Appetizer

Spinach Artichoke Dip Stuffed Beer Steamed Mushrooms

Spinach Artichoke Dip Stuffed Beer Steamed Mushrooms (perfect appetizer for thanksgiving or vegetarian main!)

You guys, it’s here. IT. IS. HERE!!

After two years of working and waiting I finally have an actual, real-life, physical copy of my book LUSH in my grubby little paws. It’s gorgeous and by far my favorite book I’ve ever written, I hope you love it as much as I do. 

Wanna get a beer with me and celebrate? The answer is yes. YES, YOU DO! Are you going to be in Seattle or New York in October? Then you have no excuses, not one. 

To entice you into joining me I’ve made you some stuffed mushrooms. I will, however, eat all of them before either event so don’t be counting on eating any, they’re all mine. But you should make them for yourself. Especially as an appetizer for Thanksgiving. Or a Halloween party. Or just a Tuesday because you feel like it. 

Stuffed mushrooms was one of the first recipes I ever developed on my own and I still love them. Do you have a veg-head coming over for Thanksgiving and are at a loss for what to serve them as a main? Just swap the 24 cremini mushrooms with 8 portobello mushrooms and they will have more than enough food to be as stuffed as the rest of us. 

So there you have it. A perfect appetizer that doubles as a vegetarian main dish, and you’ve already decided to come out and have a beer with me next month. Not a bad Thursday.

Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Spinach Artichoke Dip Stuffed Beer Steamed Mushrooms

Ingredients

  • 24 cremini mushrooms baby bellas
  • 2 tablespoons (28g) olive oil
  • 1 cup chopped white onions
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 teaspoon (6g) salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper 3g
  • 1 cup (50g) chopped fresh spinach, packed
  • ½ cup (120g) marinated artichokes, chopped
  • ¼ cup (2oz) plus 1 cup beer (8oz) Oktoberfest, Marzen, brown ale, divided
  • 4 oz cream cheese
  • ½ cup (56g) shredded mozzarella
  • 1 tablespoon (14g) butter, melted
  • 1/3 cup (30g) Italian bread crumbs

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 400°F.
  • Wash the mushrooms well, removing the stems. Chop the stems, set aside. Add the mushroom caps, hole side up, to a baking dish (or dishes).
  • Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Add the chopped mushroom stems and onions, cooking until onions and mushroom pieces have softened. Stir in the salt and pepper.
  • Stir in the garlic, then add the spinach, cooking until the spinach has softened and wilted, stir in ¼ cup beer and the artichokes. 
  • Add the cream cheese, stirring until it has melted and combined with the rest of the filling ingredients. Stir in the cheese until melted.
  • Add heaping spoonfuls into the holes in the mushrooms.
  • Stir together the melted butter and breadcrumbs. Add a teaspoon or so to the top of each mushroom.
  • Add the beer to the pan around the mushrooms (if using two pans, divide the beer between the pans).
  • Cover the pan and bake for 18 minutes, remove the cover and cook for an additional 10 minutes or until the top has browned.

Notes

  • To make this entree-sized portions, substitute the cremini mushrooms for 8 portobello mushrooms. 
  • To make in advance, stop at step seven (right before you pour the beer into the pan, just drink it instead!), cover and refrigerate for up to 36 hours. 

Beer Battered Fried Green Tomato BLT Sliders with Chipotle Crema

Beer Battered Fried Green Tomato BLT Sliders with Chipotle Crema

It’s that time of year again when I stop pretending. Stop pretending that the summer isn’t almost over, that football season is back and, most importantly, that the over abundance of green tomatoes in my garden will actually ripen. 

This is fine, all of this. Bring on fall, and the first frost that will kill all of those infantile tomatoes, and give me back my wellies and jeans because I’m about to need them. This overlap between garden and football season is the perfect time to use those tomatoes in their unripened state as if that was your intention all along. 

These are a great football party offering, but in case you (like me) have WAAAYYY more green tomatoes than you ever got red ones, you have some more options. Pickle them (pickle all the things!!!), salsa verde is an excelent choice, and I will also be making this Green Tomato Posole and pretending like I’m perfectly fine with the summer being over.  

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Beer Battered Fried Green Tomato BLT Sliders with Chipotle Crema

Servings: 12 sliders

Ingredients

For the tomatoes:

  • Canola oil for frying
  • 2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour (plus more for dredge)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 12 ounces beer
  • 3 large green tomatoes sliced in ½ inch slices

For the sliders:

  • 12 Hawaiian rolls cut in half to resemble buns
  • ½ cup (125g) Mexican crema (or sour cream or Crème fraîche)
  • 1 chipotle pepper in adobo minced
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 12 slices of bacon cooked, cut in half
  • 5 large basil leaves chopped

Instructions

  • Heat 2 inches of canola oil in a pot over medium-high heat.
  • In a large bowl whisk together the flour, salt, garlic powder, chili powder, pepper, and cornstarch.
  • Pour beer into the bowl, stir with a fork until combined (this should be the thickness of pancake batter. If the batter is too thick, add a bit of water to thin but the batter should be very thick).
  • Place a wire rack over a baking sheet, set aside. Add some flour to a separate bowl, set aside.
  • One at a time add the tomato slices to the flour, dredge to coat. Then add into the batter until well coated, then add to the hot oil. Fry until golden brown on both sides, about 4 minutes per side, then transfer to the wire rack, allow to cool.
  • Stir together the crema, chipotle pepper, garlic powder, and salt.
  • Add the fried tomatoes to the buns, top with bacon, chipotle crema, and basil. Serve immediately.

Beer Chicken Satay with Almond Stout Dipping Sauce

Beer Chicken Satay with Almond Stout Dipping Sauce

I have recently discovered, to my abject horror, that I vastly prefer almond butter to peanut butter. Why so horrified, you ask? Because it is, in my conservative estimation, about one thousand times more expensive. And I am cheap. Have I told you this? That I have not one, but three favorite thrift stores, each one has it’s own unique category of items I prefer it for (food props, random vintage furniture, weird but fun jewelry). This is a true fact. 

Then there comes along these items that overpower my will to conserve. Like $30 bottles of beer, and jars of roasty nut butter. No, no, that $13 dollar jar of almond butter makes total sense! And then I eat it and I’m convinced, money can be saved elsewhere because I can’t go back, not now. It’s so much better!

Sure, some people will DIE if they eat peanuts and that’s a fine reason to forgo the eating of such nuts. But there is also the added benefit of superior taste and texture, so it’s a win/win. From now on, all satay sauce should just be made with almonds, it’s safer. And more delicious.

Go forth and eat your almonds with a fine roasty stout and chicken hot off the grill. 

