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Oven Baked Orange Pepper Beer Chicken

11.10.2018 4 Comments

Oven Baked Orange Pepper Beer Chicken, delicious one-pot, super quick and easy meal!

There’s a thing about chicken that always seems to be true no matter how I make it: it’s just as much at home on a white tablecloth in a dimly lit sommelier infested fine dining space as it is on the rickety picnic table of a small backyard gathering.

I like this about chicken, it can go all places. This, in one way or another, is how I try to live my life. I want to be able to feel at home at the opera, or on the farm, or in the inner city. I say I TRY, not that I succeed. I try to be chicken, with its delicious versatility. I try to please everyone from nugget-loving-kids, to batter-dipped-and-fried-devotees to people who confit things.

I don’t, however, think it works all the time. I swear too much, making suburban moms nervous to have me at football parties. When I drink I get loud and start to draw too much attention. And I will probably knock down a toddler to pet a strangers dog. These are not very chicken-like things. Chicken makes people happy, chicken blends in but leaves a good impression. Chicken is a crowd pleaser.

I’m more like beer. You either love me or you don’t. But I do my best to make everyone happy. And maybe there is enough chicken in the world. But a girl can dream.

 

 

Oven Baked Orange Pepper Beer Chicken

Print Recipe
Servings 4 -6 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 1 tablespoon orange zest about 1 large orange
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoons kosher or sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 2 lbs chicken legs
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • ½ cup 4oz pale ale (or pilsner, wheat beer)
  • ¼ cup 2oz orange juice (about ½ one large orange)

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350°F.
  • In a small bowl combine the zest, pepper, salt, garlic powder and cornstarch.
  • Rub the spice mixture into the legs on all sides.
  • Heat the olive oil in a large cast iron skillet until hot but not smoking.
  • Add the chicken, searing on all sides until browned. Pour the orange juice and beer over the chicken.
  • Transfer pan to the oven, cooking until the chicken is cooked through, about 25 minutes.

Sweet Potato Stout Shepard’s Pie (Meatless)

09.10.2018 No Comments

Sweet Potato Stout Shepard’s Pie (Meatless). Vegan, full of warm deliciousness, and freezer friendly. 

Some days just making it to dinner feels like an accomplishment. After rage-cleaning your house because you spent too much time reading the news. After seriously considering faking an illness to stay in bed. After realizing that the hint of gray that’s peeking through the windows at noon is all the sun you’re gonna get today, and maybe for quite a while longer.

Baking helps, I promise. You get to feel like you did something, made something, provided something. You get to lose yourself in the task of it and force those other rage-inducing thoughts to the back of the shelf for a bit.

You also get to eat, and that’s always a win.

Today I decided to beer-ify a childhood favorite, that just seemed to be appropriate. I decided to make it vegan, because if I have beer, sweet potatoes, and caramelized leeks I don’t need much else. Also, it makes me feel healthy and that makes me less likely to want to stay in bed all day tomorrow.

This also freezes well, so that you can make a double batch and maybe bring it to someone who may need a little warm, beerified comfort. Because we’re all in this together.

Sweet Potato Stout Shepard’s Pie (Meatless)

Print Recipe
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

For the topping:

  • 3 lbs sweet potatoes
  • ¼ cup almond milk or sour cream of choice
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder

For the filling:

  • 2 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 large leeks sliced (white and light green parts only
  • 1 large carrot diced
  • 1 rib celery diced
  • 1 lbs 16 oz sliced mushrooms
  • 2 teaspoons sage leaf minced
  • 1 teaspoon rosemary minced
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • ½ cup stout beer
  • 1 cup corn kernels
  • 1 cup vegetable broth

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 425°F.
  • Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into chunks, add to a large pot of salted boiling water. Cook until fork tender, drain and return to pot.
  • Add the almond milk, salt, and garlic powder. Mash until well combined.
  • Heat the olive oil over medium high heat in a large skillet. Add the leeks, carrots and celery, cooking until softened.
  • Add the mushrooms, cook until darkened and softened.
  • Stir in the sage, rosemary, salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder. Sprinkle with flour, stir until the flour has been moistened. Pour in the beer, scraping to deglaze the pan.
  • Stir in the corn and vegetable broth. Simmer until thickened.
  • Pour into am 8x8 pan. Spread the sweet potatoes over the top of the pan.
  • Bake until filling is bubbly, about 15 minutes.
  • Serve warm.

Lazy Chicken: Dump, Bake, Done

03.10.2018 7 Comments

Lazy Chicken: Dump, Bake, Done. A super delicious meal with just 5 minutes of active time.

We all need this right now, don’t we? Something easy and uncomplicated to pair with the rest of our messy complicated lives. I’ve been making some version of this for a while, some version of baked-chicken-with-stuff-on-it when the weather shifts and the darkness of the day make it harder for me to dig creativity out of my brain.

I don’t do much measuring when I’m just making it for my own consumption (for you, I meticulously weigh and measure to make sure I give it to you the way it’s intended). Sometimes I just add what I have, sometimes I throw some rice or farro in the bottom and hope it cooks enough to eat.

This one I like. I like the sauce, I like the garlicky pesto, I like the way the broiler browns the cheese just a little bit. I hope you like it too and I hope it makes things just a little less complicated for you this week.

Lazy Chicken: Dump, Bake, Done

Print Recipe
Servings 4 -6 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 3 cups 85g baby spinach, packed
  • 1 lbs chicken thighs
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup 4oz beer (wheat beer, pale lager, pilsner)
  • ½ cup 4oz chicken broth
  • ¼ cup 62g pesto sauce
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • 10 sun dried tomatoes
  • ½ cup 40g shredded parmesan cheese

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 375°F.
  • Add spinach in an even layer to a 9x13 baking dish, add the chicken thighs on top, sprinkling with salt.
  • Add the beer, broth, pesto, pepper, and sun dried tomatoes to a bowl, stir to combine.
  • Pour the mixture over the chicken. Sprinkle with cheese.
  • Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Turn the broiler to high, place under the broiler until the cheese starts to brown, about 4 minutes.
  • Serve over rice, quinoa, or farro.

Salmon in Italian Beer Cream Sauce

13.09.2018 5 Comments

Salmon in Italian Beer Cream Sauce is a simple, one pot, crazy delicious way to make dinner in under 20 minutes. 

