Jackie Dodd-Mallory
Senior Editor

Top Craft Brewery Destinations in Napa and Sonoma County & Beer Caramelized Apple Tart with Saison Crème Anglaise

28.09.2015 4 Comments

A few years ago I read an email from a reader, late at night, right in the middle of my most honest hour. She asked about culinary school, art school, college, where should she go? What should she do? "Don’t go" was my answer. I told her to save her money and travel. If you want to work in food, go find it. You won’t find it in a class room, you’ll find it where it grows. Eat pasta in Italy, sample Champagne in France, sit in a strawberry field in California. Work for free in any restaurant that will have you, buy beers for any chefs who will give you his after work hours, and don’t just learn food, live it. Travel is the best education you’ll ever have. I’m passionate about travel and it’s necessity for human growth. I’ve partnered with Travelocity —the website I bought my first plane ticket from when I was in college— to spread the word about beer tourism. Keep an eye out for information about travel and beer in the upcoming weeks, give me your tips and tricks, tweet me the travel articles you love most. Let’s grab a beer and talk about adventure.

Top Craft Brewery Destinations in Napa and Sonoma County

“It takes a lot of good beer to make good wine,” The bartender at Bear Republic in Healdsburg California —right in the heart of Wine Country— jokes as he pours a Café Racer DIPA for a waiting customer. Vintners are a frequent after work crowd in the brewery taprooms around one of the most well-respected wine regions in the United States. As a result, the beer has become world-class, a mecca for beer people, and a hub for beer tourism. If a couple of airports and a few chipper flight attendants can’t stand in your way of a great beer, where Napa Valley meets Sonoma County is the perfect destination to cut your beer tourism teeth. Here are the top locations for grabbing a pint of local beer in wine country.

Russian River. With a beer so sought after, it’s release causes traffic to shut down, every hotel in the area to be booked to capacity, and an 8 hour wait to get in the doors just for one 10-ounce pour, this brewery is on every beer travelers list. Russian River Brewing draws beer tourist from all over the globe to the sleepy little town of Santa Rosa, California. Even if you can’t make it to the release of their sought after triple IPA, Pliny The Younger, every beer they make is world-class. Ask for a Blind Pig, many beer geeks claim it’s just as good, or even better, than the one that causes a wee bit of mass hysteria during it’s February release.
Bear Republic. This small brewery in Sonoma county is all heart. With a gorgeous space, bartenders that remember your name, and several awards winning beers under their belts, this is a great place to stop in for a pint. Bear Republic always has new and one of a kind beers on tap, ask your friendly beer slinging bartender what he recommends and he’ll pour your something that you’ll probably never have the opportunity to sample again.
Lagunitas Brewing. Don’t let the outside of this Petaluma brewery, housed in an industrial park, fool you. Once you get inside it’s a gorgeous location with a beautiful patio, perfect for an afternoon of pub grub and outstanding beer. This is a brewery well-known for their “A Little Sumpin' Sumpin Ale”, but they also do several variations of this hoppy beer that are only served in a very limited release. Ask if they have any new variations of A Little Sumpin' on tap, or just let the bartenders pour you a flight (that’s beer speak for a beer sampler platter), and see what you like! (*this article was originally written before the brewery partnered with Heineken. If this bothers you, feel free to skip this one. The beer has remained the same and the brewery is still worth a visit)
Napa Smith. Napa Smith is the only production brewery in Napa, this is where you go when you’ve tired of wine tasting and just want a cold pint. Napa Smith has thoughtfully brewed all of their beers to pair well with food, following the mantra “Brewed for food.” They offer a large flight of 10 sampler beers, making that a great place to start when deciding what you want to drink for the evening.
Third Street Aleworks. This charming little brewery sits down the street from Russian River, making it a great stop on a Santa Rosa pub-crawl. Sick of those hopped up bitter West Coast beers? You’ve come to the right place. Third Street has award-winning stouts and porters, perfect for those who dig the dark brews. Try their Black Cat Porter or the gold medal winning Blarney Sisters’ Dry Irish Stout.

*If you’re in the area, stop by the best dive bar in all the world (this is just my opinion) Ernie’s Tin Bar. Craft beer and a CSA pick up location, located along a winding country road.

I’ve also made you a dessert, one that nods to Napa and Sonoma county. A recipe that reminds me of the slow-food culture and the locavore spirit. It’s a part of the United States that everyone should be able to visit at least once in their lives.

Beer Caramelized Apple Tart with Saison Crème Anglaise

Print Recipe

Servings 8 -12 tarts (depending on size)

Ingredients

For the Tarts:

1.5 lbs apples cored and thinly sliced (Honeycrisp, or SweeTango)
4 tbs 57g unsalted butter
1 cup 230g brown sugar
½ tsp 3g salt
1 cup 226g wheat beer
1 sheet puff pastry thawed

Crème Anglaise:

½ cup 134g heavy cream
¼ cup 68g whole milk
1/3 cup 82g Saison beer (or wheat beer)
½ of a vanilla bean pod
3 large egg yolks
1 ½ cups 338g granulated sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400.
Add the apple splices, butter, sugar and salt to a skillet over medium heat. Once the sugar has dissolved and the butter has melted, add the beer. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has reduced and thickened to a caramel sauce, about 15 minutes. Allow to cool.
Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured, flat surface. Cut out circles just larger than a muffin tin well, or a mini-tart pan (grease the tart pan/muffin tin or spray with cooking spray). Press into shape. Fill the wells about half way with the apples.
Bake for 18-22 minutes or until crust is golden brown.
Add the heavy cream, whole milk and beer to a saucepan.
Using a pairing knife, split the vanilla bean pod lengthwise. Scrape out the inside of the pod with the back of the knife. Add the pod and the inside scrapings to the pan. Bring to a low simmer, remove from heat.
In a medium sized bowl whisk together the yolks and sugar until very well combined, and a light yellow color.
While whisking, slowly add the cream mixture, whisking until well combined.
Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve back into the sauce pan. Over medium/low heat cook, stirring frequently, until thickened. About ten minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator until ready to use, up to three days.
Serve the tarts drizzled with the Crème Anglaise.

I was compensate by Travelocity for this post, all opinions, words, recipes and ideas are my own.

Stout Braised Pork and Black Bean Empanadas and a Craft Beer Adventure in South America

25.09.2015 5 Comments

Stout Braised Pork and Black Bean Empanadas

The first thing you notice about the owners of Bogota Beer Company is how much they care. About each other, about the people who work for them, about the brand and every detail of it. It conveys so strong, the minute they picked me up from an airport in Panama, I could feel it instantly. The entire reason they’d flown me thousands of miles was because of how much they care. The menu they had in the 27 pubs spread over 2 countries was good, but they wanted it to be great. They wanted me to revamp it, add some beer, make it exciting.

