IPA

Chipotle Beer Cheese Oven Fries

08.09.2014 14 Comments

Football fries: Chipotle Beer Cheese Oven Fries

When I was 17 I decided to sell vacuums door-to-door. It was a great plan, I’d met a guy who had made a few thousand dollars in just one day, it seemed like easy money.

After a quick intro seminar in an office park in a bad area of town, they loaded up a floor model into the back of my car and gave me a folder of pre-screened targets that I had appointments with. My first stop was a nice apartment overlooking the water. I nervously waited for the door to open as I practiced my opening line in my head a few times.

The door swung open and an attractive 22-year-old guy was on the other side of the door. The look on his face mirrored my own: you’re not what I was expecting. He eagerly invited me in, offering me a drink, clearly unaware of my underage status. I declined, trying to stick to the script. I didn’t get paid unless this guy buys an overpriced cleaning machine, and I needed money.

I start the routine I’d been taught, demonstrating the equipment, quoting stats and specs, and trying to get him to pay more attention to the vacuum than my jeans. Mid-pitch, he stops me, "I have an Ikea couch and my TV is held up by a shipping crate, do you really think I can afford a $600 vacuum? It’s not going to happen."

I explained that I had to call my boss to tell him how it was going, but I had to wait at least 30 minutes after my arrival. I asked him to give me more time. He hesitated. "Look, how about this. We’ll play one game of poker, if I beat you, you buy the thing. If not, I’ll leave before I have to make the call."

A few minutes later he emerged from his kitchen with a pack of cards and a box of matchsticks he wanted to use as poker chips. Due to a lack of furnishing, we sat cross-legged on the floor of his living room as I dealt hold ’em and watched him suck down a second scotch. Fifteen minutes later, I had all the match sticks. For a second time.

"I just beat you twice," I said as I motioned towards the overpriced vacuum.

"I still can’t afford it. But can I take you out this weekend?"

"Are you going to buy a vacuum?" Which was really a poor choice of words, I just wasn’t sure how to respond to his advance.

"You’re making me buy that thing before I can take you out?"

"No, I’m not going out with you either way. But….it’s a really good vacuum."

He laughed. "Look, I’ll help you load it up. There really is no chance that I’ll buy this thing. How about we walk over to that cafe across the street and I’ll buy you dinner for your trouble."

I hesitated, I didn’t want him to think it was a date, he clearly noticed.

"It’s not a date! I owe you something for your time and the fact that you’re oddly skilled at poker, and I feel bad just sending you away. Just let me buy you dinner."

I agreed, but I also ordered the cheapest thing on the menu, cheese fries, to remind him that there wasn’t any chance this was more. They were fantastic. I canceled all other vacuum-related meetings, returning the stupid thing in the morning. Cheese fries and winning at poker isn’t a bad night, but it never earned me any money.

Football fries: Chipotle Beer Cheese Oven Fries

Chipotle Beer Cheese Oven Fries

Print Recipe

Ingredients

1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp chili powder
2 lbs russet potatoes cut into wedges
3 tbs canola oil
2 tbs cornstarch
¾ cup beer
1 cup shredded Cheddar do not use pre shredded
¼ cup heavy cream
2 chipotle chili plus additional to taste
2 tbs Butter
¼ cup green onions chopped
¼ cup cilantro chopped

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425.
In a small bowl stir together the salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and chili powder.
Add the potatoes to a small bowl, sprinkle with spices, toss to coat.
Add the oil to a baking sheet.
Add the potatoes to the baking sheet in one even layer, with one of the cut sides down.
Bake for 12 minutes. Turn the potatoes over so the other cut side is down.
Bake for an additional 12 minutes or until the potatoes are golden brown and fork tender.
While the potatoes are baking, make the cheese sauce.
Add the cornstarch, beer, cheese, cream, and chipotle to a blender or food processor. Process until smooth.
In a pot over medium high heat, melt the butter. Add the cheese sauce, cook until thickened and warmed.
Plate the potatoes, drizzle with cheese sauce. Sprinkle with cilantro and green onions.

Football fries: Chipotle Beer Cheese Oven Fries

Sausage Sliders with IPA Sriracha Sour Cream

01.09.2014 6 Comments

I always a nice girl, polite, maybe a little shy in a way that made me seem unapproachable. Always a go-with-the-flow, don’t-rock-the-boat kind of person, never one to cause a riot.

Until you put me in a red swim suit and give me a whistle, then I’m bossy and loud. The summer after high school I got a job as a lifeguard at a summer camp protecting pasty white teenagers from the depths of a murky lake. One of the stations I worked was this 30 foot long inflatable rectangular pillow that extended out into the deep center of the lake called "The Blob." Kids would climb up on the large platform that was positioned over one end of The Blob, jump down and climb out to the other end of this multi-colored launching device. When the next kid would jump off the platform on the near end of The Blob, the first kid would be flung high into the air, right into the lake.

We had a weight limit, for safety reasons. Only a 100 pound weight differential between Blobbers was aloud or the launch would be too extreme for the the one who was being flung. A late afternoon, just a few minutes before the end of the afternoon swim session, a camp counselor came to me asking to bend the rules. He wanted to launch the smallest girl off the end of The Blob, just to see what would happen.

