Domestic Fits

Ingredients

10 graham crackers
3 tbs butter melted
2 tbs brown sugar
3 eggs
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1 stick butter
1 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup flour
2/3 cup chocolate stout
3 cups standard size marshmallows

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350.
In a food processor, add the graham crackers and the brown sugar. Process until nothing is left but crumbs. Remove the stopper from the food processor lid. While the food processor is on, slowly add the 3 tbs melted butter and process until it resembles wet sand.
Add to a 9 x 13 pan. Distribute evenly along the bottom, pressing firmly into place.
In a bowl, beat the eggs and both sugars on high until well combined, about 3 minutes.
In a microwave safe bowl, add the chocolate chips and the butter. Microwave on high for 30 seconds, stir and repeat until melted and well combined. Add the chocolate to the egg/sugar mixture and beat until well combined.
In a separate bowl, mix the cocoa powder, salt and the flour until well combined. Add to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Add the beer and stir until just combined.
Pour the batter over the crust.
Place marshmallows in even rows across the top, leaving a 1/2 inch boarder along the edge.
Bake at 350 for 22 minutes or until the marshmallows are golden brown.
You still want the bars to be soft, don't over bake, they will continue to set as they cool.

Pig Newton Jam (Bacon & Fig Jam) With Puff Pastry Biscuits

24.07.2012 18 Comments

I love forming culinary obsessions. Foods that I can’t stop thinking about, that work their way into my kitchen via said obsession on a regular basis. Maybe you have tired of my bacon jam post, and if that is the case than I can pretty safely assume that you have never made it. It is completely worthy of prolonged obsessions. I promise.

This jam, this lovely spreadably pig and fig hybrid is so good that I beg you to make it. And then you’ll get it.

If I hadn’t already scoured my kitchen and spread this on everything from Trader Joe’s Crisp Chocolate Chip Cookies to stale graham crackers, these are the things that I would have made with this Pig Newton Jam:

Bake shortbread bar cookies + spread jam on top + chill for a few hours + cut into squares = Pig Newton Cookie Bars

Tortilla + Gouda + Bree + PN Jam = Pig Newton Quesadillas

Bake a tart crust in a tart pan (let cool)+ PN Jam + fresh arugula + goat cheese + Fresh tomatoes = Best tart ever

Above ingredients – Tart crust + crusty bread = Pig Newton Crostini’s

PN Jam + Puff Pastry + Wheel of Bree cheese = Baked Pig Newton Bree

Crepes + PN Jam + Mascarpone = Breakfast Hog Heaven

I know that I have friends and readers who don’t dig the pig, so I’ve added a How To Veg It Up alterations to this post.

Pig Newton Jam (Bacon & Fig Jam)

Ingredients

12 Black Mission figs
5 strips of bacon
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbs honey
2 tbs red wine vinegar
1/4 cup cooking sherry
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt

Instructions

In a pot with a lid, like an enamel dutch oven, cook the bacon until browned. Remove bacon and set aside. Drain off all of the bacon fat except about 1 tbs. Return pot to the heat and add remaining ingredients, bring to a simmer. Chop bacon and add to the pot.
Reduce heat to maintain a low simmer. Place the lid at an angle to vent and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until thick and syrupy.
Add to a food processor and process until smooth.

*To make vegan, replace the bacon with 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, 5 additional fig and 1 tsp olive oil.

Puff Pastry Biscuits

1 sheet puff pastry, thawed

2 tbs butter, melted

1 tsp salt

Roll the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface several times in each direction. Cut out 20 to 24 circles with a 3 inch biscuit cutter (note that circles will shrink as they cook). Place circles on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Brush the circles with melted butter and sprinkle with salt.

Bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes or until light golden brown. Split across the middle, fill with jam.

Brewed Mary: Beer Bloody Mary

23.07.2012 29 Comments

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.

Table of Contents

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.

Bacon, Blue Cheese & Duck Fat Roasted Potato Salad

23.07.2012 16 Comments

I’m torn. On one hand, I’ve never been the sort of person to trash a company in public, but on the other hand I want others to be aware of companies that form borderline abusive relationships with clients whose livelihoods they hold in their digital hands.