The week was peppered with new experiences every day. A fish market in Panama, foods and flavors that were new to me, gorgeous dinners, late nights walks around a rain slicked city, a private coffee class in the hills of Bogota, Colombia. All the while I was reworking an already decent menu. A menu that, to be honest, was better than most American pubs. We made it exciting. We added a burger with a bacon jam made with their porter, doughnuts served with sauces infused with their beer, fried chicken made the way American Southern women make it, and a pizza menu that feels as artisan as their beer.

I’m proud of what we did. Proud to work with a company that is paving the way for great craft beer in countries that are brand new to even the idea of a beer that isn’t a pale lager. The beer is fantastic, and the company is even better. If you’re in Bogota, Colombia, stop in the BBC for a pint and sample the menu I helped create. Or stop by one of the micro-pubs they’re dotted across the country in renovated shipping containers. If you visit Panama City, stop by La Rana Dorada. Stop by and have a pint, have some food, and make some friends. They are the best people you can hope to come across while traveling.

Stout Braised Pork and Black Bean Empanadas

Print Recipe

Servings 12 empanadas

Ingredients

Dough:

3 cups 350g Masa Harina (corn flour)
1 cup 120g all purpose flour
2 cup 450g warm water
2 tbs 32g oil

Filling:

1 tbs oil
½ large 160g white onion, chopped
12 wt oz 340g Ground pork
1 cup 226g stout
2 tbs 32g Tomato puree
15 oz 425g Black beans
¼ tsp 0.6g smoked paprika
½ tsp 1.5g garlic powder
½ tsp 3g salt
1 tsp 1g black pepper
Oil for frying

Instructions

Add the masa, flour, water, and oil to a bowl, stir until a soft dough forms. If the dough is too wet, add additional flour. The consistency should be similar to Play-Doh. Cover the bowl and allow to rest while you prepare the filling.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Cook the onions until slightly caramelized, about ten minutes. Add the pork, cooking until browned, breaking up into small pieces.
Add the stout and allow to cook until the beer is almost completely gone.
Add the tomato puree, black beans, smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt and black pepper, cook until well combined. Remove from heat.
Form dough into balls about the size of golf balls.
One at a time place between two sheets of parchment paper (parchment works better than plastic wrap, the dough removes more easily) and using either a tortilla press or a rolling pin, press/roll into 6 inch circles.
Add about 2 tablespoons of filling in the center. Using the parchment, fold over the dough to form a crescent shape. Peel back the parchment and press the dough to seal the edges. Repeat for all dough balls.
Heat the oil (canola or peanut oil), in a large pot over medium high heat. Using a cooking thermometer adjust heat to maintain 350F degrees.
A few at a time, fry the empanadas until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Allow to drain on a stack of paper towels.

Notes

Masa Harina is sold in most major markets, look for it in the Hispanic food section.
To make ahead of time: After frying allow to cool. Place on a plate and loosely cover, chill for up to three days. Once ready to serve, drizzle with oil and bake at 425 for 12 minutes.

10-Minute Tater Tot Beer Cheese and Chives Soup

23.09.2015 10 Comments

10-Minute Tater Tot Beer Cheese and Chives Soup

You don’t have to make a decision.

There’s no pressure to decide if you really want to give this a try, or if you think it’s a new deviant low in beer cooking. It can always be both. More than anything, its a reminder. Don’t look both ways before crossing the food trend street. Don’t check the paper next to you when searching for the right answer to whether or not something is desirable. Blink. What’s your blink reaction? There needs to be no further explanation. There needs to be no additional analysis. This seems to be difficult. It’s hard, in a way, to just like what we like because we like it. We seem to need constant validation as to our decision making and preferences.

Let’s just stop. Let’s just like stuff, because, well, we like it. Let’s drink without checking reviews on Untapped or Beer Advocate. Let us eat, cook with, order and enjoy stuff regardless of trending hashtags. Just for a while, just to see how it feels.

10-Minute Tater Tot Beer Cheese and Chives Soup

Print Recipe

Total Time 10

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

2 cups 450g wheat beer, pale lager, pilsner
3 tbs 30g cornstarch
16 ounces 450g sharp white cheddar, grated
1 cup 240g broth (vegetable or chicken)
½ cup 120g heavy cream
1 tsp 4g red pepper sauce
salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup chopped chives
2 cup 200g tater tots, cooked according to package directions*

Instructions

Add the beer, cornstarch, cheddar, broth, heavy cream, and red pepper sauce to a blender. Blend on high until very well combined, about 5 minutes.
Add to a pot over medium high heat, simmer until warmed and slightly thickened.
Season with salt and pepper to taste, stir in chives.
Ladle into serving bowls, top with tater tots, serve immediately.

Notes

*To bake crispy tater tots, rather than soft ones, drizzle with oil just prior to baking.

Crispy Honey Porter Sticky Chicken Wings

18.09.2015 13 Comments

Crispy Honey Porter Sticky Chicken Wings

This was version 6 of this recipe.

Usually, it doesn’t take me that long to get a recipe right. More often than not, I get it on the first try, maybe a few small tweeks, but this one took some trail and a lot of error.

None of the versions were bad, they just weren’t what I was looking for. Like that guy you dated a few years ago that just wasn’t a fit. Although I’m sure your issue with him had nothing to do with how crispy his skin is, or how thickly glazed he was. Although, I don’t know your life.

I had a very specific vision. I wanted wings that are baked-not-fried, skin so crispy it could hold up to glaze without getting soggy, I wanted a thick glaze that was sticky and sweet, and although I’m Ok with a few steps, I didn’t want it to be a huge pain in the ass. I’ve told you that I’d found the secret to crispy skinned baked chicken wings that are even better and crispier than fried (these crispy chicken wings) so I used that as a base. I brined them in beer, which made a remarkable difference in the fall-off-the-bone texture, and I finally got the glaze right.

This will officially be my go-to chicken wings recipe for this football season. Although I’m sure it won’t be long until I make a spicy version. I tend to do that.

Crispy Honey Porter Sticky Chicken Wings

Print Recipe

Servings 6 servings

Ingredients

2.5 lbs chicken party wings
1 tbs 4g salt
12 wt oz 355 ml beer (wheat, brown ale or pilsner)
2 tbs 16g baking powder
1 cup 226g porter or stout beer
½ cup 170g honey
2 clove 8g garlic, grated with a microplane
3 tbs 46g soy sauce
1 tsp 2g black pepper
½ tsp 1g smoked paprika
2 tsp 8g chili powder
2 tbs 16g cornstarch
Chopped cilantro optional

Instructions

Add the wings to a shallow bowl or baking dish, sprinkle with salt. Pour beer over the wings, cover and refrigerate for one hour and up to over night.
Preheat oven to 250.
Remove from the beer, rinse and pat dry, making sure wings are as dry as possible. .
Add the wings to a large bowl. Sprinkle with baking powder, toss to coat.
Place a wire rack over a baking sheet, brush with oil or spray with cooking spray.
Place the wings on the wire rack.
Bake in the lower section of the oven for 30 minutes. Move to the upper 1/3 of the oven, increase oven temperature to 425. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until golden brown.
While the wings bake, make the glaze.
Add the porter, honey, garlic, soy sauce, black pepper, smoked paprika, chili powder and cornstarch in a pot over high heat. Boil, stirring frequently until thickened, about 5 minutes. Allow to cool.
Add the wings to a bowl, pour the glaze over the wings, toss to coat.
Serve warm.

