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Appetizer

Beer and Brown Sugar Sweet Potatoes

Beer and Brown Sugar Sweet Potatoes, an easy one pot dish that tastes like doughnuts and beer!

We all like to tell the same lie to each other when we’re preparing for Thanksgiving. We pretend like the turkey is the hard part. It’s not, it’s just the main part.

But, in reality, it’s pretty easy. Especially this Turkey (my favorite).

The real beast are the side dishes. Do you go traditional (boring but safe), do you try to take on Grandmas recipes (which, in my family is basically just a diet coke and pretending you invented Watergate Salad), or do you branch out to make something new (risky)?

You know me well enough to know what I do. Of course I do something weird, something with beer.

If you want to weird up your side dish, make sure to keep something familiar and safe, like sweet potatoes and brown sugar. You can even call them yams if you want, (but in reality they are actually sweet potatoes) but it will be the beer that will sell them to the crowd.

Beer and Brown Sugar Sweet Potatoes

Servings 6 -8 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cups heavy cream
  • ¾ cup brown ale
  • 4 medium garnet sweet potatoes or garnet yams, peeled, thinly sliced
  • 1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 375° F.
  • Stir together the cream and beer in a bowl or large measuring cup.
  • Stir together the cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar and flour in a separate bowl.
  • Add the sweet potato slices to a 9-inch cast iron skillet in overlapping concentric circles.
  • Drizzle with cream mixture, them sprinkle with 1/3 of the brown sugar mixture, sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  • Repeat with two more layers of potatoes, cream, and brown sugar mixtures making sure to use all ingredients.
  • Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, press down firmly on the potatoes with a large spatula to submerge the potatoes.
  • Bake for another 20 minutes, press again.
  • Bake until the potatoes are fork tender and the liquid has thickened. Allow to cool slightly before serving.

 

Punk in Drublic Beer Battered Buffalo Cauliflower (vegan)

Punk in Drublic Beer Battered Buffalo Cauliflower (vegan)

You know what’s punk rock? Beer. NOFX. Making a beer with NOFX. Pouring beer into your food. Deep frying things you aren’t supposed to deep fry. Fat Mike wearing brewing clamps as handcuffs.

You know else? Punk in Drublic—the dirty bastard child that resulted from the union of Stone Brewing and the NOFX guys—is really damn great.

And not just when you eat it with deep fried stuff. It’s an awesome beer that just so happens to be awesome with deep fried stuff. And buffalo sauce. And loud music.

But don’t take my word for it, crank up “The Separation of Church and Skate” so loud someone calls the cops, open some of that hoppy goodness, and find out for yourself.

Punk in Drublic Beer Battered Buffalo Cauliflower (vegan)

Ingredients
  

  • Canola oil for frying
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 12 ounces Stone Punk in Drublic beer
  • 3 cups cauliflower florets stems removed
  • ½ cup buffalo sauce
  • 2 tablespoons butter or vegan margarine melted

Instructions
 

  • Heat 4 inches of canola oil in a pot over medium high heat. Clip a deep fry thermometer on the side and bring oil to 350F, adjust heat to maintain this temperature.
  • In a large bowl whisk together the flour, salt, garlic powder and cornstarch.
  • Pour two tablespoons of the beer into a small container, set aside. Add the remaining beer to the flour bowl along with 2 tablespoons water, whisk until combined adding additional water to thin until the batter is the thickness of pancake batter.
  • Turn the oven to 175F. Place a wire rack over a baking sheet, add the baking sheet to the oven.
  • One at a time dip the florets into the batter until well coated, then add to the hot oil. Fry until golden brown on all sides, about 4 minutes, then transfer to the baking sheet in the oven to keep warm until all cauliflower is done.
  • Stir together the reserved beer, buffalo sauce, and butter.
  • Add the deep fried cauliflower to a bowl, drizzle with sauce, toss until well coated, serve immediately.

 

This post was a paid partnership with Stone Brewing. Partnerships with The Beeroness and outside companies only occur when the company’s products are ones I use and enjoy myself. All ideas and opinions are my own

Buffalo Beer Chicken Wing Soup

Buffalo Beer Chicken Wing Soup

 

It occurs to me that in the event of a zombie apocalypse I have no useful skills. No one is weeks deep in a bunker, unshowered, clothes unchanged and thinks: "What I really need is someone to take a great picture of this MRE before I eat it."

Oh, but food! (you must be thinking this, please be thinking this of me). Sadly,  I can’t even keep an air plant alive, there is no hope I could re-populate the earth with produce. My only useful skill is the ability to improvise and the possibility that I can make expired canned goods edible.

This, my friends, is how my brain works. Years ago I woke up in a panic after too many zombies-eat-the-world dreams and I had to make a Zombie Plan in order to put my mind at rest and resume the ability to sleep.

So, I decided to make a soup out of just what I had on hand to test my ability to be useful in case of an apocalypse of some sort (possibly also fueled by current-political-climate-induced-fears, I’m sure).

Although the stop-motion-video would be of little use in the event of worldwide system failure, the soup turned out fantastic.

And yes, If you’re wondering, I really am that nuts. Sometimes. (most of the time).


Buffalo Beer Chicken Wing Soup

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

Soup

  • 2 tablespoon butter
  • 1 cup white onions chopped
  • 2 ribs celery chopped
  • 2 large carrots chopped
  • ¼ cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 lb chicken thighs boneless and skinless
  • 1 cup pale ale beer
  • 2 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 4 cups chicken broth low sodium
  • ¼ cup buffalo wing sauce
  • ½ cup Mexican crema or 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • Salt and pepper

Toppings:

  • 1/2 cup blue cheese crumbled
  • Chopped green onions
  • Chopped cilantro

Instructions
 

  • Melt the butter in a stockpot or Dutch oven over medium high heat.
  • Add the onions, celery, and carrots, cooking until the vegetables have softened and started to brown.
  • In a shallow bowl stir together the flour, chili powder and salt.
  • One at a time dredge the chicken in the flour mixture until well coated.
  • Push the vegetables to the edge of the pot making a hole in the center. Add the chicken one or two at a time until seared on all sides.
  • Sprinkle the remaining flour mixture over the pot.
  • Pour in the beer, scraping to deglaze the bottom of the pot.
  • Stir in the tomato paste, broth, and wing sauce.
  • Lower heat to medium, stir in the crema, cover and simmer until the chicken is cooked through and the broth has thickened slightly, about 15 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve topped with blue cheese, green onions and cilantro.