 

Print Recipe
5 from 2 votes

Beer Chicken Satay with Almond Stout Dipping Sauce

Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients

Chicken Skewers:

  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 2 garlic cloves grated with microplane
  • 1 cup 8 oz full-fat coconut milk from a well shaken can
  • 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon fish sauce
  • 1 teaspoon sesame chili oil
  • 1 lbs chicken thighs cut into cubes
  • ½ cup beer (pilsner, pale ale, lager)

Satay sauce:

  • ¼ cup 64g smooth almond butter
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon sesame chili oil
  • ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 teaspoon fish sauce
  • 1 tablespoon coconut milk from a tin
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons stout beer

Instructions

  • Stir together all the chicken skewer ingredients (except the chicken), add the chicken. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour and up to 24.
  • Preheat the grill to medium high.
  • Thread the chicken through skewers. Add the chicken skewers to the grill, cooking on both sides until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.
  • Stir together the satay sauce ingredients.
  • Serve the chicken alongside the satay sauce.

Spicy Beer Pulled Pork Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Spicy Beer Pulled Pork Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Somedays the internet is just pug videos and Game of Thrones memes and other days it feels so full of trolls lurking just under the surface, waiting with their beady little eyes for the chance to pounce.  On the bad days, I have to believe those of us who are willing to mama-bear the good people and come out in force against the trolls are much larger in quality and quantity than former.

Let’s just make that agreement, shall we? As we make our pulled pork and drink our beer that we’ll look out for each other. We’ll stick up for someone who’s being bullied online and push the trolls back into the caves from which they came.

There are days when I want to be the kind of person that will love the trolls so hard they will crack wide up and shed their skin like a snake and evolve into a self-aware human.

But other days I don’t have the strength. I just want to hand you my beer and wreck shop. I find the restraint and often channel that rage into cooking. So I rage cooked you some stuffed sweet potatoes and served them with this amazing hazy IPA from bells called Official Hazy IPA. It’s one of those beers that makes everything right in the world.

Stout Beer Barbecue Sauce

Beer Pickled Jalapeños

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5 from 1 vote

Spicy Beer Pulled Pork Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Servings: 6 people

Ingredients

For the pulled pork:

  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon onion powder
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 1 tablespoon black pepper
  • 2 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 2 teaspoon dry mustard powder
  • 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
  • 4 lb pork shoulder
  • 6 cloves of garlic peeled
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 3 cups stout or smoked porter

For the potatoes:

  • 6 medium sized garnet sweet potatoes
  • olive oil
  • kosher salt
  • 6 tablespoons butter

For the toppings:

  • 1 cup BBQ sauce for beer BBQ sauce, link above
  • ¼ cup chopped cilantro
  • ¼ cup pickled jalapenos for beer pickled jalapenos, link above

Instructions

Make the pulled pork:

  • In a small bowl stir together the salt, brown sugar onion powder, chili powder, cumin, pepper, smoked paprika and mustard powder together until combined, set aside.
  • Take out your pork and stab 6, 2-inch deep holes fairly evenly spaced through the meat. Push a clove of garlic into each hole until no longer visible.
  • Rub the entire surface of the meat with the spice mixture, using it all.
  • In a large Dutch oven, heat the olive oil until very hot. Sear all surfaces of the meat, even the sides, until browned. The entire process will probably take about 10-15 minutes. Pour the beer over the meat, cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook for about 3 hours, turning the meat over about every 30 minutes, until the meat is tender and falling apart.
  • Once the meat is tender remove from heat, use two forks to shred into pieces while still in the pot (or remove, shred and return to pot). Return to the pot to heat and allow to simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove the meat from the pot, add to a servings bowl.
  • If planning on store the meat, reserve ½ cup of the cooking liquid to add to the meat while storing.

Make the potatoes:

  • Preheat the oven to 400°F.
  • Pierce the potatoes all over with a small knife.
  • Add the potatoes to a wire rack over a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt.
  • Bake for 40 minutes or until fork tender ( the time will depend on the size of your potatoes, larger ones can take up to 30 minutes longer).

Top the potatoes:

  • Slit the potatoes lengthwise. Add 1 tablespoon of butter to the center of each, sprinkle with salt. Mash the butter and salt into the sweet potato with a fork.
  • Add desire amount of pulled pork to each potato, top with cilantro, barbeque sauce, and jalapenos.

One Bowl Chocolate Chip Beer and Peanut Butter Bread

One Bowl Chocolate Chip Beer and Peanut Butter Bread

I like that we do this. We make a loaf cake, slice it, serve it with coffee and call it bread. But we both know it’s cake. We call it bread, nod along as we both agree to call it that, and happily devour it with our morning latte as if we didn’t just eat frosting-less cake for breakfast. We like to try to trick ourselves, and we are both ok with this.

But THIS not-cake-its-bread-promise is also full of protein because of the peanut butter. So it’s kinda not as bad for you, which makes it good in my book. It’s also perfect for an afternoon snack with a beer, which you totally deserve for having such a good-for-you breakfast.

It also makes a really easy bake-and-take offering if you have to go somewhere to eat food in a social setting. It’s like a peanut butter cup and beer but in bread form. You can’t go wrong, it’s a crowd pleaser. Just like your ability to convince people to eat cake for breakfast, everyone likes that about you.

Print Recipe

One Bowl Chocolate Chip Beer and Peanut Butter Bread

Ingredients

  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup (100g) sugar
  • 2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup (120g) chocolate chips
  • ¾ cup (180g) half and half
  • ¾ cup (6oz) stout or porter beer
  • ½ cup (128g) creamy peanut butter, slightly heated

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F.
  • In a large bowl stir together the baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar and flour.
  • Add the remaining ingredients, stir until combined.
  • Spray an 8x4 inch loaf pan with cooking spray, add the batter in an even layer.
  • Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the top is golden brown and springs back when lightly touched.

Prosciutto Wrapped Beer Brined Scallops with Chimichurri Butter + The Tabletop Draft Pour System that I love

This post was sponsored by Fizzics. Partnerships with The Beeroness and outside companies only occur when the company’s products are ones I use and enjoy myself.  All ideas, words, and opinions are my  own

Beer is communal. It’s more than a beverage, it’s the center of a gathering. Whenever I travel I always bring back beer, not just to remember what the trip tasted like, but to share it with friends. It’s the best way to experience travel stories, over the beer that you were drinking while those stories were unfolding.

I recently tried out this Fizzics Draft Pour system and I was really impressed. It’s small, super easy to use, and it fits any beer in my beer fridge. The pours that come off of it have a sort of CO2/nitro hybrid taste and mouthfeel without the need for any additional chemicals or gasses. It uses sound. Crazy, right? It works beautifully and unlike that table-top soda machine I had that one time, you don’t need to constantly refill any gas cartridges because it doesn’t use any. All you need is 2 AA batteries, or you can just plug it in.

It makes the bottles I brought back from California taste like a draft pour, and it couldn’t be easier. It also looks great in my bar. It’s small, light and has a nice modern look that fits into my bar area.

I already have plans to give a few Fizzics out as gifts to my most hard-core beer friends, it’s perfect and unexpected. I’ll be giving this with a few bombers of hard to find beer and my beer nerd friends will flip (and Father’s Day is coming up!!).