I will tell you this:

I am so glad to have broken free of blog.com and I am appalled by they way they treat their customers. I didn’t want to leave, but I didn’t have a choice if I wanted to protect my content and my ability to continue to do what I love. I would strongly recommend NOT using them as a host, and instead using wordpress.com or even better, using wordpress.org as a self hosted site. If none of that made sense to you, Julie at Burnt Carrots has a great How To Start A Blog post that can clear some of that up. If you need more evidence, other than my desperate pleas, that blog.com is horrific you can ask this guy or this girl.

I feel better. And I will be eternally grateful to my friend Andrew of Eating Rules who helped me switch both of my blogs to self hosted wordpress sites. He has a company called Blog Tutor who does that sort of thing. A tech guy who is also a food blogger, who else would I have used?

On a lighter note, I booked my first TV gig!

I was contacted through my other blog, The Beeroness to do a live Cooking With Beer demo on TV in Los Angeles on August 31t! I’ll update you will more information once that date gets closer.

I’m so glad you all let me get that off my chest and now we can truly appreciate the magic of roasted potato salad.

It is very possible that I am one of the only people in this world that has issues with boiled potatoes. Most of the time I seem to over boil them into a near mushy state with my lack of long term attention abilities. And the water washes away a lot of that great starch that we love so much about potates. Roasting helps me to fix both of those issues, it’s more forgiving with the time and it expands the flavors instead of removing them.

And I added duck fat. I bough it at Sur La Table and a little goes a long way.

I made this twice in one week, it’s really great. By far the best potato salad I have ever made.

Bacon, Blue Cheese & Duck Fat Roasted Potato Salad

Ingredients

2 lbs red potatoes, diced
3 tbs duck fat, warmed
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup pepper
1/3 cup green onions
6 strips of bacon, cooked and chopped
2/3 cup blue cheese dressing (some dressings contain gluten, check package if needed)
1/2 cup sour cream

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425.
Place the potatoes on a baking sheet, toss with duck fat. Roast in the oven at 425 for 10 minutes, toss/stir potatoes and roast for an additional 8-10 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender, remove from the oven.
In a bowl add the remaining ingredients, add the potatoes and toss to coat. Serve warm.

Jalapeno IPA Hummus

19.07.2012 23 Comments

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.

Table of Contents

Jalapeno IPA Hummus

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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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Beer Braised Potatoes With Rosemary Beer Gravy

18.07.2012 19 Comments

;

A reader from Iceland emailed me last week to ask what I listen to when I’m cooking. "You seem like a music girl," she said.

Music, food, beer, it all seems to be a different parts of the same creature and just like food can find a matched pair with beer or wine, music is the same way.

Making these potatoes I was lured to music that was timeless, earthy and effortless. Here is a bit of that list:

Something In The Way She Moves, James Taylor

Tampa To Tulsa, The Jayhawks

Torn In My Pride, The Black Crows

Fortune Teller, Robert Plant

Wicker Chair, Kings Of Leon (this was off a Demo they made before they were famous, handed to me late one night on Sunset by Nathan. I’m not sure if it is still available online, but I still listen to that Demo all the time)

Red House, Shudder To Think

Duncan, Delta Spirit

;

Between prep, braise and eating, this is the music that joined me and the potatoes in the kitchen. A slow, lazy Sunday afternoon playlist that was a perfect compliment to a timeless potato dish.

And the beer that came along for the ride was Damnation by Russian River. A Belgian style beer that gave the starch in the potatoes a beautiful push forward in taste. If you’re a craft beer fan, or just starting to grow in curiosity about the subject, Russian River should be counted among the Craft Beer Meccas of the world. Seek out the beers they make, and plan to stop by the brewery if you ever find yourself in Northern California, or the West Coast, for that matter.