I said no, "You are huge, she is tiny. That doesn’t end well."

He resisted, telling me I wasn’t being cool, "Why are you being so lame?!"

"You easily have 200 pounds on her, she’ll get hurt. Don’t do it."

Two minutes later I see her on the far end of The Blob, hands gripping tightly to her lifejacket. Knees curled. I look up at the platform, a small kid was about to jump. But my relief turned to hot white anger when I saw Big Guy Dumbass Councilor push him out of the way and cannon ball onto the blob. Tiny Girl was sent so far into the air that everyone in line gasped. She flailed, her tiny arms windmilling. After a ten story descent into the water, she landed flat on her back with the loudest slap I’ve ever heard, it echoed across the lake. She lay in the water, frozen without moving. I immediately jumped in and swam out to her. She was in shock, but ok. She was silently sobbing, limp as I pulled her back in. I put her on the dock without saying a word, took off her life jacket, she had giant welts on her lower back and was having a hard time moving.

I looked up at Dumbass, who was still on The Blob. "Dude…" was all he said. I shot him the nastiest look I could muster and yelled to everyone in line that The Blog was closed early.

At dinner that night, we had sliders. I was still in my swimsuit, with white shorts, hair still wet after barely making it to the dining hall after filling out the Incident Report. I sit at the staff table, with a clear view of Dumbass. I stared at him, eating my sliders with a vengeance. Another lifeguard, who’d been working the pool that afternoon noticed my wrath, "Jackie, what the hell? What did those sliders do to you? Jesus, you look pissed." Something about eating small little burgers that makes me feel powerful, in an "I’ve got this" sort of way. Don’t mess with me when I’ve got a whistle. Or sliders.

Sausage Sliders with IPA Sriracha Sour Cream

Print Recipe

Servings 8 to 10 sliders

Ingredients

1 lbs raw Italian sausage removed from casings
¾ cup IPA beer divided
½ tsp red pepper flakes
¼ tsp salt
2 tbs olive oil
1 cup sour cream
¼ cup chopped cilantro
2 tsp sriracha
green leaf lettuce
8-10 dinner rolls split (toasted if desired)

Instructions

In a medium bowl add the sausage, 3 tablespoons beer, red pepper flakes, and salt. Stir until just combined.
Form into 8 small patties, about 2 ½ inches wide by ½ inch tall.
Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Cook the patties on one side until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Flip and add ½ cup beer to the pan. Simmer until patties are cooked through, about 6 additional minutes.
In a small bowl stir together the sour cream, cilantro and sririacha.
Add the patties to the split rolls, top with sour cream and lettuce.

Porter Marinated Flank Steak Lettuce Wraps with IPA Chimichuri

27.08.2014 11 Comments

I spent the better part of the last two weeks throwing myself into my second book. Cooking at 1 am, editing photos at dawn, trying to pull sentences out of my weary brain that would actually be ones that you would want to read.

Monday at 2 am I finally sent it off to my publisher. 100 recipes, all made with beer, all intend for parties. Small bites, appetizers, desserts. The years I’ve spent in the beer world have given me an overwhelming appreciation for the community that exists here. The people who gravitate to craft beer are those who want to share, not just beer but ideas, companionship, trust, knowledge, this is a community of people that thrive together. Of course, a book about beer food to be shared just made sense. I hope you love it as much as I do, I hope you make food to share with other, and I hope that maybe somewhere, the craft beer community is grown a little stronger because of the book I spent so much time creating. It’s the least I can do.

Porter Marinated Flank Steak Lettuce Wraps with IPA Chimichuri

Print Recipe

Ingredients

For the Steak:

12 ounces porter or stout beer
¼ cup soy sauce
1 tbs brown sugar
3 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp black pepper
2 lbs flank steak
1 tsp kosher salt

For the Chimicuhri:

1 cup Italian parsley loosely packed
½ cup cilantro loosely packed
¼ cup fresh oregano loosely packed
¼ cup olive oil plus additional for red pepper
2 tbs rice vinegar
2 tbs IPA beer
2 garlic cloves
½ tsp crushed red chili flakes
½ tsp salt

For the wraps:

butter lettuce
1 red bell pepper

Instructions

In a shallow bowl or baking dish stir together the beer, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, chili powder, pepper and onion powder. Sprinkle the flank steak on all sides with salt, add to the marinade. Marinate for at least one hour and up to overnight.
In a food processor add the chimichuri ingredients, process until smooth.
Preheat the grill.
Grill the steak until desired degree of doneness, about 4 minutes per side for medium rare. Allow the steak to rest for 5 minutes.
Rub the bell pepper with olive oil, grill until soften and grill marks appear.
Slice the steak and the bell pepper.
Fill the butter lettuce leaves with steak and bell peppers, spoon on sauce.

Hot Crab Beer Cheese Dip

18.08.2014 13 Comments

When I was 22 I was recruited by a modeling agent while I was shopping for shoes on Melrose.

I said no. Nothing about that interested me at all. At the time I was teaching anger management skills to gang members in south central LA, doing work that matter to me, walking around looking pretty meant nothing to me.