If you have any questions about my experience with it, please reach out!

I also have a recipe for you, an appetizer that is perfect with that beer you brought back from your trip. I’ve long had an issue with wrapping scallops in bacon, the bacon takes much longer to fully cook than the scallops (I need crispy bacon) and using prosciutto solves my issues. Not only does it not technically need to be cooked, but it also crisps much faster.

Did you know most store-bought scallops are almost always soaked in a milky phosphate liquid to help extend their shelf life? A brine is necessary for washing the phosphates out of most store-bought scallops. If you don’t brine, the milky solution will weep out of your scallops while they cook, preventing a good sear and giving the scallops a soapy taste and rubbery texture.

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5 from 1 vote

Prosciutto Wrapped Beer Brined Scallops with Chimichurri Butter

Course: Appetizer
Servings: 6 people

Ingredients

For the scallops:

  • 1 lbs colossal or jumbo scallops
  • 1 tablespoons salt
  • 12 ounces beer pale lager, pilsner, wheat beer
  • 4 oz thinly sliced prosciutto one slice for each scallop
  • 2 tablespoons (28g) butter

For the IPA Chimichurri Butter:

  • 1 tablespoon (10g) finely chopped shallots
  • ¼ cup (3g) fresh parsley, minced
  • 2 tablespoons (1g) fresh oregano leaves, minced
  • 1 teaspoon (3g) red pepper flakes
  • 1 teaspoons (6g) lemon juice
  • 1 clove garlic grated with a microplane
  • ¼ teaspoon (1.5g) salt
  • ¼ teaspoon (0.5g) black pepper
  • 4 tablespoons (57g) melted butter

Instructions

  • In a large bowl add the scallops (if buying scallops at a grocery store rather than a high-end seafood purveyor, frozen is often better. Scallops are usually frozen on site and avoid the chemicals used to extend their shelf life).
  • Sprinkle with salt and cover with beer. Refrigerate for 2 to 12 hours. Rinse and drain. Add to a stack of paper towels to fully dry the scallops.
  • Add a slice of prosciutto to a flat surface, fold to the width of the scallop. Tightly wrap the scallop. Repeat for all scallops.
  • Heat the butter in a pan over medium high heat until very hot.
  • Add the scallops, flat side down, searing until browned before flipping to sear on the other side (if scallops stick to the pan, don’t panic and try to pry them off. They will release from the pan once they sear). Ideally, you want the scallops to be seared on the outside with a slight translucent hint in the center. 
  • Stir together the chimichurri ingredients, making sure the butter is warm and the ingredients are all well combined.
  • Serve the scallops along side the chimichurri butter.

 

 

Maple Beer Glazed Crispy Pork Belly

Maple Beer Glazed Crispy Pork Belly, the easiest and tastiest pork belly I’ve ever made! 

Pork belly is an investment. Not financially—it’s actually pretty inexpensive—it’s a time investment. One that’s well worth the effort with the right recipe. I’ve made pork belly so many times over the years and I’ve learned that patience is key to getting what you want. That is if what you want is juicy pork with crispy skin.

I usually source my pork belly from a local restaurant supply store, it’s a great place to shop if you want to buy your body weight in pork products. Why yes, yes I do want more pork belly than I can safely lift without a spotter! With a recipe that takes this much time, I want to test it to make sure it’s right when you finally make the investment of time it takes to get this done.

If you do find that an overly ambitious trip to a pork belly purveyor straddled you with more pork than anyone can safely eat in a lifetime, just remember that it freezes really well. Just wrap it better than you think is necessary and it should be fine for a few months.

After several rounds of testing, this was the winner. Juciy meat: check. Crispy skin: so much. Easy recipe that doesn’t involve scoring, poking, vinegar or excessive steps: absolutly.

Print Recipe

Maple Beer Glazed Crispy Pork Belly

Ingredients

For the pork

  • 1 (4.5 lbs) pork belly, rind on
  • 2 cups very warm water
  • 2 tablespoons salt
  • 1 tablespoon whole cloves
  • 1 tablespoon whole allspice
  • 2 (12 ounce) beers (wheat beer, pilsner, pale ale)
  • 1 cup kosher salt
  • 1 egg white
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

For the glaze

  • 3 tablespoons real maple syrup
  • 2 tablespoons beer wheat beer, pilsner, pale ale
  • 2 tablespoon spicy brown mustard

Instructions

  • Add the pork belly to a large bowl or baking dish.
  • In a large bowl stir together the hot water, salt, cloves, and allspice, make sure the salt is completely dissolved. Pour in the cold beer. Make sure the brine temperature is below room temperature to avoid prematurely cooking the pork.
  • Pour the brine over the pork. Cover and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours.
  • Preheat oven to 300°F
  • Remove the pork from the brine, add to a stack of paper towels, rind side down for 10 minutes to dry the skin.
  • In a small bowl stir together the kosher salt and egg whites until well combined.
  • Place a wire rack over a baking sheet that has been lined with aluminum foil. Place the pork on the rack, rind side up.
  • Pack the salt on top of the rind until completely covered and slightly compacted.
  • Bake for 3 hours. Remove from oven, raise temperature to 400°F. Gently pull the salt pack off the pork. It will be a hard crust at this point and should remove easily in a few large chunks.
  • Brush off any remaining salt with a clean kitchen towel or paper towel. Brush with olive oil.
  • Bake for 20-30 minutes or until the rind is a dark golden brown.
  • Stir together the maple syrup, 2 tablespoons beer, and mustard. Brush the top liberally with glaze.
  • Turn the broiler to high. Broil in the top 1/3 of the oven (a few rungs down from the very top) until the glaze has caramelized. Re-brush every 5 minutes. Broil until caramelized and dark.
  • Remove from oven, cut into cubes for serving

Notes

Can be served as an appetizer or an entree.

Dynamite Sushi and Beer Dip

Dynamite Sushi and Beer Dip

I know, I know. Don’t look at me like that. I know this is absurd. It’s not even really “sushi.” But don’t sit there and tell me that you don’t love those baked scallop rolls that taste more like nachos than they taste like legit sushi as much as I do.

It’s the guilty pleasure of Western sushi joints, filled with warm, creamy, sriracha laced seafood and it’s amazing. I’m hoping that all the legitimate sushi connoisseur and  Japanese chefs will forgive how I’ve bastardized their favorite cuisine. Mostly because it’s really good.

It’s supposed to be an appetizer, something you bring to a game-day-party or girls-beer-night. That was my plan. But then I decided that since it started to snow again today, it’s also survival food and I should just eat it for lunch. So I did. Please don’t hate me.