 

Kettle Brand Backyard Barbeque Chips Crusted Meatballs with Beer Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

Kettle Brand Backyard Barbeque Chips Crusted Meatballs with Beer Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce + a HUGE giveaway! 

There’s a question we ask in my circle, one that everyone has an almost instant answer to: “If you could pick one food that you could eat endlessly and the calories wouldn’t count, what would you pick?” For me, it’s chips.

Not just any chips, but Kettle Brand Jalapeno Potato Chips. Even though I haven’t been able to secure this “calories don’t count” deal, I will still eat an entire bag in one sitting, WITH NO SHAME! This love kicked off my obsession with all the new Kettle Brand flavors, and the brand itself.

The company has a pretty great history, It was started in a van in Oregon 35 years ago. As a way to celebrate this monumental birthday, they’ve decided a giveaway was in order, and a pretty spectacular one at that.

Kettle Brand Chips is giving away $35K worth of prizes in 35 days. Enter to win an awesome BBQ prize package right now, the sweepstakes ends on Nov. 5th!

This Barbeque prize pack looks amazing:

  • A GIANT Tundra 210 Cooler – the ultimate backyard drink station – plus reusable ice packs and Colster koozies courtesy of Yeti® (please tag Yeti somewhere in the content)
  • Charcoal grill and accessories
  • $500 worth of Painted Hills Natural Beef, shipped directly to you (please tag Painted Hills somewhere in the content)
  • Kegerator for icy cold beverages
  • Backyard theater system with screen, projector and speakers
  • Bluetooth enabled backyard speaker
  • Backyard furniture and yard games for the ultimate hands-on entertainment
  • $1,500 pre-paid gift card for supplies and food
  • Two cases of assorted Kettle Brand chips

 

Go enter and then come back and make these meatballs, they’re amazing and perfect for football season!

Kettle Brand Backyard Barbeque Chips Crusted Meatballs with Beer Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

Servings 6 -8 servings

Ingredients
  

Meatballs

  • 1 8.5oz bag Kettle Brand Backyard Barbeque Chips
  • 1 lbs ground beef 80/20 lean to fat ratio
  • 3 eggs divided
  • 1 cup plus ½ cup flour, divided
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil

Dipping Sauce:

  • ¼ cup raw honey
  • 1/3 cup sour cream
  • ¼ cup Dijon mustard
  • 3 tablespoons IPA beer

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 400F.
  • Add the chips to a food processor, process until just crumbs remain.
  • Add the ground beef to a large bowl, add 1/3 cup of the chip crumbs to the beef, put the remaining chips into a separate bowl.
  • Gently combine the ground beef, one egg and the chip crumbs until well combined.
  • In the bowl with the remaining chip crumbs add ½ cup flour, toss to combine.
  • Add the remaining flour to a separate bowl.
  • In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining eggs and 3 tablespoons water.
  • Using a small cookie scoop, scoop out a small amount of meat mixture. Using wet hands, roll into a tight ball.
  • Toss in the flour, then coat with egg wash, then toss in the chip crumbs until well coated. Add to a baking sheet. Repeat until all meat is used.
  • Drizzle meatballs with olive oil.
  • Bake for 10 minutes, turn meatballs over, and bake for ten more minutes or until the meatballs are cooked through.
  • In a small bowl whisk together the dipping sauce ingredients (if the sauce has a hard time coming together, use an immersion blender to blend until smooth).
  • Serve meatballs with dipping sauce.

 

This post was sponsored by Kettle Chips. 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.

Day Two on the BC Ale Trail and Garlic Sriracha Beer Steamed Mussels

 Garlic Sriracha Beer Steamed Mussels

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of BC Ale Trail and Tourism New West, Discover Surrey and Tourism Delta. All opinions and text are mine.

TO COME

Day two began how all days should begin: with fried chicken. River Market in New West is a destination all on it’s own. Fresh bread, craft coffee, homemade soap, produce, and restaurants. It’s a lovely place to get lost in. I impatiently waited outside the doors of Freebird Chicken Shack to get my hands on some of the fried chicken I’d been hearing so much about, and it didn’t disappoint.

My suggestions: Turmeric Fried Chicken, and Hot & Sour Fried Chicken Skin

Of course, after that I need a beer. I traveled a few miles to Central City Brewery, one of the most well distributed craft breweries in Canada. With award winning beer and spirits, it’s not hard to see why.

My suggestions: Sour No. 2 Sour Kriek

The afternoon was spent in one of the more unexpected locations: Crescent Beach, a charming little beach town that felt equal parts far away destination and small town quaint. I lingered over oysters, fish & chips, and beer at Hooked Fish Bar, then spent a few hours paddling around the inlet on a stand up paddleboard. An afternoon that went by too quickly and left a beautiful sun soaked memory.

The trip ended in the perfect way, a pot of garlic beer mussels and one of my favorite beers from Four Winds Brewing at Hawthorne Beer Market, a place I could have stayed for hours. The beer list was extensive, the food was fantastic, and the service was outstanding. It’s already bookmarked for my next trip up there. And there will definitely be a next trip.

Coming home I had to recreate the recipe, full of garlic, heat and beer, it was impossible to stop thinking about.