Maybe it was because I’m a people pleaser, or I’m detrimentally curious, but she was able to talk me into it. I took headshots and a few weeks later I was on a catwalk in Culver City modeling high waisted jeans, and a mesh top with no bra, with vines and flowers drawn on my face.

Backstage I was so nervous I felt like I was going to throw up. At 5”7’ and 118 lbs, I was the “short, fat” model that needed the 7-inch heels to make the $500 denim inseam work. I was in a world that didn’t belong to be, in an ill-fitting role. A seasoned model, one with dead eyes and the purse full of cocaine walked by and gave me a smirk, “First show? Good lucky, honey” in a voice as nasty as garbage.

A switch flipped. I’ve never been the mean girl, I’ve never been the center of attention girl, and I was learning how not to be push over. I smirked back.

I walked out on the long black stage, lights from all sides. Camera bulbs flashed. I was acutely aware of being nearly topless, and I owned it. I got to the end of the runway, I knew it was going well. When I got halfway back, I saw Dead Eyes at the other end, she’d paused. I put my hand up, forcing her to stop. I turned back around and did another pass, walking back to the end of the runway. For some reason, the crowed cheered at my double pass. Dead eyes had to wait, she was furious at the back of the stage. When I finally exited the stage, I did so with a death glare at my back. I very quickly changed my clothes, grabbed my things and left, vines and flowers still painted on my cheeks. I didn’t get paid for the show and I never did another, but it was worth it.

I’d much rather run around a kitchen that a runway. It was a reminder that sometimes when you don’t belong somewhere it’s not your loss. Sometimes, with a little luck, we just end up where we are supposed to be. And it fits really well.

Hot Crab Beer Cheese Dip

Print Recipe

Ingredients

8 oz cream cheese
¼ cup sour cream
1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp chili powder
1 tsp hot pepper sauce
2 tbs cornstarch
2/3 cup IPA beer
1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
½ cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella
¼ cup green onions chopped
8 wt oz crab meat

Instructions

In a food processor add the cream cheese, sour cream, old bay, garlic powder, chili powder, hot pepper sauce, corn starch, beer, worchestershire sauce, parmesan cheese, and mozzarealla, process until smooth.
Stir in the onions and crab meat.
Add to an oven safe serving dish.
Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until warm and golden brown.
Stir, garnish with green onions.

Jalapeno Beer Cheese Burger with Beer Candied Bacon

14.07.2014 12 Comments

When I get to a new city, I always ask people what breweries they like. People answer this question in one of two ways: how much they like the beer, or how much they like the people. Sometimes, the judgement is clouded by a love for one spilling over into the other, the way you adore your friends mediocre band. Often, there is an overlap. Great beer and great people. The amazing thing about craft beer is that it’s full of people you love, people you want to root for.

Lucky for me, in this new town I’m in, Seattle has plenty of both. A few days after moving here I had drinks with a friend. I asked about Pike Brewing, "Adored. People here adore Pike, the people who work there are so great and the beer is super solid." No matter how many people I ask, craft beer new comers to genuine beer snobs, the answer seems to be the same. Seattle is rooting for this brewery.

Now that summer is here, and we get a window of heat in the Pacific Northwest, a burger and a beer are the perfect meal. Made with a beer that Seattle loves, it makes me feel like this new town is starting to become my home.

Jalapeno Beer Cheese Burger with Beer Candied Bacon

Print Recipe

Ingredients

For the bacon:

12 strips thick sliced bacon
1 cup brown sugar
¼ cup stout
pinch cayenne

For the cheese sauce:

2 tbs butter
2 tbs flour
2 tbs cornstarch
1 cup IPA
1 cup whole milk
2 cups 4 wt oz shredded cheddar cheese

For the burgers:

2 lbs ground chuck 80/20 lean to fat ratio, very cold
2 tbs stout
1 tsp onion powder
2 tbs melted butter
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 jalapenos sliced
6 hamburger buns or Kaiser rolls

Instructions

Make the bacon:

Preheat ove the 350.
In a sauce pan over medium high heat, bring the brown sugar, stout and cayenne to boil, boil for one minute.
Place the bacon on a wire rack over a baking sheet. Brush the bacon on each side with sugar mixture.
Bake at 350 for 10 minutes, flip, re-brush with sugar mixture, bake for ten more minutes until bacon is a dark brown. Remove from oven, allow to cool. Bacon will harden as it cools.
Bacon can be made a day ahead of time.

Make the cheese:

In a pan over medium high heat, melt the butter. Sprinkle with flour and cornstarch, whisk until well combined, allow to cook until a light brown color.
Add the beer and the milk, bring to a low simmer. About ¼ cup at a time, whisk in the cheese, making sure all cheese is melted before adding more. Keep warm while you make the burgers (sauce will thicken as it cools, add additional milk or beer and add to heat if the sauce thickens too much).

Make the Burgers:

Preheat the grill.
In a medium bowl, gently mix together the beef, 2 tablespoons stout and onion powder. Make sure that you only mix as little as necessary, over working the meat will make it tough. Form into 6 patties (make sure to form patties larger than you want the final results to be, patties shrink as they cook).
Brush patties on both sides with butter, sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.
Grill on both sides until medium, about 4 minutes per side.
Fill the buns with patties, jalapenos, bacon and cheese sauce.

