Appetizer

Pulled Chipotle Beer Chicken Sliders

11.11.2016 11 Comments

Pulled Chipotle Beer Chicken Sliders

I’ve made a decision.

I need to clear the emotional cache from this past week. I need to a little distance from reality and my incessant need to over-think. I need a break and a beer and I’ve decided that a trip to Bend, Oregon can fix what ails me right now. Or at least numb it and distract me enough to remind me how big the world is.

I’ve even booked a place that has a kitchen, because I’ve already told you about my need to bake bread when I’m sad, and my over excitement for the sourdough starter I made (yes, I’m contemplating bringing it with me like a cat in a carrier). I’m leaving in 11 days and I’m going to update you, like I did when I was here. Because even if you can’t blow off Thanksgiving to road trip and drink beer, I still want you along for the ride.

I also made you some sliders, because football is forever and we need food for that, these just take 20 minutes.

Pulled Chipotle Beer Chicken Sliders

Print Recipe

Total Time 20

Ingredients

3 cloves garlic minced
2 chipotle chilies in adobo chopped
2 tablespoons adobo sauce
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup stout
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons cornstarch
6 boneless 1.5 lbs, skinless chicken thighs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
¼ cup chopped green onion or cilantro
12 slider buns

Instructions

Add the garlic, chipotles, adobo sauce, honey, tomato paste, beer, chicken broth and cornstarch in a blender, blend until smooth.
Sprinkle the chicken on all sides with salt and pepper.
Heat the olive oil in a pan over high heat, sear the chicken on both sides.
Reduce heat to medium, pour the sauce over the chicken. Simmer until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has thickened, 6-8 minutes.
Remove from heat, shred the chicken using two forks, toss in the sauce.
Fill the slider buns with chicken, sprinkle with chopped green onions (or cilantro).

Slow Cooker Beer Caramelized Onion Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

11.10.2016 11 Comments

Slow Cooker Beer Caramelized Onion Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

There are things you learn when you decide to chase the knowledge of an entire industry down an ever-expanding rabbit hole. You learn the lingo; at first just to keep up in conversation and translate what is being said. Then you learn it enough to speak intelligently about it, with terms like "lactobacillus," "back sweetened," and "TTB."

You learn that in this world, "Micheal Jackson" is a famous beer author, not a pop star and you only make that mistake once. You learn the major players, the awards, and who’s winning them. Eventually, you find your place. Or you fight to make one for yourself because there was previously no void for you until you created one.

The thing that takes some getting used to isn’t so much the void you’ve created in this world, it’s the one that has been created in you. It’s how you spend the weekend chasing down the beer you’ve only just read about, not for anything other than to quench your own curiosity. You find you’ve spent two hours googling "kettle souring" and figuring out where and when it started. You wake up in the middle of the night with ideas, and spend your vacation looking for breweries no one has ever heard about. Not because it helps your career, or because you need it for work, but because you want to. Because the industry you tried to make your job became your hobby and your most fascinating interest.

You want to figure out if you can make caramelized onions in a slow cooker because that just seems like it makes sense, but you can’t do it without immediately wanting to add beer. Because craft beer is always an app open in your brain that is running somewhere in the background. because it’s more than just beer, it’s a community, a knowledge base, an art and you can’t stop thinking about it.

Or maybe that’s just me.

I used Lagunitas WTF for these onions. It also pairs really well with this little sandwich. Perfect for a football game, even if you might have to share.

Slow Cooker Beer Caramelized Onion Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Print Recipe

Servings 6 servings

Ingredients

For the Onions

2 sweet white onions Walla Walla, Maui, Vidalia
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
3 tablespoons brown sugar
½ cup beer*
1 teaspoon salt

For the Sandwiches

1 French baguette sliced on the bias
8 oz sharp cheddar sliced
4 oz goat cheese
Butter for cooking

Instructions

Thinly slice the onions.
Add the onions, butter, brown sugar, beer and salt to a slow cooker. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or until soft and dark. Stir occasionally, if possible.
Use the onions immediately, or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Butter one side of each slice of bread. Add a few slices of cheese to the non-buttered side, top with a tablespoon or two of the caramelized onions, a few teaspoons of goat cheese, then more slices of cheddar. Top with another slice of bread, buttered side out.
Cook in a pan over medium high heat until cheese has melted and butter is golden brown. Slice and serve immediately.

Notes

Use a darker, malty beer. A brown ale, stout, porter or Belgian ale will work really well.

I use this slow cooker (affiliate link).

Beer Braised Short Rib Sliders with Kettle Chip Crusted Onion Rings

06.10.2016 1 Comment

beer-braised-short-rib-sliders-with-kettle-chip-crusted-onion-rings7

Football season is about more than just the game. It’s the communal cheering, the epic match-ups and the crowd of friends rooting for the home team. Of course, there is always that guy who’s on the wrong side of the cheering, upsetting the game-day-chi with his sad-face reaction to what everyone else is rooting for. But it wouldn’t be the same without him. Or without the people who are really just there for the food. It wouldn’t be any fun if everyone was overly-intense-don’t-talk-during-play-time guy, or at-least-that’s-good-for-my-fantasy-team guy. Someone has to be overly-obsessed-with-winning-at-game-day-food guy (Me. Always me). We need a strong healthy mix of people to bring together the perfect game watching experience.

beer-braised-short-rib-sliders-with-kettle-chip-crusted-onion-rings11

Healthy competition keeps it fun, and keeps the adrenaline pumping. Don’t stop at the game that’s going strong on the field, bring the action into your house.

I like to have a side bet, one that involves food and beer. One that pits pairings against pairings.

For the October 9^th, 2016 NFL match-up of Washington vs Baltimore I recommend offering these pairings and having your guests decide which is the winner. Whatever team you’re rooting for, there are no losers in the game of chips and beer. There are only winners, and bigger winners. I have a hands down favorite, but I’m not going to tell you which one. You’re gonna have to try it out and let me know which one you picked.

For Baltimore I went with the spectacular Kettle Brand Korean Barbecue Chips, the chips come already rooting for the Ravens with their matching purple bag. I paired it with a Saison for the perfect balance of sweet and heat.

beer-braised-short-rib-sliders-with-kettle-chip-crusted-onion-rings16

I’m pitting the Korean Barbecue and Saison for Baltimore against this:

For Washington I went red. Kettle Brand Sriracha Chips are a crowd pleaser and easy to pair with an IPA, the bold flavors are a perfect pairing. It’s two big time flavor favorites that compliment each other beautifully.

beer-braised-short-rib-sliders-with-kettle-chip-crusted-onion-rings15

Pair them up, let your guests decide who the winner is, the refs have no say here.