Pumpkin Beer Bread French Toast and The Problem with Pumpkin Beer

16.09.2015 11 Comments

I’ll give you a quick and easy way to tell if your favorite pumpkin beer was made with fresh pumpkins or the canned version.

Release date.

It takes weeks to brew a beer, and pumpkins reach full maturity, ready to harvest and roast for brewing, sometimes around late August. Making those beers released in July nearly impossible to brew with fresh pumpkins.

Canned pumpkin isn’t even the issue. Several breweries successfully make very complex, well-balanced beer with canned pumpkin every year. The issue is more about the impact that the early release dates have on breweries that want to use fresh. The arc of pumpkin season starts so soon, due to the canned-pumpkin beers, that by the time the fresh-pumpkin-using-breweries releases their beer, the moment has passed when it really should just be starting. A fresh brewed pumpkin beer will arrive on store shelves, at earliest, in mid-September. A much more appropriate time for a pumpkin flavored beer to be consumed. Unfortunately, at this point pumpkin beer coverage has been going on for months, making the release of fresh pumpkin beers seem like old news.

Pumpkin beer also ages well. For this I used a bottle of Rogue Pumpkin Patch ale from last year, made with pumpkins they grow on their farms, and it was even better this year than last. The flavors round out and have a deeper, more complex flavor. You can save this years pumpkin beers for next year, if you really jones for a mid-summer squash ales.

Maybe this doesn’t bother you, maybe you don’t mind a 100 degree, mid-July pumpkin porter. Or maybe you hate it. What can you do if this does, in fact, bother you? Make a bigger deal out of fresh brewed pumpkin beer, don’t buy any before middle September, don’t post anything on social until fresh pumpkin beers have been released, and thank the hard working brewers that not only brewed you a pumpkin beer, they also grew, harvested and roasted those pumpkins.

Pumpkin Beer Bread French Toast and The Problem with Pumpkin Beer

Print Recipe

Ingredients

For the Pumpkin Beer Bread

3 cups 360 all purpose flour
1 tsp 4g baking powder
2 tsp 12g baking soda
1 cup 150g brown sugar
2 ½ tsp 4g pumpkin pie spice (see note)
¾ cup 225g pumpkin puree
8 ounces 226g pumpkin ale (or brown ale)

For the French Toast:

1 cup whole milk
3 eggs
½ cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp vanilla extact
½ cup brown sugar
¼ tsp salt
Butter
Maple syrup for serving
1/2 cup pecan pieces optional

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350.
In a large bowl stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice and sugar. Add the pumpkin puree and beer, stir until just combined.
Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray. Pour that batter into the pan in an even layer.
Bake for 40 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from oven, allow to cool completely before slicing, chill if necessary (beer bread can be made a day ahead of time, cover and chill until ready to use).
Slice into 1-inch thick slices.
In a wide, shallow bowl whisk together the milk, eggs, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, brown sugar and salt.
Add the slices, a few at a time, allowing to soak for one to three minutes.
Preheat a skillet or griddle to medium high; melt a pat of butter to coat the surface (continue adding butter between batches when the pan looks dry).
Remove the slices from the batter and allow excess to drain off.
Cook in the hot pan until golden brown on each side, about 3 minutes per side.
Serve topped with maple syrup and pecan pieces.

Notes

Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice: 2 teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon nutmeg, ½ teaspoon ground cloves, ½ teaspoon ground allspice, ½ teaspoon ground ginger

BBQ Beer Brat Tailgate Pizza & How To Prep A Grilled Pizza For Tailgating

11.09.2015 8 Comments

I grill pizza more often than I grill anything else. Unless you have a pizza oven in your backyard, it’s likely your best option when it comes to at home pizza cooking. Or, in this case, parking-lot-back-of-a-truck-with-a-portable-grill cooking. You get those lovely grilled char marks that you want when open flames are cooking your food, and it’s easy to modify to your guest eating persuasions.

Tailgate Pizza Tips:

Prep as much as you can ahead of time. If you’re making more than one pizza, write down the toppings you want for each, prep them all and store them in small containers to take with you. The dough can, and should, be made in advance. Just make sure to punch down the dough every 12 hours (literally just punch the middle of it to deflate, you can also grab the sides and pull to deflate). Pizza dough is best if it’s able to cold ferment in the fridge for a few days.

Don’t forget to bring a surface to roll out the dough. Some people like to use a rolling pin, while others think hand shaping the dough is the only way to go, it’s your call.

Brush the grates with olive oil to keep the dough from sticking. I sometimes oil the dough and flip it onto the grill like a giant pancake, but that’s just me.

You only want to grill the underside until it holds shape. It’s going back on the grill to heat the toppings and melt the cheese, undercooking it the first time will prevent overcooking it the second time.

Pizzas take about 8 minutes to cook, so they are easy to make as-needed. Plus they don’t take up too much room in the cooler, leaving you way more space for beer. Which, really, is the most important part.

I used Stout & Sriracha BBQ Sauce

BBQ Beer Brat Tailgate Pizza & How To Prep A Grilled Pizza For Tailgating

Print Recipe

Servings 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

For the Pizza Dough:

3 cups 360g bread flour
1 packet 2 ¼ tsp, or 21g rapid rise yeast
2 tsp 8g sugar
1 cup 226g wheat beer
3 tbs 42g whole milk
1 tbs 14g olive oil, plus 2 tbs (28g), divided
1/2 2g tsp salt

Toppings:

2 to 3 large beer brats raw
24 ounces beer wheat, pale ale, or brown ale
Stout & Sriracha BBQ Sauce link above
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 roasted red bell pepper chopped (from a jar is OK)
2 tbs chopped fresh parsley or cilantro
Oil for the grill

Instructions

Directions:

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, add the bread flour, yeast, and sugar, stir until well combined. In a microwave safe bowl, add the beer. Heat until 120F. Add the beer to the flour and stir until incorporated. Add the milk, salt and 1 tablespoon oil, stir with the dough hook until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Allow to rise in a warm room until doubles in size, about one hour. You can bake the dough at this point, but it’s best to punch down the dough, cover and allow it to rise again in the fridge from 12-18 hours.
Make the beer brats. In a pan with a lid add the brats and the beer, cover and simmer until the brats are cooked through, remove from pan.
Preheat the grill to medium high. Grill the brats until grill marks appear on all sides, about 3 minutes. Remove and slice.
Brush the grates with oil to prevent sticking . Place the dough on the grill (a pizza peel coated in flour or cornmeal will help) until grill marks start to appear. Flip the dough and very lightly grill on the underside, just until the dough holds shape. Remove from the grill, place on a work surface with the lightly grilled side down. Spread an even layer of BBQ sauce over the crust, top evenly with cheese, add sliced brats and red pepper.
Return to the grill, close the lid and cook until the cheese has melted, 3-5 minutes. Remove from grill, sprinkle with parsley (or cilantro), slice and serve.

