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Beer Soaked Oven Fries

Beer Soaked Oven Fries

People have irrational culinary fears, I get it. Some people avoid recipes using yeast like they are circus clowns in a dark alley. Some people can’t wrap their brains around the idea of plunging food into hot oil without a spotter. I have an irrational fear of mall Santas so I get it, there are just some things we tend to avoid.

Although I assure you, you’d be just fine if you wanted to fry these suckers in hot oil. I also assure you that if you bought a deep fryer your football parties will never be the same. But if you aren’t there yet, I get it.

I spent most of the summer cooking everything I ate on my backyard grill, taunting the grill-less into Sad Face reactions. One of my go-to sides was grilled french fries. I cut them large enough as not to slip through the grates and I learned that soaking them in a salt brine gave you that creamy middle and crispy outside that you really want in your french fries.

Now that most the grills in America are covered in the unsavory film of winter, I’ve switched to the oven method. The salt water soak is still the way to go when you want that creamy/crispy combo, and letting the baking sheet heat up in the oven will give you more of that golden brown outside that you’d get from that scary vat of hot oil.

Although I do promise that if you do decide to deep fry your potatoes, you’ll be fine. It’s not that scary, not like, say a grown man in a red suit that lurks near a Hollister.

Beer Soaked Oven Fries3

Beer Soaked Oven Fries

Ingredients
  

  • 1.5 lbs russet potatoes
  • 12 ounces pale ale
  • 1 tbs kosher salt
  • water
  • ¼ cup canola oil
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • ½ tsp sea salt
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • ½ tsp sugar

Instructions
 

  • Cut the potatoes into ½ inch strips.
  • In a large bowl add the beer and 1 tbs kosher salt. Add the potatoes to the beer, add just enough water that the potatoes are fully submerged, about 1 to 2 cups.
  • Cover and chill for at least 3 hours and up to 12.
  • Move the oven rack to the top 1/3 of the oven, place a rimed metal baking sheet on the rack. Preheat oven to 425.
  • Drain the potatoes and rinse well. Place on a stack of paper towels and pat dry. Add to a large bowl, drizzle with canola oil. Sprinkle with garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, sea salt, black pepper and sugar. Toss until well coated.
  • Pour the potatoes onto the baking sheet in an even layer.
  • Bake for 20 minutes. Turn with a spatula and bake until golden brown, an additional 15-20 minutes.

Beer Soaked Oven Fries2

Mushroom Quinoa Porter Chili & Is Beer Vegan?


Mushroom Quinoa Porter Chili, vegan and gluten free

 Is Beer Vegan?

From an outsiders perspective, the question might seems silly. Beer, after all, is made from plants and water. At its most basic, the ingredients to make beer are simple: water, malt, hops, yeast; all of which are clearly non-animal. And while brewmasters have a way of working everything from bacon to whole chickens into their beer, the biggest culprits are more subtle.

 Is Beer Vegan?-2

Sometimes, the de-veganized beers are easy to spot, a milk stout that uses lactose, or a honey kolsch, but more often than not, our veggie loving beer friends are in the dark as to whether an animal part has made its way into their pints. Since the CDC, the TTB, the FDA and all the other acronym loving agencies that have their grubby paws in what we consume do not require anyone to disclose the use of animal byproducts in the processing of food or beverages, it often gets left off the label (in fact, almost always).

The biggest offenders are what brewers use to clarify beer. While the need for clarifying is often done with non animal ingredients, or replaced with a centrifuge machine, it’s still common for breweries to use ingredients like gelatin or fish bladders as clarifying agents rendering beer not only non-vegan but non-vegetarian. There is also the foam control issue, and I’m not talking about the frothing of the mouth that occurs when your favorite stout is on Nitro, but the desire brewers have to give you that perfect level of foam head on your pints. To gain control on that lovely can’t-you-settle-yet-I-need-a-drink-now head on your beer, brewers have been known to use pepsin (made from pigs) or albium (made from animal blood) to give you the perfect pour.

Is Beer Vegan?

But if you are one of the growing numbers of craft beer loving veggie devotees, don’t despair. Many, many breweries are hip to your vibe, vegan beer is a concern for many. When it comes to finding out if your beer is sans-beasts, google is your friend. Also, websites like Barnivore give a great and growing list of vegan friendly breweries and beers.

For this recipe I used Sierra Nevada Porter, a vegan beer. In fact, as a company, Sierra Nevada is 100% vegan friendly.