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5 from 1 vote

Dynamite Sushi and Beer Dip

Ingredients

  • 8 oz cream cheese softened
  • ¼ cup mayonaise
  • 3 tablespoons sriracha
  • ¼ cup pale ale beer
  • 2 tablespoons green onions
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ lbs scallops or bay scallops, chopped
  • ½ lbs bay shrimp
  • ½ teaspoon Nanami Togarashi Japanese chili pepper seasoning*
  • 4 imitation crab sticks, chopped
  • 4 sheets roasted nori snacks, thinly sliced

Instructions

  • 1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
    2. Add the cream cheese, mayo, sriracha, beer, salt and green onions to a mixing bowl. Use a hand mixer to beat until smooth.
    3. Stir in the scallops, shrimp, crab, and Nanami Tograshi. Add to an oven safe serving bowl.
    4. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until warmed through.
    5. Sprinkle with Nori, serve with chips. 

Notes

*Nanami Togarashi is sold in the Asian section of most super markets, it often comes in a small red and white glass container.

Skillet Chorizo Beer Cheese Dip in a Pizza Crust Ring

Skillet Chorizo Beer Cheese Dip in a Pizza Crust Ring

I’ve made a decision. I’m hosting a Super Bowl party, and as I do, I’ll probably make too much food. I do this as if we will all surely starve if we don’t have at least 17 tons of food per person to sustain us as we hang out for a few hours. If you grew up in a very large family, you understand this struggle.

I wanted to tell you what I’m making, because I want to know what you’re making, too.  I’ll be making a few new dishes but I’ll also break out some of my favorites:

Two kinds of wings because wings need to be kicked up with some heat but some people are crazy and don’t like spicy things. I’ve decided on these Sriracha IPA wings, and Honey Porter Sticky wings, with accompanying sauces.

Dips, of course. This Skillet Chorizo Beer Cheese Dip in a Pizza Crust Ring must be there, but I’m also making Stout Caramelized onion dip.

Then I thought that maybe I should have sliders, too. Because tiny sandwiches are fun and easy to eat when one hand is already occupied by a beer. So I’m making these Carnitas Sliders, and I’m going to sliderify a Caprese salad.

But, of course, we need desserts. So I’m going to turn this cake into cupcakes and color the frosting to match the colors of the teams playing, because I like to be extra. And I’m making mini chocolate footballs, don’t hate me.

Yes, I know, this may take me the next two weeks to complete all these tasks but I don’t care. It’ll just give me more reasons not to leave my house.

Beer Pizza Dough recipe, 1 hour Beer Pizza Dough recipe

Print Recipe

Skillet Chorizo Beer Cheese Dip in a Pizza Crust Ring

Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time20 mins
Total Time30 mins
Keyword: Beer Cheese Dip

Ingredients

  • 4.5 ounce Mexican pork Chorizo (½ of a 9 ounce package)
  • 1 lbs pizza dough (store bought or homemade, link to my recipe above)
  • Olive oil for brushing
  • coarse salt
  • 1 cup (112g) shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 4 oz cream cheese (½ of an 8oz package)
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1/2 cup (4oz) evaporated milk
  • 1/4 cup (2oz) beer (IPA, pale ale, wheat beer)
  • Chopped green onion or cilantro (optional)

Instructions

  • 1. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
    2. In a skillet over medium-high heat, cook the chorizo until cooked through, remove from the pan, set aside.
    3. Cut the pizza into 16 equal sized pieces, form each into tight balls.
    4. Place in a ring in the outermost part of the inside of a 10-inch cast iron skillet.
    5. Brush with oil, sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake for 10 minutes, remove from oven (bread will not be finished cooking)
    6. Add the mozzarella, cream cheese, cornstarch, evaporated milk and beer to a blender, blend on high until well combined. Stir in the chorizo.
    7. Pour the dip into the center of the skillet bread ring.
    8. Put back into the oven, bake until the cheese is warm and the pizza dough is golden brown 8-10 more minutes.
    9. Remove from oven, allow to cool enough to eat, sprinkle with green onions or cilantro. 

Secret Ingredient Smooth and Creamy Beer Nacho Cheese Sauce

Secret Ingredient Smooth and Creamy Beer Nacho Cheese Sauce

I did it. It only took two years and countless recipe trials to FINALLY bring you what I call, “7-11 pump cheese nacho cheese” but the homemade version. I know, I know, OFFICIALLY, that’s gross. But secretly, it’s amazing. It’s creamy, and it never seperates or gets grainy. HOW DO THEY DO IT?!

I don’t know, probably a chemical shitstorm that I don’t want to know about. But I do know how YOU can do that. You can be the cooker of the creamiest cheese sauce in all the land, and it’s made in your blender in 3 minutes. I know, you love me. I love you back.

It’s not one, but TWO secret ingredients that are super easy to find. Evaporated milk is the big one, it’s just milk that has been reduced. The same amount of milk proteins but will less water to interfere with stabilization (not to be confused with sweetened condensed milk, we aren’t making nacho fudge, that’s an entirely different website).

Second is cornstarch, it helps bind everything together and prevent it from separating. Just add in some cheese (obviously), beer and spices to those two secret ingredients and blend to your heart’s content. Then just heat and serve. You can even make it ahead of time. If you’ve ever tried that before, you’ll know that with a regular cheese sauce that’s laughable. But this stuff is the cheese sauce dreams.

Unless you don’t dream about cheese sauce, in that case, I’m not sure we can be friends.

Print
Secret Ingredient Smooth and Creamy Beer Nacho Cheese Sauce

Prep Time: 3 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Yield: 3 cups

Ingredients

  • 2 ½ cups (300g) shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
  • ½ cup (4oz) beer (IPA, pale ale, wheat beer)*

Instructions

  1. Add all ingredients to a blender, blend until smooth.
  2. Add to a saucepan over medium heat, heat to desired temperature.
  3. Store in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to use, heat to serve. Can be made up to 3 days in advance.

Notes

*Hoppier beers (IPA’s, American Pale Ales, etc.) will have a stronger beer flavor. For a lower beer flavor, opt for a wheat beer or a pale lager.

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Stout Osso Buco Sliders with Gremolata Sour Cream

Stout Osso Buco Sliders with Gremolata Sour Cream

We’ve made it. Made the turn into the New Year and survived to tell the tale. January is about breathing, stepping back, reflecting and fireplaces. Stouts are also a January thing, even when you’ve resolved to be healthy so you can run faster and jump higher.

One won’t hurt. Maybe just buy one for the fridge to look at and remind yourself of the reward you have coming once your goal has been met. Don’t forget about Football, it’s another January thing. An even-if-you-don’t-like-sports thing, because it’s a how we get out of the house and see other humans in the depths of winter thing.

Maybe, if you’re not ready to jump into football appetizer like food yet, just pin it for later. A mental prep for February (just as dark as January but graciously shorter) when we will break our diets to eat all the things and watch the Big Game with other people who will mostly be rooting against one team or another. This is important, we need things to look forward to right now as we’ve rounded the corner out of all the look-forward-to things portion of the year and we’re not sure what to do with ourselves.