It’s fitting, don’t you think? A dish that’s both easy and transitional, an echo of the month in a way. September is the most transitional of all months, far more than January and closely followed by June. It’s changing of the weather, a realization that not only is the year mostly over but we’re nearing the holidays, it’s back to school, back from vacation, back into sweaters.
I wanted to make a dish using those last gasps of summer produce, but nodded at the chill filling the air. Something quick (because we have enough to so this month amiright?), but something you could serve to guests. Or just something that felt special even for an average Tuesday.

So I did this, and I hope you like it. I LOVED it, and I’ll make it again soon. If you make it, let me know. Getting Instagram notifications that you’ve made, loved and posted one of my recipes makes my day. For real.

Salmon in Italian Beer Cream Sauce

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Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lbs salmon cut into fillets
  • 2 teaspoons salt divided
  • 2 teaspoon pepper divided
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1 cup 150g diced onions
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • ¾ cup 6oz brown ale or Belgian ale (look for a malty beer with a low hop profile)
  • 1 cup 240mL heavy cream
  • ½ cup 55g fresh grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 3 cups 70g baby spinach leaves
  • 1 large tomato chopped
  • 1 tablespoon fresh basil chopped

Instructions
 

  • Sprinkle 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper on the salmon.
  • Heat the oil in a pan over medium high heat. Add the salmon, skin side down, cooking until the skin is crispy, about 5 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side until fish is cooked to desired doneness. Remove from pan, set aside.
  • Melt the butter in the pan, scraping the brown bits from the bottom.
  • Stir in the onions, cooking until starting to brown, about 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic, cooking for about 30 seconds.
  • Sprinkle with cornstarch, stir to combine.
  • Pour in the beer, scraping to deglaze the pan. Allow to simmer until reduced by about half.
  • Stir in the cream.
  • A handful at a time, stir in the cheese. Stir until completely melted before adding more cheese.
  • Stir in the garlic powder and remaining 1 teaspoon salt and pepper.
  • Stir in the spinach, cooking until wilted. Remove from heat, stir in the tomatoes and basil.
  • Return the salmon to the pan, serve warm.

Green Tomato Recipe: Beer Chicken Posole Verde

05.09.2018 3 Comments

Green Tomato Recipe: Beer Chicken Posole Verde

Green Tomato Recipe: Beer Chicken Posole Verde

Green Tomato Recipe: Beer Chicken Posole Verde

It’s really time for me to stop pretending as if my tomatoes will redden before the first frost. Every morning, trudging out my back door in flip flops with a still sleep-fogged brain, I hope to find one or two showing a shade of ripening, and it’s just not happening.

There are tricks, I know. I’ve read about bringing them inside, or wrapping them in newsprint, or boxing them up with (gag) ripe bananas. But I can’t wait. I want to use them now.

I’m impatient like a child sometimes, and the tomatoes are gorgeous even in their grassy hue, and I want to pick them. I wanted to give you a green tomato recipe. So I did. Sure, I thought about fried green tomatoes, but I know you won’t actually make those right now. It’s September, you’re busy, you have so much going on right now, you really don’t want to babysit a slab of battered tomato as it splatters hot oil on your arms. Me either. Not this month.

But soup, soup I’ll make. I think you will too. It’s the perfect month for Posole. All of the garden ingredients that you need for this spicy pot of goodness are still in season, but the weather isn’t nearly as hot as it was a few weeks ago. It still tastes like summer but it feels like fall.

Really, it’s my way to give those green tomatoes a purpose before the fall claims them and I miss out.

Usually, I tell you about the beer I used IN the recipe, this time I’m telling about the I had WITH the recipe. This gorgeous Green Coyote Tomatillo Sour from Odell Brewing was perfect. It uses tomatillos usually seen in Posole Verde, but in a deliciously tart beer that pairs beautifully with a slightly spicy soup.

Green Tomato Recipe: Beer Chicken Posole Verde

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Servings 4 -6 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 1 tablespoon 15mL olive oil
  • 1 cup 155g diced onions
  • 1 poblano chili cored, seeded and chopped
  • 2 jalapeños seeded and quartered
  • 4 large garlic cloves smashed
  • 1 cup 8oz pilsner or wheat beer
  • 7 cups 56 oz chicken broth
  • 1 pound green tomatoes* quartered
  • 1 lime juiced
  • 1 25 oz cans of hominy, drained
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoons chili powder
  • ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs

Garnishes:

  • Finely shredded green cabbage
  • sliced radishes
  • diced avocado
  • Mexican crema
  • tortilla chips
  • chopped cilantro

Instructions
 

  • Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onions and peppers, cooking until softened, about 8 minutes.
  • Stir in the garlic, cook for about 30 seconds. Pour in the beer, scraping to deglaze the pan. Add about half the broth (it does not need to be exact), tomatoes, lime juice and about half the hominy. Simmer until the tomatoes have softened.
  • Transfer to a blender, blend until smooth, return to pot.
  • Add the remaining broth, remaining hominy, the spices and the raw chicken.
  • Simmer until the chicken has cooked through.
  • Remove chicken from the pot, shred using two forks, return to pot. Adjust spices to taste.
  • Serve warm, allowing guest to garnish as they choose.

Notes

*if you don't have green tomatoes:
remove the green tomatoes and the lime juice from the recipe, replace with 1 lbs tomatillos, husked and quartered.

Beer and Bacon Short Rib Tacos

31.08.2018 7 Comments

Beer and Bacon Short Rib Tacos. SO good, and really hard to screw up!

I couldn’t decide what this was. I was certain that it was short ribs cooked in bacon fat, that was the most important part. Serving specifics and other semantics could be worked out later.

This rarely happens. Usually, I have a very well thought out, well researched and obsessed over plan prior to cracking open the stock pot. But short ribs are different, they aren’t like your usually cooking adventure.

Short ribs are really hard to screw up. As long as you cook them long, slow and low they always give up a great meal. They aren’t like tenderloins, which can be the assholes of the meat world, drying out and lacking flavor and not living up to its pretentious price tag.

Short ribs also lend themselves well to just about any serving vehicle. Over pasta? Sure! Atop cheesy polenta? Of course! On pizza?! YES, PLEASE! But when my bacon-beer-short-ribs cooking adventure came to an end, and I lifted the top of my Dutch oven, it was clear. These were tacos.

I made these beer corn tortillas, and these pickled red onions, and sat down to decide if I’d made the right call. Where they tacos, or should I have pizza’d them? It turns out, they are tacos. And not just any tacos, completely fabulous and fantastic tacos.

Until the following day when I turned the leftovers into breakfast hash and topped them with an egg.