Triple Chile Beer Cheese Dip

11.07.2014 11 Comments

I’ve always been a bit of a heat freak. I’ll always order the spiciest version of any dish on the menu, and then add hot sauce. I’ve had to tamp down the fiery ingredients when writing recipes for mass consumption, but when it’s just me and a few other capsaicin worshipers, I’ll triple the power of the chiles.

When it comes to peppers, there is no way to look at them and tell how hot they are. Jalapeno’s for instance can range for a semi-mild heat level to a knock your socks off fire that can be three times the socville units of their milder counterparts. The scoville scale measures the heat level in chiles, giving them a number that correlates to how spicy those little devils are. Other than the peppers that earn no units (like the bell pepper), most peppers get a range rather than a specific number. For instance, the jalapeno ranges from 2,500-8,000. But you’ll never be able to tell just by looking at them if that pepper is mild or wild.

If you want to temper the heat a bit, most of the heat is held in the seeds and that white membrane that keeps the seeds attached to the inside of the pepper. Remove some or all to control the heat a bit. Too mild? Add beer. Alcohol intensifies heat so adding a high ABV brew will kick that heat up a notch of two. Adding another kick of heat to my spicy food is just another reason for me to love beer.

Triple Chile Beer Cheese Dip

Print Recipe

Ingredients

1 poblano pepper
8 ounces cream cheese
¼ cup sour cream
2 ½ cups shredded mozzarella
1 chipotle chili in adobo
1 jalapeno diced
1 cup IPA beer
2 tbs cornstarch
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp salt

Instructions

Move oven rack to top position and second oven rack to the middle position.
Preheat oven broiler.
Place poblano pepper on a baking sheet. Place under broiler until blackened, flip over, bake on other side until blackened. Remove from oven, lower oven heat to 350.
Place pobalno in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, steam for ten minutes. Remove from bowl, rub off the black skin and remove the stem.
Add the pobalno and remaining ingredients to a food processor. Process until smooth, pour into a baking dish.
Bake at 350 on the middle rack until warm and bubbly, about 20 minutes, serve warm.

Beer and Sriracha Candied Nuts

30.06.2014 16 Comments

Let’s talk for a second about last meals.

We’ve talk about this before while discussing Julia Childs last meal and how I defiled it with a stout. Many discussions have been had over what entrée and dessert we’d all have if we were afforded the choice. Would it be Grandmas pot roast? Sushi? A burrito from that place you used to go when you were a kid?

The conversation needs to extend to the pint glass, what’s your last beer? If it’s a true last beer, there are a few factors you no longer need to consider: price? Charge it. ABV? Doesn’t matter, hangovers won’t be felt. If it really is your last beer, the last sip you’ll take as an earthly being, you probably wont be rolling the fermented dice on something new, you’ll grab an old favorite, your comfort beer.

What is it? What do you drink? Is it the first beer you fell for, the one that got you into craft beer? Is it one with memories attached to it?

For me, it would be a stout. Probably the first craft beer I feel in love with: Old Rasputin.

But then again, maybe I would surprise myself. I might want one of those fantastic California IPA’s that felt like home for some long. Sculpin, Race 5, Pliny? Who knows, it would be a game time decision.

But one things for sure, if you’re the one flipping the switch, make sure there’s proper glassware; I can’t drink it out of a mason jar.

Beer and Sriracha Candied Nuts

Print Recipe

Ingredients

1/3 cup IPA beer
½ cup brown sugar
1 tbs butter
¼ tsp Sriracha
pinch cayenne
2 ½ cups mixed nuts

Instructions

Add the beer and brown sugar to a large saucepan over medium heat.
Stir until sugar has melted.
Bring to a boil. Allow to boil untouched for 3 minutes.
Remove from heat, stir in butter, Sriracha and cayenne.
Add the nuts, stir until all the nuts are well coated.
Line a baking sheet with a silpat (or aluminum foil sprayed with cooking spray), spread the nuts in an even layer on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake at 350 for 6 minutes, stir bake for an additional 6 minutes.
Remove from oven, allow to cool, break apart.

Sriracha Beer Butter Grilled Corn

11.06.2014 17 Comments

I was once invited to leave The Viper Room when the guy I’d been chatting with escalated past douche bag right up into unignorably obnoxious territory and I was swept up in his wake.

I not so subtly parted ways with him to cross the street towards The Roxy when he escalated further,"You’re leaving?! I pulled out my best stuff for you!" I had no idea that he’d been trying to get somewhere with his meaningless rambling.

Oh, you mean the uber-impressive story about having lunch with Alan Thicke last week? Or telling me that your ex-girlfriend was a sexsomniac?

Or bragging about stealing wifi from your neighbor? Because it was all gold, so clearly I have no reason to leave with this depth of conversational wealth that’s being offered to me.

Sometimes, people just try too hard when what they really want is to impress. We can do the equivalent of Over-Sharing-Drunk-Viper-Room-Guy with food. We can try too hard, do too many things, and make a mess of it all.

Keep it simple this summer, some grilled produce, good ingredients, real butter and great beer.