Garlic Sriracha Beer Steamed Mussels

Servings 2 to 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • ½ cup unsalted butter
  • 5 cloves garlic smashed
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon sriracha
  • 1 cup pale ale
  • ½ cup chicken broth
  • 1 lbs live mussels cleaned, beards removed
  • ¼ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
  • Bread for serving

Instructions
 

  • In a large pot or deep skillet add the butter and cook until melted.
  • Stir in the garlic, salt, paprika, sriracha, beer and chicken broth, stir to combine, bring to a low simmer.
  • Add the mussels, cover and allow to cook until mussels have opened, about 5 minutes.
  • Discard any that didn't open. Sprinkle the parsley over the pan.
  • Serve with crusty bread.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of BC Ale Trail and Tourism New West, Discover Surrey and Tourism Delta. As always, all opinions, photos and text are mine.

Stout Romesco Dip (10 minutes, so good)

Stout Romesco Dip (10 minutes, so good)

This was been a woodwork year. One of those years when people from my distant past, from a time when I was a person who doesn’t exist anymore, come out of the woodwork to jump back into my life. They feel equal parts foreign and comfortable, like a warm bath in the middle of the day.

My favorite side effect of the woodwork people is that I get to tell the stories my everyday friends are sick of, and I get to feel impressive. I get to tell the story of when I almost died in Morocco, and the time I was asked to do porn. And if you and I meet, and you get me drunk enough, I’ll tell all the stories of my life running around LA with rock stars that I won’t ever immortalize in digital print.

There is an element to recounting my weird past that I need right now, a reminder that when your life isn’t exactly what you want it to be, it might be what you need. It’s a reminder that it’s an evolution, a journey, and the rocks in the road have been fewer than the oases. Sure, things are weird right now, but I’m not done. Not even close. Check back in another 10 years and I’ll have more weird stories for you.

At least that’s the goal. Who knows if I’ll have a bigger house, or a fancier car, but I can guarantee you that I won’t be boring. I’m just hanging my hat on that being the better end of the deal.

Stout Romesco Dip (10 minutes, so good)

Servings 4 -6 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 2/3 cup 2.8 wt oz sliced almonds
  • 1 large bell pepper roasted (from a jar is fine)
  • 1 cloves garlic smashed
  • 6 wt oz tomato puree
  • 2 tablespoon 10g chopped Italian parsley
  • 3 tablespoon 42g stout beer
  • 1 teaspoon 2gred pepper flakes
  • ½ teaspoon 1g smoked paprika
  • ½ teaspoon 3g sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon 2g black pepper
  • ¼ cup 56g olive oil

Instructions
 

  • Add the almonds to a pan over medium high heat.
  • Pull the pan back and forth across the burner to toss the almonds until the almonds have lightly toasted, about 3 minutes (keep a close eye, they burn quickly).
  • Add the almonds, red pepper, garlic, tomato puree, parsley, beer, red pepper flakes, smoked paprika, salt and pepper to a food processor.
  • Process for about one minute, then slowly add the olive oil until well combined.
  • Serve with bread, crackers or crudities.

 

Beer and Bacon Biscuits

Beer and Bacon Biscuits, the flakiest, most addictive biscuits ever!

I know what you’re thinking.

It’s almost Cinco de Mayo and I’m posting about Beer and Bacon Biscuits. But bear with me, this makes sense. This isn’t just hangover food. It’s THE hangover food, it’s carbs, and greasy bacon, and hair of the dog, all in one. It’s like a delicious magical hangover elixir, masquerading as brunch food.

I’ll let you in on a little secret, one that always surprises people: I’m a total lightweight. I don’t drink nearly as much as people think (the beer goes into the food!), and I get drunk quicker than most. Which sparked my love affair with session IPA’s, it was out of necessity not trend.

I’m also not a party when I’m hungover, I get a bit surly. I’m like a wet cat. I will, however, make some killer biscuits, using the fold-and-roll technique I learned a decade ago. It makes the most insanely flakey and light biscuits, you’ll want to steal it and pass it off as your own. That’s fine. Just make sure to buy me a beer for showing it to you. And make me biscuits the day when I’m hungover.

Beer and Bacon Biscuits

Servings 6 biscuits

Ingredients
  

  • 3 1/2 cup 420g all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoon 12g baking powder
  • 1 ½ teaspoon 9g baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon 3g salt
  • 2 teaspoons 12g sugar
  • 8 tablespoon 88g cold bacon fat or unsalted cold butter (114g) cut into cubes (or a combination of both)
  • 1/3 cup 80g sour cream
  • 2/3 cup 5.5oz wheat beer
  • 2 tablespoon 28g melted butter
  • 6 strips of bacon cooked and chopped

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 425F.
  • In a processor add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar.
  • Pulse to combine. Add the bacon fat (cold) or the cold butter, and sour cream, process until well combined.
  • Add the beer, process until just combined.
  • Add to a well-floured flat surface, pat into a rectangle. Using a cold rolling pin gently roll into a large rectangle, about 1 inch in thickness, using as few strokes as possible.
  • Sprinkle with chopped bacon.
  • Fold the dough into thirds as you would a letter about to go into an envelope. Roll lightly, once in each direction to about 1 inch thickness, sprinkle with bacon, fold in thirds again. Gently roll into about 1 1/2 inch thickness (this will give you flakey layers).
  • Using a biscuit cutter, cut out 6 biscuits. Place in a baking pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
  • Brush biscuits with melted butter, sprinkle chopped bacon.
  • Bake at 425F for 10 to 12 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.

 

BBQ Beer Tex Mex Chicken Sliders

BBQ Beer Tex Mex Chicken Sliders in just 20-minutes 

Hi, my friends. I made something for you, something that seemed a bit of a necessity this week. A repurposing of things we’ve made in order to make it new. After those Beer Pickled Jalapeños we made, and the beer BBQ sauce, it just felt like I needed something that brought it together.

Two seemingly unconnected elements making sense in a new context. For reasons I have yet to pinpoint, I feel like I need that somehow. Like this is an obscure min-sandwich-metaphor for my life right now. I know, you can eye-roll that, I won’t hold it against you. I just needed to make order out or randomness, to connect dots, to make peace with two opposing forces.