Notes

Pre-prep (tailgating tips):
• Make the dough the night before, let it do a second rise in the fridge. You’ll have to have a space to roll it out when you get to the venue, so bring a large cutting board if needed. It’ll be best if you let it come to room temp before trying to roll out. 10 minutes in a car with the heater on should be fine.
• Boil the brats ahead of time, pack them in the cooler, grill and slice them on site.
• Have all your ingredients prepped and stored in small containers, ready to go when you need them, it’ll help make the process much easier.

One Bowl Chocolate Stout Loaf Cake with Blackberry Frosting

09.09.2015 10 Comments

One Bowl Chocolate Stout Loaf Cake with Blackberry Frosting

The first time I was paid to write a story it was about gang members. Gang members who are also bakers.

It was a story I’d pitched to a start up emagazine that asked for submissions and received thousands. I wanted to talk about Homeboy Industries, a non profit that helps get people out of gangs via a bakery they started to employe the unemployable. Maybe it was my guilt I carried with me about leaving the job I had working with gang kids in order to pursue my dream of food writing. Maybe it was just so incredibly impressive that this program actually worked, and worked really well. Or maybe it was the fact that baking could save someones life. I got the assignment.

My first draft read so starry-eyed-in-love with the company that I needed more, I need the reality of it all, the grittiness that sometimes gets lost when mainstream media try to glam up the truth for mass consumption. So I went back to Homeboy Cafe, to talk to Sarah. A woman who had run a very successful chopshop, ran around with gangs since she was 13, sold drugs, and ended up in solitary confinement with bullet holes in her body. It was driving around East Los Angeles with her in my passenger seat, stopped outside the urban garden she was running, that made the biggest impact on me. At least a decade older than me, and several lifetimes more experienced, she seemed so shy, "I brought this for you…" She pulled a crumpled page out of her pocket, "they did a story about me." She showed me the internal newsletter the company prints out for employees, Sarah was the lead story. "It’s nice…you know…people talking about you for something good." We sat there for a second, worlds apart in the same car, and I told her she should be so proud. The silence for the next few seconds was about as warm as I’ve ever felt.

I think about Homeboy sometimes when I bake, how transformative it can be just to do something right and to have people talk about you for something good.

You can read the article about Homeboy, and Sarah, in my Portfolio (scroll down, past the black). To this day, it’s one the my favorite articles I’ve ever written.

One Bowl Chocolate Stout Loaf Cake with Blackberry Frosting

Print Recipe

Servings 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
1 1/2 cup 335g granulated sugar
1 large egg at room temperature
1 teaspoon 7g vanilla extract
¾ cup 170g stout beer
¼ cup 55gvegetable oil
1 1/2 cups 225 g all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa 60 g powder
1/2 teaspoon 3 g baking soda
1/2 teaspoon 4 g salt
½ cup 130 g blackberries
2 cups 1/2 lbs powdered sugar
1 teaspoon 5g fresh lemon juice
½ teaspoon 3g vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325.
Add the butter and sugar to a bowl. Using a stand mixer, beat until well creamed. Add the egg and vanilla, beat until combined. Stir in the beer, and olive oil.
Sprinkle the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir until just combined.
Pour batter into a loaf pan that’s been greased and floured.
Bake for 60-65 minutes or until or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the loaf comes out with just a few crumbs.
Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
In a blender add the blackberries, powdered sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla extract, blend until smooth.
Pour over the top of the cake, chill until set.
Remove from loaf pan and slice prior to serving.

Slow Cooker Honey Chili Pulled Beer Chicken Sliders

04.09.2015 7 Comments

Slow Cooker Honey Chili Pulled Beer Chicken Sliders

This is a sign.

It’s fall. I realize that the calendar technically disagrees with me, but the calendar is wrong. Often. Calendars will frequently tell you that the week starts on Sunday, and that Summer starts the end of June. But according to our guts, the week begins on Monday, and Summer starts the first time it gets over 80 degrees in May. Fall, along these lines, starts with September and football season.

This slider is sign that we really don’t care what the calendar tells us, it’s fall. Sigh for a second, leave your sandals out for one more week, but summer is behind us. Let’s look at the good side of this, not the silver lining. Silver linings imply that there is only a thin layer of good on an entire crap cloud. This isn’t the case, fall is an incredible season. Pomegranates are back in season, football is back on, football food is back in consumption range, you can again wear boots and scarves without getting the side-eye from some Lululemon chick at Starbucks, and you can make sliders in your slow cooker.

Stouts are also back in season. Fall kicks off the releases of my favorite beer, the dark and roasty beast that I wait all year for. Even though I’ll still drink them in August, wearing boots and a scarf, no matter who side-eyes me.

Slow Cooker Honey Chili Pulled Beer Chicken Sliders

Print Recipe

Servings 6 servings

Ingredients

¼ cup honey
2 tbs apple cider vinegar
2 tsp red chili sauce
1 tbs chili powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
½ tsp salt
2 lbs chicken thighs boneless, skinless
¾ cup beer porter, stout, brown ale, or wheat beer
1 tbs cornstarch
12 slider buns

Instructions

In a small bowl stir together the honey, vinegar, red chili sauce, chili powder, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and salt.
Add the chicken to a slow cooker, pour the mixture over the chicken.
Pour the beer into the slow cooker.
Cook on low for 6 hours, or high for 3 hours. Remove the chicken, shread with two forks, set aside.
Add the sauce and cornstarch to a pot over medium high heat, bring to a boil. Boil, stirring frequently until thickened, about 8 minutes.
Add the chicken to the sauce, stir to coat (you can add to a slow cooker on a warm setting until ready to serve, if needed).
Add to slider buns before serving.

I use this slow cooker (affiliate link).

Gochujang Beer Cheese Dip and Is Gochujang The New Sriracha?

02.09.2015 8 Comments

Gochujang Beer Cheese Dip and Is Gochujang The New Sriracha?

There are similarities, I’ll be honest.