Beer and Bacon Short Rib Tacos

Print Recipe
Servings 4 -6 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 2.5 lbs beef short ribs
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 12 oz bacon chopped
  • 1 cup about half of one large chopped white onion
  • 1 tablespoon flour
  • 2 cups 16 oz Belgian abbey ale beer
  • 1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage
  • 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
  • 1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
  • 6 ounces tomato paste
  • Tortillas pickled red onions and cilantro for serving

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 300°F.
  • Remove the short ribs from the fridge, sprinkle liberally on all sides with salt.
  • Allow to sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes while you begin cooking the dish.
  • Add the bacon to a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook until the bacon becomes crispy.
  • Remove bacon with a slotted spoon, add to a plate covered with paper towels.
  • Pour off most of the bacon grease leaving only about 2 tablespoons still in the pot.
  • Return to heat, add the onions. Cook over medium high heat until starting to brown, about 8 minutes. Remove the onions with a slotted spoon, add to the pile of bacon.
  • Sprinkle the ribs on all sides with flour, rub to coat.
  • Increase the heat to high, add the ribs, searing until browned on all sides.
  • Pour off most of the fat that has accumulated.
  • Pour in the beer, scraping to deglaze the pan. Stir in the tomato past and the herbs.
  • Add the onions and the bacon back into the pot.
  • Cover and add to the oven, cook until the ribs fall off the bone and the meat is fork tender, 3 to 4 hours.
  • Remove the ribs, shred using too forks. Discard the bones and any large pieces of fat.
  • Return the meat to the pot, stir into the sauce (this helps the meat to be more flavorful and juicy).
  • Scoop the meat into a serving dish.
  • Serve with tortillas, onions and cilantro.

 

 

Super Juicy Grilled Pork Tenderloin (only 4 ingredients!)

28.08.2018 1 Comment

Super Juicy Grilled Pork Tenderloin (only 4 ingredients!)

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Hoisin Glazed and Beer Brine. Just 4 ingredients to a perfectly juicy pork tenderloin!

This is for you. All of you who’ve ever avoided pork tenderloin because it’d dry. I feel you, I was you. In the wrong hands and with too much heat, these long and lean cuts of meat can do you wrong.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Getting a tender, juicy, flavorful hunk of pork comes down to this: get it drunk.  Not you, the meat. Or both, it’s your life.

Any lean white meat (I’m looking at you, chicken breasts) needs a good long soak in salt and beer. It’ll tenderize and falvorize (that’s totally a word, I swear) your meat in a way that cooking it right out of the package never can.

Don’t be shy with the brine, let that sucker sit in there for days! As soon as you get it home from the market, put it away in a salty soak and it’ll be ready when you are. poultry really only has about 24 hours in a brine before it starts to get mushy and mealy, but pork is tougher and can stay in a brine for days without issue.

Hoisin is the perfect glaze. It’s got the rich umami flavor as well as a great sweetness that caramelizes well on the grill. Not a hoisin fan? Feel free to glaze with your fav. Barbeque sauce works well, want to try it with this Stout Beer Barbecue sauce? You should. Let me know how it goes, tag me on Instagram, (it totally makes my day).

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Hoisin Glazed and Beer Brine

Print Recipe
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 2 lbs pork tenderloin
  • 2 tablespoons kosher salt
  • 12 ounces pale ale pilsner or wheat beer
  • ¾ cup hoisin sauce

Instructions
 

  • Sprinkle the pork on all sides with salt. Add to a shallow dish or a large Ziploc bag. Pour the beer over the pork. Remove as much air as possible before sealing the bag (or cover dish with plastic wrap).
  • Brine for 24 hours and up to 3 days.
  • Remove from the brine, rinse well, pat dry.
  • Heat the grill to 500°F.
  • Brush the pork on all sides with hoisin, add to the grill. Grill on all sides until the internal temperature reads 145°F.
  • Remove from grill, allow to rest for 5 minutes. Slice and serve.

Notes

Don't over cook! The FDA recently lowered it's reccomended cooking temp for pork from 165°F to 145° probably because they were sick of their moms dry, overcooked ham.
You stil want a slight hint of pink in the center, not pure white and fiberous.

Skillet Sour Cream Beer Chicken

22.08.2018 4 Comments

Skillet Sour Cream Beer Chicken

Skillet Sour Cream Beer Chicken

Skillet Sour Cream Beer Chicken

I travel a lot, you know this. Last minute trips to South America, a rapid-fire two-day trip to Copenhagen, sometimes just a long road trip to clear my head.

I don’t travel the way normal people travel. To be honest, I rarely do anything in a conventional way, it’s something you just have to get used to. While I’m not a creature of habit, I do like to search for the same souvenir every time I travel. Two, in fact.

It started when I  began seeking out the little markets locals shopped at, usually dingy and unappealing, always far from tourist-heavy streets, and once even in a total city-wide blackout in a sketchy part of Costa Rica.

I wandered the aisle in the little store in Dominical, Costa Rica lit only by the afternoon sun streaming in from the open doors in the front of the bodega, only accompanied by a few older women picking up last minute supplies for dinner. The beige aluminum shelves boasting as much dust as dry goods and the summer heat heavy on my skin, making wandering the store a conscious effort. I found what I was looking for.

A small glass jar with what appeared to be a home-printed label with a scripty font that read, "Miel." Honey. That’s what I wanted. It’s a part of the land, the honey and it’s hard working bees allowing me to check in my luggage 6 ounces of the terrior to take home.

Ever since that trip, I seek it out, a small jar of the land to take home with me. Salt is the same. If it’s possible to find salt harvested from a local ocean, that comes home with me as well. So far, I have honey or salt from 15 countries.

I use it. On toast, in recipes, making bread. I don’t store it on a shelf to crystallize and be forgotten. It gets used, enjoyed, shared. It’s a way to keep the places that I’ve been a part of my life when I’m off the road. A way to remind myself that it’s OK to use, because my next adventure awaits.

Maybe even as I type this some little bugs are making my next souvenir for a trip I haven’t even planned yet.

The honey I use in this recipe was from my recent trip to Brazil, a place I fell in love with and a country I will most definitely visit again.