And save the stories of your ex-girlfriend for your guy friends and only after they’re too drunk to object.

Sriracha Beer Butter Grilled Corn

Print Recipe

Prep Time 7

Cook Time 8

Total Time 1 15

Servings 6 servings

Ingredients

½ cup unsalted butter chopped into cubes
3 tbs IPA beer
1 tsp sriracha
½ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp kosher salt
6 ears fresh corn shucked
2 tbs olive oil
salt and pepper
¼ cup chopped cilantro

Instructions

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment beat the butter until light and fluffy.
Add the beer, sriracha, garlic and salt. Beat until well combined.
Add the butter to a piece of plastic wrap, roll tightly into a log. Refrigerate until set, about 1 hour.
Preheat the grill.
Brush the corn with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Grill on all sides until lightly charred and tender, 8-10 minutes.
Add the corn to pieces of aluminum foil, top with several slices of butter, sprinkle with cilantro.

Apricot Sriracha IPA Chicken and Session IPA’s for Summer

26.05.2014 9 Comments

For what seems like decades brewers have been involved in a bit of an ABV arms race to see who can bring to the table the IPA with highest alcohol content. The Top That ABV Game seems to be waining in favor of the Full Flavor Session IPA game, to the relief of lightweights across the land.

Now that summer is around the corner and long days of eating Hot Meat off the grill and drinking all day, session beers are more important. A session beer is a beer with low alcohol that you can spend a "long drinking session" consuming without becoming a cautionary tale. Mostly, these are beers that have less than 5% alcohol by volume (ABV).

Although a low ABV session beer becomes an important part of not becoming an unintended YouTube sensation with drunk antics, we also want to continue to perpetuate our status as the Craft Beer Queen, so "lite" beer won’t be considered. Session IPA’s are what we go to. The hops we want, the low alcohol that keeps us functional all day.

Here are some to seek out. This isn’t a "top ten"list, or a "best of" list. It’s just a list. A list of great session IPA’s to seek out when you want to drink all day without embarrassing yourself. If you have a session IPA you love, let me know.

Founders: All Day IPA ABV 4.7%

Lagunitas Brewing: Day Time IPA 4.65%

Stone Brewing: Go To IPA 4.5%

Fort George Brewery: Suicide Squeeze 4.5%

Sierra Nevada: Nooner Session IPA 4.8%

Firestone Walker: Brewing: Easy Jack IPA 4.5%

Southern Tier: Farmer’s Tan IPA 4.6%

Pizza Port Brewing: Ponto S.I.P.A. 4.5%

Apricot Sriracha IPA Chicken

Print Recipe

Prep Time 20

Total Time 20

Ingredients

1 lb very ripe apricots pitted
1/3 cup IPA beer
1 tsp sririacha
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 lb chicken thighs
salt and pepper
1 tbs olive oil
2 tbs chopped shallots
3 tbs chopped flat leaf parsley

Instructions

In a food processor or blender add the apricots, IPA, sriracha, cornstarch, and balsamic, blend until smooth.
Salt and pepper the chicken thighs on all sides,.
Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat.
Sear the chicken breasts on both sides. Add the shallots, stir until shallots have softened.
Add the apricot mixture, reduce heat to a low simmer, simmer until sauce has thickened and chicken is cooked through, about 8 minutes.
Remove from heat, sprinkle with parsley.

Notes

This recipe needs fully ripe, sweet apricots. If you use under-ripe apricots, the dish will be overly sour. If you don't have over ripe (almost mushy) apricots, add 2 tbs honey to combat the bitterness.

Pineapple Habanero IPA Shrimp

30.04.2014 9 Comments

There’s a beauty and effortlessness in the collaboration of beer people. It’s an illustration of the spirit of community that exists in the world of craft beer. And indicator of how brewers are fans of each others, how the idea of competition is so so faint, it almost can’t be felt, how beer people cheer each other on and push each other forward.

Beer week, regardless of the city you’re in, has a way of brining these collaborations to the years giddy apex. This year Seattle beer weeks collaboration may be the largest yet. Six different breweries, Black Raven, Pike Brewing, Naked City, Georgetown, Schooner Exact, and Elysian brewing, all came together to brew one beer. A great session IPA that has a beautifully well balanced hop flavor that’s insanely drinkable.

Lucky for beer people, as well as those just looking to explore hopped up liquors, Beer Weeks are popping up all over the country. If you’re in the Pacific Northwest, check out Seattle Beer Week May 8-18th. If you aren’t make sure to check out the beer week in your area and support local brewers, local beer and local economy, with the added benefit of a day full of great beer in your pint glass.

Pineapple Habanero IPA Shrimp

Print Recipe

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 20

Total Time 25

Ingredients

3 tbs olive oil
½ lbs raw shrimp peeled and deveined
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
½ cup white onions diced
1 red pepper diced (stem and seeds removed)
1 cup chopped fresh pineapple
1 habanero peppers chopped, stem and seeds removed
2/3 cup plus 2 tbs IPA beer, divided
1 tbs honey
3 tbs rice wine vinegar
2 tbs cornstarch
2 tbs green onions chopped
Rice for serving

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium high heat.
Sprinkle the shrimp all over with salt and pepper. Add to the pan, cook until pink on all sides, remove from pan, set aside.
Add the onions and red pepper, cook until softened and slightly caramelized, about 8 minutes.
Add the pineapple, pepper, 2/3 cup beer, honey, vinegar, and cornstarch, cook over a low simmer until pineapple has broken down and sauce has thickened, about 10 minutes.
Add the shrimp back in as well as the remaining 2 tablespoons beer, stir until combined, remove from heat. Serve over rice, sprinkle with green onions prior to serving.