Spicy red sauces, with fermented ingredients, originally from the Far East. Americans "discovered" these sauces, that have been around for generations in other countries, and decide they are the hot "new" thing. Clearly, Sriracha and Gochujang have a lot in common. Although the latter doesn’t have its own documentary and two best-selling cookbooks, but there’s still time.

So what is Gochujang? It’s a spicy, slightly sweet sauce with a nice acidic backbone. It’s also so popular that it’s now found at Target. It’s a way to branch out, to try something new, to expand the pantry of flavors that you go to when you want to add some heat, or some big flavors. It’s best added to something else – it’s pretty intense on it’s own – not unlike Sriracha, a little goes a long way. It’s a great way to add some spice to your favorite homemade BBQ sauce, or transform a standard chicken recipe. It’s absolutely a sauce you should seek out and figure out how to use. But until Rogue Ales makes a beer with it, it’ll always take second place to the Rooster Sauce.

Gochujang Beer Cheese Dip and Is Gochujang The New Sriracha?

Print Recipe

Servings 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

16 wt oz cream cheese
6 wt oz shredded mozzarella about 1 ¾ cups
3.5 wt oz shredded white cheddar about 1 cup
¼ cup Gochujang Korean hot sauce*
2 tbs cornstarch
½ tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp onion powder
1 cup IPA or Pale Ale Beer

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400.
Add all ingredients to a blender or food processor, process until smooth.
Add to an oven safe dish.
Bake for 20 minutes or until warmed through.

Notes

-Dip can be made a day or two ahead, the flavors continue to deepen as the dip chills. Refrigerate until ready to serve, bake just prior to serving.
-Look for Gochujang in the Asian section of your local market, or buy online.

Beer Brined Faux-tisserie Roast Chicken

26.08.2015 7 Comments

Fill your glass. Fill your stomach. Fill your heart.

Roast chicken, accompanied by an opened bottled of hard to find beer, is the way to communicate comfort from the kitchen. It’s a dish that’s been made billions of times, with just as many variations, a dish that can grace the silk covered tables of the finest dinning establishments, as well as the wobbly legged formica tables of the humblest of houses. It’s beautiful, perfect in its simplicity, comforting, and elegant without being pretentious. It’s a last meal, a lazy Sunday supper, and a first date dish. It’s a meal I’ll make over and over until I’m hardly able to lift myself into a kitchen to cook anything, well into my 90’s. I do, after all, plan to live to be 100, cooking the entire time.

Roast chicken is a classic dish that every home cook should master. It’s a recipe to make in a traditional fashion, and then after you’ve master the preparation, find your own variation. Maybe the first recipe you invent all on your own. The recipe that you’ll become known for, the one you’ll pass on, as you make your way towards living to be 100.

Beer Brined Faux-tisserie Roast Chicken

Print Recipe

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

1 cup water
1 tsp whole cloves
1 tbs whole peppercorns
1/3 cup kosher salt
2 cups ice
22 oz wheat beer or brown ale
1 5 lb whole chicken, inside cavity cleared
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp baking powder this will help crisp the skin
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp dried thyme
½ tsp salt plus additional for potatoes
½ tsp black pepper plus additional for potatoes
½ tsp chili powder
½ tsp brown sugar
1 lbs red potatoes quartered
1/2 lbs Brussels sprouts cut in half
1 tbs olive oil

Instructions

Add the water, cloves, peppercorns, and salt to a large stock pot or Dutch oven (this will eventually be the brining vessel for your chicken, make sure it’s large enough to accommodate). Bring to a simmer, stirring just until the salt has dissolved, remove from heat. Stir in the ice, and ale. Allow to cool to room temperate.
Add the chicken to the pot (make sure the liquid has cooled first), cover and refrigerate for 12 hours and up to 3 days (to save time, this step can be done as soon as you return from the market with the chicken, and the chicken can be stored in the brine until ready to use, up to three days).
Remove the chicken from the brine, rinse well, inside and out, pat dry. Allow to sit at room temperate for 20 minuets, to drain and dry.
Preheat oven to 300.
In a small bowl stir together the paprika, baking powder, onion powder, garlic powder, thyme, ½ teaspoon salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper and brown sugar, set aside.
Add the potatoes and Brussels sprouts in an even layer in the bottom of a 10-inch cast iron skillet, cut side down. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Add the chicken to the skillet on top of the vegetables. Rub chicken well with the spice mixture on all sides, coating the skin.
Cook the chicken at 300 for 40 minutes (this low heat will help render fat and crisp the skin).
Turn heat to 425, cook for 20-30 minutes or until the skin is golden brown and the internal temperate of the chicken reaches 165. Remove from oven, allow to rest for five minutes before carving.

Notes

The vegetables act as a rack in this recipe, as well as a nice side dish. If you are going to skip them, cook the chicken on a wire rack over a baking sheet, or in a roasting rack in a roasting pan. This will keep the bottom of the skin from getting soggy.

Belgian Ale Brined Lamb Rib Rack with Goat Cheese Polenta with Crispy Sage

21.08.2015 3 Comments

Belgian Ale Brined Lamb Rib Rack with Goat Cheese Polenta. We’re getting fancy because I believe in you.

I made this because I believe in you.

I used to skim recipes, across cookbooks, websites, and magazines, looking for a few things. Of course, my eyes always went right for the recipes with the photos, because I had a hard time imagining the final product, and if I’d want it in my face, without that visual. I’d look for words I recognized, ingredients I was familiar with, techniques I’d preformed with previous success.

And then something happened. A bit slowly, a bit all at once, mostly just a rebellion from what I was used to. I started to seek out the recipes most distant from what I was used to. Ingredients I’d never used, equipment I had to buy, recipes that I didn’t even know how to pronounce. I’d drive to three stores looking for an ingredient only to discover I was just looking for in the wrong section of the grocery store.

A few things happened.

First, I realized that I had no business skipping steps or deleting ingredients. Second, I found that most of these recipes, even the fancy sounding one and sometimes especially the fancy sounding ones, were really quite simple. Like creme brûlée, and duck confit. I’d found recipes that I’d fallen in love with, that made me so excited about cooking I couldn’t stop talking about them like a love-sick teenager.

If you haven’t done this fall-in-love-with-food thing yet, it sometimes has less to do with the food and more about your own ability to produce it. Stepping back, so amazed at what you were able to do you feel the need to announce the dish and introduce it to the table.

Do this. Find a recipe, or a couple, and fall in love with them.