I’m getting too deep for a sliders post, I appreciate that you’ve stayed with me in the midst of that, and for your graciousness, I have a recipe for you. A 20-minute-slider-metaphor to remind you that sometimes things don’t seem to connect, until they do. And then you wonder why you never saw it before.

Make some sliders, drink some beer, and let life fall into place this weekend. And then report back, I could use a little good news right now.

For this recipe, use Beer Pickled Jalapeños, and Beer BBQ Sauce

BBQ Beer Tex Mex Chicken Sliders

Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 12 sliders

Ingredients
  

  • 6 chicken thighs boneless, skinless
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 ½ cups barbecue sauce recipe link above
  • 1 cup pale ale
  • 1 avocado sliced
  • ¼ cup cilantro sliced
  • ½ cup pickled jalapenos recipe link above
  • 12 slider buns

Instructions
 

  • Sprinkle the chicken thighs on all sides with salt and pepper.
  • Heat the olive oil in a deep skillet over medium high heat.
  • Add the chicken thighs, searing on both sides.
  • Add the barbeque sauce and beer, lower heat to maintain a simmer. Turn the chicken over periodically. Cook until chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes.
  • Remove chicken from pan, shred using two forks, return to sauce, simmer for 5 minutes.
  • In each of the slider buns add chicken, avocado slices, cilantro and a few pickled jalapenos. Serve immediately.

IPA Pickled Jalapeños

IPA Pickled Jalapeños, quick and easy pickled jalapeños made with beer

I’m in a shitty dive bar in what can nicely be referred to as an “up and coming” area of town, and the guy I’ve just met asks me the question I’m asked far too often. Maybe for lack of a better conversation starter or maybe there’s supposed to be a right answer, either way, I don’t have one.

“What’s your favorite beer?” We all get asked this, everyone who’s decided that the life for them is fighting to be a part of the craft beer world.

The question is much bigger than it seems. Because we have a favorite “I only like it for nostalgic reasons beer,” or a “favorite because it’s the one that got me into craft beer,” or the, “my most recent discovery beer,” or the, “my go-to beer when I’m throwing a party and need to fill the beer tub beer,” but as for a hands-down favorite we really can’t pinpoint one. So I steer the conversation to distribution laws.

Of course, this sounds ridiculous. It sounds like a colossal leap, but it isn’t. Wherever I go, I want to drink the beer I can’t get at home.

 

I want the beer that doesn’t travel into my distribution zone, the beer that I’ve been hoping to cross paths with. I’ll spare you the gory nerdiness of the details but the quick-and-dirty version is that often even really popular beer is only distributed in a few states, and only a small percentage of craft beers in the US get to more than half the states.

 

This means when you travel you have access to beer that you can’t get where you live. In a world where almost everything can be obtained with one-click ordering and prime shipping, it’s pretty great to actually have to get on a plane to have a specific pint. That’s my favorite beer, the one I can’t get at home.

Until very, very recently Founders Brewing was on that plane-trip-needed-for-a-pint list. And luckily for those of us in the Pacific Northwest, I can now find it at the local markets. I still get a small thrill seeing it there, as if it must be some sort of magic accident. There is a good chance that this summer will be henceforth known as my “All-Day IPA Summer,” now that one of my favorite session ales is so accessible.

 

Oh, and I’m going to be pickleing quite a few things with it. So settle in.

Come back tomorrow and I’ll show you what I did with these. You’re gonna want to see it. (it’s this, check it out)

IPA Pickled Jalapeños

Ingredients
  

  • 5-6 large jalapeno peppers
  • 1 cup IPA beer
  • 1 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 tablespoons salt
  • 1 tablespoons black peppercorns

Instructions
 

  • Slice the jalapenos to desired width (some people prefer super thin slices, others prefer thick slices), add to a storage jar.
  • In a saucepan over medium heat add the beer, vinegar, sugar, salt and peppercorns, stir until sugar and salt have dissolved, remove from heat.
  • Pour the pickling liquid over the jalapenos. Cover tightly and refrigerate for 24 hours. Jalapenos will last for several weeks if stored correctly.

 

Summer IPA Panzanella Salad

Summer IPA Panzanella Salad. It’s a salad with bread! It’s the best. SO good!

Summer IPA Panzanella Salad. It's a salad with bread! It's the best. SO good!

This is my way of forcing the situation.

Seattle hasn’t been kind to me this winter, the rain has been abundant, as has the power outages and the snow fall. Luckily, I’ve been able to escape to Panama and Kona, but nothing replaces summer in your own city. They tell me that Spring is here, that the days of cold weather are limited, but I have my doubts as my weather app laughs at me every time I open it.

Farmers markets are starting to taunt me and I can’t take it anymore. It’s time to start cooking up the summer food, even if I throw in bread that makes it seem a little bit like a Thanksgiving Stuffing trying to squeeze into a bikini.

I don’t care. I’m going to crank up the heater, break out the shorts, and eat produce. And you can’t stop me.

Summer IPA Panzanella Salad

Servings 4 -6 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 1 baguette stale
  • ½ lbs asparagus chopped
  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 3 tablespoons IPA beer
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
  • 2 large heirloom tomatoes chopped
  • 3 tablespoons chopped green onions or chives, or the green parts of Spring onions
  • 3 leaves basil chopped
  • ½ cup .5 ounces parmesan, grated with a microplane
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 400F.
  • Cut the baguette into small cubes, add in an even layer to a baking sheet. Add the asparagus to the pan.
  • Melt the butter, stir in the IPA beer, drizzle over the bread and asparagus, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
  • Bake for 15 minutes or until the bread has toasted.
  • Add the chopped tomatoes to a large serving bowl. Add the asparagus, bread cubes, green onions and basil. Toss to combine, sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Salt and pepper to taste.

Summer IPA Panzanella Salad. It's a salad with bread! It's the best. SO good!