Mushroom Quinoa Porter Chili, vegan and gluten free

As an addendum to this, it needs to be mentioned that there is nothing wrong with the use of animal products in beer. Milk stout is a favorite of mine, and a good honey kolsch is great to pair with a summer cook out. However, disclosure is key and giving people the information they need to keep the diet they choose is a way to keep us all friends in this craft beer community.

Mushroom Quinoa Porter Chili

Ingredients
  

  • 3 tbs olive oil
  • 8 ounces crimini mushrooms minced
  • ½ cup onions chopped
  • ½ cup diced carrots
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 1/4 cups broth
  • 1 cup porter or stout beer divided
  • ½ cup red quinoa dry
  • 1 15 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 red bell pepper chopped
  • ½ cup corn kernels
  • ½ tsp smoked paprika
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp cumin
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • 1 jalapeno diced
  • 2 cups tomatoes chopped
  • 1/2 tsp Sriracha or other red chili sauce
  • 1 avocado diced
  • ½ cup green onion chopped
  • ½ cup cilantro chopped

Instructions
 

  • Heat the olive oil in a pot over medium high heat, add the mushroom, sauté until darkened and softened, about 5 minutes.
  • Add the onions and carrots and cook until softened about 5 minutes.
  • Stir in the garlic then add the broth and ½ cup beer. Stir in the dry quinoa, allow to simmer, stirring occasionally, until quinoa is cooked through, about 15 minutes.
  • Add the beans, bell pepper, corn, smoked paprika, pepper, salt, cumin and garlic powder, allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
  • Add the remaining beer, jalapenos, tomatoes, and sriracha, simmer for 10 minutes or until slightly thickened and reduced.
  • Ladle into bowls, top with avocado, green onion and cilantro.

Beer Battered Avocado Tacos with Fresh Corn Salsa

 

 

Beer Battered Avocado Tacos2Nothing in life should be qualified by what is left out. You shouldn’t stand in the warm, golden, tropical, sun, toes digging into the sand, asking where the snow is.

You shouldn’t visit Machu Picchu and think, "It’s pretty good for a place that doesn’t have a mall."

Lazy Sunday afternoons spent reading Down and Out in Paris and London while gently swaying in a hammock aren’t known as That Day I Didn’t Go To A Rock Show.

Unfortunately for us all, we tend to filter everything though a check list of our own normality, fact checked by what we’re used to. Food shouldn’t be though of by what isn’t in it, but by what is. Vegan food shouldn’t be thought of meatless food, but food that celebrates produce.

Beer Battered Avocado Tacos3

Even though I am a meat-loving bacon-devotee, I love the challenge that produce- celebrating-food presents. Because I never want to serve food that’s described as "good for [vegan, parve, gluten free, healthy, etc.]" I want it to be damn awesome regardless of what’s put in or left out.

These tacos were every bit the shockingly fantastic bites that I wanted them to be. It just so happens that I didn’t need any meat or dairy to accomplish this feat.

I can’t take all the credit, you could beer batter anything and wrap it in a beer corn tortilla and you pretty much have a winner on your hands.

Beer Battered Avocado Tacos

 

For the love of God, make your own tortillas. Once you realize that corn tortillas take about 5 minutes and three ingredients to make, not to mention taste a thousand times better than store-bought (plus cost only pennies), you’ll never go back.

Beer Battered Avocado Tacos with Fresh Corn Salsa

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 12 tacos

Ingredients
  

For the Tortillas:

  • 2 cups masa harina
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 1/3 cup warm IPA

For the Avocados:

  • Canola oil for frying
  • 2 cups flour
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • 12 ounces IPA
  • 3 avocados ripe but still firm

For the Corn Salsa:

  • 1 ear of fresh sweet corn kernels cut off
  • 1 jalapeno stem and seeds removed, chopped
  • ¼ cup red onions diced
  • ¼ cup chopped cilantro
  • 2 tbs chopped scallions
  • juice from one lime
  • ¼ cup chopped tomatoes
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
 