Skillet Sour Cream Beer Chicken

Print Recipe
Servings 6 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 tablespoon 15mL olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon minced basil
  • 1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
  • 1 tablespoon 15g Dijon mustard
  • 1 cup 240g sour cream
  • 2 tablespoons 30g lemon juice (about ½ medium sized lemon)
  • 2 teaspoon 12g honey
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • ¼ cup 2oz pale ale
  • Rice or pasta for serving

Instructions
 

  • Sprinkle the chicken thighs liberally with salt and pepper on all sides
  • Heat the olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add the chicken, sear on both sides until browned.
  • In a bowl stir together the basil, rosemary, mustard, sour cream, lemon juice, honey, and garlic powder, set aside.
  • Pour the beer into the skillet, scraping to deglaze the bottom of the pan.
  • Pour the sour cream mixture over the chicken, cover skillet and lower heat to maintain a simmer. Simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
  • Serve with rice or pasta.

 

 

Chinese Stout BBQ Pork Recipe (Char Siu)

16.08.2018 5 Comments

Chinese Stout BBQ Pork Recipe (Char Siu)

I really think the reason Chinese BBQ Pork is so appealing is because it’s shiny. This probably makes us all giant infants on some primitive level, but it’s true. It’s hard to resist something that catches the light the way this does. It’s like a gemstone.

A slow cooked, juicy, flavorful, deep red meaty gemstone. This isn’t anything like the grocery store dish, that one tightly wrapped in clear plastic, red ringed and dry. Overly sweet but without much flavor beyond that. This version is sticky, shiny, juicy and full of flavor.

Maybe it’s the beer that gives it this extra boost, maybe it’s the long marinade time or even the pickling salt. Most likely, it’s the magical combination of all those elements.

Although it does take some time, the active time is really low. It’s the perfect way to end a lazy weekend.

Chinese Stout BBQ Pork Recipe (Char Siu)

Print Recipe
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 2 lbs pork shoulder roast
  • 1 teaspoon 6g pickling salt
  • ¼ cup 80g hoisin sauce
  • 2 tablespoons 24g brown sugar, packed
  • 1 tablespoon 15g cooking sherry
  • ¼ cup 2oz stout beer
  • 2 tablespoons 30g soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon 2g Chinese 5 spice powder
  • 2 large cloves garlic grated with microplane

Instructions
 

  • Cut the pork roast into strips that are the length of the roast and about 2 inches wide, sprinkle with pickling salt, put into a large Ziplock bag.
  • In a small bowl stir together the remain ingredients, pour over the pork. Seal the bag removing as much air as possible.
  • Marinate for 24 to 48 hours.
  • Preheat the oven to 275°F.
  • Remove the pork from the marinade, add the marinade to a pot over medium heat, boil until thickened.
  • Add the pork to a wire rack over a baking sheet. Brush with the thickened marinade.
  • Cook, turning and basting ever 45 minutes, until tender, 3-4 hours.
  • Although the pork is ready to eat now, I finished this on a preheated grill. To do so, preheat a grill to about 500°F. Add the pork, cook on each side until slightly charred, about 3 mintues perside.
  • Slice and serve.

Squash Blossoms Garden Pizza with Beer Pickled Cherries and Beer Crust

01.08.2018 No Comments

Squash Blossoms Recipe: Garden Pizza with Beer Pickled Cherries and Beer Crust

I just hit send. Out into the ether to the inbox of my publisher. I just sent off the completed manuscript for my 3rd cookbook along with 96 photos.

I started a year, and what feels like a lifetime of experiences ago. When I wrote this to you last year, I was just starting off, just dipping my feet into the pool of the third installment of my cookbook trilogy.

This one, the one I just dispatched to the publishing house, is by far my favorite.

Leaving it behind, walking into a life that isn’t center around conceptualizing and creating recipes that I won’t get to share with you until next year, is bittersweet. I love this project, I love what I did and I can’t wait to see it materialize in my hands as a physical manifestation of a year’s worth of work.

Until then, I have some pizza for you. When I moved into this house a few months ago the garden gave me a volunteer squash plant. A small sprout that would grow nearly exponentially every day, a plant that I just discovered wasn’t the zucchini plant I’d imagine it to be (thank god, I hate zucchini), but a pumpkin vine that snakes around the yard.

Sure, It’ll give me harvestable pumpkins soon, but it’s already giving me squash blossoms, which are far superior. Even if that’s the only thing I harvest from it to indulge in as many squash blossom recipes as I can make, it’s well worth the effort to care for it.

I also planted peas, not just for the traditional reasons but because pea shoots are delicious. If you grow peas and just harvest, well, peas, then you’re missing easily half the reason to plant them in the first place. The vines and leaves are not only edible but have a gorgeous herbal, floral, mildly sweet but peppery flavor that’s perfect on everything from pizza to salad.

That reminds me, I should pesto those. Yes, I used "pesto" as a verb and you can’t stop me!

Squash Blossoms Garden Pizza with Beer Pickled Cherries and Beer Crust

Print Recipe

Ingredients
  

For the cherries:

  • ½ cup 3 oz Bing cherries, pitted and cut into quarters
  • ½ cup 4 oz apple cider vinegar
  • ½ cup 4ozpale ale
  • 1 tablespoon 15g sugar
  • 1 tablespoon 18g salt

For the crust:

  • 2 ½ cups 300g bread flour
  • 2 ¼ teaspoons 1 envelope rapid rise yeast
  • ½ teaspoon 1.5g garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon 5g granulated sugar
  • ¾ cup 6oz wheat beer
  • ½ teaspoon 3g kosher salt
  • ¼ cup 60g olive oil

For the toppings:

  • ¼ cup pizza sauce
  • 4 oz buratta cheese or mozzarella ball, sliced
  • 6-8 squash blossoms cut in half
  • 3-4 pea shoots chopped if desired
  • 3 leaves of basil ribboned

Instructions
 

  • Add the cherries to a storage container. Add the remaining cherry ingredients to a saucepan over medium high heat, stir to combine. Bring to a boil, remove from heat. Pour the pickling liquid over the cherries. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, add the flour, yeast, garlic powder and sugar.
  • Mix until combined. Heat the beer until the temperature reaches between 120°F and 125°F (double check your yeast package to confirm this is the temperature your yeast needs. Default to the temperature listed on the package).
  • Add the beer to the stand mixer and mix on medium speed. Once most of the flour has been moistened, slowly add the salt and oil 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.
  • Add a pizza stone to the grill, heat the grill to 500°F.
  • Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to about 10-inches in diameter, add to a pizza peel covered with semolina flour or corn meal. Cover with pizza sauce, cheese, squash blossoms and cherries. Carefully transfer to the pizza stone. Shut the lid and allow to cook until the top of the crust is bubbly and starting to brown, about 6-8 minutes.
  • Remove from the grill, transfer to a serving platter, top with pea shoots and basil. Slice and serve.