Slow Cooker Stout Caramelized Onion Dip

Slow Cooker Stout Caramelized Onion Dip

I don’t do resolutions. That’s wrong. I do. Every year. Just not the ones that normal people do. Mine are never about giving things up, that’s desolate. Resolutions should give you hope about the future, not dread.

I make resolutions that make me want to plow forward into the new year. Resolutions like, "learn to make Gnocchi," or "go to one new brewery a month," or "learn how to re-wire a lamp."

This year, I’m on track. I think. My resolution is to put good into the world. This year, more than ever, it’s important. I’ve donated money, made meals for homebound friends, donated blood (remember that?!). One of my ill-advised resolutions-adjacent goals was to compliment strangers. This isn’t good for me, it makes me look creepy. As in: there is some woman going home to her boyfriend saying "Some girl at the grocery store told me that me my hair was pretty. It was creepy."

But I’m not giving up. There is this very nice retirement home down the street from my house. One that I had no idea existed for a year, I literally thought it was just a really big house, and the owner really liked to wear scrubs. I wish I was joking. I’m trying to summon the courage to bake a huge batch of cookies and bring them by.

Not just for the residents, but for the staff. I know it’s hard work that doesn’t pay as well as it should. For some reason, I’m not nearly as brave as I should be when it comes to human interaction. I have no problem jumping off cliffs or out of perfectly good airplanes, but for some reason human interaction is more fear-inducing.

I thought about bringing them this dip, but that’s less explainable. We don’t really have a box in our brain for "the neighbor girl brought me this onion dip," but cookies, we have a brain box for neighbor cookies.

I’ll keep you updated.

Wish me luck.

Slow Cooker Stout Caramelized Onion Dip

Servings 4 -6 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 3 large 1.5lbs sweet onions (Walla Walla, Maui, Vidalia)
  • 2 tablespoons 28g butter
  • 1 tablespoons 16g brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon 6g salt
  • ½ cup 118g stout beer
  • 8 oz cream cheese
  • 16 ounces sour cream
  • 1 teaspoon 5g Worcestershire
  • 1 teaspoon 3g garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon 3g black pepper
  • ¼ cup chopped green onion

Instructions
 

  • Thinly slice the onions.
  • Add the onions, butter, brown sugar, beer and salt to a slow cooker. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or until soft and dark. Stir occasionally, if possible.
  • Add the cream cheese, sour cream, Worcestershire, and garlic powder.
  • Cook on low for two hours, stirring occasionally. Stir in the pepper, salt to taste.
  • Add to a serving dish, sprinkle with green onions.

Football Food Match Up: Shrimp and Grits Sliders and an IPA vs Crab Cake Sliders and a Pilsner

Which slider recipes will come out on top: Crab Cake Sliders made with Kettle Brand Sea Salt and Vinegar Chips, paired with a pilsner, or Shrimp and Grits Sliders made with Kettle Brand Maple Bacon Chips paired with an IPA?

Shrimp and Grits Sliders and an IPA vs Crab Cake Sliders and a Pilsner

 I’m going to wager a bet that your weekend may be spent, in part, gathered around a TV, screaming at millionaires fighting over an oval object. Only, of course, if you’ve decided to watch the Super Bowl. Maybe you’re rooting for one of the teams, or just rooting against the other. Maybe you don’t really care either way as long as the food is good.

That’s why I’m here. To make both the food and the wagering more interesting, especially for that last set. For those of us whose teams have long since packed up their away game jerseys and started their vacations. You can still get in on the head-to-head beating action.

I’ve teamed up with Kettle Brand to bring you a bet that no one loses, inspired by the two remaining football teams.

For the New England Patriots I made some sliders inspired by both their hometown and their team colors, and I’ve paired it with a beer that plays perfectly with the flavors.

Crab Cake Sliders made with Kettle Brand Sea Salt and Vinegar Chips, paired with a pilsner

Crab Cake Sliders made with Kettle Brand Sea Salt and Vinegar Chips,

For the Atlanta Falcons I drew some Southern inspiration to bring you a slider like no other I’ve seen before, a re-imagination of one of my favorite dishes from the South. I’ve paired it with a beer that packs a punch, perfect for the sliders. 

Shrimp and Grits Sliders made with Kettle Brand Maple Bacon Chips paired with an IPA

Shrimp and Grits Sliders made with Kettle Brand Maple Bacon Chips

So here is your game day challenge: Make the sliders, pair them with the beer, and have your guests pick the best match. Will the winning sliders be the same team that wins on the field? Who knows. But I’m certain that unlike what will happen on the field, there will be no losers on your food table.

Shrimp and Grits Sliders and an IPA vs Crab Cake Sliders and a Pilsner

 

Crab Cake Sliders made with Salt and Vinegar Chips

Servings 12 sliders

Ingredients
  

For the crab cakes:

  • 3.5 wt oz about 4 cups Salt and Vinegar Kettle Brand Chips
  • 12 oz lump crab meat
  • ½ teaspoon 3g salt
  • ½ teaspoon 1g pepper
  • pinch cayenne
  • ½ teaspoon 2g Old Bay seasoning
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon 2g chives, chopped
  • ½ a large red bell pepper finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoon 28g unsalted butter

For the Pilsner Remoulade:

  • 1 cup 224g mayonnaise
  • 2 tablespoons 28g pilsner
  • 1 tablespoons 15g Dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon 5g cream style horseradish
  • 1 teaspoon 3g hot sauce
  • 1 tablespoon 8g lemon juice
  • ½ teaspoon 4g garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon 3g creole seasoning
  • 1 tablespoon 2g chopped chives
  • ¼ teaspoon .5g paprika

For the sliders:

  • 12 slider buns
  • green leaf lettuce

Instructions
 

  • Add the chips to a food processor, process until just crumbs remain.
  • Add the chips, crab meat, salt, pepper, cayenne, Old Bay, egg, chives, and bell pepper, mix to combine.
  • Lay a sheet of aluminum foil on a flat surface. Form the crab cake mixture into a long log down the center of the aluminum foil, roll the foil around the log until tightly covered, twist the ends.
  • Place the log in the freezer for 15 minutes (to make this in advance, refrigerate for up to 24 hours, then freeze just prior to use).
  • Remove from the freezer and slice the log into 12, 1-inch slices.
  • Heat the butter in a large skillet. A few at a time, gently press the circles with a flat hand to make them slightly thinner and more compact.
  • Place the crab cakes in the skillet, cooking on both sides until golden brown, about 5 minutes.
  • Remove from the skillet, place on a stack of paper towels.
  • Stir together all the remoulade ingredients until well combined.
  • To assemble the sliders add a piece of lettuce, and a crab cake to the middle of each bun, drizzle with remoulade, serve immediately, with a pilsner.

For the easiest way to make a batch of crab cakes, try this simple trick:

Shrimp and Grits Sliders made with Maple Bacon Kettle Brand Chips

Servings 12 sliders

Ingredients
  

For the IPA grit cakes:

  • 1 ½ cup 12oz milk
  • 12 ounces IPA beer
  • ¼ cup 56g butter
  • 1 teaspoon 6g salt
  • 1 teaspoon 3g pepper
  • 3/4 cup corn 117g grits
  • 1/3 cup 33g grated Cheddar cheese
  • ¼ 30g cup flour
  • oil for frying

For the shrimp:

  • 1 8.5 oz Maple Bacon Kettle Brand Chips
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup 60g flour
  • 1 lbs raw shrimp shelled and deveined
  • oil for frying

For the sliders:

  • ½ cup 119g mayonnaise (or sour cream)
  • 1 teaspoon 3g hot pepper sauce
  • ½ teaspoon .5g smoked paprika
  • 1 tablespoon 2g chopped parsley
  • 12 slider buns

Instructions
 

  • In a pot over medium high heat bring the milk, beer and butter to a boil, reduce heat to maintain a low simmer. Stir in the salt, pepper, and grits. Simmer, stirring occasionally until the grits have softened, about 20 minutes. Stir in the cheese.
  • Line a 9x12 pan with parchment paper. Pour the grits into the prepared pan. Allow to cool to room temperate, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour and up to overnight (can be made a day in advance).
  • Remove the grits from the pan using the parchment paper. Lay the parchment with the grits onto a flat work surface. Using a 2-inch, round, biscuit cutter, cut out 12 circles.
  • Add the flour to a shallow bowl. Heat a thin layer of oil in a skillet over medium high heat.
  • One at a time lightly coat the grit circles in flour, add to the hot oil, cooking on both sides until golden brown. Remove from oil and allow to drain on a stack of paper towels.
  • Add the potato chips to a food processor, process until just crumbs remain, add to a shallow bowl.
  • In a separate bowl whisk together the milk and egg.
  • In a third bowl add the flour.
  • Heat about ¼ inch of oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
  • One at a time dredge the shrimp in flour, then dip in the egg mixture, then place in the bowl of chips. Sprinkle with chip crumbs, pressing to adhere.
  • Place in the hot oil, cooking on both sides until golden brown and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Remove from oil, add to a wire rack to cool.
  • In a small bowl whisk together the mayonnaise, hot pepper sauce, paprika, and parsley.
  • To assemble the sliders add one grits circle to the inside of each bun, top with one to two shrimp, drizzle with sauce.
  • Serve immediately, with an IPA beer.

 

This post was sponsored by Kettle Brand. 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

Three Cheese Jalapeno Skillet Beer Cheese Dip

Three Cheese Jalapeno Skillet Beer Cheese Dip, made in a skillet, warm and bubbly

I’ve hit a benchmark of sorts. A way of measuring if I’m actually becoming successful at this weird chosen profession that I, essentially, just made up.

Money has never been much of a benchmark for me, other than in a "can I pay my bills and still have at least a little left over" sort of way. To this day, the time in my life when I had the most money, I was the least happy. Measuring quality of life by the quantity of money is like judging how good your meal was by how much was on your plate. Sure, money’s great, but it’s the icing, not the cake.

My benchmarks aren’t normal, but I’ve never really been a "normal" sort of person. The first time I was paid to go on a trip was a giant step upwards that I’ll never forget. The first time I was contacted by someone wanting to hire me, rather than having to chase down a lead, I felt like I was standing in the center of podium hearing a cheering crowd. The day I was able to make the leap from part-time-normal-job/part-time-weird-beer-cooking-writing-photography-job was a gigantic leap that I almost didn’t believe would stick.

Now, I have a new one. I was given a column! A beer column for a magazine. An actually, real life, feel it in your fingers, print magazine. It’s not a lucrative gig, but that was never the point. Maybe for some people there are other things I’ve done that seem better, more impressive, "bigger". But for me, this is huge, it feels validating.

I won’t be writing about cheese dip or food for that matter, it will be beer-centric. Local Washington beer, to be more specific. But that doesn’t mean food isn’t involved. I did eat this entire pan of cheese dip while I was finishing my last essay. That counts, right?

Three Cheese Jalapeno Skillet Beer Cheese Dip

Servings 4 -6 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 1 tablespoon 8g olive oil
  • 1 cup 70g sweet white onion, diced
  • 2 large jalapenos diced
  • 2 cloves garlic grated with a microplane
  • 2 tablespoons 12g cornstarch
  • 1 cup pale ale
  • ¼ cup 23g heavy cream
  • 7 oz smoked gouda grated
  • 5 oz fontina cheese grated
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • dash hot pepper sauce
  • 12 oz white cheddar grated
  • ¼ cup 7g chopped green onions
  • Chips or bread for serving

Instructions
 

  • Heat the olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions, cooking until just starting to caramelize, about 10 minutes. Stir in the jalapenos, cooking until softened, about 5minutes.
  • Stir in the garlic. Sprinkle with cornstarch, whisk to combine.
  • Whisk in the beer and cream, reduce heat to a very low simmer.
  • Add the gouda and fonitna cheese, a hand full at a time, stirring until the cheese is well combined before adding more.
  • Stir in the salt, pepper, and hot pepper sauce. Remove from heat.
  • Preheat the broiler.
  • Sprinkle with the white cheddar, place the skillet under the broiler until the cheese is lightly browned.
  • Remove from oven, sprinkle with green onions, serve immediately (take care when serving, the pan will be very hot).