  • Make the tortillas:In a large bowl, add the Masa and the salt, stir to combine. Add the beer and stir to combine. If the dough is too dry to hold together, add additional beer or water. If it is too wet, add more Masa. It should be the consistency of Play-Doh.
  • Form into balls a bit larger than golf balls. Prepare a tortillas press by wrapping in plastic wrap or covering with parchment paper (you can place tortilla ball between two sheets of parchment and use a rolling pin). Place one ball in the center. Press, rotate, press again.
  • Heat a griddle (or cast iron skillet) to a medium high heat (about 350 for electric griddles). Cook until slightly brown on the bottom (about 30 seconds to a minute) flip and cook on the other side. Don’t overcook.
  • Make the Avocados:Add about 4 inches of oil to a saucepan, clip a deep-fry thermometer onto the side (make sure the needle is not touching the bottom of the pot. Bring to 375-400 degrees (adjust heat to maintain that temperature).
  • In a large bowl stir together the flour, salt, garlic powder, and pepper. Add the beer and stir until combined (should have the consistency of pancake batter).
  • Cut the avocados into thick slices (about 4-5 per half) making sure the skin and seed is removed.
  • Dip the avocado slices into the batter and fry for about 1 minutes, flip and fry until golden brown, about an additional 2 minutes. Remove from fryer and allow to drain on a stack of paper towels. (only fry 2-3 slices at a time or the oil temp will drop and batter will become overly oily).
  • Make the salsa: Combine all ingredients in a bowl, stir to combine.
  • Assemble tacos and serve.

 

 

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Roasted Corn, Pale Ale and Coconut Curry Chowder with Brûléed Avocados

 

Roasted Corn, Pale Ale and Coconut Curry Chowder with Brûléed Avocados

I brûléed some avocados, which, let me be honest, is sort of strange. But it gave this soup a campfirey, smoky flavor that I loved so I’m standing behind the decisions. A decision that was largely based on the fact that I’ve had this brulee torch for over two months and haven’t used it yet.

Roasted Corn, Pale Ale and Coconut Curry Chowder with Brûléed Avocados

Now I’m sort of hooked on the idea of wielding a kitchen torch this powerful, it completely smokes (pun intended) the one I previously owned that I now see as fairly pathetic. The new one is beast, I think it might belong in the tool shed out back (I don’t actually have a tool shed, so I guess it’ll stay in the kitchen).

But you really don’t HAVE to brulee avocados, just cutting them up and adding them to the soup like a normal person is just fine.

Roasted Corn, Pale Ale and Coconut Curry Chowder with Brûléed Avocados

About this soup, it’s vegan, which clearly I am not. But I love vegan food because it puts the emphasis on produce, which I adore. Corn is just coming into the season, and so are the avocados I abused, but the weather in most parts of the country is still soup worthy. But you have to remember that I’m also the girl that likes to drink stout and eat soup in August.

I also prefer to eat ice cream in December. Which all may add up to my rampant non-normalness that forced me to take a kitchen torch to those perfectly lovely avocados.

Roasted Corn, Pale Ale and Coconut Curry Chowder with Brûléed Avocados

Ingredients
  

  • 3 large ears sweet corn
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • ½ white onion chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic chopped
  • 2/3 cup pale ale
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp pepper
  • 2 cups vegetable broth chicken will work as well
  • 1 can 13.5 ounces full fat coconut milk
  • 2 tsp red curry paste
  • pinch cayenne
  • 5 large leaves basil thinly sliced
  • 1 large red pepper roasted
  • 1 large avocado ripe but firm, too soft will not work
  • 1 lemon

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 400.
  • Trim off any silk that is sticking out of the husk of the corn ears.
  • Place on a baking sheet, roast for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool enough to handle. Cut the kernels off the corn, set aside.
  • In a sauce pan over medium high heat, sauté the onions in olive oil until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, cook for 30 seconds. Add the beer, salt, pepper, and vegetable broth, coconut milk, curry paste, corn kernels, and cayenne. Bring to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes.
  • Using an immersion blender, puree until smooth.
  • Stir in the basil and the red pepper.
  • To brûlée the avocados, slice into ¼ inch slices, sprinkle with lemon juice. Place on a heat proof surface like a baking sheet. brûlée with a kitchen torch until browned, use tongs to flip over and brûlée the other side.
  • Pour soup into bowls, top with avocados.


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Homemade Garlic Beer Pita Bread

 Homemade Garlic Beer Pita Bread4

Do you remember when I told you that once I discovered that homemade corn tortillas where so good it made me realize that I didn’t actually hate corn tortillas, I just hated those sad cardboard disks they sell at the store?

Homemade Garlic Beer Pita Bread2

Pita bread is an even bigger revelation. It’s not as quick as those 10-minute homemade tortillas, but it’s so soft and addictingly amazing, it’s worth the time. It’s about 15 minutes of active time and another 45 to 60 minutes of rising time.  About an hour all in.  An hour well spent. Pita bread was the first yeast bread I ever made which helped me to conquer my fear of yeast and made me wonder what I was so scared of.

Homemade Garlic Beer Pita Bread

For this, and for most bread recipes, I like a wheat beer, especially an unfiltered wheat beer. The bready notes and the yeast in the beer give a great texture with a hint of beer on the back end.

