder, toss to coat.
  • Place a wire rack over a baking sheet, brush with oil or spray with cooking spray.
  • Place the wings on the wire rack.
  • Bake in the lower section of the oven for 30 minutes. Move to the upper 1/3 of the oven, increase oven temperature to 425. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until golden brown.
  • While the wings bake, make the glaze.
  • Add the porter, honey, garlic, soy sauce, black pepper, smoked paprika, chili powder and cornstarch in a pot over high heat. Boil, stirring frequently until thickened, about 5 minutes. Allow to cool.
  • Add the wings to a bowl, pour the glaze over the wings, toss to coat.
  • Serve warm.

Crispy Honey Porter Sticky Baked Chicken Wings 2

Beer Brined Faux-tisserie Roast Chicken

Beer Brined Faux-tisserie Roast Chicken -1

Fill your glass. Fill your stomach. Fill your heart.

Roast chicken, accompanied by an opened bottled of hard to find beer, is the way to communicate comfort from the kitchen. It’s a dish that’s been made billions of times, with just as many variations, a dish that can grace the silk covered tables of the finest dinning establishments, as well as the wobbly legged formica tables of the humblest of houses. It’s beautiful, perfect in its simplicity, comforting, and elegant without being pretentious. It’s a last meal, a lazy Sunday supper, and a first date dish. It’s a meal I’ll make over and over until I’m hardly able to lift myself into a kitchen to cook anything, well into my 90’s. I do, after all, plan to live to be 100, cooking the entire time.

Roast chicken is a classic dish that every home cook should master. It’s a recipe to make in a traditional fashion, and then after you’ve master the preparation, find your own variation. Maybe the first recipe you invent all on your own. The recipe that you’ll become known for, the one you’ll pass on, as you make your way towards living to be 100.

Beer Brined Faux-tisserie Roast Chicken -3

Beer Brined Faux-tisserie Roast Chicken

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup water
  • 1 tsp whole cloves
  • 1 tbs whole peppercorns
  • 1/3 cup kosher salt
  • 2 cups ice
  • 22 oz wheat beer or brown ale
  • 1 5 lb whole chicken, inside cavity cleared
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp baking powder this will help crisp the skin
  • ½ tsp onion powder
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • ½ tsp dried thyme
  • ½ tsp salt plus additional for potatoes
  • ½ tsp black pepper plus additional for potatoes
  • ½ tsp chili powder
  • ½ tsp brown sugar
  • 1 lbs red potatoes quartered
  • 1/2 lbs Brussels sprouts cut in half
  • 1 tbs olive oil

Instructions
 

  • Add the water, cloves, peppercorns, and salt to a large stock pot or Dutch oven (this will eventually be the brining vessel for your chicken, make sure it’s large enough to accommodate). Bring to a simmer, stirring just until the salt has dissolved, remove from heat. Stir in the ice, and ale. Allow to cool to room temperate.
  • Add the chicken to the pot (make sure the liquid has cooled first), cover and refrigerate for 12 hours and up to 3 days (to save time, this step can be done as soon as you return from the market with the chicken, and the chicken can be stored in the brine until ready to use, up to three days).
  • Remove the chicken from the brine, rinse well, inside and out, pat dry. Allow to sit at room temperate for 20 minuets, to drain and dry.
  • Preheat oven to 300.
  • In a small bowl stir together the paprika, baking powder, onion powder, garlic powder, thyme, ½ teaspoon salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper and brown sugar, set aside.
  • Add the potatoes and Brussels sprouts in an even layer in the bottom of a 10-inch cast iron skillet, cut side down. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  • Add the chicken to the skillet on top of the vegetables. Rub chicken well with the spice mixture on all sides, coating the skin.
  • Cook the chicken at 300 for 40 minutes (this low heat will help render fat and crisp the skin).
  • Turn heat to 425, cook for 20-30 minutes or until the skin is golden brown and the internal temperate of the chicken reaches 165. Remove from oven, allow to rest for five minutes before carving.

Notes

The vegetables act as a rack in this recipe, as well as a nice side dish. If you are going to skip them, cook the chicken on a wire rack over a baking sheet, or in a roasting rack in a roasting pan. This will keep the bottom of the skin from getting soggy.

Beer Brined Faux-tisserie Roast Chicken -4

Belgian Ale Brined Lamb Rib Rack with Goat Cheese Polenta with Crispy Sage

Belgian Ale Brined Lamb Rib Rack with Goat Cheese Polenta. We’re getting fancy because I believe in you.  
Belgian Ale Brined Lamb Rib Rack with Goat Cheese Polenta -3

I made this because I believe in you.

I used to skim recipes, across cookbooks, websites, and magazines, looking for a few things. Of course, my eyes always went right for the recipes with the photos, because I had a hard time imagining the final product, and if I’d want it in my face, without that visual. I’d look for words I recognized, ingredients I was familiar with, techniques I’d preformed with previous success.

And then something happened. A bit slowly, a bit all at once, mostly just a rebellion from what I was used to. I started to seek out the recipes most distant from what I was used to. Ingredients I’d never used, equipment I had to buy, recipes that I didn’t even know how to pronounce. I’d drive to three stores looking for an ingredient only to discover I was just looking for in the wrong section of the grocery store.

A few things happened.

First, I realized that I had no business skipping steps or deleting ingredients. Second, I found that most of these recipes, even the fancy sounding one and sometimes especially the fancy sounding ones, were really quite simple. Like creme brûlée, and duck confit. I’d found recipes that I’d fallen in love with, that made me so excited about cooking I couldn’t stop talking about them like a love-sick teenager.