Beer Battered Shrimp Tacos with Chipotle Lime Crema

constantly updated

There are a few things you don’t realize you’re giving up when you leave LA. You know you’ll miss the weather, the sunny winter days spent sunbathing on the beach, the fact that every band always has a tour stop in your town, and the unlimited Girls Night Out options.

IPA Crab Salad Sliders with Apple Daikon Slaw

10.03.2014 4 Comments

There are some rules to Party Food.

Not a lot, just a few. After all, parties are about lack of restrictions. First, there needs to be a bit of portability involved. One hand, no utensils type of portability. If you’ve every tried to navigate the consumption of food that requires a knife and fork while trying to mingle, you understand the hard and fast nature of that rule.

You also need something low maintinace. Something you can set down and leave for your guests to grab, sans explanation.

Lastly (only three rules, after all, this is a party), you want something fairly quick and easy to put together. After all, you have other dishes to make, and dishes to wash, and people to mingle with.

But if you can work in beer, there are some bonus points involved.

IPA Crab Cake Sliders with Apple Daikon Slaw

Print Recipe

Ingredients

For the Slaw

½ large honey crisp apple cut into thin matchsticks
3 ounces daikon peeled and cut into thin matchsticks
¼ cup green onions sliced
2 tbs IPA
1 tbs raw honey
¼ tsp mustard powder

For the Crab:

1/3 cup sour cream
2 tbs IPA
½ tsp Old Bay seasoning
¼ tsp onion powder
pinch chili powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbs IPA
8 wt oz lump crab meat
10 Slider Buns

Instructions

Whisk together the IPA, honey and mustard powder in a small bowl. Add the apples, green onions and daikon, toss to coat. Set aside.
In a medium bowl add the sour cream, IPA, Old Bay, onion powder, chili powder, salt, pepper, and IPA beer, stir until combined. Fold in the crabmeat.
Spoon crab meat into slider buns, top with slaw.

Drunk Shrimp Diablo

03.02.2014 17 Comments

I have a confession to make.

I’ve been hiding my Instagram account from you under a different name. I changed my Instagram name to The Beeroness last week after I realized that you want to see my life. This is the hang-up for me, the part that’s so hard to wrap my brain around: that invisible people on the other side of the computer actually want to see what my life is like. Sure, it speaks to a hideous level of insecurity on my part, but why wouldn’t I let you in?

After all, you trust me with your Thanksgiving turkey, and to give you a Beer Cheese Dip for your football party, and you even ask my advice on what to do with the remains of the Blueberry Kolsch homebrew that didn’t exactly go as planned.

So why has it taken me so long to show you pictures of my dog, or the behind-the-scenes of my cooking segment on CBS, or that time I stole wood from a construction site to make a prop table? Maybe I still can’t believe that I’m a person that people would want to know about. That you care about me as much as I care about you coming to visit my blog.

After all, you are the reason I’m able to spend my life cooking and drinking beer.

I owe you a lot.

Drunk Shrimp Diablo

Print Recipe

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

2 tbs olive oil
2 tbs butter
1 cup diced white onions
3 cloves garlic minced
2 tbs tomato paste
2 tbs garlic chili sauce
2 tbs red chili flakes
1 tsp chili powder
¼ tsp cayenne
2/3 cup IPA or Pale Ale beer
1 lbs raw shrimp deveined (shell removed if desired)
1 cup cherry tomatoes sliced

Instructions

Heat the olive oil and butter to a skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté until browned, about 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic.
Add tomato paste, chili sauce, red chili flakes, chili powder, cayenne pepper and beer, Stir over medium heat until well combined.
Add the shrimp and tomatoes, cook until shrimp are pink and have curled, about 6 minutes.

I use this Chili Garlic Sauce from Huy Fong, and this amazing cast iron skillet that I can’t get enough of (affiliate links).

Bloody Hell: Blood Oranges, Jalapeno, Whiskey and Beer Cocktail

17.01.2014 15 Comments

If there is anything that can lure me away from ordering a good beer, it’s a spicy cocktail.

The heat in a fresh pepper and some whiskey will get me every time. Once blood orange season rolls around, I’m powerless. Blood oranges have a great flavor, part naval orange, part raspberry and the color is incredible. The season has just started and ends far too soon. During the few peak weeks that I’m able to find these beauties that make my cutting board look like an episode of Dexter, I juice and freeze as much as I can for later.

Because before too long the only orange I’ll be able to find will be the boring orange ones.