So, what do you do with this beautiful bread once you’ve decided to make it? If you can resist eating it right out of the pan, it makes amazing wraps and sandwiches, but don’t be afraid to make mini pizzas or even large chicken tacos with this too. Or just eat it right out of the pan with some melted butter. And a cold beer.

Homemade Garlic Beer Pita Bread3

Homemade Garlic Beer Pita Bread

Ingredients
  

  • 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
  • 1 envelope rapid rise yeast
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 cup beer
  • 1 tsp salt

Instructions
 

  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, add the flour, yeast and garlic powder. Mix until combined.
  • In a microwave safe bowl add the beer. Microwave on high for 20 seconds, test temperature with a cooking thermometer and repeat until temperature reaches between 120 and 125 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Add the beer to the stand mixer and mix on medium speed. Once most of the dough has been moistened, sprinkle with the salt while the mixer is still running.
  • Turn speed to high and beat until dough is smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.
  • Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl, tightly wrap with plastic wrap. Allow to sit in a warm room until doubled in size, about 45 to 60 minutes.
  • Remove from bowl and add to a lightly floured surface. Knead several times, cut into 8 equal sized pieces.
  • One at a time roll the dough into 6 inch circles.
  • Lightly oil a cast iron skillet and heat over high heat until very hot. Add one dough circle to the pan, cook until the underside has browned and the top starts to bubble, about 2 minutes, flip and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes or until the pita bread is cooked through. Adjust the heat if the pan becomes too hot and the bread burns too quickly.

 

Vegan Chipotle Stout Chili with IPA Cashew Cream

 

Vegan Chipotle Stout Chili With Cashew Cream

 

If you’re new to the Craft Beer scene, it might surprise you how many vegetarian and vegans there are here.

While I am a meat eater (clearly, I put bacon in desserts), I did spend three years as a vegetarian. Mostly, this was a response to growing up on a farm and getting up close and personal to the butchering process as well as the jarring realization of knowing the first name of my dinner. It did, however, give me a profound respect for the food I eat and the farms that share that respect.

I still eat vegan quite often, and there are some dishes, like lasagna, that I just think are just better in vegetarian form.

My true and honest feeling about vegan cooking is that regardless of what your typical diet is if you can’t cook a vegan meal that you love, you just aren’t that good of a cook. Produce is amazing, you get to use all the grains, seeds and nuts that you want and by the way, for the most part beer is vegan.

I first heard about Cashew Cream from this guy, and the idea was intriguing, given that I would have a much easier time giving up meat than sour cream and goat cheese. I like the idea of having a creamy element when I want to go non-dairy. This cashew cream was a really beautiful creamy addition to a vegan chili, when sour cream isn’t an option. I wanted to balance the sweetness so I added some acid and some spices, but feel free to experiment. This would also be a great place to add a little chipotle.

Vegan Chipotle Stout Chili With Cashew Cream2

 

Vegan Chipotle Stout Chili with IPA Cashew Cream

Ingredients
  

For The Cashew Cream:

  • 2 cups raw cashwes
  • 1 to 1 ½ cups almond milk
  • Additional 1/3 cup almond milk
  • 2 tbs IPA beer
  • ½ tsp onion powder
  • ½ tsp garlic
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp pepper
  • 2 tsp white wine vinegar

For The Chili:

  • 3 tbs olive oil
  • 1 white onion chopped
  • 1 red bell pepper chopped
  • 1 cup crimini mushrooms finley diced
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 12 wt ounces Soyrizo
  • 2 cup stout
  • 2 cups veggie broth
  • ¼ cup tomato paste
  • 1 15 oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 15 oz can of kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 15 oz can stewed diced tomatoes, with juice
  • 1 or 2 large chipotle peppers in adoboe minced
  • ½ cup quinoa
  • 1/3 cup bulgur wheat
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • ¼ tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp garlic powder

Garnishes:

  • ½ cup Cilantro chopped
  • 1 Avocado sliced
  • Tortilla Chips

Instructions
 

  • Add the cashews to a bowl, pour almond milk over cashews until covered. Let stand for 4 hours.
  • Drain cashews and add to a food processor with 1/3 cup almond milk, IPA, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and vinegar. Process until smooth, about 5 minutes, possibly longer. Add additional almond milk or beer for a thinner consistency.
  • In a pot over medium high heat, add the olive oil, onions, red peppers and mushrooms. Cook until onions and peppers have softened and the mushrooms have darkened.
  • Add the garlic and the soyrizo, stir, breaking up the soyrizo.
  • Add the stout, broth, tomato paste, black beans, kidney beans, tomatoes and chipotle, allow to simmer for about 10 minutes.
  • Add the quinoa, bulgur, cumin, smoked paprika, salt and garlic powder, simmer until the quinoa has cooked, about 15 minutes. The longer chili simmers, the thicker it will be.
  • Plate on top of tortilla chips, if desired, top with cilantro, avocado, and cashew cream.