This is a recipe that you can make with either chip, for football food that’s already cheering along side you, unlike that one guy that you always sort of regret inviting over.

Beer Braised Short Rib Sliders with Kettle Chip Crusted Onion Rings

Print Recipe

Servings 12 sliders

Ingredients

Short Ribs

1 teaspoon salt
4 lbs bone in beef short ribs
3 tablespoon flour
½ teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 ½ cups beef broth
12 oz porter beer

Onion rings

1 large yellow sweet onions Maui, Walla Walla, Vidalia sliced ½ inch thick
1 bag 8.5 wt oz Kettle Brand Chips (Sriracha or Korean BBQ)
3 tablespoon melted butter
2 cups flour divided in half
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup IPA or pale ale beer
canola oil for baking

Sliders

12 slider buns
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon Gochujang or Sriracha

Instructions

Make the short ribs:

Sprinkle the salt on all sides of the short ribs. In a small bowl stir together the flour, chili powder, black pepper, garlic powder, cumin and brown sugar. Sprinkle the ribs on all sides with the flour mixture.
Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add the short ribs, browning on all sides.
Add the broth and beer, bring to a low simmer. Add the lid at a vent, cooking until short ribs are tender and falling off the bone, about 2 ½ hours, remove from heat. Using two forks, shred while still in the pot. Allow to sit in braising liquid for ten minutes, remove from braising liquid (This can be made a day ahead, stored in the fridge in the braising liquid and re-heated for sliders).

Make the onion rings:

Preheat oven to 450.
Slice the onion into ½ inch slices, separate the rings. Place in a large bowl of ice water. Allow to sit for at least 20 minutes (this will take the harsh “bite” out of the raw onion and help them cook better).
Add the Kettle chips to a food processor, process until only crumbs remain. Transfer crumbs to a bowl, drizzle with melted butter, toss to coat.
Drizzle a large baking sheet with about 1 tablespoon canola oil, set aside.
In a large bowl add 1 cup flour (reserve the other cup) and 1 teaspoon salt, stir to combine. Stir in the beer to make a smooth batter.
Add the remaining flour to a small bowl.
One at a time remove the onion slices from the water, dredge in flour until well coated, dip in the batter allowing excess batter to drip back into the bowl, then add to the Kettle chip crumbs to gently coat.
Add to prepared baking sheet in an even layer, making sure the onion rings aren’t touching (smaller rings can be place inside large ones as long as they don’t touch) drizzle with canola oil.
Bake at 450 for 10 minutes, gently flip, bake until golden brown on all sides, about 8 additional minutes.

Assemble the sliders:

In a small bowl stir together the sour cream and Gochujang or Sriracha.
Fill the slider buns with short ribs, then about 1 tablespoon sour cream, then an onion ring. Serve immediately.

beer-braised-short-rib-sliders-with-kettle-chip-crusted-onion-rings1

This post was sponsored by Kettle Chips. Partnerships with The Beeroness and outside companies are rare and only occur when the company’s products are ones I use and enjoy myself. All ideas and opinions are my own

Porter Provolone Meatball Subs

28.09.2016 6 Comments

Porter Provolone Meatball Subs

"I can’t believe you’re not here this weekend," The bartender at Cowiche Canyon in Yakima, Washington is shaming me for arriving —and leaving—just days before the biggest celebration of beer that this part of the world has to offer.

I don’t blame her, really. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to come to the site of Fresh Hop Fest, to a city in a pre-party-buzz frenzy and leave before the main event.

But for once, I wasn’t there for the beer. The beer, which will be a celebration of the flicker of time that brewers are able to use fresh-from-the-bine-hops, isn’t why I came.

I came for the hops. I came to witness the harvest first hand. I came to see these beautiful little flowers, the rock star beer ingredient, go from field to brew. Harvest was completed mere hours after my arrival, days before the Fresh Hop Fest party-goers will arrive, harvest is over before they land in town. Every hop bine cut down, every hop flower resting peacefully in wait for it’s final fermentable destination.

It was an experience I was grateful to witness, something that few beer lovers get to see first hand. It was worth skipping this years festivities in favor of what so few people are able to witness. It’s an experience I’ll tell you more about later, but for now I made you a sandwich.

For now, we can all roam our respective cities looking for fresh hop beers at our tap rooms, enjoying the view from afar.

But next year, it’ll be different. Next year I already have plans to return for the Festival, take part, drink the best that Yakima has to offer and tell you all about it.

Porter Provolone Meatball Subs

To make this as an appetizer, substitute the 4 hoagie rolls with 12 slider buns.

Print Recipe

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

2.5 lbs ground pork
¼ cup 28g breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon 0.5g dried basil
½ teaspoon 0.25g dried oregano
½ teaspoon 3g salt
2 teaspoon 6g garlic powder, divided
1 large egg
1 cup 140g chopped white onions
2 tablespoons 28g olive oil
½ cup 115mLporter or stout beer
¼ cup tomato paste
14.5 wt oz crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon 3g black pepper
4 hoagie rolls
8 slices provolone cheese

Instructions

In a large bowl add the pork breadcrumbs, basil, oregano, salt, 1 teaspoon garlic powder (reserve the other teaspoon), and egg. Mix with your hands until just combined.
Cover a plate with plastic wrap. Use a cookie scoop to make balls just smaller than golf balls. Place on the prepared plate. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes (this will help the meatballs retain shape during cooking).
Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the onions, cooking until onions have softened and started to brown, about 8 minutes.
Remove the onions from the pan, increase heat to high. Add the meatballs, pulling the pan back and forth to roll the meatballs around the pan until lightly browned.
Pour in the beer, then add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, black pepper, remaining 1 teaspoon garlic powder and the onions. Stir gently.
Reduce heat to medium, cover and allow to simmer until the meatballs are cooked through. Salt sauce to taste. *
Preheat the broiler. Slice the hoagie rolls and add the meatballs and sauce to the rolls. Place on a baking sheet. Top with two slices of cheese per sandwich.
Broil until the cheese is melted. Serve immediately.

Notes

*to make in advance, finish cooking the meatballs, then transfer to a storage container. Store in the fridge for up to three days. High slightly, add to hoagie rolls, top with cheese and broil until cheese is melted.

Hops are gorgeous.

Buffalo Beer Cheese Bites + What is Wet Hop Beer?

16.09.2016 No Comments

Buffalo Beer Cheese Bites + What is Wet Hop Beer

This time of year there is an obsession among the beer crowd, an almost singular obsession that takes over.