Belgian Ale Brined Lamb Rib Rack with Goat Cheese Polenta with Crispy Sage

Print Recipe

Ingredients

For the lamb:

2 lamb ribs racks 1.5 to 2 lbs total
1 tbs kosher or sea salt
12 ounces Belgian ale
1 tsp black pepper
2 tbs olive oil
2 tbs fresh sage cut into thin strips

For the polenta

3 tbs unsalted butter
2 cups whole milk
1 cup Saison beer or wheat beer, can sub with chicken broth
1 cup dry polenta
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp oinion powder
3 ounces crumbled goat cheese

Instructions

Sprinkle the lamb with salt on all sides, add to a large Ziplock bag or small baking dish. Pour beer over the lamb, seal bag (or cover bowl). Refrigerate for 6 hours and up to 24.
Remove from beer, rinse and pat dry. Allow to sit at room temperate for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with pepper.
Preheat oven to 350.
Heat olive oil in a cast iron skillet until hot but not smoking. Add the sage, cook until slightly crispy and dry looking, about 2 minutes. Remove from oil, allow to drain on paper towels.
Add the lamb, searing on all sides until browned, about 3 minutes.
Transfer the pan to oven, allowing lamb to cook until it reaches an internal temperate of 120 to 125 (use a meat thermometer), about 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and allow to rest for 5 to 10 minutes.
In a pot over medium heat, melt the butter. Add milk, bring to a simmer.
Whisk in the polenta, once the pot starts to look dry and the milk is mostly obsorbed, add the beer. Simmer until polenta is tender and thickened, whisking occasionally, about 18 minutes.
Stir in salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.
Plate the polenta, sprinkle with goat cheese.
Cut the lamb between the bones, plate over polenta, sprinkle with crispy sage.

Oh hey! My new cookbooks is available now, and it’s the #1 new release in appetizer cookbooks!

Check it out: The Craft Beer Bites Cookbook

Chocolate Belgian Ale Pull-Apart Breakfast Loaf

19.08.2015 15 Comments

I made you something.

It took me a year.

Right after I made the big move from Los Angeles to Seattle, I spent the better part of last year holed up in my tiny wooden house writing my second cookbook,The Craft Beer Bites Cookbook. It’s the follow-up to my first book, The Craft Beer Cookbook (affiliate link),

This new cookbook is a book dedicated to the community that craft beer creates.

Craft Beer Bites is 100 recipes for appetizers and party food all made with craft beer. It’s a book made for gatherings, for sharing great food and hard to find bottles. For bringing people together and reminding us what made us all a community in the first place.

Craft beer is built in community, in pubs and bottle shops, small packs of people just as excited to be together as they are to explore the beer at the center of the table. We need food for these get-togethers. And that’s what this book is about.

I hope you love it as much as I do.

Chocolate Belgian Ale Pull-Apart Breakfast Loaf

A delicious breakfast loaf that can be made ahead, and the perfect dish for brunch get togethers.

Print Recipe

Servings 6 servings

Ingredients

2 ½ cups 320g all purpose flour
¼ cup plus 1 tbs granulated sugar divided
1 packet rapid rise yeast 2 ¼ tsp
¾ cup wheat beer
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 large egg yolk room temperature
¼ cup heavy cream room temperature
1 tsp salt
3 tbs softened butter
3.5 wt oz chocolate chopped
Powdered sugar optional

Instructions

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook add the flour, ¼ cup granulated sugar and yeast.
Add the beer to a microwave safe bowl, microwave on high for 20 seconds, test temperate and repeat until beer reaches between 120F and 130F degrees.
Add the beer to the stand mixer, mix until most of the flour has been moistened.
Add the vanilla then the yolks, one at a time. Add the cream and salt.
Building up speed, beat on high until the dough comes together and gathers around the blade. The dough will be very soft.
Add dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover and allow to sit at room temperature for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
Add dough to a lightly floured surface, roll into an 18 x 24 inch rectangle.
In a small bowl stir together the softened butter and the remaining 1 tablespoons sugar.
Spread the dough with the butter.
Cut the dough into strips about 3 inches wide. Cut each of the strips into 4 to 5 rectangles, each should be about the size of a deck of cards. You should have between 12 and 15 pieces. Sprinkle the pieces with the chopped chocolate, then stack up each one on top of another in a tower. Lay the stack into a loaf pan, like placing books on a shelf.
If making the loaf the night before, cover and allow to rise in the fridge for 12 hours. Reheat the oven to 350F, allow the loaf to come to room temperate while the oven is pre-heating. Bake at 350 for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown.
If making the day of, preheat oven to 350F, allow to sit at room temperate until doubled in size, about 20 minutes .Bake at 350 for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from loaf pan, sprinkle with powdered sugar prior to serving.

Lemon Beer Pound Cake

14.08.2015 5 Comments

I’ve always been an adventurous eater.

I ate ants in Colombia, snake meat in Greece, mint tea made with a brown liquid I couldn’t identify in Morocco. If it’s new to me, I want to try it. I want to eat all the things, even if I know I’ll hate them. Even the few things I can’t stand, like pears, bananas, and raw celery, if you make them in a way that’s new and exciting, I’ll dive right in. Even if I know with every ounce of certainty that I’ll hate it. Curiosity rules my decision making at time. Even in the midst of my eat-all-the-things ambition, I have a true love for simple food done well.

It took years for me to figure out how to make the perfect steak, and how to cook ribs at home that taste like a southern BBQ, and how to make mac n cheese that’s creamy out of the oven. Sometimes, simple is the most beautiful.

Lemon pound cake is a simple but beautiful food. It’s perfect early in the morning with coffee, or late at night with a beer or a classic rye Old Fashioned. My main goal was the perfect icing. I wanted that thick layer that sits on top like a crown, not dripping down that side. I wanted coffee shop style icing. I figured out that a thick paste, spread on while the cake was still in the pan, then chilled for an hour gave me that gorgeous look. Although I do think this version is better for late-night-with-booze consumption than those cakes served in the morning. But it’s your call.

Lemon Beer Pound Cake

Print Recipe

Servings 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

1 tbs lemon zest
1 ¼ cup sugar
2 tbs butter softened
3 eggs room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup wheat beer
3 tbs olive oil
1 ¾ cups flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
Glaze:
2 cups 1/2 lbs powdered sugar
pinch salt
2 tsp lemon juice*
½ tsp water

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325.
In the bowl of a stand mixer add the lemon zest and sugar. Beat for about 2 minutes on high to release the lemon oils into the sugar.
Add the butter, beat until well combined.
Add the eggs and vanilla, one at a time, beating well between additions.
Add the lemon juice, beer and olive oil , beating until well combined, scraping the bottom of the mixer to insure all ingredients are well incorporated.
Stop the mixer and sprinkle with flour baking powder, baking soda and salt, sitr until just combined.
Pour into a large loaf pan that has been greased.
Bake at 325 for 55 o 60 minutes or until cake is golden brown and tooth pick inserted in the center comes back with just a few crumbs attached. Allow to cool completely.
Stir together the powdered sugar lemon juice and salt to make a thick paste. Spread over the top of the cake, chill until set about 3 hours. Cake is best made a day ahead of time.
Substitute all of some of the beer to increase the beer flavor.