Just make some Osso Buco Sliders, they’re tiny. How much damage can one really do?

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Stout Osso Buco Sliders with Gremolata Sour Cream

Yield: 12 sliders

Ingredients

  • 4 slices thick cut bacon
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • ¼ cup flour
  • 3 lbs beef shanks (4 to 5)
  • 2 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 ½ cups carrots, peeled and sliced (about 2 large)
  • 2 ribs celery, chopped
  • 1 cup white onions, chopped
  • 1 cup porter or stout beer
  • 3 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 3 cups broth
  • ¼ cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
  • ½ teaspoon lemon zest
  • ½ teaspoon orange zest
  • 2 large cloves garlic, grated with a zester or microplane
  • 1 ½ cups sour cream
  • 12 slider buns

Instructions

  1. In a large pot or Dutch oven, cook the bacon over medium heat until most of the fat has rendered and the bacon starts to crisp. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon, set aside. Leave about 2 tablespoons of bacon fat in the pan, discard the rest.
  2. Salt and pepper the beef shanks liberally.
  3. Add flour to a bowl. One at a time dredge shanks in the flour until well coated.
  4. Return the Dutch oven to heat, allow the bacon fat to get hot but not smoking.
  5. Sear the shanks in bacon fat until browned on both sides. Remove shanks from pot.
  6. Add olive oil to pot along with carrots, celery and onion. Cook until softened, about 8 minutes.
  7. Add the beer, scraping to deglaze the bottom. Stir in the tomato paste.
  8. Return shanks and bacon to the pot. Pour in broth until shanks are ¾ of the way covered.
  9. Allow liquid to simmer but not boil for 3 ½ hours or until meat is tender and falling off the bone. While shanks are cooking, turn over every 30 to 45 minutes. Add additional broth to maintain a liquid level that is about ¾ of the way up the side of the shanks.
  10. Once tender, remove the meat and bones. Discard the bones and any large pieces of fat. Pull the meat into small pieces using two forks, return to the pot, stir to combine with the sauce.
  11. Spoon the meat mixture into slider buns.
  12. Combine the parsley, lemon zest, orange zest, garlic and sour cream in a small bowl.
  13. Top the meat with a spoonful of sour cream mixture before putting the top of the bun on the slider. Serve immediately.
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Beer Mac N Cheese Stuffed Jalapenos

Beer Mac N Cheese Stuffed Jalapenos, the perfect game day snack!

I was born in California, cut my beer drinking teeth on Sierra Nevada, spent most of my life living up and down the Golden State. It’s a part of who I am and will always be my first home. You already know about the fires that have devastated one of the most gorgeous parts of our country. I watched, horrified, from my Pacific Northwest perch as my old neighborhoods were destroyed, my friends evacuated, places I used to roam burned beyond recognition.

Living in LA outsiders always asked if earthquakes scared me. No, never. Not once. It was the fires that ravaged us every year that put fear into my bones, not the occasional earthquake that hardly rattled the hanging lamps. This past year was the worse we’ve ever seen. I don’t need to go into statistics and details, you already know. When you just want to retreat into a beer and forget how bad it is, the good news is that there is a beer that can actually help.

Sierra Nevada has collaborated with over 1200 breweries nationwide to brew Resilience IPA, donating 100% of the sales (all of it, not just some of it) to the Campfire Relief Fund. Not only have they started out by donating 100K to the fund, brewed a beer to increase that amount on an hourly basis, partnered with over 1200 breweries, but they have also made it as easy as drinking a beer to help out. There will never be an easier way to do something to help a national tragedy.

Want to drink a beer for a charity? Find the brewery participating in the Resilience Butte County Proud IPA  project. I’d bet there’s a brewery close by you, and a way that your weeknight happy hour can be more than just an excuse to meet up with friends. Contact your local brewery to find out when their Resilience IPA hits the tap room, mark your calendar, organize a get-together, feel good about your nightly pint.

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Beer Mac N Cheese Stuffed Jalapenos

Yield: 24

Ingredients

  • 2 cups (180g) elbow macaroni
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted (14g) butter
  • 1 tablespoon flour
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • ¾ cup (6oz) whole milk
  • ½ cup (4oz) Pale Ale
  • 3 cups (240g) cheddar cheese, shredded (plus additional for top)
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
  • 12 large jalapenos
  • 2 tablespoon (14g) melted butter
  • ½ cup panko (25g) bread crumbs

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F
  2. Cook the macaroni in lightly salted boiling water until just before al dente, about 5 minutes. Drain, set aside.
  3. In a large pot over medium high heat, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and cornstarch until well combined. Add the milk and beer, bring to a low simmer, do not boil.
  4. A hand full at a time add the cheese, whisking until all the cheese has melted before adding more.
  5. Stir in the salt and garlic powder (add additional to taste).
  6. Add the noodles, stir until well combined, allow the noodles to finish cooking in the sauce, about 3 minutes.
  7. Cut the jalapenos in half, scoop out the seeds and membranes.
  8. Place the jalapenos, cut side up, on a baking sheet covered with parchment.
  9. Fill the jalapenos with mac n cheese.
  10. Sprinkle with shredded cheese.
  11. Stir together the melted butter and panko. Sprinkle the panko on top of the jalapenos.
  12. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the panko has browned.
  13. Serve warm.
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Super Soft Butter and Beer 1 hour Dinner Rolls

Super Soft Butter and Beer 1 hour Dinner Rolls

Are you ready? Take a deep breath because you don’t have a choice, the holidays and all that goes with them, are upon us. Let’s take a second to inventory this upcoming Q4 on a personal level, shall we? Of course we should, we like doing things like this.

Let’s pretend like we like excel spreadsheets (ok, maybe you do, they make me break out in hives), and make some columns. First up, the good stuff! (always start with the good stuff).

The first snowfall; the majestic, glorious, wonder of little, frozen flakes of water floating to the ground like natures glitter. The smell of a winter evening spiked with the glow of a fireplace. Or better yet, a fire PIT in your backyard, and there is hot cocoa (boozy, obviously)! See, good stuff. Lots of good stuff.

Food. Winter food is amazing. Big, steamy bowls of spicy ramen. Roast chicken. A big pot of spicy chipotle chili.

Beer! We are now in the dessert of the beer season. Barrel aged beers are coming at us with a vengeance and they’re excellent for winter and that fire pit in your backyard. Invite your friends over, it’s perfect.

Bad stuff. Oh, yeah, bad stuff. I guess if we should flesh out that list, in the spirit of fairness and balance and spreadsheets. First up: higher than average possibility of family drama. Also see: icy roads, scraping frozen water off things that it shouldn’t be on, and all the stress. All. The. Stress.

Let’s default to the first list to combat the second. The first one is pretty much the remedy to the second. Also, don’t forget about leftovers (add it to the good list). And how nothing is better the day after Thanksgiving than making a turkey sandwich with a dinner roll bun. Make a double batch of these. They help with stress and family drama. Oh, and stock up on those barrel aged beers.