It’s not pumpkin ales, which seem to be more of an obligation brewers take on mid-summer to compete in an oversaturated fall market. It' not even Oktoberfest, which is a long standing, time-honored tradition that resumes in late September with a touch of cultural stagnancy that we tip our beer hats to. These aren’t the obsession that I’m referring to. This one grew organically and sucked us all in before we even had a chance to protest.

Fresh hops. This is our obsession.

Hops are the above little flower, looking like a soft green pine cone and smelling like citrus, flowers, herbs, and earth. They are beautiful and vibrant and responsible for the enticing bitterness and citrusy earthiness in every beer. While every beer is made with hops, very few are made with fresh of the bine hops.

Hops are harvested once a year (just once!), most of which are dried to either store as dried flowers or turned into pellets that resemble bunny food. This is how hops get into 99% of beer—via dried hops.

This time of year, this magical-object-of-our-obsession time of year, brewers are able to use fresh hops in their batches of beer. Once a hop is picked from the bine (*bine is the term for a hop vine), a hop has roughly 12-24 hours before it starts to go bad. It either has to be used in the brew, or it needs to be dried. For a brief window of time, a brewer is able to throw buckets of fresh-from-the-bine hops into a batch of beer.

The results are a flavor you’ve never tasted if all you’ve ever had is traditional beer. It’s bright, vibrant, grassy, citrusy and floral. It’s the difference between sunlight and lamplight. It’s only eating raisins and then finally having a grape.

This is why we obsess. We count the days until fresh hop beer (also called wet hop or harvest beer) hits the taprooms. It’s gone before we get our fill, lasting just a few months before it disappears altogether and we are forced to wait out the months before we can have more.

This week the first few batches are starting to trickle out. Over the next few weeks the fresh hop supply with reach it’s peak and pushes aside any pumpkin beer that might still be lingering from it’s late July release.

If you think you don’t like hops, give a fresh hop beer a chance before you make your final decision. After all, you can hate a raisin and love a grape.

Buffalo Beer Cheese Bites

Print Recipe

Servings 24 bites

Ingredients

8 wt oz cream cheese
2 cups 145g grated cheddar cheese
¼ cup 77mL IPA beer
3 tablespoons 45mL buffalo sauce
1 tablespoon 12g cornstarch
1 cups 140g chopped cooked chicken
2 sheets puff pastry
¼ cup chopped chives or green onions

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375.
Add the cream cheese, cheddar, beer, buffalo sauce and cornstarch to a blender or food processor. Process until smooth.
Add the chicken, pulse once or twice to combine (do not over process or the chicken will be destroyed).
Roll the puff pastry sheets out on a lightly floured surface. Using a 3-inch biscuit cutter, cut out 24 circles. Press the circles into the wells of a mini muffin tin, poke the circles one or twice with a fork to create air holes in the bottom.
Fill the puff pastry 2/3 full with the cream cheese mixture.
Bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes or until puff pastry is light golden brown.
Add to a serving platter, sprinkle with chopped chives.

Jalapeño Honey Grilled Beer Chicken

02.09.2016 7 Comments

I had a camera in my face and a man four-inches shorter than me asking questions he should know the answers to.

This is mid-day TV, I suppose. This is a cooking segment on a Los Angeles NBC station. This is a person unable to let a millisecond of silence creep across your screen. Your ears must be punctured with words, even if they are odd and out of place.

I’d been making a chipotle beer cheese sauce, a blender version that takes only the few seconds TV cooking can tolerate without a pay off, and I mentioned that alcohol intensifies heat. The higher ABV a beer is, the hotter it will make that pepper you put in your sauce. Add a jalapeño to some vodka and it will exploit every inch of capsaicin it contains in just mere minutes. It was a warning, really. If you don’t want a screaming hot sauce, steer away from the 13% triple IPA monsters and towards the 4% session beers.

A slight pause to pour the sauce into a bowl, no more than a full second and he panicked. "So….what does "intensify" mean?" The second he said it, I could see a flash of regret in his eyes and a plea for me to pick up the ball. He could have asked about ABV, or about local beers that would work best. But instead he asked me to define a word like we were in the middle of a really heated spelling bee.

I can no longer talk about alcohol intensifying heat without thinking about him and his request to define the word rather than explain the idea. It is true, the higher the alcohol content, the spicier it will make your peppers. This can be great if your like your dishes with a kick. It can be assaulting if your pepper is already hotter than you’d expected. Either way, it something to keep in mind.

Jalapeño Honey Grilled Beer Chicken

Print Recipe

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

½ cup 125g stout or porter beer
¼ cup 70g balsamic vinegar
¼ cup 70g sodium soy sauce
¼ cup 90g honey
1 teaspoon 4g garlic powder
1 teaspoon 4g onion powder
1 lbs chicken thighs cut into cubes
2 jalapenos sliced

Instructions

In a medium bowl whisk together the beer, balsamic, soy, honey, garlic powder, and, onion powder.
Add the chicken and jalapenos, stir to coat.
Cover and refrigerate for one hour and up to 12.
Thread chicken and jalapenos onto heat safe skewers.
Grill until chicken is cooked through, about 4 minutes per side.
Serve warm.

Beer Battered Cod Po’ Boy Sliders

15.08.2016 3 Comments

Beer Battered Cod Po’ Boy Sliders

Island beer feels different.

The patio is always full of people who don’t just know the beer, they know the story. They know the owners, the jobs they held before the lure of the frustration of brewing on a tiny system in the middle of an ocean pulled them into an uncommon life. The beer is always brewed on a system that looks to be just a tick bigger than a home brew system, and it’s running around the clock.

This weekend, on a small island, I stumbled upon Island beer. True to form, the patio was full of the people who run the line between patron and family. The system was on display behind the counter, in a stage between cleaning and brewing, and the beer was beautiful. Earlier this year I was on a tiny Island in the caribbean and found the same sort of beer-island-family that welcomes you in, serves you beer and wants to know your story.

Island beer is different. It doesn’t want to take over the world. It doesn’t seek a buy-out. It doesn’t concern itself with mass distribution. It’s a bit like life on the island. There is always a story of hard it was the get even that small system onto the island, a bigger one is just a far reaching fantasy. Island beer wants to be there for the locals, a backdrop to the stories they tell and the life they lead. It’s consistent, and memorable. It’s worth seeking out, pulling up a seat in the tap room and asking the owners to tell you about how they got started. You might find yourself being treated like part of the family before the end of the night.