Brewed Mary: Beer Bloody Mary

 

No offense to vodka, but a Bloody Mary just tastes better with beer. And an IPA is the inarguable choice for a Brewed Mary. I am, for the most part, a live and let live person.

Happy to let your differing opinions thrive right alongside mine. There are recipe choices that I would love to debate with you. I’ll take your suggestions of a pilsner over a Saison for a beer cheese dip. And I would love to debate with you Brown Ale versus a Hefeweizen for a chicken pot pie.

But with this, we have no choice, an IPA is just the best way to go. The hops blend so well with the heat and the tomato juice.

If you disagree with me, I just hope you keep it to yourself. After all, I still want to like you, and we can always spar over porter versus stouts for brownies.

For this recipe, I used Stone Ruination Tenth Anniversary IPA. At the moment, it is one of my favorite beers, and quite possibly my favorite IPA.

Note: Worcestershire sauce contains anchovies. For vegetarian, use a vegan Worcestershire sauce like Annie’s Organic Worcestershire Sauce. 

Brewed Mary: Beer Bloody Mary

Servings 2 cocktails

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup tomato juice
  • 1/2 tsp celery salt plus additional for glass rims
  • 1/2 tsp Chipotle Tabasco sauce
  • 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tsp brine for a jar of spanish olive
  • 1/4 tsp cream style horseradish
  • 1 tbs lime juice about 1 medium lime
  • 1 tsp lemon juice about 1/2 medium lemon
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • Ice
  • 1 cup IPA beer
  • Optional garnish:
  • celery stalk olives

Instructions
 

  • Rim glasses with celery salt.
  • Add all ingredients (except the beer) to a shaker half full of ice, shake to combine.
  • Strain into prepared glasses, stir in the beer, garnish if desired.

 

 

Jalapeno IPA Hummus

 

This recipe has been in my brain for a while.

For weeks it’s been taunting me, begging to be flushed out, poured into my food processor and immortalized in internet print.

And this weekend three failed attempts to make IPA lemon bars that never really gave me the results I was hoping for coupled with this tweet:

gave this hummus it’s shot.

And I’m so glad that the stars didn’t align and the beer cooking God’s didn’t smile upon the IPA lemon bars (which have become my culinary nemesis, mocking me with vague imperfections) because this hummus was exactly what I wanted on a hot day. It didn’t last long.

For this recipe, I used one of my favorite IPA’s, Ballast Point’s Sculpin IPA. A beautiful example of an IPA, even if this one was sans Habaneros.

 

Jalapeno IPA Hummus

Ingredients
  

  • 2 fresh jalapenos stemmed, seeded and chopped (about 1/4 cup)
  • 3 tbs tahini
  • 1 1/2 cups cooked garbanzo beans drained
  • 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • 1 lime juiced (about 1 tbs)
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/3 cup IPA Beer plus additional if needed

Instructions
 

  • Add all ingredients to a food processor and process until smooth. Add additional IPA for a thinner dip. Serve with pita or chips.
  • *Note: most of the heat from Jalapenos are in the seeds. If you want a hotter hummus, you can leave the seeds in. If the finished dip is too mild, add 1/4 tsp chili powder for a spicier dip

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Strawberry Beer Sorbet

Everything I love about summer is in this dish.

Or, more accurately, everything I love about summer that can fit into a small metal bowl are in that dish.

Fresh produce.

Homemade sorbet.

Beer. Of course, beer.

And when I was buying said beer, Alesmith Anvil, I had an interesting conversation with Beer Store Beer Guy.

For the most part, I really like my chats with Beer Store Beer Guy so much that I forgive him when he makes the assumption that I have no idea how I ended up in the Beer aisle and he must point the poor lost girl back to the Chardonnay section where she has most likely wander off from.  I’m ok with this, the trapping of being tall and blonde and with the egregious mistake of having a brain in my head, I find it amusing. Like when I end up at the mechanics and they have no idea my step dad was ASE certified, or those adorable guys at Home Depot who try to point me back to the paint isle when I really want to buy a new blade for the tub saw so I can finish re-tiling the kitchen floor. The greatest advantage anyone has is to let others underestimate them. I’ve come to find it endearing when Beer Store Beer Guy, Hardware Store Guy and Mechanic Guy try to take care of the lost girl and help her find her way. Because what I really want to be is Marisa Tomei in the last court room scene in My Cousin Vinny saying things like,

"'Cause Chevy didn’t make a 327 in ’55, the 327 didn’t come out till ’62. And it wasn’t offered in the Bel Air with a four-barrel carb till ’64. However, in 1964, the correct ignition timing would be four degrees before top-dead-center."