 

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Super Soft 1 hour Butter and Beer Dinner Rolls

Prep Time: 1 hour

Yield: 12 large rolls or 16 small

Ingredients

  • 4 cups (480g) all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 2 ¼ teaspoons (one packet) active-dry yeast
  • ¾ cups (6oz) beer (pale ale, pilsner, wheat beer, lager, nothing too hoppy)
  • 6 tablespoons (84g) melted butter
  • ½ cup cream (120g) or half and half
  • 1 teaspoon salt, plus additional for the top
  • egg wash (1 egg plus 2 tablespoons milk, beaten)
  • Coarse salt

Instructions

  1. Add the flour, brown sugar, and yeast to the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix to combine.
  2. In a heat safe bowl or pot stir together the beer, melted butter and cream then heat to 110°F (check the temperature listed on your package of yeast and default to that temperature rather than the one listed in any recipe).
  3. Add the liquid to the stand mixer, beating on low to medium speed to combine. Add the salt once the flour has been moistened.
  4. Raise the speed to medium high, beat until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.
  5. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover and allow to rise until doubled in size (about 40-60 minutes, the warmer the room the faster the rise. In a cold room this can take up to two hours).
  6. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
  7. On a lightly floured surface, pat the dough into a rectangle. Fold into thirds, like a letter about to go into an envelope. Press out into a long rectangle again, fold again. Repeat three times until the dough feels a bit stiff.
  8. Cut into 12 equal size pieces.
  9. Roll each piece into a tight ball.
  10. Oil a 9x13 baking dish, place the dough balls equally spaced in the pan.
  11. Brush the tops of the rolls with egg wash, sprinkle with salt.
  12. Bake until the tops have turned golden brown, 20-25 minutes.
  13. Remove from the oven and cover with a kitchen towel as they cool (this will make the rolls soft, rather than crusty).
  14. Serve warm.
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Crock-Pot Express Crock Multi-Cooker Carnitas Sliders with Chipotle Sour Cream

 

This post was sponsored by Crock-Pot. Partnerships with The Beeroness and outside companies are rare and only occur when the company’s products are ones I use and enjoy myself. All ideas and opinions are my  own.

I’m still sort of in shock. If you’re a long time carnitas lover, you’ll know what I’m talking about. The best part of this delicious slow-cooked meat dish is the lovely caramelization you get on some of the end bits. It’s really not the same without that.

What shocks me is that I was able to get the perfect seared caramelization in a Crock-Pot! If you’d have told me that was possible, I might have fought you, bet you several pitchers of good beer that it wasn’t possible. And now here I am. I’d owe you quite a few beers, and I’d have gladly paid up, these carnitas were the best I’ve made and that sear is perfect! (Yes, it’s SUPER nerdy that I’m THIS excited about it. But I can’t even try to care, I’m so excited!)

 

The new Crock-Pot Express Crock Multi-Cooker is a game changer. It has eight different functions that encompass all the functions you would achieve from using multiple different kitchen appliances from slow cooking to pressure cooking and sautéing to searing. The Crock-Pot Express Crock Multi-Cooker is also available in NEW 4-Quart and 8-Quart Models.

I was a bit skeptical that the brown/sauté setting would work as well as a stovetop pot. It’s a good thing I didn’t have a bet going, it was perfect. Also, SO much easier. I didn’t have to use anything but the Multi-Cooker. I’m usually someone who digs the traditional Dutch ovens for such endeavors, but these carnitas came out so well, I’ll never go back.

So, if you want to win yourself a couple beers, just bet someone that you can’t make a Crock-Pot sear. Or pressure cook. You’ll never have to buy beer again.

 

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Crock-PotExpress Crock Carnitas Sliders with Chipotle Sour Cream

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

  • 4.5 lbs pork shoulder, cut into cubes
  • 1 tablespoon salt, plus ½ teaspoon divided
  • 12 ounces stout beer
  • 6 ounces tomato paste
  • Juice from 1 large lime
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 2 teaspoons chili powder
  • ½ teaspoon cayenne powder
  • ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 tablespoon chopped chipotle peppers in adobo
  • 24 slider buns
  • chopped cilantro

Instructions

  1. Sprinkle the pork on all sides with 1 tablespoon salt.
  2. In a small bowl stir together the beer, tomato paste, lime juice, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, cayenne, and smoked paprika.
  3. Add the pork and the sauce to a Crock-Pot Express Crock Multi-Cooker, add the lid (make sure the lid to the Multi-Cooker is locked but the steam value is open to “release” mode). Cook on high for 6 hours, or low for 8 hours.
  4. Remove the inner bowl of the Crock-Pot, pouring off the liquid (leave a small amount, about 2 tablespoons, the amount doesn’t need to be exact), place the bowl back in the Crockpot.
  5. Turn the multi-cooker to the “brown/sauté” setting on high. Shred the pork, in the cooker with two forks while the pot heats up in sauté mode. Press meat firmly down with a wooden spoon into a firm even layer.
  6. Cook for 5-8 minutes, stir and press again into a firm even layer.
  7. Once the remaining liquid is gone and there are pieces of meat that have been nicely caramelized, remove from the pot and add to a serving bowl, toss with the remaining ½ teaspoon salt.
  8. Stir together the sour cream and chipotle peppers.
  9. Add the carnitas to the slider buns, top with sour cream and sprinkle with cilantro.

Notes

*If you plan to make the meat in advance, save about ½ cup of the cooking liquid and add the storage container. It will help to keep the meat moist once you reheat.

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Jalapeño Popper Beer Cheese Dip + Hop Shopping, What It’s Really Like

Jalapeño Popper Beer Cheese Dip, super quick blend and bake dip that’s highly addictive and delicious! 

Jalapeno Popper Beer Cheese Dip

You think, naively, that buying hops is like buying anything else.  You decide that mosaic hops are your jam, you figure out how many pounds you need to make the beer you want to brew, you pay your tab and go on to your next task. It’s not until you watch the pros hop shop that you realize how wrong you are.

Deep in a hop field in Yakima, we walk towards a converted house that now functions as an office. Rowdy brewers and hop growers, loudly chatting just minutes ago, are suddenly silent with reverence and respect as we all walk inside. A conference room, lit by overhead fluorescent lights, holds a table front and center. Hops sit in small cylindrical containers as if on a stage waiting for their moment of judgment. If they were capable of emotion, they’d be nervous.

Only the brewers sit, the room is as silent as Pebble Beach when Tiger steps up to the tee. They assess the piles, all different lots of the same hops. The brewers are here to choose— not the type of hops, that’s already been decided—but WHICH hops. They’re all centennial hops, all meticulously grown in different parts of the Pacific Northwest. The brewers are here to decide which centennial hops to choose. Like deciding which Granny Smith apple you want to bake with, the ones grown in Yakima, Hermiston, or Idaho. To the average beer drinker the difference between each pile isn’t even perceivable, but to these experts the difference can make or break next years beer. The decision is crucial.