Next time you’re on an island, look for the beer. Then find out the story.

Beer Battered Cod Po’ Boy Sliders

Print Recipe

Servings 12 -14 sliders

Ingredients

1 lbs cod or similar white fish
1 ½ teaspoon salt 9g
½ cup 105g buttermilk
1 cup 95g pale ale or pilsner
½ cup 95g fine corn meal
½ cup 60g flour
2 teaspoon 6g Creole seasoning
oil for frying canola, safflower, or peanut work well
1 cup 240g sour cream
1 tablespoon 15g sriracha red chili sauce
1 long French baguette cut into 3 inch slices, split to resemble buns
2 cups baby arugula
2 large tomatoes sliced

Instructions

Cut the fish into 1-inch strips, sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt.
In a medium bowl stir together the buttermilk and beer. Add the fish to the bowl, making sure all fish is submerged. Allow to sit for ten minutes while you prep the dredge.
In a separate bowl stir together the cornmeal, flour, creole seasoning, and remaining ½ teaspoon salt.
Add 3 to 4 inches of oil in a pot. Clip a deep fry thermometer onto the side. Heat the oil to 350F, adjusting heat to maintain that temperature.
A few at a time, remove the fish strips from the buttermilk, allowing the excess to drip off. Add fish to the cornmeal dredge, tossing until well coated. Add to the oil, frying until golden, about 4 minutes. Remove from oil and allow to drain on a wire rack.
In a small bowl stir together the sour cream, and sriracha.
Spread the sour cream on the insides of the sliced baguette. Fill with a few pieces of fish, arugula and sliced tomato. Serve immediately.

Beer Chili Party Dogs

27.07.2016 4 Comments

Beer Chili Party Dogs

I had a brief 3-year stint as a vegetarian, a decision that made my cooking both better and impossible, but I ultimately wasn’t able to commit. Rules have never really been for me, and I’m an all-in, or all-out type of person.

It started when my parents decided to move us all (they had eight daughters, choke on that), from an idyllic central California beach town, to a pig farm in Eastern-Washington-Lunch-Meat-USA. For a handful of years, we played farm, raised pigs, grew alfalfa, bucked hay, listen to a lot of George Strait, and tried not to die. I moved back to California the second I was able, missing my own High School graduation to get back to Los Angeles as quickly as my Ford Bronco would take me.

I’m going to spare you the dirty details of why, exactly, those years on the farm inspired a meat-free existence but I will tell you how it ended: with a chili cheese dog. I love the food I ate when I was focusing on produce, but I hated the idea that there was anything off limits. I was devoted to learning as much as I could about cooking and I needed to be able to work with all ingredients in order to learn as much as possible. I decided, on a drive through Burbank one day, that I was done. I wasn’t done with how much I love veg food, I was done with having rules on what I ate. I didn’t tip-toe back into the meat pool. I jumped into the deep end with a chili cheese dog from Chili Johns. It was fantastic.

Although the farm years didn’t stick, I did take away a valuable lesson about hot dogs: always buy kosher. ALWAYS. A few days after the first pigs went from pen to slaughter house I happened to answer a call from the local butcher. He asked me if we wanted hot dogs. Being 12-years-old, I had no idea what he meant, (why wouldn’t we?) and unfortunately, he explained it to me. The gist (look away if you really want to be spared the dirty details), he offered to "hose out the bottom of the slaughterhouse and put it in casings." This is when I learned the truth about what exactly that childhood treat is. Kosher means real meat, no "other stuff," no things that end up on the bottom of the slaughter house with no other purpose. Kosher it is, since I can get behind the idea that sneaking entrails and reproductive parts into someone’s dinner is immoral. So maybe I’m a little Jewish. But only when hot dogs are around.

Beer Chili Party Dogs

Print Recipe

Servings 8 servings

Ingredients

2 tablespoon 22g olive oil
1 cup 125g yellow onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic minced
1 lbs beef 80% lean/20% fat
1 cup 8 fl oz stout beer
6 oz tomato paste
1 tablespoon 12g Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoon 12g red chili sauce (such as sriracha)
2 teaspoon 4g chili powder
½ teaspoon 1g smoked paprika
1 teaspoon 6gsalt
1 teaspoon 2g pepper
1 teaspoon 2g cumin
8 Kosher hot dogs precooked, do not use raw
8 hot dog buns
4 wt oz cheddar cheese shredded
1 avocado diced
¼ cup 8g cilantro, chopped

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium high heat. Add the onions, cooking until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic.
Add the beef, cooking until browned, stirring and breaking it up as it cooks.
Stir in the beer, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, chili sauce, chili powder, smoked paprika, salt, pepper and cumin. Cook until slightly thickened, remove from heat.
Preheat the broiler.
Open the hot dog buns and lay flat, cut side up, on a baking sheet. Place under broiler until lightly toasted (this will help the buns to not get soggy once the chili dog sauce is added). Remove from oven, lower heat to 400F.
Place the buns in a long row down the center of the pan. Add a hot dog to each bun, top with chili sauce. Sprinkle the hot dogs with cheese.
Return to the center rack in the oven, cooking until the cheese has melted and the hot dogs are warmed through.
Remove from oven, sprinkle with avocado and cilantro.

Sriracha Chip Crab Cakes with Spicy IPA Hollandaise

06.07.2016 3 Comments

Sriracha Chip Crab Cakes with Spicy IPA Hollandaise

We like craft beer because we like things that are way better. Ingredients matter to us, so does flavor. We’ve decided to step away from the mass produced in favor of what’s a little left of center, a little less common, and a little more interesting. That’s why we’ve ended up with craft beer in our pint glasses. That’s why we will drive across town to our favorite bottle shop that always has the best stuff because it’s worth the effort.

This, of course, spills over into other aspects of our life. We started to evaluate other things we consume, and snacks were on the top of the list. Food and beer just naturally go together, and if we’re going to eat something along with the beer we drove 45 minutes to get, we want it to be able to keep up.

I threw an artisan pizza party a few weeks ago with a chip and beer pairing appetizer. I picked Way Better Snacks chips and asked my guest to choose which beer paired best with each chip. Here were the winners, in no particular order:

Sweet potato + Belgian Dubbel
Nacho + Stout
Sweet Chili + Saison
Multigrain + Brown Ale
Spicy Sriracha + IPA

I had two stand-out favorites: Sweet Chili + Saison, and Spicy Sriracha + IPA. I, of course, had to take this one step further by creating a recipe that also celebrated this pairing. A recipe that I already have plans to make again with the last bag of Way Better Snacks Spicy Sriracha Tortilla chips. That is if I can resist just eating the bag of chips and drinking the beer before I’m able to go the store for more crab.