Salt Roasted Mini Potatoes with Garlic Sage Beer Butter

Salt Roasted Mini Potatoes with Garlic Sage Beer Butter. The most delicious appetizer you can make with just ten minutes prep! 

I have a confession to make.

Or possibly more of a reminder.

It occurred to me, when I was posting this on instagram, that if you just stumbled upon this weird life that I decided to curate, that it may appear to you that it’s always looked like this.

To you maybe I’ve always existed in this space, always been given money in exchange for taking photos and writing down words and recipes. So, my friend, I’m here to show you the origins. The beginning of the journey to give you context.

This is the first food photo I ever took. I took it, and posted it on the internet for humans with eyes to actually see:

That’s the place I started. I’m telling you this so that you know that you have a shot. At whatever you want, at that dream you keep ignoring. The girl who took the above photo now gets paid to take photos for real-life magazines, if that’s possible, you aren’t too far away from what you want.

I’m probably not more talented than you, or smarter, or more organized (definitely not more organized), my life wasn’t more amenable to a career shift,  but I didn’t stop. I worked what was essentially two full-time jobs before I was able to make this one work. I clung to the idea like it was the sole thread to pull me away from a life that made me feel like I was drowning. I didn’t hear "no", I heard "Someday I’ll wish I’d said yes to you." I didn’t care if no one responded to my emails, or that I was spending more money than I was making. I didn’t know if it was all futile, I didn’t know if it would ever lead me anywhere. I just kept moving.

There are still days I feel like a fraud. Days I wonder why anyone would actually pay me for this. Days when I feel like the box filled with what I don’t know about photography is far bigger than the one full of what I do know. But I’m still moving, still going forward. Still trying to figure out what’s next. Because, like I said last week, the goal isn’t to be perfect, it’s to be better than yesterday.

Salt Roasted Mini Potatoes with Garlic Sage Beer Butter

Salt Roasted Mini Potatoes with Garlic Sage Beer Butter. The most delicious appetizer you can make with just ten minutes prep!
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 1 3lbs box Kosher salt
  • 2 lbs mini potatoes
  • ½ cup salted butter or unsalted butter plus 1/8 tsp salt
  • 3 cloves peeled garlic
  • 4 fresh sage leaves chopped
  • 1 tablespoon malty beer Oktoberfest, Bock, Belgian

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 425.
  • Sprinkle a layer of salt in the bottom of an 8x8 pan. Scrub potatoes, pat dry, and poke a few holes into each, add them to the pan on top of the salt.
  • Pour the remaining salt over the potatoes until mostly covered.
  • Roast for 45 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender. Remove from oven, allow to cool slightly. Break the salt pack, remove the potatoes, add to a serving dish.
  • Add the butter, garlic and sage to a pot over medium heat until the butter has melted, remove from heat, allow to steep for 10 minutes (this can also be done in the microwave).
  • Add the melted butter, garlic, and sage to a small bender or food processor along with the beer, blend until well combined. Re-heat the butter if it starts to congeal. Serve potatoes along with melted butter.

Notes

*Add more beer, if desired. If the beer butter is too bitter, add honey a teaspoon at a time to counterbalance the bitterness.

 

Grilled Beer Chicken Sliders with Burrata and Stout Chipotle Cherry Sauce

These Grilled Beer Chicken Sliders with Burrata and Stout Chipotle Cherry Sauce can be made on a grill, or indoors in a grill pan. Easy and delicious, perfect for game day!

Welcome to the new year.

Welcome to the year that is equal parts a welcomed relief and intensely terrifying. Let’s make a plan, you and I. Let’s agree to one thing: make the small corners of the world we occupy better in hopes to cause a ripple. Let’s express gratitude more often, very often, and even to those we hardly know. Let’s compliment strangers, pay for the order behind us, donate to that charity that we always say we will donate to but always forget. Let’s make a plan to always assume positive intent, especially from those we like the least until we are proven otherwise.

We don’t have much control over, well, pretty much anything. But we DO have control over that. We have control over what we focus on and what we put into the world. The thing I’ve learned with counting blessings is that it tends to multiply them, or at the very least amplify them. The same applies to hardships, so be careful.

Let’s assume positive intent for this year, and hope for the best. We’re in this together, all of us.

Grilled Beer Chicken Sliders with Burrata and Stout Chipotle Cherry Sauce

Servings 12 sliders

Ingredients
  

  • 2 lbs chicken thighs boneless skinless
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 12 ounces wheat beer or brown ale, pale lager, pilsner
  • 1 teaspoon 3g garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon 3g onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon 3g chili powder
  • ½ teaspoon 1g smoked paprika
  • 1 cup 154g pitted dark sweet cherries (frozen is fine)
  • 2 tablespoon 38g minced chipotle in adobo
  • 1 tablespoon 13g balsamic vinegar
  • 1 cup 240g beer(stout beer works best)
  • 1 teaspoon 2g black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon 8g cornstarch
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 8 oz ball burrata cheese
  • 12 Hawaiian buns split like slider buns