;

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Beer Braised Potatoes With Rosemary Beer Gravy
Ingredients
For The Potatoes:
For The Gravy:
Instructions

Beer Braised Potatoes With Rosemary Beer Gravy

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Ingredients

For The Potatoes:
2 tbs butter
1 large shallot chopped (1/3 cup)
1 lbs red potatoes chopped
1 tsp salt
2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 cup beer
1 tsp black pepper
For The Gravy:
2 tbs flour
1/3 cup chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325. In an oven safe Dutch Oven or pot with a lid (check that all knobs are oven safe) melt butter. Add the shallots and cook until soft, about 2 minutes.
Add the potatoes and cook until browned, about 5 minutes.
Remove from heat, pour beer over potatoes, add rosemary, pepper and salt. Cover with lid and place pot in the oven until potatoes are fork tender, about 18-20 minutes.
Remove from oven and return to stove. Using a slotted spoon, remove the potatoes and set aside.
Add the flour and stock, whisk over medium high heat until thickened, about 3 minutes. Serve potatoes with gravy.

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Apricot Basil Ice Cream

11.07.2012 9 Comments

I’ve always defined the "Perfect Gift" as something you want but would never spend the money to buy for yourself. Things that may not be expensive, but because money is a limited resource no matter who you are , these things just don’t make that "Must Buy Today" list. Things you quietly (or possibly aggressively) lust after but there are always other things that take top billing in your budget.

A few years ago I was given a KitchenAid Ice Cream maker (affiliate link). for Christmas. Perfect. I wanted it, but don’t make enough ice cream to really justify the purchase. I’d see it at Sur La Table, pause for a moment and then end up with something a bit more practical in that brown and purple bag.

Now that I have it, it makes me feel like a brilliant hostess. "You MADE ice cream? From scratch?" it sounds so luxurious and ambitious. Even though I only break it out a few times a year, I am always so glad I have it. If you agree not to tell anyone how easy it is to make ice cream from scratch, I won’t either. And we can continue to impress people with the long hours we slaved away to bring them such a momentous dessert.

Apricot Basil Ice Cream

Apricot add in:

4 cups soft apricots, pitted

1 tbs fresh lemon juice

4 large basil leaves

1/4 cup sugar

Ice Cream Base:

2 cups whole milk

4 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup heavy cream

Place the bowl of your ice cream maker in the freezer for at least 8 hours (I store mine in the freezer so it’s always ready to go) or freeze according to manufacturer specifications.

In a food processor, add the apricots, lemon juice, basil leaves and 1/4 cup sugar, puree until smooth, some chunks of apricot are fine.

To make the ice cream base, add the milk, egg yolks, vanilla and remaining sugar to a cold sauce pan and whisk until the mixture is well combined. Place the pan over medium high heat and stir until the mixture has thickened slightly (will coat a spoon), about 10 minutes, remove from heat. Stir in the cream.

Add the apricot puree and mix until combined. Add to an air tight container and place in the fridge and allow to cool for at least 4 hours.

Add to the frozen ice cream bowl and churn according to manufactures specifications, about 12 minutes in my Kitchen Aid Ice Cream Maker. Place in an air tight container and freeze until firm, about 2 additional hours.

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Chocolate Porter Strawberry Shortcakes With Beer Whipped Cream

05.07.2012 7 Comments

(Chocolate Porter Strawberry Shortcakes With Beer Whipped Cream)

I’m taking a huge risk here.

You may have taken one look at this post and decided that I’ve lost my magic. Chocolate beer cake is as common as Nascar sweatpants in Walmart. But unlike motor sports fashion blunders in public, I loved this dessert.

I’m combining a past evoking childhood treat with my beer loving present tense self, and topping it with beer whipped cream. Strawberry shortcakes were one of my favorite desserts as a kid, but growing up I never had them from scratch. I was raised in a very prepackaged, frozen food section, shelf-stable house, with a mom who was trying to feed all of her 8 daughters (yes, that isn’t a typo, I have 7 sisters) with no time for any culinary adventure beyond reheating and assembling. Completely understandable.