Sriracha Chip Crab Cakes with Spicy IPA Hollandaise

Print Recipe

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

4 wt oz Way Better Snacks Spicy Sriracha tortilla chips
1 egg
2 tablespoon green onions chopped
1/4 cup red pepper chopped
8 oz lump crab meat
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
pinch cayenne
1/4 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
For the Hollandaise:
3 egg yolks
2 tablespoons IPA beer
2 tablespoons melted butter clarified
1 teaspoon sriracha
½ teaspoon lemon juice
pinch salt

Instructions

Add the chips to a food processor and process until just crumbs remain, you should have 1 cup of crumbs.
Add half of the crumbs (1/2 cup) to a bowl along with the remaining crab cake ingredients (except the butter), mix to combine. Form into 4 patties, about 1 inch thick. Place remaining chip crumbs in a bowl.
One at a time, place the patties in the Panko and press until well coated on all sides with chip crumbs.
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Cook the crab cakes on both sides until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side.
In the top of a double boiler (off heat) whisk together the egg yolks, and beer vigorously until frothy and doubled in volume. Add the double boiler to heat until the water is gently simmering, whisking until the egg yolks start to thicken. Slowly add the butter while whisking continuously until the sauce has thickened. Stir in the sriracha, lemon juice and salt.
Plate the crab cakes, drizzle with sauce, serve immediately.

This post was sponsored by Way Better Snacks. Partnerships with The Beeroness and outside companies are rare and only occur when the company’s ideas, quality, and standards meet mine. All ideas and opinions are my own.

Jalapeno Cream Cheese Stuffed Beer Cornbread Muffins

29.06.2016 6 Comments

Jalapeno Cream Cheese Stuffed Beer Cornbread Muffins

It’s hard to explain sometimes, but I’m used to that.

I’ve had a weird life, I’ve told you that. I grew up on a farm with seven sister, and let’s just say an unconventional amalgamation of parents. From there I moved to LA, started working with gang kids on probation, and hanging out with a music industry crowd in Hollywood. All weird. All hard to explain. I wonder some days—If I could go back— if I’d do it differently and end up in a different place. I wonder if I’d pick a more normal life and the comforts that come along with it. But I know that my gypsy soul, for better or for worse (probably for worse), wouldn’t be content there, even if I wish it was. I’ve come to terms with the fact that "normal" has never been my path and even though there is a romantic notion to that, it causes a part of my soul to grieve.

So when people ask me, "What do you do for a living?" It’s hard to explain. It isn’t a job that exist on the drop down menu on Career Builder. It’s an answer that begs more questions than it satisfies. Recipe-developer-food-writer-beer-writer-photographer. I sound like a kindergartener answering, "What do you want to be when you grown up?" with, "police-officer-ballerina-astronaut."

But I fought really hard to get here. And I guess weird suits me. But there are still times when normal looks really nice.

Maybe that’s what this recipe is. It’s normal meets weird. Cornbread muffins (normal), stuffed with jalapeño cream cheese (not as normal). I hope you like them as much as I do. Because maybe we should all embrace weird and normal and just get used to both.

Jalapeno Cream Cheese Stuffed Beer Cornbread Muffins

Print Recipe

Servings 36 mini muffins

Ingredients

8 oz cream cheese
½ cup 42g mozzarella cheese
1 tablespoon 10g cornstarch
½ teaspoon 2g garlic
1 cup 8 wt oz wheat beer, divided
2 large jalapenos chopped (remove seeds for a lower heat level)
1 1/4 cups 214g cornmeal
3/4 cup 90g flour
1/3 cup 75g packed brown sugar
1 ½ tsp 4g baking soda
1 ½ tsp 4g baking powder
1 tsp 6g salt
¾ cup melted butter
2 eggs
¼ cup 53g vegetable oil

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375.
In a blender or food processor add the cream cheese, mozzarella, cornstarch, garlic, and ¼ cup (62mL) beer (reserve the rest). Process until well combined.
Add one of the chopped jalapenos (reserve the other), pulse to combine but leave the jalapeno in chunks. Place in the refrigerator while you prepare the batter.
In a large bowl stir together the remaining jalapeño, cornmeal, flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center.
Add the melted butter, remaining ¾ cup beer, eggs, and vegetable oil, stir until combined.
Grease a mini muffin tin. Add about 1 ½ tablespoons to the wells (about 1/2 full), using the back of a spoon make a deep well in the center.
Fill the well with the cream cheese mixture.
Bake at 374 for 10-12 minutes or until the cornbread springs back when lightly touched.
Serve warm.

Beer Bacon and Blue Cheese Potato Salad

22.06.2016 4 Comments

Beer Bacon and Blue Cheese Potato Salad

I have a lot of great childhood memories that peripherally involve potato salad. None of those, however, involve eating it. Until I was a grown-up I thought of potato salad as this boiled, mayonnaised, mustard, mess that resided in plastic tubs at the grocery store.

Someone was always obligated to bring it, although no one really missed it when it didn’t materialize at the pot luck table.

Then, I had it for real. I was at a fancy Las Vegas restaurant, overpaying for a dinner from a well known chef and potato salad arrived. I obviously side-eyed it, as you should in this situation, when it showed up along side duck confit. It was fantastic. Warm, bacon filled delight that sold me on the idea that potato salad could be a legit side dish.

There are a few rules, however, if you want to make grown-up potato salad.

First: boiled potatoes are for suckers. You’re better than that. Roast them for better flavor and texture.

Second: skip the mayo in favor of good quality sour cream. Just because I hate mayo, and sour cream is just vastly superior.

Third: Include bacon. Because bacon.

Fourth: serve it warm. Not room-tempuratre-it’s-been-sitting-on-this-table-all-day warm, but on-purpose warm.

Hope you love it, and I hope you never go back to that plastic tub.

Beer Bacon and Blue Cheese Potato Salad

Print Recipe

Servings 6 -8 servings

Ingredients

6 slices bacon
2 lbs mini red potato cut into bite sized pieces
1 cup sour cream
½ cup blue cheese
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons IPA
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon chili powder
¼ teaspoon paprika

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350.
Add the bacon to a wire rack over a baking sheet.
Bake until the bacon is crispy, about 15 minutes.
Remove the bacon and the wire rack.
Raise the oven to 425 degrees.
Add the potatoes to the pan, toss in the bacon grease. Return the pan to the oven, bake for 15 minutes, toss the potatoes, bake until potatoes are fork tender, about 10 additional minutes. Remove from oven, allow to cool.
In a large bowl stir together the remaining ingredients.
Chop the bacon, add to the bowl along with the potatoes. Toss to combine.
Serve warm.