Bloody Hell: Blood Oranges, Jalapeno, Whiskey and Beer Cocktail

Print Recipe

Ingredients

2 oz blood orange juice
1 ½ oz bourbon
1 tbs agave
1 jalapeno sliced
2 oz IPA beer

Instructions

In a shaker filled with ice add the blood orange juice, bourbon, agave, and jalapeno sliced. Shake well, pour through a strainer into a highball glass with ice.
Add beer, stir.

Beer and Bacon Dip

03.01.2014 34 Comments

Beer and Bacon Dip

This is a cheap ploy.

Using both beer and bacon in a dip to get your attention. It’s like a video of Christopher Walken volunteering as Tribute, or a list of The Things You HAVE to Know By The Time You’re 30, or those UpWorthy videos that Facebook always tells you are a Must Watch. You can’t look away.

But it’s the food version of those things and you won’t be able to stop eating it until you run out of chips, and briefly contemplate using your fingers. But you shouldn’t, apparently, that’s tacky.

Beer and Bacon Dip

Print Recipe

Servings 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

16 wt oz cream cheese full fat
1/2 cup sour cream full fat
5 wt oz shredded mozzarella about 1 2/3 cups
2 wt oz shredded cheddar
½ tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tbs cornstarch
¾ cup IPA or Pale Ale Beer
8 slices bacon cooked and chopped

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350.
Add the cream cheese, sour cream, mozzarella, cheddar, smoked paprika, salt, chili powder, garlic powder, cornstarch and beer to a food processor. Process on high until smooth and well combined, about 5 minutes.
Stir in most of the copped bacon, reserving about 2 tablespoons.
Pour the dip into an oven safe bowl top with reserved bacon.
Bake at 350 until warmed through, about 15-20 minutes.
Serve warm.

Notes

If the dip is "fluffy" out of the oven, just stir before serving.

Spinach Artichoke Beer Cheese Crostini

27.11.2013 13 Comments

This is necessary.

Putting dip on bread. Serving it on a silver platter. Acting fancy.

It’s the same amalgamation of ingredients as that dip you serve in that Pyrex bowl surrounded by bread slices, relatively similar process, but the result is the ability to use the Italian word for "little toast" whilst talking about beer cheese dip.

It also allows for your unruly party guests to grab a portable portion of dip and move along, avoiding a traffic jam around the dip section and promoting harmonious party mingling.

Or you could just serve it in a bowl surrounded by bread like a normal person. But you’ll miss out on being able to say Italian words like a boss.

Spinach Artichoke Beer Cheese Crostini

Print Recipe

Ingredients

1 French baguette sliced into 1 inch slices
¼ cup olive oil
salt and pepper
8 oz cream cheese
¼ cup sour cream
3 wt oz parmesan about 1 cup
3 wt oz mozzarella cheese (about 1 cup) divide in half
5 wt oz frozen chopped spinach about 1 cup, thawed & wrung dry
1 tbs cornstarch
½ cup IPA beer
1 tsp red chili sauce such as sriracha
½ tsp garlic powder
14 wt oz quartered artichoke hearts

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375.
Arrange the baguette slices on a baking sheet. Brush both sides with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Bake for ten minutes. Turn slices over, bake for ten more minutes or until golden brown.
While the bread cooks, make the cheese dip.
Add the cream cheese, sour cream, parmesan, half the mozzarella, spinach, cornstarch, beer, chili sauce and garlic powder, process until well combined.
Add to a saucepan over medium heat along with the artichoke hearts. Cook, stirring frequently, until hot and bubbly.
Spoon cheese dip onto the toasted bread, sprinkle with remaining cheese. Return to the oven and bake until the cheese has melted, about 5 minutes.
Serve warm.

Duck Confit on IPA Potato Cakes with Stout Pomegranate Sauce

22.11.2013 7 Comments

What the hell does Confit mean, anyway?

The culinary world is full of high brow words that can be used to dazzle and confuse the mainstream masses, that in reality just define simple principles.

Charcuterie? Just a meat plate.

Crutites? Just raw vegetables.

Braise? Sear in hot pan then cook slow and low in liquid.

Canapé? Any type of finger food.

And that brings us to confit. Sounds difficult and intimidating but it just means to cook in oil or fat at a low temperature for a long time. It was originally invented as a way to preserve meat and chefs quickly found that it worked wonders on duck and goose. The greatest gift that the Confit Inventor gave to the modern day busy entertainer is that it can be made a week (some say months) ahead of time. The flavors just keep getting better. It’s an easy and nearly foolproof way of cooking like a Culinary Superhero even if you only have a few successful meals under your cookin' belt.

I made this twice, the second time I just served the duck over a pile IPA mashed potatoes (rather than making the cakes) with the stout pomegranate sauce and a sprinkle of pomegranate seeds, turned out beautifully. It was so good I’m already planning on making it again. It’s my new Go-To fancy dinner party meal.

Don’t let the deluxe title fool you, use it as a way to dazzle and impress others. Just don’t let them know how easy it was.