If you haven’t done this fall-in-love-with-food thing yet, it sometimes has less to do with the food and more about your own ability to produce it. Stepping back, so amazed at what you were able to do you feel the need to announce the dish and introduce it to the table.

Do this. Find a recipe, or a couple, and fall in love with them.

Belgian Ale Brined Lamb Rib Rack with Goat Cheese Polenta -6

 

Belgian Ale Brined Lamb Rib Rack with Goat Cheese Polenta with Crispy Sage

Ingredients
  

For the lamb:

  • 2 lamb ribs racks 1.5 to 2 lbs total
  • 1 tbs kosher or sea salt
  • 12 ounces Belgian ale
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 2 tbs fresh sage cut into thin strips

For the polenta

  • 3 tbs unsalted butter
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1 cup Saison beer or wheat beer, can sub with chicken broth
  • 1 cup dry polenta
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • ½ tsp oinion powder
  • 3 ounces crumbled goat cheese

Instructions
 

  • Sprinkle the lamb with salt on all sides, add to a large Ziplock bag or small baking dish. Pour beer over the lamb, seal bag (or cover bowl). Refrigerate for 6 hours and up to 24.
  • Remove from beer, rinse and pat dry. Allow to sit at room temperate for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with pepper.
  • Preheat oven to 350.
  • Heat olive oil in a cast iron skillet until hot but not smoking. Add the sage, cook until slightly crispy and dry looking, about 2 minutes. Remove from oil, allow to drain on paper towels.
  • Add the lamb, searing on all sides until browned, about 3 minutes.
  • Transfer the pan to oven, allowing lamb to cook until it reaches an internal temperate of 120 to 125 (use a meat thermometer), about 10 minutes.
  • Remove from oven and allow to rest for 5 to 10 minutes.
  • In a pot over medium heat, melt the butter. Add milk, bring to a simmer.
  • Whisk in the polenta, once the pot starts to look dry and the milk is mostly obsorbed, add the beer. Simmer until polenta is tender and thickened, whisking occasionally, about 18 minutes.
  • Stir in salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.
  • Plate the polenta, sprinkle with goat cheese.
  • Cut the lamb between the bones, plate over polenta, sprinkle with crispy sage.

Oh hey! My new cookbooks is available now, and it’s the #1 new release in appetizer cookbooks!

Check it out: The Craft Beer Bites Cookbook

Belgian Ale Brined Lamb Rib Rack with Goat Cheese Polenta -1

20 minute Chicken in Roasted Tomato Brown Ale Herb Sauce

20 minute Chicken in Roasted Tomato Brown Ale Herb Sauce -4

We are in transition.

As much as we want to burry our summer heads in the warm beach sand and ignore the impending fall, we’re only a few weeks away for the hectic pace that September thrust onto our slightly sun seared bodies. Take a breath, take a moment, plan your last few weekends, breath in the warm air floating into your car windows as you wind down the road. Make a plan right this minute to take a trip to the brewery you’ve been neglecting, the one with the killer patio and perfect beer flight.

Once the summer starts to slip away, we’ll have brown ales to ease the transitions. Brown ales never get enough credit. They will never be as sexy as a sour, or as hip as a triple IPA, or as seductive as a barrel aged stout, but they might just be the perfect food pairing beer. The roasty flavors, the malty notes, the kiss of hops, it all plays so well with a spectrum of culinary offerings.

Don’t underestimate the humble brown ale, don’t overlook it for the sas of a Belgian dubbel. Give a brown a try with some food, smoked gouda, or barbecued pork ribs, carnitas tacos, jambalaya, roasted chicken, and pretty much anything that includes caramelized onions, brown ales will knock that pairing out of the park. Brown ales might just be what will get us through the transition out of summer.

20 minute Chicken in Roasted Tomato Brown Ale Herb Sauce -3

 

20 minute Chicken in Roasted Tomato Brown Ale Herb Sauce

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 3 tbs olive oil divided
  • ¼ cup chopped shallots
  • 1 lbs cherry tomatoes
  • 2 clove garlic minced
  • 3 tbs tomato paste
  • 2/3 cup brown ale
  • 1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
  • 1 tsp chopped fresh oregano
  • 2 tsp chopped fresh basil
  • 1 tbs balsamic vinegar
  • ½ tsp salt plus additional for chicken
  • ½ tsp pepper plus additional for chicken
  • 1 lbs boneless skinless chicken (breast of thighs)
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • Rice or pasta for serving

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 425.
  • In a cast iron skillet heat 2 tablespoon olive oil. Add the shallots and tomatoes, cook until they start to brown, about 5 minutes.
  • Stir in the garlic, then the tomato paste, brown ale, rosemary, oregano, basil, salt and pepper.
  • Transfer to the oven, cooking until the tomatoes have broken down, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, stir in the balsamic vinegar.
  • While the tomatoes cook, make the chicken.
  • Season chicken on all sides with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
  • Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add the chicken, cook on each side until browned and cooked through. Remove from skillet, slice.
  • Plate chicken with tomato sauce for serving. Serve over rice or pasta if desired.

Notes

If using chicken breast, filet the chicken pieces to make them thinner. Cut lengthwise so that no piece of chicken is thicker than ½ inch.

 

 

20 minute Chicken in Roasted Tomato Brown Ale Herb Sauce -1