Grilled Beer Cheese Stuffed Bacon Wrapped Jalapeños & A Grill Giveaway!

03.06.2016 6 Comments

I’ve made no secret of my love for grilling.

Once the weather breaks and I’m able to do so without the threat of rain, grilling becomes my go-to cooking method. I’ve even moved my Char-Broil grill across three states because I wasn’t able to part with it. Four years and three moves later it still grills like a champ.

I know the sad face reactions that go on when I give you a grilled item and you don’t own a grill. So this is for you. Or your dad, since we both know he’d love a new grill for Father’s Day. I’m giving you a beautiful, brand new Char-Broil grill with the hope that you’ll fall as in love with yours as I am with mine.

You also won’t have to decide between a gar or a charcoal grill since this grill does both, which will also either stop the debates on which is better, or fuel them (pun intended).

Here it is, my gift to you: A recipe for Grilled Beer Cheese Stuffed Bacon Wrapped Jalapeños, a Gas2Coal Combo Char-Broil grill, and both of my cookbooks, autographed if you’d like.

Just promise me that you’ll make some beer food once you get it, and send me a picture.

Enter in the widget below, give it a second to load, refresh the page if you can’t see it.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

We have a winner! Congrats, Joel! Hope you put it all to good use.

Grilled Beer Cheese Stuffed Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos

Print Recipe

Servings 12 Jalapeños

Ingredients

8 wt oz full fat cream cheese
4 wt oz about 1 ½ cups cheddar cheese, shredded
1/3 cup 72g IPA
1 tablespoon 11g cornstarch
¼ tsp .5g smoked paprika
¼ tsp .5g garlic powder
pinch salt
12 large jalapeño
12 strips bacon

Instructions

Preheat the grill to medium high.
Add the cream cheese, cheddar, beer, cornstarch, smoked paprika, garlic powder and salt to a blender or food processor. Process until very smooth, about 3 minutes
Transfer to a piping bag or Ziploc bag with the bottom tip (about 1/8 of an inch) cut off.
Slice the jalapeño lengthwise (making as small a slit as possible), using a gloved finger or a small spoon, scoop out the inside seeds and membrane.
Fill the jalapeños with the cheese mixture. Wrap tightly with bacon.
Place the jalapeño on the grill, seam side.
Turn a quarter turn every two minutes until the bacon is cooked and the jalapeño are softened, about 8 minutes.
Serve warm.

Char-Broil has provided the grill for this giveaway, I was not compensated for this post. All opinions are my own.

Honey Stout Glazed Bacon Wrapped Asparagus

22.04.2016 2 Comments

Honey Stout Glazed Bacon Wrapped Asparagus

Sometimes, I wonder how long it’ll last.

I sat at dinner a few weeks ago, with someone who’s quickly become a great friend, and talked about the rough years we’ve had, similar in ways, and how we keep that hurtful past close to the vest. How those years help us evolve and pushed us to be better people, and somehow wound us down rabbit holes that landed us in our dream jobs.

I wasn’t that kid. I was the girl in the hand-me-down dress, with a sad smile. I wasn’t the fighter that I should have been, and I wasn’t ever lucky enough to end up in the right place at the right time. But now, here I am. If you’d asked me 5-years ago what my dream job was I’d have told you something not nearly as incredible as what I’m doing now.

So I wonder, how long can it last? Can I stay here for a while longer? Traveling, being seen worthy of costly shipments or hard to find beer, being paid to be here and here? I wonder how much I can do to give back and pay it forward in order to karmically cement my place in a job that I’m not even sure how I created.

People email me to ask how I did it. Can I pick your brain? How can I do what you do? The answer is: I have no idea. I’m not sure how I got here and the truth is, if I had to start over I’m not even sure that I cold recreate this.

So here I am, incredibly grateful and a little confused. Because my life seems to be a bit bacon wrapped and beer glazed. Good on top of good. Let’s hope it sticks for a while longer. I really like it here.

Honey Stout Glazed Bacon Wrapped Asparagus

Print Recipe

Ingredients

½ cup stout beer
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
3 tbs honey
½ tsp chili powder
1 lbs large stalk asparagus trimmed
2 lbs sliced bacon not thick slices

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425.
Take the bacon out of the fridge 30-minutes prior to baking to come to room tempurature*.
Place a wire rack over a baking sheet (for easy clean up, line the baking sheet with tin foil before adding the wire rack) set aside.
Add the stout, balsamic, honey and chili powder to a pot over high heat. Boil, stirring occasionally until thickened and reduced, about 8 minutes.
Wrap each asparagus with bacon, place on the wire rack.
Bake for 8 minutes, then brush with glaze, bake for 8 additional minutes, brush with glaze once more and bake until bacon is crispy, about 5 more minutes.
Serve immediately.

Notes

*Dish works best with thin strips of bacon that are at room temperature and thick stalks of asparagus that are ice cold but not frozen (right from a cold fridge), this will help the bacon crisp before the asparagus becomes over cooked.

Inspired by the gorgeous and talented Bakeaholic Mama, Bacon Wrapped Asparagus with Balsamic Glaze

Crispy Oven Baked Beer Battered Onion Rings

20.04.2016 11 Comments

Crispy Oven Baked Beer Battered Onion Rings

Last year, on the east side of Portland, I came across a line of people wrapped around a small bar waiting to get inside. Of course, I went to investigate. I asked one of the guys in line what was going on, "Bell’s is here." That’s all he had to say, I got it.

They weren’t giving away beer. They weren’t launching a new beer. They were just allowing the great people of the Pacific Northwest the ability to BUY their beer. Two sixers a person.

When beer distribution is often limited to a small section of the country, beer people are thrilled to the point of waiting in a 45-minute line for the opportunity to buy a beer they can’t normally get.

No matter where you live you have access to a beer that people in other parts of the country are beer-lusting after. Maybe it’s Bell’s, or Surly, or Alchemist, or Russian River, but it’s something.

You have the ability to buy, or drink on tap, a beer that other people can’t. Two bottles of Bell’s new beer, Oatsmobile, showing up at my out-of-the-distribution-zone door in gorgeous packaging made my day for more than just the above reasons.

The bar was high when I finally let myself open this beer, and it didn’t disappoint. It’s a damn good beer. One of the best sessions beers I’ve had this year (a session beer is a beer that has a lower alcohol content, generally below 5%).