Duck Confit on IPA Potato Cakes with Stout Pomegranate Sauce

Print Recipe

Ingredients

For the Duck:

8 duck legs
¼ cup kosher salt
6 garlic cloves peeled
2 tbs fresh thyme chopped
3 cups duck fat
¼ cup olive oil

For the Stout Pomegranate Sauce:

16 fl oz pomegranate juice
1 cup imperial stout
¼ cup balsamic
½ cup pomegranate seeds

For the Potato Cakes:

4 lbs potatoes peeled, sliced
8 tbs butter cut into cubes
1/3 cup cream
1/3 cup IPA beer
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1 egg
1 cup milk
½ cup flour
2 cups Challah bread crumbs see note
3 tbs olive oil

Instructions

To make the duck:

Sprinkle a thin layer of kosher salt in a baking pan. Arrange the duck legs in an even layer over the salt. Sprinkle with chopped thyme, press the garlic cloves onto the duck legs. Sprinkle with remaining salt. Cover and chill for 24 hours.
Preheat oven to 275.
Remove duck from pan, rinse well, return to a clean, salt free pan.
Cover with duck fat and olive oil.
Cook at 275 until duck is falling off the bone, about 3 hours.
Cover and chill for 24 hours and up to a week (some chefs state that duck confit can last up to two month chilled in fat, and flavor gets better over time. However, there is a slight increased risk of food born illness after 8 days).
When ready to serve, return to 300 degree oven until warmed through. Gently shred, remove from oil to drain.

To make the Sauce:

Add the pomegranate juice, stout and balsamic to a saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally until thickened and reduced, about 15 minutes. (Can be made a week ahead of time. Chill until ready to use, heat slightly under warm running water before drizzling. I store this in a plastic squeeze bottle).

To make the potato cakes:

Cook the potatoes in lightly salted boiling water until fork tender. Drain and add potatoes to a stand mixer along with butter, cream, IPA, salt and pepper, mix on medium speed until well combined.
Form into 4 inch wide by one inch high cakes, place on a baking sheet covered with wax paper. Chill for one hour and up to 24.
In a small bowl Wisk together the egg and milk. In a separate bowl add the flour. In a third bowl add the breadcrumbs.
Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium high heat. One at a time dredge the cakes in flour, then dip in milk mixture, then coat with breadcrumbs.
Fry in hot olive oil until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove from pan, allow to drain on a stack of paper towels.
To plate add the cakes to serving plates, top with duck meat, drizzle with stout pomegranate sauce, sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.

Notes

To make Challah breadcrumbs, add ½ a challah loaf to a food processor and process until just crumbs. Pour crumbs in on a baking sheet in an even layer. Bake at 350 until golden brown, about 6 minutes.

I use the Duck Fat you can also find it at Sur La Table and it also works wonders with potatoes. (Affiliate Link)

Pale Ale Pie Dough & And How to Make and Freeze it For Later

14.11.2013 20 Comments

It’s pie time.

And I hope you won’t hold this against me but I’m about to give you a pie dough lecture. About that store bought crust you use. And how you have to stop.

For the love of Good Beer, stop it.

Here’s why, hold tight, I’m about to change your pre-made-pie-dough buying ways:

It takes 8 minutes to make this. It’s tastes a thousands times better. It freezes really well. And you get to brag to everyone about how "hard" you worked making that dough from scratch.

I’ve made several pie dough recipes in the past and always go back to a version of Cooks Illustrated Foolproof Pie Dough. Mostly because it’s so simple. With an added bonus that it has an amazing tenderness and flakiness that doesn’t always happen with other pie dough recipes.

The original recipe uses vodka, the high alcohol content contributes to the flakeyness. I’ve subbed in some beer (shocking), but make sure to use a high ABV beer to get the right effect (step away from the inBev).

It makes a really soft dough that freezes great, some even say it’s better after being frozen for a while. You can make these far ahead of your other Holiday Meal Prep and just freeze it for later. Make sure and give it a full 24 hours in the fridge to come back to life.

And feel free to keep all of this to yourself, let them all think you worked your ass of for that perfect pie crust.

Pale Ale Pie Dough {Freezer Friendly}

Print Recipe

Prep Time 8

Total Time 8

Servings 2 pie crusts

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups 12 ½ wt oz all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
12 tbs cold unsalted butter cut into cubes
8 tbs vegetable shortening
1/3 cup ice cold high ABV pale ale

Instructions

Add 1 ½ cups of flour, salt and sugar to a food processor, pulse to combine. Add the butter and shortening, process until well combined and dough gathers around the blade.
Add the remaining flour and pulse 6-8 times or until all the flour has been coated.
Transfer to a bowl. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the beer until completely incorporated into the dough (don’t add the beer in the food processor or your dough will turn into a cracker). Dough will be very soft.
Lay two long sheets of plastic wrap on a flat surface.
Divide the dough evenly between the two sheets, Form into flat disks.
Wrap each disk tightly in plastic wrap. Place the disks into a freezer bag.
Freeze for up to 3 weeks. (If you want to use the dough the day of, place the wrapped disks in the refrigerator for 2 hours and up to 3 days)
24 hours before use, put the dough in the refrigerator to thaw.

Notes

If the dough breaks easily when you try to roll it out, gently knead it with your hands until it comes together. Roll it out, line a pie pan and refrigerator to chill, about 30 minutes.
*This recipe also works with all butter, or all shortening, if you prefer.

Adapted from Cooks Illustrated Foolproof Pie Dough