And you can really only have that once someone decided to underestimate you.

Something else you shouldn’t underestimate is the flavors in the Anvil. It may seem like a strange choice for this sorbet, giving the matlier, toastier flavors but I love the balance it gave.

Choose a beer that has notes of citrus, fruit and spice. A citrusy IPA would be a great choice as well.

And don’t be offended when others underestimate you, use it to your advantage.

StrawBerry Beer Sorbet

Strawberry Beer Sorbet

Ingredients
  

  • 4 cups fresh strawberries hulled and chopped
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 cups beer pale ale with notes of citrus

Instructions
 

  • In a sauce pan over medium high heat, add the strawberries and the sugar. With a potato masher, or mallet, smash and stir the strawberries until well macerated and combined with the sugar.
  • Allow the mixture to come to a boil, stirring and mashing until all the strawberries have broken down, about 10 minutes.
  • Remove from heat, stir in the beer and allow to cool. (If you want to strain the pulp and seeds, do so now. I didn't strain.)
  • Place the strawberry mixture in the refrigerator until completely cool, about 2 hours.
  • Churn in your ice cream make according to manufactures specifications. Place in a freezer safe container and chill until ready to serve.

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Beer Tortillas

 

Tortillas are one of those glorious foods that I have found myself continuing to make from scratch. It wasn’t an epiphany that wakened me from my supermarket tortilla grabbing slumber, it was a gradual process. Tortillas are easy, and you probably have all of the ingredients in your kitchen already. And the end product will finally convince you that you no longer need that plastic bag full or pre-made taco vessels.

So why the beer? Beer is a leavening agent, mild in a way that is the perfect strength to lightly leaven a tortilla. And a beer with bread, wheat of notes of crackers will add a fuller flavor then the typical baking powder that is called for in most homemade tortilla recipes.

You only need a few ingredients to make these, so you need to choose carefully. Most people use lard, and this tends to give the best results. After I cook bacon (a weekly occurrence) I pour the rendered fat into an air tight container and store it in the fridge. Once it cools and solidifies, I use this to make tortillas with. If you are vegetarian or vegan, vegetable shorting makes a great stand in.

The beer you choose needs to be carefully considers as well. Because it has a slight cracker like taste, I use Hair Of The Dog’s Ruth. Choose a beer that has notes of yeast, bread or crackers. A wheat beer would also work well.

Beer Tortillas

Servings 6 to 8 tortillas

Ingredients
  

  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup fat lard, vegetable shortening, rendered and cooled bacon fat
  • 3/4 cup warm beer Plus 3 additional tbs

Instructions
 

  • In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Add the fat and rub it into the flour with your hands until it forms course crumbs and all the fat has been distributed.
  • Addr 3/4 of a cup warm beer into the flour mixture, mixing with a fork until all of the flour has been moistened (adding the additional 3 tbs if needed). Knead for about 3-5 minutes or until the dough becomes shiny and slightly stiff but not firm.
  • Pull off pieces of the dough just smaller than a golf ball. Roll into balls and place on a plate, continue for the remaining dough. Cover the plate with a towel and allow to rest for about 30 minutes.
  • Heat a griddle or cast iron skillet over medium high heat.
  • Roll the tortillas out until they are thin enough to see through. On a lightly floured surface, flatten a ball of dough with the rolling pin, then roll forward and back across it; rotate a sixth of a turn and roll forward and back again; continue rotating and rolling until you reach a very thin consistency. Alternately, you can use a tortilla press.
  • Throw onto the griddle and allow to cook until lightly brown, about 1 minute per side. Don't over cook or your tortillas will be crispy.

Make a batch of Chipotle Stout Braised Beef and make Tacos.

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Beer Soaked Chocolate Covered Cherries

Last week I was able to sit down with a guy, who in just two years went from a home brewer who was opening the doors to his first bar, to owning three bars and the fastest growing craft brewery in California.

If you live in Los Angeles, and you’re a craft beer fan, I’m certain you have heard of Tony Yanow of Golden Road. If you haven’t you are going to want to acquaint yourself with him and what he’s building. Here is my article for your craft beer research indulgence.

He is also the man who helped create one of my favorite IPA’s. Golden Roads, Point The Way IPA.