Making my childhood memory of strawberry shortcakes those pre-packaged round sponge cakes, with Cool Whip and chopped strawberries.

So this is the "I cook from scratch and add beer" version of that. Although not a traditional "shortcake," I hope once I top it with drunken whipped cream and fresh berries you’ll forgive the misstep in terminology.

Chocolate Porter Strawberry Shortcakes With Beer Whipped Cream

For the cake:

3 cups cake flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp salt

2 sticks butter (softened)

2 cups sugar

5 eggs

1 tbs vegetable oil

12 oz Porter beer

For the strawberries:

4 cups strawberries, hulled and chopped

1/2 cup sugar

For the whipped cream:

2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 tbs porter beer

(makes 10)

Preheat oven to 350.

In a bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder.

In the bowl of the stand mixer cream the butter and sugar. One at a time add the eggs, beating well and scraping the bowl between each addition, then add the oil. Alternating between the beer and the dry ingredients, add both a bit at a time, starting and ending with the dry ingredients, stir until just barely combined.

Grease and flour two 8 inch cake pans.

Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool.

Invert the cake pan onto a flat surface. Using a 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter, cut out 5 circles from each cake round (you can also use a large knife to cut them into squares).

Place chopped strawberries in a bowl with sugar, stir to combine. Allow to sit at room temperature for ten minutes.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the cream, powdered sugar and 2 tbs beer. Whip on high until soft peaks form, about 4 minutes.

Place one cake round on a plate, top with strawberries and then with whipped cream.

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Goat Cheese Stuffed Apricots With Honey

05.07.2012 9 Comments

I have a message for that guy who decides what day holidays are on. It’s awesome when he picks a day of the week, rather than a date of the month. He did a great job deciding on Thanksgiving and Easter, but a spectacularly awful job for Halloween and the 4th of July.

So I have some changes to propose to…that guy. Whoever he is.

The 4th of July should be celebrated on the first Friday in July, so that the 5th of July never has me sitting in an office trying to participated in work related functions with the remnants of my "casual get together turned late night party" still hanging onto me like a overly tired toddler. I do realize that if you name a holiday after a date, then it really messes people up if it doesn’t occur on that date, as in, "Are you coming over for The 4th of July on the 6th of July?" But, Holiday Naming Guy is to blame for that.

So my suggestion is that Independence Friday is now to replace (or rather move) Mid Week 4th of July celebrations. All the same patriotic fun with out the comprehensive country wide lack of productivity the following day. I might have to start lobbying for this as soon as I can beat the crap out of who ever invented Day Light Saving time, that Guy is a real A-Hole.

Goat Cheese Stuffed Apricots

12 apricots

6 to 8 ounces goat cheese

3 tbs raw honey

1/4 cup chopped pecans

Cut the apricots in half and remove the pits. Grab a small piece of goat cheese, about the size of the pit you just removed and roll it into a ball. Place it in the center of the apricot. Drizzle with honey, sprinkle with pecans.

I also cut these in half again before serving, but that’s your call.

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1. Brown Sugar Chili Chicken Wings

Roasted Garlic and Parmesan Beer Cheese Dip

There are a few ingredients that I have to restrain myself from adding to everything I make. On that list are the following: Sriracha, bacon, goat cheese and roasted garlic.

BLT Mini Tarts With Bacon Jam

02.07.2012 5 Comments

In my world, 4th of July is a lot like Thanksgiving. But with sunburns and pyrotechnics. An underlying feeling of patriotism and national gratitude, a day off work and an evening of food and celebration with friends and family.

But unlike Thanksgiving, the food is all fair game. There are no requisite poultry centerpieces, or traditional casseroles, you are free to cook and eat whatever you like. Most people gravitate towards easy, low maintenance grill style food, or appetizers and dips that can just hang around the kitchen waiting patiently for attention.