The oats give it a round, almost creamy flavor that balances the beautiful dry hopped finish. It kicks you a bit of a fruity, but not overly citrusy, flavor with just the right malt backbone and the perfect level of carbonation for a beer that I want to drink all summer. But I can’t. Because I live in Seattle. If you live in a Bell’s state, stock up. And then taunt me over social media.

Crispy Oven Baked Beer Battered Onion Rings

Print Recipe

Ingredients

2 large yellow sweet onions Maui, Walla Walla, Vidalia sliced ½ inch thick
canola oil for baking
2 cups flour divided in half
½ tsp chili powder
2 tsp brown sugar
½ tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp salt divided
1 cup IPA or pale ale beer
2 cups panko bread crumbs
3 tbs melted butter

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450.
Slice the onion into ½ inch slices, separate the rings. Place in a large bowl of ice water. Allow to sit for at least 20 minutes (this will take the harsh “bite” out of the raw onion and help them cook better).
On two large baking sheets drizzle with about 1 tablespoon canola oil, set aside.
In a large bowl add 1 cup flour (reserve the other cup), chili powder, brown sugar, smoked paprika, and 1 teaspoon salt, stir to combine. Stir in the beer to make a smooth batter.
Add the remaining flour to a small bowl. Stir together the panko, remaining 1 teaspoon salt and melted butter in a separate bowl.
One at a time remove the onion slices from the water, dredge in flour until well coated, dip in the batter allowing excess batter to drip back into the bowl, then add to the panko to gently coat (if panko bowl becomes too saturated with the dip, toss it and fill the bowl with fresh panko).
Add to prepared sheets in an even layer, making sure the onion rings aren’t touching (smaller rings can be place inside large ones as long as they don’t touch).
Bake at 450 for 8 minutes flip, bake until golden brown on all sides, about 10 additional minutes.
Serve warm.

Grilled Beer and Brown Sugar Wings

29.03.2016 9 Comments

Grilled Beer and Brown Sugar Wings

Food people mark the seasons in a different way.

Sure, plant people mark it by what to plant when, and what to prune, what to seed. Fashion people pin the crap out of new wardrobes. The acting crowd doesn’t have weather seasons, they have "pilot season," "award season," "I-hope-my-show-doesn’t-get-canceled season." We all have our things.

Beer and food follow similar patterns. For beer people, we have: "session ale season," "wet hop beer season", "barrel aged beer season," and "fruit beer season."

Food seasons, although weather dependent in most ways, hinge on what we can cook. Sure, you can grill in 10-degree weather, knee deep in snow, but the first time you can do it in flip-flops and a tank top is moment-marker in the year. The first tomatoes of the year that’s grown in the ground remind you of how incredible they really taste when not grown in a greenhouse in New Jersey. The blood oranges leave the store just the peaches start to peek their heads out. It’s thrilling.

Maybe it’s because there are so few connections we have to the many, many generations before us. Sure, our survival is no longer dependent on an early spring, but the feeling of excitement when the first flowers bloom and fruit starts to ripen on wild trees is something that won’t ever see an end.

Grilled Beer and Brown Sugar Wings

Print Recipe

Servings 4 -6 servings

Ingredients

2 lbs chicken wings
2 tbs 36g kosher salt
24 ounces stout beer
1 cup 148g golden brown sugar, packed
¼ cup 68g Dijon mustard
¼ cup 64g stout beer
1 tbs 12g sriracha chili sauce

Instructions

Lay the wings in an even layer in a baking dish. Sprinkle on all sides with salt. Pour the beer over the chicken until submerged (if chicken isn’t submerged add additional beer, cold water or chicken broth until just submerged). Cover and refrigerate for 1 to 6 hours.
Remove chicken from brine, rinse well, lay on a stack of paper towels covered by additional paper towels to dry. Allow chicken to dry for 15 minutes.
Preheat the grill to medium high.
Stir together the remaining ingredients.
Brush the chicken with the glaze until well coated.
Grill the wings on all sides until cooked through, brushing with the glaze while the chicken cooks.

Grilled Garlic Beer Flatbread

18.03.2016 5 Comments

Grilled Garlic Beer Flatbread

It’s stopped raining for two days. So, obviously, the grill needs to come to life. There is something beautifully primal about cooking over open flames, even if those open flames are produced by propane our ancestors didn’t have access to. The fire, smoke, heat much higher than your oven is able to compete with, grilling isn’t just another way to cook food, it’s often a better way to cook food. That glorious char is worth braving the possibilities of spiders under the grill cover.

A few tips for grillin' like a pro:

Preheat. You want the grates hot enough to sear on contact and the space under the grill hood to be hot as well.
Marinate your meat. There is a lot of heat in there and it’s easy to overcook meat, especially poultry. Marinating meat, like these chicken skewers, gives you a little wiggle room and allows even over-cooked meat to stay juicy.
Oil for flavor not for sticking. Contrary to popular belief, your meat and veggies will release from the grill when the char marks appear. No need to oil so the meat won’t stick. But it can add a little extra flavor, especially olive oil. But you’re better off oiling the food in most cases.
Thermometer. If you want to get the perfect level of doneness, don’t leave it to chance. Get an inexpensive thermometer and take your meat off the grill when it’s 5 degrees below the temp you want, it will continue to cook even after you remove it from the grill.
Grill. It. All. Not just burgers and dogs, vegetables, fruit, dessert and bread are all awesome with a little love from the grill. Pizza is one of my favorite grilled foods and a great way to feed picky eaters and people who don’t like meat.
Skewers + Water. If you won’t have metal skewers and want to make a few meat or veggie sticks, soak bamboo skewers for at least 30 minutes to prevent them from scorching or catching on fire. Put them on a baking sheet or in a baking dish, fill with water and place a heavy plate on top keep them submerged.
Session beer. Ok, this isn’t a grilling tip but more of a reminder. If you’re going to spend the day drinking and hanging with friends (friends who may need to drive later), skip the high ABV beers and fill your beer tub with tasty, lower alcohol craft beers. Here are some of my favorite session beers for spring and summer.