As I’ve hammered into you several times before, IPA’s make terrible cooking subject, which is why I rarely use them. This is a recipe that doesn’t require cooking, and the tart hoppiness of the IPA is a great compliment to the cherries.

And, as a salute to my fellow beer lovers who happen to be vegan (more vegan beer fans exist than one would expect) this is an easy recipe to veganize.

IPA Soaked Chocolate Covered Cherries (vegan option)

2 cups fresh Bing cherries, pitted

1 cup IPA

8 oz Dark Chocolate (60%) (For vegan, use vegan chocolate. Most higher end brands are vegan at 60%, but make sure to check if you want to make sure)

Pit the cherries and add them to a loaf pan in one tight layer. Pour the IPA over the cherries and allow to soak at room temperature for 2 hours and up to 6. Drain and allow to dry for about 20 minutes (they need to be dry before chocolate gets involved).

To temper the chocolate: (*Note. Tempering chocolate makes it shiny and gives it a nice snap. If you don’t care so much about that, you can just add the chocolate to a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 30 seconds, stir and repeat until melted)

In a double boiler melt the chocolate over medium heat. If you don’t have a double boiler, add a metal bowl over a pot of water, making sure the bottom of the metal bowl does not come in contact with the water in the pot.

Chop the chocolate into chunks and add about half to the top of the double boiler. Heat the chocolate to 115 degrees (use a clip-on candy thermometer to do this). Add the rest of the chocolate and stir until all of the chocolate has melted and is now down to about 90 degrees.

A few at a time, add the cherries to the chocolate with a fork, roll around until coated, remove with the fork and allow to drain a bit, then place on a piece of parchment paper to harden. Repeat for all cherries. Chill until ready to serve.

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Homemade Beer Marinara From Scratch

 

The first time I made marinara was a complete accident.

Just a few months after I nearly accidentally graduated college, I got a job working with teenage gang members in South Central Los Angeles. You are free to laugh at the idea of a very white girl, who grew up on a farm in Eastern Washington, working in South Central. With gang kids.

I sat on one side of a light oak dining table in a small Group Home, a transitional respite for kids who had been released from jail but who were still on probation, to talk with Dominick. He was from a rough area of Compton, and had found his way to the seat across from me via a GTA charge and a hot temper. But to me, he was a baby faced 14-year-old who secretly liked Whitney Houston. This was our first meeting, and part of my job was to compile a list of his "Triggers." Anything that made him angry enough to lash out, to do something that could land his ass back in jail. We both had the same goal: get him back home. Most kids, in my short 4 months of experience all had a very similar trigger. This usually centered around someone "talking shit" about them, their mom, or their crew. Maybe a handful of other miscellaneous and understandable offenses.

When I asked Dominick what triggered him, what drove him to a rage that welled up in him a feeling of violence that once caused him to send a chair on a journey through a class room window, his face fell flat.

"What?" I was so curious, "What makes you that mad?"

He took a deep breath and lowered his voice, "When those mother fuckin' girls make human pyramids."

I laughed so hard I felt bad about it. His young face broke open into a sweet smile, "Jackie, I’m not gonna lie.." He started to giggle, "Pisses me the fuck off, I have no idea why. I want to push those chicks right over."

Fair enough. My job was to teach him how to deal with his anger, no matter what triggered it.

He wanted to learn how to cook, and he wanted to make Spaghetti. He thought that cooking might help him channel his anger. We didn’t have any sauce, but his group home staff had just come into ownership of 10 pounds of tomatoes, so we made do.

Because of Dominick, and his human pyramid hating ways, I will always love a good, homemade, can free, marinara.

Homemade Beer Marinara From Scratch

3 lbs tomatoes

1 large head of garlic

1 tbs olive oil, plus 2 additional tbs, divided

1 large white onion, chopped

1 large carrot, peeled and diced

16 ounces wheat beer (Golden Road Hefeweizen is a great choice)

1/3 cup chopped basil leaves

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 400.

Rub the head of garlic until about half of the papery white skin comes off. Cut a small amount of the tip off the head of the garlic, just enough to expose all of the cloves. Place on a small piece of aluminum foil and drizzle with about 1 tbs of olive oil. Fold the foil tightly around the garlic, place on a baking sheet. Cut the tomatoes into quarters and place them on the baking sheet along with the garlic packet.

Roast the tomatoes and the garlic at 400 for 20-30 minutes or until the tomatoes are soft and the skin starts to peel back from the flesh. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

The skin of the tomatoes should be very easy to remove at this point, peel the skin off the tomatoes and discard. Place a fine mesh sieve or strainer over a bowl. Scoop the seeds into the strainer and place the remaining part of the peeled and seeded tomato into a bowl, repeat until all of the tomatoes have been seeded. Allow the seeds to continue to drain while you make the rest of the sauce.