 

Honey Stout Glazed Flank Steak Lettuce Wraps

27.06.2018 1 Comment

Sprinkle the flank steak liberally with salt, place in a resalable gallon sized plastic bag, or in a large container with an air-tight lid. Stir together the Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, 2 tablespoons honey and ½ cup stout beer. Pour the mixture over the steak, seal (remove as much air as you can from the bag, if using), and refrigerate for 12-24 hours. In a small bowl stir together the remaining honey and stout beer, warm slightly if the mixture is having a difficult time coming together, set aside. Remove the steak from the marinade, pat dry. Preheat the grill to medium high. Cut the peppers into slices, making sure they are too large to fall between the grates in your grill (you can always slice them thinner after grilling). Brush the steak on all sides with honey glaze before adding to the grill. Grill for 3-5 minutes on each side before turning, re-brushing with glaze every time you flip the steak. Grill until the internal temperate of the steak reaches 135F, remove from grill and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Grill the peppers until softened, about 4 minutes. Serve steak and peppers along side butter lettuce leaves, green onions and sriracha sauce, allow guests to assemble as desired.

Honey Stout Glazed Flank Steak Lettuce Wraps

This post was sponsored by PCC Community Markets and Oregon Country Beef. 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.

Honey Stout Glazed Flank Steak Wraps

It took three planes and 30 hours to get me home from Brazil, and a few hours later I had the keys to my new Seattle house in my grubby little hands. I moved. I painted (ugh, red walls in ALL the rooms?!). I packed. I cleaned. I ignored my email. And my friends. I unpacked. WHEN WILL IT ALL BE OVER?!

It’s over, mostly. I didn’t want to do anything, go anywhere, buy anything. Not one thing. But just three days into living in my new house I broke down and bought the one thing I couldn’t live without.

Honey Stout Glazed Flank Steak Lettuce Wraps

My old, trusty, moved-it-up-from-LA, grill didn’t survive the move. I got itchy to cook over open flames in my new backyard and set out to fill the void in my yard, and in my ability to cook with flames.

Grilling isn’t just about the way the smoke and the char of the flames make your food taste, it’s about community. You don’t text a handful of your nearest and dearest with the phrase, “Come over, I’m going to fire up the oven!”

No. Nope. GRILL. That’s what people will drive across town for. What they’ll brave the Mariners traffic, and the accident on the 405 for: to sit in your backyard, drink beer from your well-curated beer tub and eat what you grilled for them.

Honey Stout Glazed Flank Steak Lettuce Wraps

As you may know, I curate my meat selection even more rigorously than my beer selection. The origins of your meat matters in profound ways, ways that have always mattered to me.

Finding and supporting organizations, like Oregon Country Beef, whose 80 family-owned ranchers treat their animals, employees, and land with respect and humanity, giving you top quality meat that’s free of antibiotics and added hormones, isn’t just a small way to make our world better –  it’s a BIG way.

Sprinkle the flank steak liberally with salt, place in a resalable gallon sized plastic bag, or in a large container with an air-tight lid. Stir together the Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, 2 tablespoons honey and ½ cup stout beer. Pour the mixture over the steak, seal (remove as much air as you can from the bag, if using), and refrigerate for 12-24 hours. In a small bowl stir together the remaining honey and stout beer, warm slightly if the mixture is having a difficult time coming together, set aside. Remove the steak from the marinade, pat dry. Preheat the grill to medium high. Cut the peppers into slices, making sure they are too large to fall between the grates in your grill (you can always slice them thinner after grilling). Brush the steak on all sides with honey glaze before adding to the grill. Grill for 3-5 minutes on each side before turning, re-brushing with glaze every time you flip the steak. Grill until the internal temperate of the steak reaches 135F, remove from grill and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Grill the peppers until softened, about 4 minutes. Serve steak and peppers along side butter lettuce leaves, green onions and sriracha sauce, allow guests to assemble as desired.

You vote with your dollars every day, and shopping at community-owned stores like PCC Community Markets(for those in the Seattle area!) helps me to continue to make a difference by supporting those who are putting fresh, organic and sustainable ingredients at the top of the list.

This was the first recipe on the new grill, and the first of many times I’ll be firing it up for friends and neighbors, throwing on some Oregon Country Beef and drinking some beer. It’s going to be a great summer.

Honey Stout Glazed Flank Steak Lettuce Wraps

Print Recipe
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • Honey Stout Glazed Flank Steak Lettuce Wraps
  • 2 lbs flank steak
  • 1 tablespoons salt
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • ¼ cup honey divided
  • ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons stout beer divided
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 1 yellow bell pepper
  • ¼ cup chopped green onions
  • 1 head butter lettuce
  • Sriracha sauce for serving if desired

Instructions
 

  • Sprinkle the flank steak liberally with salt, place in a resalable gallon sized plastic bag, or in a large container with an air-tight lid.
  • Stir together the Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, 2 tablespoons honey and ½ cup stout beer. Pour the mixture over the steak, seal (remove as much air as you can from the bag, if using), and refrigerate for 12-24 hours.
  • In a small bowl stir together the remaining honey and stout beer, warm slightly if the mixture is having a difficult time coming together, set aside.
  • Remove the steak from the marinade, pat dry.
  • Preheat the grill to medium high.
  • Cut the peppers into slices, making sure they are too large to fall between the grates in your grill (you can always slice them thinner after grilling).
  • Brush the steak on all sides with honey glaze before adding to the grill. Grill for 3-5 minutes on each side before turning, re-brushing with glaze every time you flip the steak. Grill until the internal temperate of the steak reaches 135F, remove from grill and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Grill the peppers until softened, about 4 minutes.
  • Serve steak and peppers along side butter lettuce leaves, green onions and sriracha sauce, allow guests to assemble as desired.

 

Brazilian Beer Gumbo (Moqueca)

26.06.2018 2 Comments

Brazilian Beer Gumbo (Moqueca)

There’s a nervousness, a panicked isolation that can set in when you’re thousands of miles from familiarity and alone in a country that speaks a language you aren’t even vaguely familiar with.

Water? Hello? Taxi? When not even those basic travel words are accessible, it can cause a panic to rise up like the water in a quickly flooding basement.

I’m somewhere in the middle of the mountains of Brazil, in a town that’s not even on most maps of the country and I’m alone, wandering the streets with a camera and Google Translate, and I realize that I don’t, in any way, feel unsafe.

Maybe, from where you sit, that’s not a big revelation but in that moment, it’s shocking. It’s my fault, really, for believing that this gorgeous country was dangerous beyond reason. Sure, Rio has crime.