Grilled Garlic Beer Flatbread

Print Recipe

Servings 8 pieces

Ingredients

For the bread:

2 ¼ cups 300g bread flour
1 envelope 2 ¼ tsp or 7g rapid rise yeast
1/2 tsp 2g garlic powder
3/4 cup 226g beer
3 tbs 40g olive oil
1 tsp 6g salt

For the butter

2 tbs unsalted butter melted (olive or for vegan)
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp salt

Instructions

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, add the flour, yeast and ½ teaspoon garlic powder. Mix until combined.
In a microwave safe bowl add the beer. Microwave on high for 20 seconds, test temperature with a cooking thermometer and repeat until temperature reaches between 120 and 125 degrees Fahrenheit.
Add the beer to the stand mixer and mix on medium speed. Once most of the dough has been moistened, add olive oil and ½ teaspoon salt while the mixer is still running.
Turn speed to high and beat until dough is smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.
Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl, tightly wrap with plastic wrap. Allow to sit in a warm room until doubled in size, about 45 to 60 minutes.
Remove from bowl and add to a lightly floured surface. Knead several times, cut into 8 equal sized pieces.
One at a time form the dough into 6 inch circles.
Preheat a grill to medium high. Combine the melted butter, remaining garlic powder and salt.
Place circles on the grill until the dough releases and the underside has grill marks, about 2 minutes. Brush with the top with the melted butter. Grill until dough is cooked through, about 2 additional minutes.
Remove from grill, serve warm.

Beer Brined Rotisserie Spiced Chicken Legs

11.03.2016 10 Comments

Beer Brined Rotisserie Spiced Chicken Legs

I spent a few years resenting chicken.

Not chicken in general, beer can chicken. Mostly because when people found out that I cooked with beer for a living, that was the first recipe they thought of. "Like….beer can chicken?" Um, yeah. Or Beer Brined Duck with Stout Pomegranate Sauce and Belgian Ale Sweet Potato Mash.

Over the years, I’ve gotten over it. The truth is, it was my issue. Not theirs, not the chickens, but mine. I was so bent towards pushing the idea of cooking with beer into the space that wine occupies that I lost sight of the fact that beer can chicken is pretty damn good. Not to mention the fact that it’s more accessible than most wine dishes, and it highlights one of the main reasons to cook with beer: it makes poultry taste fantastic.

When people ask me what my go-to cooking with beer recipe is, I always talk about poultry. I decided that it was time to put pen to digital paper and show the world that cooking with beer isn’t JUST beer can chicken, it is ALSO beer can chicken. After all, you can make any wine dish with beer but wine can chicken just isn’t the same.

Get the recipe for Beeroness Beer Can Chicken on eHow.

Beer Brined Rotisserie Spiced Chicken Legs

Print Recipe

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

2 lbs chicken drumsticks or wings
2 tbs kosher salt
12 ounces wheat beer
1 tsp paprika
2 tsp baking powder this will help crisp the skin
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp dried thyme
1 tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp chili powder
1 ½ tsp brown sugar

Instructions

Place the chicken in a large bowl or baking dish. Sprinkle on all sides with kosher salt. Pour the beer over the chicken until submerged (adding additional beer or water to submerge the chicken).
Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour and up to 12.
Preheat the oven to 250.
In a small bowl stir together the paprika, baking powder, onion powder, garlic powder, thyme, 1 tsp salt, chili powder and brown sugar.
Remove the chicken from the brine, rinse well and pat dry.
Place a wire rack over a baking sheet, spray with cooking spray.
Rub the chicken on all sides with the spice mixture, add to prepared pan.
Bake at 250 in the bottom half of the oven for 30 minutes. Move the chicken to the top half of the oven and bake at 450 for an additional 30 minutes or until cooked through.*

Notes

Although the timing of this recipe sounds like it's too long, it isn't The recipe was adapted from America's Test Kitchen and always yields perfect results. The first 30 minutes is just meant to render fat, not cook the chicken. The second 30 minutes cooks the meat and browns the skin. The baking powder in the recipe helps draw out moisture and crips the skin.

Buttermilk and Beer Beignets

19.02.2016 9 Comments

Buttermilk and Beer Beignets

I have this detrimental habit of undercutting my price, or doing work for free, in exchange for a plane ticket and a hotel reservation. Last year I nearly committed to writing an entire menu just for the opportunity to go to Uganda for the weekend. The timing ended up being too last minute and (fortunately or unfortunately, I can’t decide which) I had to back out.

I also have a habit of obsessively bookmarking restaurants across the world if they sound interesting, just in case I’m ever in that area and looking for a place to eat. Most of which will go unvisited, but the few times I’ve found myself within walking distance of bookmarked business, I’m more thrilled than is appropriate.

The majority of my pre-trip plans include figuring out where I want to eat once I get there. Last year in Panama it was ceviche in the fish market. In Bogota it was Abasto. When I finally make it to New Orleans it’ll be beignets at Cafe Du Monde.

This recipe is the closest I’ve come to the real thing. Light, airy, slightly chewy and completely addictive. The beer gives it a beautiful lightness that I haven’t found in the classic recipes that call for evaporated milk.

These were so good, in fact, that they now replaced my beer doughnut holes as my go-to recipe for bring-a-dish gatherings.

Buttermilk and Beer Beignets

Yield: 20-24 Beignets

5 from 2 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients

1 envelop 2 ¼ tsp/7g rapid rise yeast
¼ cup 54g sugar
4 cups 480g bread flour
½ tsp 2g baking soda
¾ cup 180g wheat beer
1 ½ cups 360 g buttermilk
½ tsp 3g salt
oil for frying canola, peanut, or grapeseed oil
Confectioners sugar for dusting

Instructions

In the bowl of a stand mixer stir together the yeast, sugar, bread flour, and baking soda.
In a microwave-safe bowl combine the beer and butter. Heat until the mixture reaches between 120-130F on a cooking thermometer (mixture may curdle, this is normal).
Add the liquid to the dry ingredients, mix on medium speed until all the flour has been moistened.
Add the salt, turn the mixer on high and beat until the dough forms a soft sticky ball that gathers around the blade, about 8 minutes.
The dough will be very soft and loose, but if it’s too loose to hold together add a few pinches of flour.
Transfer to a large, lightly oiled bowl. Loosely cover with a towel or plastic wrap. Allow to rise in a warm room until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Add dough to a well-floured surface, dust with flour. Pat into a large rectangle about ½ inch thick. Avoid using a rolling pin in order to preserve the air bubbles in the dough.
Add 3 to 4 inches of oil to a pot over medium-high heat. Clip a cooking thermometer onto the side making sure the tip doesn’t hit the bottom of the pot. Heat oil to 350F to 375F, adjust heat to stay in that temperate range.
Using a bench knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough into 2-inch squares. A few at a time (don’t crowd the pot) fry the beignets on both sides until golden brown and cooked through, about 2 minutes.
Remove and allow to drain on a stack of paper towels or a wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar just before serving.

Adapted from Epicurious