In a pot over medium high heat, add 2 tbs olive oil. Add the onions and carrots, sauté until carrots are soft and onions are translucent. Add the beer, seeded and peeled tomatoes and whatever juice has accumulated in the bowl beneath the tomato seeds. Discard the seeds. Remove the head of garlic from the foil packet and squeeze the soft head until the cloves comes out and into the sauce. Add the salt, pepper and basil.

Reduce heat to maintain a low simmer, allow to cook and reduce until thickened, about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

If you want a smoother sauce, add to a food processor and process until smooth.

Use this with my Homemade Beer Ricotta to make a beer infused Lasagna or stuffed Rigatoni.

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Beer Popsicles: Lemon Pale Ale

As summer heats up, so does my longing to add beer to everything I consume. I linger on the idea of changing classic recipes into beer recipes far longer than my busy day should allow. How would I add beer to a Tarte Tatin? What about an Blueberry pie? Or Eggs benedict? What beer would I use? Although I get lost in recipe development several times a day, it tends to make a long commute on a Los Angeles freeway that much more bareable.

Due to recent move, I’ve been a bit handicapped by my lack of access to a familiar kitchen and all of my culinary tools. I’m slowly working my way back to feeling normal, that slight feeling of alien unfamiliarity when I get home  has begun to subside and my subconcious is starting to accept that the new place that I sleep, is now my home.

Beer popsicles are a fun addition in any adult party. You can play with flavor combinations (strawberry basil, orange jalapeno, blueberry lime) or just use plain 'ole untouched beer. If you have little ones around, make sure to keep these labeled well and separated from the kiddie ones.  If you are worried about a tiny human being handed the wrong flavor, use colored popsicle sticks for the kids and plain boring wood ones for the grown ups. You can buy popsicle sticks, colored and plain at most craft stores or on Amazon. This is the popsicle mold I used, but just about any hollow vessel will work.

I used Pike Brewing Naughty Nellie for these. With flavors of hops, grapefruit and citrus, it gave a sour punch that I really loved. This is a recipe that can take a hoppier beer because there is no cooking involved. Experiment with your favorite pale ale, you have a summer full of back yard barbecues to get it just right.

Beer Popsicles: Lemon Pale Ale

Servings 6 popsicles

Ingredients
  

  • 1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice about 4 large lemons
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 cup pale ale or IPA

Instructions
 

  • Mix all ingredients together in a pitcher or measuring cup with a spout, stir until sugar has dissolved.
  • Pour into popsicle molds and freeze for at least 6 hours.
  • Run molds under hot water until the popsicles release.

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Strawberry Beer Lemonade

Summer is almost here. Barbecues, lazy afternoons on the porch swing, long days at the beach, music and card games on the patio until dawn. I realize that a fridge full of craft beer doesn’t always please the masses, but I do want to impart those flavors that are so beautiful anyone can enjoy them, into nearly everything that comes out of my kitchen.

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Amber Ale Beer Hot Sauce

I have an analog soul, still shooting with a film camera.

I like to read real life paper books.

I write letters with pen and paper.

I like to listen to the scratchy sound of Robert Plants voice spun out of a vinyl record.

I guess I was born too late to enjoy all the good stuff. And little by little my antiquated habits are being digitized. I own a DSLR, an iPod, an iPhone and of course, a MacBook. But I will always shoot with my medium format Yashica, and I will hold out strong with my paper words inside real life pages, and I will always say Thank You with ink and a stamp.

It’s probably my primitive spirit that draws me to beers that have been around a while, staying true to what they have always been. Full Sail Amber Ale has been a pioneer in the Craft Beer world since the 1980’s, earning the distinction of the first craft beer bottled in Oregon. And just as you should all have a fierce respect for film cameras, vinyl records and paper books, you should also put Craft Beer Pioneers among those ranks.

All Hail Full Sail.

Amber Ale Hot Sauce

2 tbs olive oil

5 red jalapenos, stems removed, chopped

2 serrano chillies, stems removed, chopped

5 cloves of garlic, minced

12 oz Amber Ale (Reccomended: Full Sail Amber)

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbs rice wine vinegar

1/2 tsp white sugar

In a sauce pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Add the jalapenos and Serrano, cook until soften, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds, add the beer and then the remaining ingredients. Allow to simmer for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Add the blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Store in an air tight container in the fridge.