It’s a city filled with humans, and humans pose danger. So is Detroit. And Los Angeles. And Paris. The part of Brazil I’m in, however, happens to contain a collection of the nicest people I’ve encountered anywhere in the world.

From other conference attendees, to the guy at the front desk of the hotel, to the people at the Brazilia airport, the outpouring of kindness is unexpectedly overwhelming.

I came to find myself in this place, this city with its stunning waterfalls, amazing beer and outstanding people, as part of a beer conference, one that’s gaining traction and should someday be bigger than anything else on that continent.

I’m there to talk about beer, about beer and food, but in reality, I walked away with far more than I gave.

The first night in Brazil I end up on the patio of a gorgeous restaurant, a clay pot of seafood bubbling away in front of me, the company of over a dozen people I’d just met, and even the jet lag from 34 consecutive hours of travel couldn’t shake my love for that moment.

I asked what it was, this gorgeous mixture of shrimp, peppers, and coconut milk steaming away in front of me in a handmade clay pot.

"It’s Brazilian Gumbo!" laughed one of the locals who had just returned from Lousiana. It made sense, even if it wasn’t entirely accurate. I had it four more times before I left, far less than I would have liked. I came back and knew I wanted more.

Even if I didn’t have access to the gorgeous homemade chili oil that I’d spiked it with. Even if I couldn’t eat it alongside the lovely Brazilians that had been there that night. It’s still a beautiful and simple way to serve a meal.

Brazilian Beer Gumbo (Moqueca)

Print Recipe
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • ½ lbs cod fillet
  • 1 lbs raw shrimp
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 large limes
  • 1 tablespoons palm oil or olive oil
  • 2 cups chopped bell peppers red, yellow or orange
  • ½ yellow onion sliced
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 cup pilsner or pale ale
  • 1 cup broth fish broth or chicken broth
  • 1 15oz can of coconut milk
  • 1 lbs fresh tomatoes diced
  • Rice for serving
  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Instructions
 

  • In a medium bowl add the cod and shrimp, sprinkle with salt. Squeeze the juice from both limes on the fish, allow to sit at room temperature while you prepare the rest of the meal.
  • Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add the peppers and onions, cooking until softened.
  • Stir in the garlic, red peppers, pepper and cumin, then pour in the beer and broth, then the coconut milk and tomatoes. Simmer until tomatoes have broken down, about 15 minutes.
  • Raise the heat to a low boil, stir in the fish and shrimp, cooking until the cod has broken up and the shrimp has cooked, remove from heat. Add additional salt and pepper to taste.
  • Serve warm with rice and cilantro.

 

 

Grilled Beer Brats with Pineapple Salsa and Bourbon BBQ Brand Kettle Chips

18.05.2018 2 Comments


Grilled Beer Brats with Pineapple Salsa and Bourbon BBQ Brand Kettle Chips

This post is sponsored by Kettle Brand Chips. Mostly because I have a well-known love for all of their chips and I really wanted to see what flavors they had up their sleeves, they did not disappoint. All words and opinions are my own.  

We’ve done it again. We’ve made it through the winter, past the sleet and the snow, right into a gorgeous grilling season. I mean spring. Without hesitation one of my favorite things about the turning of the weather is that I break out the grill.

Even though the actual act of reviving it from its slumber is the fear of also unearthing a spider colony. Or snake habitat. Or dragons. This has never happened, but my child-like imagination likes to mess with me at all opportunities.

It’s always worth facing that spider-snake-dragon fear. That first meal of the season to come to my plate with smoky-char-tracks across its belly makes me wonder why I’d ever cook any other way. This meal was no exception. It also made me wonder why I don’t crush up Kettle Brand Chips and add them to ALL of my food.

It’s a legit question. I beg you to think of a savory dish that wouldn’t benefit from the taste and texture of those chips. After all, they have somewhere around one billion flavors (*probably not an accurate number*) and the newest, Kettle Brand Chips Bourbon BBQ Chips, are pretty much going to go on all of my food from now on. Especially the grilled things.

Burgers with Bourbon BBQ Kettle Brand chips?! Yes, please. Grilled pizza topped with crushed chips?! I dare you not to love that.

I can’t take it. Now I have to go grill something else and add some crushed chips. I’d like to tell you that I’ll be right back, but this is probably going to consume the rest of my day.

Grilled Beer Brats with Pineapple Salsa and Bourbon BBQ Brand Kettle Chips

Print Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 6 large bratwurst raw
  • 12 oz pilsner or pale ale
  • 1 ½ cups pineapple diced
  • 1 large jalapeno diced
  • ½ cup red onion diced
  • ¼ cup cilantro chopped
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 8.5 oz bag Bourbon BBQ Kettle Chips
  • hoagie buns

Instructions
 

  • 1.Add the brats to a large skillet over medium heat. Add the beer, bringing to a low simmer. Cook over medium heat until the brats are cooked through, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat.
  • 2.Add the brats to a pre-heated grill (grill pan will work as well) until grill marks appear, about 3 minutes per side. Remove from heat
  • 3.Add the pineapple, jalapeno, onion, cilantro and salt to a bowl, stir to combine.
  • 4.Add the brats to the buns, top with salsa.
  • 5.Crush about ½ cup of chips, add the crushed chips to the top of the pineapple salsa. Don’t skip this, it adds an amazing texture and flavor!
  • 6.Eat the reaming salsa with the remaining chips.

 

I Want to Give You a Beer Fridge! + Grilled Lime and Herb Beer Chicken

22.03.2018

Grilled Lime and Herb Beer Chicken

I have a beer fridge in my office!! There really isn’t a way to overstate how happy this makes me. My excessive stash of beer that once took up residence in my regular-food-fridge is now happily occupying a boozy-VIP-space in my office between some nerdy books and a weird ceramic head vase.

It was one of those, "why didn’t I do this sooner?" acquisitions that came almost by accident. The same day that I decided that it was well past time that I actually get a beer fridge, I get an email from New Air asking if they can send me one without obligation. Yes, of course the answer is yes.

And then it came! It’s stunning. It’s gorgeous. It’s the best thing I’ve taken ownership of since Chowder Jones. I haven’t ever (and I mean ever) been this in love with an appliance. For your own sake, check it out.

This is the SKU that they sent my way: Dual Zone Beer and Wine Cooler(it can do a different temperate for each side!)

And because you’re so awesome, I want to give you one, too. And because THEY are so awesome, they agreed. So it’s settled:

We are giving you this Black Beer and Beverage Refrigerator (not the same one I have, but it’s super amazing!) to one lucky winner.