Notes

Substitute all of some of the lemon juice in the glaze to increase the beer flavor.

Sugar Beer Doughnut Holes

12.08.2015 5 Comments

Sugar Beer Doughnut Holes

This is my go-to.

It’s been my summer backyard party staple. It’s what I’ve been making for months when I get the invite to "come over, we’re making food, just bring whatever." It’s all the things I look for in bring-to-a-party food.

It transports well, it sits at room temperature for a long time without concern, and it’s impressive. I know that last part makes me a bit of an over-foodie asshole, but I can’t change now.

If you’ve never made doughnuts, it’s really pretty simple, and there is only one major concern: temperature. Twice, you have to concern yourself with temperate in order for these to turn out perfect, but other than that, it’s pretty simple.

First is yeast temperate. For rapid rise yeast, the liquid (in this case beer) needs to be between 120F and 130F, too low and it won’t get a good rise, too high and you’ll kill the yeast. If you aren’t sure what temperate to use, always (always) use the temperate listed on the package of yeast, not the temperate listed in the recipe. Always.

Second, you’ll have to worry about the deep fry oil. I own a small deep fryer, because of course I own a deep fryer, and it maintains the temperate all on its own. But before I did, I just used the Dutch oven filled with a few inches of canola oil.

Clip a deep-fry thermometer onto the side, make sure the tip doesn’t touch the bottom (not even for a second, just to see how it feels), and adjust the oil temperate to keep it between 350F and 375F.

Those are the big battles, and really, it’s not that bad. And at the end of it all, you get to show up with 36 homemade doughnut holes, and that’s worth all that temperate worry. You deserve a beer.

Sugar Beer Doughnut Holes

Print Recipe

Servings 36 doughnut holes

Ingredients

3 cups 360g all purpose flour
¼ cup plus 1 cup, granulated sugar, divided
1 packet rapid rise yeast 2 ¼ tsp
¾ cup wheat beer
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 large egg yolk room temperature
¼ cup heavy cream room temperature
1 tsp salt
oil for frying

Instructions

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook add the flour, ¼ cup sugar and yeast.
Add the beer to a microwave safe bowl, microwave on high for 20 seconds, test temperate and repeat until beer reaches between 120 and 130 degrees F.
Add the beer to the stand mixer, mix until most of the flour has been moistened.
Add the vanilla then the yolks, one at a time. Add the cream and salt.
Building up speed, beat on high until the dough comes together and gathers around the blade.
The dough will be very soft.
Add dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover and allow to sit at room temperature for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
Punch down the dough and knead lightly to remove any air bubbles. Place dough in the fridge and allow to rest for 1 hour.
Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface to 1-inch thickness. Cut doughnuts into circles using a 2-inch round biscuit cutter.
Place doughnuts on a baking sheet that has been covered with parchment paper. Loosly cover with a towel.
Allow to rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
Fill a large heavy bottomed saucepan with canola oil until about 4 inches deep. Add a deep fry thermometer and bring oil to about 360 degrees, adjusting heat to maintain temperature.
Working in batches, fry the doughnuts on each side until golden brown, about 1-2 minutes per side. Remove from oil and allow to cool on a wire rack.
Place remaining 1 cup sugar in a small bowl. One at a time roll the cooled doughnuts in the sugar, add to a serving tray. Serve immediately.

Wild Ale Blackberry Sauce

07.08.2015 4 Comments

Sometimes, we have to step outside our boxes.

The ones that seem comfortable, safe, predictable. We know the boxes, and we don’t grow in there. We stagnate. The world is huge, it’s full of experiences waiting to push us past the people we’ve decided to become and into the people we can be, if we can let go for a second.

Sour beer, that might be a little bit of a let-go scenario for you. Sour beers are beers that have been infected, on purpose, by wild bacteria. I know! It sounds awful, it sounds like a problem that needs to be solved, and sometimes it is.

But this is the original beer, the way beer was first made, more for lack of options than intentionality, when beer was in its infancy. Love it or hate it, sour beers (most common are Lambics, Flanders Red Ales, goes, gueuze, wild ales, etc.) are incredibly hard to make. The balance of flavors, the wrangling of a wild strain of yeast, the way it all comes together.

So what are you in for the first time you order one of these guys? Sour. You’re shocked, I know. There is a tartness that can range from a mild funk to a glass of boozy sour patch kids. It turns out, these are also hard beers to cook with.

This, my friends, is my first sour beer recipe. I used Odell Brewing's Pina Agria, a sour beer with a nice pineapple flavor, because, shockingly enough, it was brewed with pineapple. It’s a great one to try if you’re into sours.

Try a sour, if you get a chance. Add one to the flight at your next taproom visit. Maybe you’ll love it, maybe you won’t, but at least you’ll know.

Sour Ale Blackberry Sauce

Print Recipe

Servings 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients

½ lbs fresh blackberries
1 cup white sugar
1 cup plus 2 tbs sour ale* (I used Odell Pina Agria Pineapple Sour)

Instructions

Add blackberries, sugar and 1 cup beer to a saucepan over medium high heat. Simmer until blackberries have broken down and sauce has thickened, about 10 minutes.
Allow to cool to room temperature.
Add remaining 2 tablespoons beer, stir then add additional beer to thin to desired consistency.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to use. Will keep for two weeks.

Sriracha Honey Beer Brussels Sprouts

05.08.2015 8 Comments

Beer Is For Everyone: A Party Theme

Summer is rapidly hurling towards Fall, and your barefoot in the backyard days are numbered, it’s time to actually host a party instead of just saying, "we should" until the moment passes. It’s that moment. The one that you usually let get away from you, and then wonder why.

Here’s how you do it, step by step:

1. Invite people. This is the first step because it forces you to take the rest, you’re locked in. Plus it only takes a second (unless you’re like me and you prefer to hand-make invites. Which would make you a crazy person, and you’re not. Be grateful.) Choose a mix of people, and don’t let the "doesn’t drink beer" designation deter you from inviting anyone. They will like something, and it will surprise them.

2. Beer selection. You want a huge variety of beer, not just the beer you like. Go to a large bottle shop, the bigger the better, the selection will be the best and the knowledge of the sales people will likely be the most broad. Hit several major categories, and a few out of the box beers, like this: a wet hopped IPA, a double IPA, a balanced pale ale, a cream ale, a saison, a wheat beer, a brown ale, a porter, Belgian dubbel, sour beer, a fruit beer (like one brewed with peaches—perfect for summer), a spicy beer, a smoked beer and a craft cider. Sounds like a lot, but a bomber of each beer will give everyone a taste, just enough to know if they want more. Try to get 2 bombers (22 ounce, large bottle)of beers per person. Err on the side of more, you can always keep what you don’t open.