Here are some of my favorite foods for low key afternoon get together:

2. BLT Caprese Slider with Puff Pastry Buns

3. Jalapeno Popper Potato Bites

4. Boozy (Or Not) Watermelon Stars

And the Man of The Hour:

BLT Mini Tarts with Bacon Jam, Arugula & Grape Tomatoes

For the tart dough:

2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 1/2 sticks of butter

1/3 cup ice cold water

For the topping:

A double batch of Bacon Jam

1 cup arugula leaves

1/2 cup grape tomatoes, cut in half

In a food processor, combine 1 1/3 cup flour, salt, sugar and butter, process until well combined. Add the remaining flour and process again until combined. Transfer to a bowl and add the water with a wooden spoon (don’t add the water while the dough is in the food processor or your dough will be brittle and cracker-like). If the dough isn’t moist enough, you can add more water, a tsp at a time until the consistency is right. Form dough into a disk, wrap with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Preheat your oven to 375.

Roll your dough out on a floured surface. Using a 3 inch biscuit cutter, cut out 20-25 circles.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the dough circles on the bakign sheet. Prick eat circle with a fork. Bake at 375 for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Spread each mini tart circle with bacon jam, top with arugula and grape tomato halfs.

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Stout & Sriracha Beer Barbecue Sauce

28.06.2012 55 Comments

Barbecue debates rage on all over the south, even as we virtually speak. The most sweltering of all topics is Sauce versus Rub. Rub people claiming that good meat doesn’t need to be drowned in sauce, and sauce people attesting to the holy balance of flavors between sauce and meat, and then there is the apathetic middle who just shrug and use both.

And even when you eat your way across the Barbecue Belt, sampling the best of both slow cooked worlds, and finally take up residence in a meat preparation camp, the disputes don’t end. If you decide to consort with the rowdy sauce crowd, you have more decisions to make. Are you a vinegar based sauce person or tomato based? Molasses or brown sugar? Mustard sauce or chili sauce?

I’ve decided I’m a sauce girl, but I will never turn away good Slow Cooked BBQ Rubbed Spare Ribs. And although I prefer a deep sweet tomato sauce with a kick of spice, I’ll eat every last bit of a Golden Mustard Pulled Pork Sandwich.

Whether you decide on sauce, or just a great marinade, beer is an ideal addition. Beer is a natural meat tenderizer and a deeply flavored stout is a great way to go.

I used Bear Republic, Big Bear Black Stout. A fantastic stout, and as Beer Store Beer Guy told me last week, "Bear Republic’s Stout is one of the most consistent beers I’ve ever had. It always tastes the same, no matter what batch it came from." Hard thing to accomplish.

Stout & Sriracha BBQ Sauce

Table of Contents

Stout & Sriracha Beer Barbecue Sauce

Servings 2 cups

Ingredients

1 tbs olive oil
4 cloves of garlic minced
1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
3/4 cup ketchup
2 tbs worcestershire sauce
2 tsp sriracha
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 cup Stout
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp onion powder

Instructions

In a pot over medium heat, add the oil and allow to get hot but not smoking. Add the garlic and stir until you can smell it, about 30 seconds. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until combined. Allow to cook until thickened, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.
Store in an air tight container in the fridge.

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Coconut Oat French Toast (Dairy Free)

27.06.2012 8 Comments

I told you all about my plan to try and limit my dairy intake. There are, however, some things that I will never part with, like goat cheese. I might crawl across broken glass for goat cheese. And homemade whipped cream, especially Candy Cane Whipped Cream, is a joy I will indulge in for the rest of my life.

But milk, I could take it or leave it. In fact, most of the time I would rather leave it. Not just because the idea of drinking a tall glass of un-manipulated milk makes me want to gag, but because I have found so many alternatives that I enjoy so much more.

Coconut milk is an amazing substitute for milk, and the flavor is beautiful. Almond milk adds a new dimension to dishes that I adore.

For now, I will be making my french toast with coconut milk, I loved the way it tasted.

Coconut Oat French Toast

1 can light coconut milk

1/4 cup brown sugar, plus additional 1/4 cup divided

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

12 slices of bread

1 cup quick oats

Add the coconut milk, 1/4 cup brown sugar, vanilla and eggs to a bowl, whisk until well combined.