Just three easy steps to enter:

  1. Follow @TheBeeroness on Instagram
  2. Follow @NewAirUSA on Instagram
  3. Leave a comment with your Instagram handle saying you do so.

No Instagram? No problem! Just share this post on Facebook, leave a link in the comments below to your post on Facebook (make sure it’s public so I can see it!)

I can’t wait to see who wins!

(Giveaway ends  March 28th, 2018. USA Addresses only)

GIVEAWAY CLOSED. *winner has been notified*

But you can still get one!

Use the code: BEERONESS at checkout at newair.com for 20% off!

 

I also have some chicken for you, because that’s how much I adore you.


Grilled Lime and Herb Beer Chicken

Print Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • ¼ cup basil chopped
  • ¼ cup cilantro chopped
  • ¼ cup parsley
  • 2 tablespoons chopped green onions
  • 3 cloves garlic smashed
  • 1 large lime juiced
  • ¼ cup oil
  • 1 cup beer pale ale, pilsner, wheat beer, pale lager
  • 2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 lbs chicken drumsticks

Instructions
 

  • Add the basil, cilantro, parsley, green onions, garlic, lime juice and oil to a blender. Blend on high until well combined. Add the beer, pulse to combine.
  • Sprinkle salt liberally over the chicken.
  • Add the chicken to a large bowl or Ziploc bag. Add the marinade, cover (or seal), refrigerate for one hour or up to 12 hours.
  • Preheat a grill to medium high heat.
  • Add the chicken to the grill, brush with marinade. Grill on all sides until cooked through, brushing with marinade with each turn.
  • Serve immediately.

 

 

I was given a free beer and wine refrigerator by New Air, as well as one to give away. I was not monetarily compensated for this post. As always, all opinions, text, photos, and recipes are my own.  

Mushroom Stout Not-Bolognese AKA Best Vegetarian Pasta Sauce Ever

23.02.2018 5 Comments

Mushroom Stout Not-Bolognese AKA Best Vegetarian Pasta Sauce Ever

This isn’t a bolognese, I know that because my proper bolognese with tons of pork and beef is the stuff of dreams. There really isn’t a word for this sauce, it’s vegetable-based but as meaty as you can get without the meat.

I’m knee-deep in writing my third cookbook, a love letter to produce (sans meat) and as much as I adore meat, I’m exploring my infatuation with plants right now.

I want to write you a book so full of beautiful dishes that you won’t even notice that I left out meat, it’s not just for vegetarians, it’s for anyone who loves food and beer.

There is no tofu or tempeh, nothing that feels like a glaring reminder that this isn’t a meat dish. Because when you have the entire spectrum of plants to play with, the food has no reason not to be amazing.

This is a remake of my favorite pasta sauce, Sout Bolognese, but without the meat. I’ve made it in a very similar fashion (don’t forget the milk, it’s an essential part of flavor development) with a little more spice, and with mushrooms to make it hearty and unforgettable.

It’s even better the next day.

Mushroom Stout Not-Bolognese AKA Best Vegetarian Pasta Sauce Ever

Print Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tablespoon (20g) olive oil
  • 2 ribs (100g) celery, chopped
  • ½ of one large white onion chopped
  • 1 large (120g) carrot, chopped
  • 2 lbs crimini mushrooms finely chopped
  • 2 teaspoon (16g) salt
  • 1 cup (268g) whole milk
  • 12 ounces (340g) stout
  • ¼ cup (50g) chopped Mama Lil’s (pickled Hungarian goat horn peppers)
  • 2 teaspoon (8g) black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon (6g) garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon (6g) onion powder
  • ½ teaspoon (3g) smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon (6g) cumin
  • 1 teaspoon (8g) red pepper flakes
  • *Parmesan rind optional
  • 1.5 lbs (680g) crushed tomatoes
  • 1 tablespoon (16g) tomato puree
  • 2 tablespoons (30mL) balsamic vinegar
  • 1 cup (80g) fresh shaved or shredded parmesan
  • ¼ cup chopped parsley
  • 6 servings pasta

Instructions
 

  • Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the celery, onions, and carrot. Cook until the vegetables have softened and the onions have started to caramelize, at least 15 minutes and up to 45 (the longer you allow the onions to caramelize, the better the overall flavor).
  • Add the mushrooms, sprinkle with salt, cook until dark and softened.
  • Add the milk and allow to cook until the milk looks as though it is mostly cooked off, the pan looks dry and the mushrooms are starting to stick to the pan, about 30 minutes.
  • Add half of the stout, cooking until the beer is mostly gone, about 15 minutes.
  • Stir in the peppers, spices, tomatoes, tomato puree, remaining beer and balsamic (plus Parmesan rind, if using) cook over medium/low heat (very low simmer), for three to four hours (you can transfer the sauce to a slow cooker instead, cook on low for 8 hours).
  • Stir in the Parmesan in the last ten minutes of cooking.
  • Serve over pasta, sprinkle with parsley and additional Parmesan if desired.

 

 

Blood Orange Beer Roast Chicken

16.02.2018 10 Comments

Blood Orange Beer Roast Chicken

Let’s forget for a second that we’ve never actually met. After all, it’s easy to pretend that we know each other. I’ve told you about the time I almost died in Morocco, and the time I was asked to do porn, but we’ve never shared a beer in real life.

Because if we did, I’d probably drive you crazy. I stay up late, I’m kind of messy, I forget appointments, I obsess over things, and when I cook I make the kitchen such a disaster you’ll be tempted to call FIMA.

But if you did come over and I cooked dinner, I’d make you something like this. It’s easy, it’s so, so good, and it has some weird ingredients (brown sugar, cherries, and olives together? it works, I swear).

It’s like me: easy going, weird ingredients, good at some things but also kind of messy. You’ll probably get your hands dirty and get chicken grease on your beer, but that’s OK. Me too.

If you do come over for dinner you’ll have to put up with me, but you’ll get some great chicken and beer out of the deal. So it’ll be worth it.