 

We wait, watching the churning of thoughts, senses, and indefinable gut feelings, it’s all palpable as the men rub the hops into oblivion between their hands, press their faces into their palms and inhale deeply. Repeating for each pile. Notes are written, the room remains silent—you don’t talk in a man’s backswing.

When it’s over, you can feel it. They come back into the present and make eye contact, ready to compare notes. Beards and bodies flaked with hop leaves, palms yellowed by lupulin oils. The air in the room is lighter, reverence replaced by anticipation. Smiles return to their faces and for a second you can see a flicker of doubt that the right decision was made. When the conclusion is confirmed across the board by the other men that doubt is replaced by satisfaction.

“This batch is the most floral, lots of citrus, nothing off. This one, I get a hint of dill on the end that I don’t like.” Extraordinary to anyone outside of the nuances of this science, all decision-makers came to the same conclusion. It’s remarkable, like a concert conductor hearing one slightly out of tune flute in a symphony of hundreds of instruments. Once the decision is made, beer is poured, a small celebration that opens the room.

I spent the week in Yakima, following the Founders Brewing team from hop field, to supplier, to innovation growers, like a lost puppy. They generously invited me to tag along and watch a process so fascinating it left an indelible mark on how I perceive hops.

I came back and scoured my local bottle shops for Founders beer, luckily it’s much easier to find in Washington state these days. I, of course, needed to make something where the bold hop flavors show through. Aggressively addictive beer cheese dip it is, bring on the fall.

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Jalapeno Popper Beer Cheese Dip

Ingredients

  • 2 (8 oz) packages of cream cheese
  • ¾ cup IPA beer
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 large jalapeno, seeded and chopped
  • 4 strips bacon, cooked and chopped
  • 1 cup panko bread crumbs
  • 2 tablespoons melted butter
  • chopped chives for serving

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
  2. Add the cream cheese, beer, cornstarch, mozzarella, garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt and chili powder to a blender or food processor, blend until smooth.
  3. Add the chopped bacon and jalapeno, pulse a few times to combine.
  4. Add to an oven safe serving bowl. Toss the panko in melted butter.
  5. Spread the panko evenly over the top of the dip. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the panko has browned.
  6. Serve warm with chips or crackers.
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I was invited to Yakima to join the Founders Brewing team, I was provided with a hotel room without expectation or obligation. I was not asked to write about my experiences. All opinions, ideas, and photos are my own. 

One Bowl Chocolate Chip Beer Bread

One Bowl Chocolate Chip Beer Bread, in your oven in five minutes, in your face in one hour!

One Bowl Chocolate Chip Beer Bread

Fall baking isn’t as much about the food as it is about the fact that we can turn the oven on again. Just days ago, it seems, we were all googling “no-cook dinners” and hoping the triple-digit heat would pass soon.

Then, as if overnight, the weather calmed, we awoke to rain on a garden that still held the last gasps of summer produce, and we’re again free to wear sweaters and pull on the wellies.

Let us bake again, slow down for a second as out lives orient to the pulse of this part of the year. Just slow down, take a day away from the obligation we force on ourselves and just be.

Just a reminder that the world will still be there when you rejoin, that it’ll be fine without you for a bit, and making something just because you want to has a way of healing the chips that the daily grind works into your soul.

A day in the kitchen, an audiobook and the smell of things baking in the oven has a way of calming a storm inside us, bringing calmer waters and even has the added bonus of warm baked goods to give as a peace offering to those in our lives that love us even when we’re difficult.

 


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One Bowl Chocolate Chip Beer Bread

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 55 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Yield: 1 loaf

Ingredients

  • 3 ½ (420g) cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup (150g) sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup (240g) full-fat sour cream
  • 2 tablespoons (30g) vegetable oil
  • ¾ cup (6oz) beer (wheat beer, brown ale, nothing hoppy)
  • 4 ounces dark chocolate chips

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
  2. In a large bowl stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and sugar.
  3. Make a well in the dry ingredients, add the eggs, vanilla, sour cream, oil, and beer. Stir to combine.
  4. Stir in the chocolate chips.
  5. Pour into a large (10x5) loaf pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray or greased with butter.
  6. Bake until the top has puffed and turned golden brown, about 55 minutes.
  7. Allow to cool, remove from pan, slice and serve.
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How to Throw a Beer Tasting Party + Soft Pretzel Rods with Beer Mustard Recipe

 

I’ve teamed up with World Market to bring you an easy guide to throwing your own craft beer tasting party. Complete with recipes, printable beer tasting sheets, and beer recommendations. I was able to get everything I needed, from the table side cooler, to the glassware, to the meats and cheeses at my local World Market in Woodinville, Washington.

This is a sponsored post, all ideas, words, and opinions are my own.

How to Throw a Beer Tasting Party

  1. Invitations: Choose a diverse mix of people, but keep it on the small side, too many guests and the party isn’t manageable. Eight to ten people seem to work best. Don’t let the “doesn’t drink beer” designation deter you from inviting anyone. Tell all guests to keep an open mind, sample everything that’s poured and reserve judgments for after sampling, not before. Most likely, your guests will like something, and it will surprise them.

Teardrop tasting glasses, Wood Charcuterie Board

  1. Beer selection. Choose a theme, pick beers that correspond. There are more beer styles in the world (over 100) than are manageable in one tasting, having a variety is important but don’t try to offer every style in existence. For instance, if you have an Oktoberfest theme, choose beers that are brewed in Germany, or in a German style and try to be diverse in what you choose to serve. Try to grab at least one beer in each of these categories that fit your theme: malty, hoppy, wild fermented, barrel aged, clean (pale lagers, pilsners, cream ale, Kolsch).

Teardrop tasting glasses

  1. Glassware. A small but massively important detail that shouldn’t be overlooked, glassware can make a monumental difference when serving beer. Choose small glasses that offer just enough beer for each guest to sample the beer. Your goal is for each beer to be sipped, savored and considered, not chugged. I use these Teardrop tasting glasses from World Market, the shape is perfect for beer and the size works well for sampling.

Assorted Crackers, Cheddar Wheel , Brie Wheel, Smoked Gouda, Charcuterie Sampler,  Cheese Knives, Wood Charcuterie Board,  Blue Villa Table runner,  Appetizer Plates

  1. Food. It’s incredibly important to any party, but essential with a beer tasting. It’s a way to balance the flavors and explore pairings. More importantly, eating is essential when drinking as a way to stay in control. 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. Cheese, crackers, charcuterie, and pretzels are simple staples to add to your table. Instead of trying to make everything yourself, strive to just make one or two dips or dishes to serve and plan to buy everything else. It’ll ease the stress of the party considerably.