3. Glassware. There are often things we do that are just to wallow in our own craft-beer-geek-infatuations, this isn’t one of them. Glassware makes a huge difference. Have you ever drank wine out of a coffee mug? That’s the difference between proper glassware and a shaker pint. For a beer tasting, get half pint glasses, perfect for sampling. I use these ones.

4. Food. It’s important. It’s a way to balance the flavors and explore pairings. More importantly, eating is essential when drinking as a way to stay on the controlled end of the drunk/sober spectrum. You want to serve a few things that pair well with a variety of beers and that can sit at room temperate for a while. A few to consider: Porter Caramelized Onion Flatbreads with Smoked Gouda and Roasted Tomatoes, Goat Cheese Crostini with Beer Pickled Jalapenos and Mangos, Beer Braised Pulled Pork Sliders with Chipotle Beer Cheese Sauce, Grilled BBQ Beer Chicken and Apricot Flatbreads, Beer and Bacon Dip.

5. Judge away. Save all those judgmental thoughts that you want to pour inappropriately onto your Facebook friends and strangers at the market, for beer. It’s ok to judge beer, just reserve your feelings until after you’ve tasted it. Here are beer-judge rules for people new to beer: before tasting you can only state facts not opinions (it’s dark, it smells like fruit, it’s more carbonated that the other beers), once you’ve tasted it state three observations, decide if it makes you want more even if you don’t know why. Let your guests decide what they like best, and what they like least, even if they can’t explain why.

Now you’re ready to throw a craft beer party, and prove that beer really is for everyone.

Sriracha Honey Beer Brussels Sprouts

Print Recipe

Total Time 15

Servings 4 side dish portions

Ingredients

2 tbs honey
1 tbs sririacha
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
2 tbs olive oil
1 lbs Brussels sprouts trimmed and cut in half
1/3 cup wheat beer

Instructions

In a small bowl stir together the honey, sriracha, salt, and pepper, set aside.
Heat olive oil in a cast iron skillet, add the Brussels sprouts, cut side down. Cook until just starting to brown.
Lower heat to medium low, drizzle with sriracha mixture, then pour the beer over. Simmer until sprouts are fork tender and beer has cooked off, about 8 minutes.

Beeramisu: Tiramisu Made with Beer

Beer people, we have our own language. Our own accepted set of standards. In most settings, with most normal humans, it’s unacceptable and off putting to ask a stranger if you can sample the beverage in their hands.

20 minute Chicken in Roasted Tomato Brown Ale Herb Sauce

29.07.2015 1 Comment

We are in transition.

As much as we want to burry our summer heads in the warm beach sand and ignore the impending fall, we’re only a few weeks away for the hectic pace that September thrust onto our slightly sun seared bodies. Take a breath, take a moment, plan your last few weekends, breath in the warm air floating into your car windows as you wind down the road. Make a plan right this minute to take a trip to the brewery you’ve been neglecting, the one with the killer patio and perfect beer flight.

Once the summer starts to slip away, we’ll have brown ales to ease the transitions. Brown ales never get enough credit. They will never be as sexy as a sour, or as hip as a triple IPA, or as seductive as a barrel aged stout, but they might just be the perfect food pairing beer. The roasty flavors, the malty notes, the kiss of hops, it all plays so well with a spectrum of culinary offerings.

Don’t underestimate the humble brown ale, don’t overlook it for the sas of a Belgian dubbel. Give a brown a try with some food, smoked gouda, or barbecued pork ribs, carnitas tacos, jambalaya, roasted chicken, and pretty much anything that includes caramelized onions, brown ales will knock that pairing out of the park. Brown ales might just be what will get us through the transition out of summer.

20 minute Chicken in Roasted Tomato Brown Ale Herb Sauce

Print Recipe

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 15

Total Time 20

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

3 tbs olive oil divided
¼ cup chopped shallots
1 lbs cherry tomatoes
2 clove garlic minced
3 tbs tomato paste
2/3 cup brown ale
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 tsp chopped fresh oregano
2 tsp chopped fresh basil
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
½ tsp salt plus additional for chicken
½ tsp pepper plus additional for chicken
1 lbs boneless skinless chicken (breast of thighs)
½ tsp garlic powder
Rice or pasta for serving

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425.
In a cast iron skillet heat 2 tablespoon olive oil. Add the shallots and tomatoes, cook until they start to brown, about 5 minutes.
Stir in the garlic, then the tomato paste, brown ale, rosemary, oregano, basil, salt and pepper.
Transfer to the oven, cooking until the tomatoes have broken down, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, stir in the balsamic vinegar.
While the tomatoes cook, make the chicken.
Season chicken on all sides with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add the chicken, cook on each side until browned and cooked through. Remove from skillet, slice.
Plate chicken with tomato sauce for serving. Serve over rice or pasta if desired.

Notes

If using chicken breast, filet the chicken pieces to make them thinner. Cut lengthwise so that no piece of chicken is thicker than ½ inch.

Jackie Dodd-Mallory Senior Editor

Top Craft Brewery Destinations in Napa and Sonoma County

Beer Caramelized Apple Tart with Saison Crème Anglaise

Ingredients

For the Tarts:

Crème Anglaise:

Instructions

Stout Braised Pork and Black Bean Empanadas

Ingredients

Dough:

Filling:

Instructions

Notes

10-Minute Tater Tot Beer Cheese and Chives Soup

Ingredients

Instructions

Notes

Crispy Honey Porter Sticky Chicken Wings

Ingredients

Instructions

Pumpkin Beer Bread French Toast and The Problem with Pumpkin Beer

Ingredients

For the Pumpkin Beer Bread

For the French Toast:

Instructions

Notes

BBQ Beer Brat Tailgate Pizza & How To Prep A Grilled Pizza For Tailgating

Ingredients

For the Pizza Dough:

Toppings:

Instructions

Directions:

Notes

One Bowl Chocolate Stout Loaf Cake with Blackberry Frosting

Ingredients

Instructions

Slow Cooker Honey Chili Pulled Beer Chicken Sliders

Ingredients

Instructions

Gochujang Beer Cheese Dip and Is Gochujang The New Sriracha?

Ingredients

Instructions

Notes

Beer Brined Faux-tisserie Roast Chicken

Ingredients

Instructions

Notes

Belgian Ale Brined Lamb Rib Rack with Goat Cheese Polenta with Crispy Sage

Ingredients

For the lamb:

For the polenta

Instructions

Chocolate Belgian Ale Pull-Apart Breakfast Loaf

Ingredients

Instructions

Lemon Beer Pound Cake

Ingredients

Instructions

Notes

Sugar Beer Doughnut Holes

Ingredients

Instructions

Sour Ale Blackberry Sauce

Ingredients

Instructions

Sriracha Honey Beer Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients

Instructions

20 minute Chicken in Roasted Tomato Brown Ale Herb Sauce

Ingredients

Instructions

Notes

Jackie Dodd-Mallory
Senior Editor