Place the oats and remaining brown sugar on a plate or in a shallow dish, stir until well combined.

Heat a skillet (with a lid), sprayed with butter flavored cooking spry, over medium high heat until hot but not smoking.

Two at a time, soak the bread in the coconut milk mixture for about a minute. Remove from the milk and allow excess to drain off, place on the oat plate, turn to coat.

Add the french toast to the hot pan, replace the lid and cook for two minutes. Turn the french toast, replace the lid and cook for an additional two minutes, or until cooked through. Turn the heat down on the pan if the oats start to brown too quickly.

Top with fresh fruit, if desired.

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Strawberry Beer Sorbet

26.06.2012 9 Comments

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

Table of Contents

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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Crab Stuffed Baked Avocado

25.06.2012 18 Comments

There is something about the raw exposure that blogging brings that forces you to face and deal with emotional handicaps that you didn’t even know that you have.

It may be the contrast between complete strangers showering you with compliments and adorations, and other complete strangers raining down harsh criticism. When in reality, neither is wholly accurate. You are, to one degree or another, somewhere in the middle.

And as harsh and those nasty comments can be, the overly positive ones have always been more difficult for me to deal with. Those readers who send compliment saturated emails about how much they love my recipes, or how great my life must be, are with no doubt a highlight of blogging. But I am always left with the fear that the pedestal will crumble and I will be exposed as the ordinary person that I truly am.

Self worth is supposed to be an isolated container, unaffected by the thoughts of others. But I’m not sure anyone has really figure out how to do that, and if he does, I’m not sure I want to meet that guy.

The truth is, sometimes we need a mirror of honesty to see how great we are, and place that value in our container of worth. And to really start to believe it.

Take a second to think back on your life and write down all the best compliments that you have ever received.

And then take the rest of your life to truly believe them.

Crab Stuffed Baked Avocado

4 oz cream cheese, softened

6 oz crab meat (drain well if using canned meat)

1/4 cup tomatoes, chopped

1 tbs scallions

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

pinch cayenne pepper

3 large ripe avocados,cut in half, pits removed

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400.

In a bowl, combine all the ingredients except the avocados and the parmesan, mix until well combined.

Fit the hole in the avocado with crab mixture, top with generous amounts of cheese. Place avocados in the wells of a muffin tin, bake at 400 until the cheese has melted about 8-10 minutes.

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Parchment Paper Red Snapper

22.06.2012 1 Comment

I worked at a little cafe in college. It was a run by an odd man, who was largely absent, with questionable ethics and strange business practices. Which all ended up working to my benefit. I was young and slightly lazy, as long as I showed up for my shift and turned in the appropriate amount of money every day, I was lavishly ignored. There were no comment cards, focus on customer service, or unnecessary protocol, I did what I wanted. And what I wanted, other than giving out free muffins every time I forgot to ring in an order, was to spend time in the kitchen.

It was a small, poorly run brunch spot in Old Town Pasadena, right on the Rose Parade route. Our biggest draws were Granola French Toast with Vanilla Bean Sauce, Sour Dough Toads in A Hole With Chorizo Gravy, Pumpkin Pancakes year round and fantastic cappuccinos as well as a kitchen expertly managed by our overworked chefs Nacho & Sergio.

I take pride in the fact that I was one of the few waitresses that they liked. I brought them "water" when we were busy, made runs to our inappropriately far away walk-in and took the blame for spoiled food when the boss would eventually show his face. The cooks, after all, were the heart of the place. I could be replaced in a heartbeat, but the entire restaurant pulsed through Nacho & Sergio.

Late one afternoon, as our new and overly ambitious new manager-of-the-moment decided to dust off the chalkboard sign to institute a Daily Specials program, I begged Nacho to teach me something. He laughed. And then put me to work making Red Snapper packets with parchment paper, butter and some vegetables. To this day, I still make these. Easy, healthy and ready to adapt to in-season produce.

I’m guest posting for Claire of The Realistic Nutritionist today. You can get the recipe on her site.

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