Retro Cooler, Blue Villa Table runner

  1. Serve. Give each guest a glass, a notes sheet, and pour the beers one at a time. Allow the guest to sip, record notes (like with this PRINTABLE SHEET!), nibble on food and enjoy before moving on to the next beer. Have each guest pour any unfinished beer and rinse the glasses (a large bottle of water and an ice bucket will do the trick) before moving on to the next beer.

Dimpled Steins

  1. Pints. Once all the beers have been samples, pass out larger pint glasses for your guest to pour a larger amount of their favorite brew. Compare notes, linger over food, and enjoy the rest of the evening. Soft Pretzel Rods with Beer Mustard Recipe. Perfect recipe for Oktoberfest!

Weck Jar,  Charcuterie Board,  Leaf Napkin

Throwing an Oktoberfest party? Check out my Oktoberfest Party Post on the World Market blog!

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Beer Soft Pretzels Rods

Ingredients

  • 2 ½ cups flour
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 envelope (2 ¼ teaspoons) rapid rise yeast
  • 1 cup beer
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoon oil
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 10 cups water
  • ¼ cup baking soda
  • 1 tablespoon coarse salt
  • 2 tablespoons melted butter

Instructions

  1. Add the flour, sugar and yeast to a stand mixer. Mix until just combined. Heat the beer to 120°F (always defer to the liquid temperature listed on the package of yeast, regardless of what the recipe says. Your yeast package says 105°F? Heat the liquid to that temperature) add the beer to the stand mixer, mixing until all the flour has been moistened.
  2. Add the salt and oil, beat until the dough comes together and gathers around the blade. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover and allow to rise until doubled in size.
  3. Add the dough to a lightly floured surface, cut into 12 equal sized portions.
  4. Roll each portion into an 8-inch log, add the pretzel rods to a large baking sheet that has been covered with parchment paper.
  5. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
  6. Add the water to a large pot, bring to a boil. Stir in the baking soda.
  7. A few at a time carefully add the pretzels to the boiling water for 30 seconds, place back onto the baking sheet.
  8. Brush with melted butter, sprinkle with salt.
  9. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until dark golden brown.
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I used: World Market Brown Mustard Seeds, World Market Ground Mustard, De Nigris Organic Apple Cider Vinegar With Honey, Coarse Sea Salt, WeihenstephanBeer

Weck Jar,  Charcuterie Board,  Leaf Napkin

Print
Beer Mustard Recipe

Ingredients

  • ½ cup brown mustard seeds
  • ¼ cup yellow mustard seeds
  • ¼ cup yellow mustard powder
  • ½ cups apple cider vinegar
  • ½ cups malty, low hop beer such as a Belgian ale or brown ale
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar

Directions

  1. In a small bowl stir together both types of mustard seeds, mustard powder, vinegar, and beer. Cover and set in a cool, dry place for 12 to 24 hours or until all the liquid has been absorbed.
  2. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Add to a blender, pulse until blended but some whole grains are still intact.
  3. Transfer to an airtight container, refrigerate until ready to use.
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Shop the Post: Retro Cooler | Appetizer Plates| Cheese Knives| Napkins| Leaf Napkin| Wood Basket| Wood Charcuterie Board| German Sausages| Sea Salt| Assorted Crackers| Cheddar Wheel  | Brie Wheel| Blue Villa Napkin| Smoked Gouda| Weck Jar| Honey Apple Cider| Gherkins| Teardrop tasting glasses| Mustard Seeds| Sauerkraut| Blue Villa Table runner| White serving bowl| Bottle| Charcuterie Sampler| Dimpled stein

Crab Tarts with Saison Béarnaise Sauce

Crab Tarts with Saison Béarnaise Sauce

Crab Tarts with Saison Béarnaise Sauce

This is because I don’t care. I don’t care that “blogging is dead,” so says everyone who spikes higher on SEO than I do. I don’t care that this is not a very googleable recipe, therefore it won’t earn me much incoming search engine traffic.

Your capacity to care about all the things is limited (also known as: how many fucks you have to give), so I really have to limit what I care about to the things that matter most, and let the rest lie like Chowder Jones in the sunlit patch of my living room.

I do, however, care about you. I care that you like what I’m doing, probably far more than I’d ever let on. I care that you make my recipe, post them on Instagram and tag me.

Honestly, it makes my day (unless your setting are set to private and I can’t see it). I care that you drink beer that you like, and I care a LOT when that beer does heart-melty things like give a portion of the profits from ALL of their beer to nonprofit organizations like The Chicago Women’s Health Center.

Middle Brow, a brewery out of Chicago does this. The remarkable thing, if you don’t know much about beer, is how hard this is.

Craft beer has a remarkably low-profit margin, some newer craft breweries hardly break even. It’s hard enough when you just have to worry about your own bills, but then to factor in giving some of that small margin away; it’s truly philanthropic. They’ve been doing it for years, so clearly they have somethings figured out.

When making these tarts—and freeing myself from all the things I don’t care about—it was easy to focus on the things I do. I did, after all, spend my first few years post-college as a social worker for gang kids.

Once you’re immersed in the world of non-profit-helping-people-organizations, it’s stick with you. And so does this beer. Chicago, you’re lucky to call this place a local spot.


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Crab Tarts with Saison Béarnaise Sauce

Ingredients

    For the tarts:
  • 1 sheet puff pastry
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 8 oz lump crabmeat
  • 1 ear of corn, grilled or roasted, kernels cut off
  • ½ of 1 large red bell pepper, small chopped
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons minced green onions (plus additional for garnish)
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
    • For the sauce:
  • ¼ cup minced shallots
  • ¼ cup white wine vinegar
  • ¼ cup pilsner or wheat beer
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
  • 3 large egg yolks
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • ½ cup unsalted butter

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
  2. Roll the puff pastry out on a lightly floured surface. Cut into 12 circles, each about 3 inches across.
  3. Add to a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Brush with olive oil, pierce all over with a fork.
  4. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven. While still warm, use the back of a small, round, spoon (like a tablespoon) to press the center in to create a hole.
  5. In a bowl stir together the crab, bell pepper, corn kernels, lemon juice, green onions, salt and pepper.
  6. Plate the tart crusts, fill with the crab mixture.
  7. In a small pot stir together the shallots, vinegar, beer, and tarragon. Bring to a boil, cooking until reduced by half, about 8 minutes, remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
  8. In small food processor or blender, add the yolks, salt, and pepper. While the processor is running, slowly add the vinegar reduction and melted butter, process until thickened (if you’re having a hard time getting the sauce to thicken, add to a sauce pan, heat slightly until thickened).
  9. Drizzle the tarts with Bearnaise sauce, sprinkle with green onions, serve.

Notes

*To make ahead: make the tart crust, store in an airtight container. Make filing, store in a separate container. Make the sauce, store in an airtight container. To serve: reheat the sauce in the top of a double boiler, add 1 tablespoon beer, whisk until warmed. Plate the tarts, fill with crab mixture, top with sauce and serve!

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