Beer and Blood Orange Roast Chicken

Print Recipe
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 3 lbs chicken thighs and legs bone-in, skin-on
  • 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
  • ½ white onion thinly sliced
  • ¼ cup kalamata olives pitted
  • ½ cup dried cherries
  • 2 large blood oranges
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 3 large cloves garlic grated with a microplane
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 cup IPA beer
  • ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 375F, add the chicken to a baking dish in an even layer. Sprinkle liberally with salt.
  • Sprinkle the onions, olives and cherries over the chicken.
  • Thinly slice one of the oranges and add the slices to the top.
  • Juice the other orange and add the juice to a small bowl. Stir the olive oil, brown sugar, beer, garlic and black pepper into the juice.
  • Pour the juice mixture over the chicken.
  • Roast for 20 minutes, remove the orange slices, and continue to roast until the chicken is cooked through, about 15 more minutes.
  • Transfer the chicken and the juice to a serving platter, add the orange slices to the top, sprinkle with parsley prior to serving.

 

Instant Pot Duck Ale Chili

31.01.2018 9 Comments

Instant Pot Duck Ale Chili

People ask me a lot of questions. Obviously, I have a weird life and weird job that warrants question asking from strangers and well-intentioned people at dinner parties that can’t wrap their brains around this being a real job.

I get it, I still have a hard time believing that this is an actual job. After all, I just made it up. Then I figured out how to get paid for it. It was after hearing the advice, "it’s better to invent a job than to find one." Challenge accepted.

The question I never had a good answer for is: "What’s your favorite beer?" Nope. I don’t have one. I never will. Ever. But I do have a favorite meat. Duck. By far my favorite meat is duck. It’s tragically underused, deliciously fatty, rich and fantastic.

So, once I was gifted this Instant Pot I obviously needed a beer-duck-instant-pot recipe. And seeing as how must of us will soon be watching the Super Bowl (rooting against rather than for a team? No?) Chili seemed a good fit.

The beer is the saddest part. It’s an incredible brown ale that I instantly loved. It was sent to me by Odell Brewing. The sad part? It’s not distributed in my state. So now that it’s gone, it’s out of my life *sad face* until I can make it to Fort Collins to stock up.

If you can get it in your own town, you’re very lucky. Make some Duck Chili to celebrate.


Instant Pot Duck Ale Chili

Print Recipe
Servings 6 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 1.5 lbs duck breast
  • 1 teaspoons salt plus additional for duck
  • 1 cup white onions diced
  • 5 large cloves garlic mined
  • 1 large can 28 oz fire roasted diced tomatoes
  • 1 can 15oz kidney beans(rinsed and drained)
  • 1 can 16 oz great northern beans (rinsed and drained)
  • 6 oz tomato paste
  • 12 ounces brown ale stout will also work
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tablespoon dried oregano
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Garnishes:

  • ½ cup chopped cilantro
  • 1 cup parmesan or mozzarella cheese grated

Instructions
 

  • Score the fat of the duck breast, sprinkle liberally with salt, place inside the instant pot, off heat.
  • Turn the instant pot to sear, sear the duck breast, fat side down (no additional fat or oil is needed), until golden brown and most of the fat has been rendered.
  • Remove the duck, add the onions, cooking until they have softened, about 5 minutes.
  • Add the duck back into the pot along with the remainder of the ingredients (other than garnishes).
  • Turn instant pot to pressure cook, cook for 30 minutes. Allow the instant pot to release pressure, then open.
  • Remove the duck, shred using two forks, return to pot.
  • Serve along side garnishes.

Notes

**To make in a slow cooker, sear the duck breast in a pan (start the duck in a cold pan off heat to render the most fat), cook the onions in the duck fat. Add everything other than the beans (and than garnishes) to a slow cooker on low for 6 hours, add the beans in the last hour of cooking.
If the chili looks dry, add broth or water.

 

Fiery Thai Kettle Chips and Sweet Potato Burgers with Beer Sweet Chili Cream Sauce

20.12.2017 7 Comments

Fiery Thai Kettle Chips and Sweet Potato Burgers with Beer Sweet Chili Cream Sauce

I was a vegetarian for 3 years. Mostly because I grew up on a farm, and I saw how the sausage was made. It didn’t stick, but what did stick is my true and complete love for non-meat burgers (and yes, I still love burgers of the meat-based variety, I just see them as two different things).

The flavors you can get from a patty made with a bowl full of produce is rather staggering, and this burger is easily my favorite.

Fiery Thai Kettle Chips and Sweet Potato Burgers with Beer Sweet Chili Cream Sauce

I’d love to take credit for the depth of flavors, but it’s due in no small part to these chips. Even when turned into crumbs and buried in a ton of other bold flavors, you can taste the heat and the lemongrass from the Kettle Brand Fiery Thai potato chips!

The burger also just so happens to pair beautifully with a winter ale. The malt and spices of a good winter ale will taste fantastic with the flavors of sweet potatoes, smoked paprika, and lemongrass.

I’m not going to lie to you, you can always see right through me. I ate these burgers for three meals in a row. I even put an egg on a patty, added some avocado and sweet chili sauce and ate it for breakfast. And I’m not even sorry about it.

Fiery Thai Kettle Brand Chips and Sweet Potato Burgers with Beer Sweet Chili Cream Sauce

Print Recipe
Servings 6 servings

Ingredients
  

For the Burgers

  • 1 lbs sweet potatoes
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil divided (plus more as needed)
  • 1 4.2 oz bag of Kettle Brand Fiery Thai Potato Chips
  • ¼ cup rolled oats
  • 1 cup quinoa red or black, cooked (1/3 cup pre-cooking volume)
  • 1 can black beans rinsed and drained
  • 2 tablespoons cilantro minced
  • 2 tablespoons green onions minced
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 3 tablespoons beer winter ale, rye, Bock
  • 6 hamburger buns
  • 1 large avocado sliced
  • 1 tomato sliced
  • Additional potato chips for garnish if desired

For the Sauce:

  • 1 cup sour cream
  • ¼ cup Thai sweet chili sauce
  • 1 tablespoon beer winter ale, rye, Bock
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 375° F.
  • Peel the sweet potatoes, then cut into cubes. Add to a baking sheet, drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Roast until the potatoes are fork tender, about 20 minutes (boiling the potatoes will add too much moisture to the filling).
  • Add the potato chips and the oats to a food processor, process until just crumbs remain.
  • In a large mixing bowl add the chip crumbs, sweet potato cubes, cooked quinoa, black beans, cilantro, onions, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and beer. Mix until well combined. Form into 6 large patties, about ¾ inch tall.
  • Heat remaining olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat, cook the patties until golden brown on each side, adding more olive oil to the pan when it starts to dry.
  • In a small bowl stir together the sauce ingredients.
  • Plate burgers in the buns topped with avocado slices, tomato, sauce and potato chips (if using), serve immediately.
  • To make in advance, make the burger patty mixture, add to an air tight container, chill for up to three days before using.