Instructions
 

  • Add the chicken to a bowl or small baking dish. Sprinkle with salt, then cover with beer. Refrigerate for one to six hours.
  • Remove the chicken from the brine, pat dry. Add to a plate or cutting board.
  • In a small bowl stir together the garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, and smoked paprika. Sprinkle over the chicken on both sides. Allow the chicken to sit for ten minutes.
  • Spray the grill (or a grill pan) with olive oil or cooking spray, heat to medium high heat. Add the chicken, cooking on both sides until cooked through. Remove from grill, slice.
  • Add the cherries, chipotle, balsamic, stout beer, and black pepper to a pan over medium high heat. Simmer, breaking up the cherries and stirring until the cherries have started to break down.
  • Remove from heat. Sprinkle with cornstarch, blend with an immersion blender until smooth (this can also be done in a small blender or food processor). Stir in the honey and return to medium heat until slightly thickened (cherry sauce can be made up to three days in advance).
  • Fill the Hawaiian buns with chicken. Split the Burrata ball open, putting a few teaspoons of cheese on top of the chicken (the rind is very tasty and can be put on the sliders, if desired. It tastes more like traditional mozzarella), drizzle the cheese with a teaspoon or so of the cherry sauce.
  • Serve immediately.

Notes

To make ahead of time, make all elements before hand, store separately. Transport this way, if serving off site. Heat the chicken and sauce separately and assemble just prior to serving

Baked Everything Bagel Beer Chicken Legs

Baked Everything Bagel Beer Chicken Legs

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They tell me it’s all about the water.

That’s what bagel people will tell you if you listen long enough. That New York bagels are obviously the best because of the magical properties that the water contains. That’s also, coincidentally enough, what beer people will tell you. That different regions of the world have gravitated towards different styles over the centuries because of the water in their area.

It’s also a great pairing. Sure, bagels and coffee have had a long-standing relationship and who am I to get in the way of that, but bagels and beer have something special. Try an Everything Bagel with a hoppy pale ale, or a cinnamon raisin bagel with a Belgian quad, or lox and cream cheese bagel with a Witbier and you’ll get it.

Beer really does go with everything. Even more beer.

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Baked Everything Bagel Beer Chicken Legs

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 2 lbs chicken leg drumsticks
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 2 cup buttermilks divided
  • 12 ounces pale ale
  • 1 teaspoon red pepper sauce i.e. Tapatio, Tabasco
  • 1 cup flour plus 2 tablespoons, divided
  • 1 egg
  • 4 large everything bagels
  • 3 tablespoon canola oil

Instructions
 

  • Add the chicken to a large bowl or baking dish. Sprinkle with salt. Pour 1 cup buttermilk (reserve the other cup for the coating), beer and red pepper sauce over the chicken. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours and up to 8 (can be done in the morning for dinner in the evening).
  • Break the bagels into 4 to 6 pieces each. Place on a plate, uncovered, to dry out while the chicken brines.
  • Remove the chicken from the brine, add to a plate and allow to sit at room temperate for 10 minutes while you prepare the dredge.
  • Preheat oven to 350F.
  • Add 1 cup of flour to a small bowl.
  • Add the remaining cup of buttermilk to another bowl, whisk in the egg until well combined.
  • Add the bagels to a food processor of blender, process until just crumbs remain.
  • Add to a baking sheet in an even layer. Bake at 350F until slightly toasted. Add the crumbs to a large bowl, stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons flour. Increase oven temperature to 425F.
  • Place a wire rack over the baking sheet, spray the wire rack with cooking spray.
  • One at a time roll the chicken legs in flour, then dredge in the buttermilk, then roll in the bread crumbs. Add to the prepared pan. Drizzle with canola oil.
  • Bake at 425 for 40 minutes or until the internal temperate of the chicken reaches 165F.

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Easy Beer Cheese and Bacon Pull-apart Loaf

Easy Beer Cheese and Bacon Pull-apart Loaf

Easy Beer Cheese and Bacon Pull-apart Loaf

I laughed so hard that it hurt. Coming back from the first night of brewery hopping, after a 7-hour drive up into the high desert of Oregon, I walked back to the hotel with my favorite travel companion laughing so hard I could hardly stand.

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Maybe the reason I have such a love in my soul for Bend is the world class selection of beer. The epic and nearly endless supply of breweries dotted across the small mountain town is nothing short of mecca worthy. Maybe it’s that fact that Bend is always a good time, the way a getaway weekend should be. Maybe it’s combination of things.

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 It’s a trip that needs at least three days to get through. Pacing along the way with food and coffee to keep you upright. My favorite stop was Crux Fermentation Project, who still had not one but TWO fresh hop beers on tap, Mo Fresh was fantastic, one of my favorite beers I sampled that day. Ten Barrel was worth the trip just for the location. It was packed to the walls with eager patrons but I was able to squeeze in a seat at the bar for a pint or two.

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Sunriver Brewing's Vicious Mosquito IPA was a highlight among the flurry of well-hopped beer that Bend has to offer. Taking up residence right down the road from Ten Barrel makes this a good pair to give your afternoon to.

For the food the standout was the Eggs Benedict at The Victorian Cafe, totally worth the hour wait. Other than that it was a weekend filled with bar food.

I came home missing the mountains and a weekend filled with cheese and carbs. Of course, that’s just what I made.

Easy Beer Cheese and Bacon Pull-apart Loaf

That’s Tyson in the background. A little something I picked up on the way home from Bend. A fat bulldog to keep my company when I bake.

Easy Beer Cheese and Bacon Pull-apart Loaf

Servings 6 -8 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups 6.5 wt oz, plus ½ cup (1.6oz) shredded cheddar cheese, packed
  • 8 wt oz cream cheese
  • 1/3 cup 80 mL IPA beer
  • ½ teaspoon 1g garlic powder
  • ¼ teaspoon .5g smoked paprika
  • ½ teaspoon 3g salt
  • 1 1.5 lbs loaf crusty bread
  • 6 strips bacon cooked and chopped
  • ¼ cup chopped green onions

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 425.
  • Add 2 cups of cheddar, cream cheese, beer, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and salt to a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth.
  • Cut the bread diagonally in 1-inch slices (about ¾ of the way though, do not cut all the way through the bread leave the bottom crust in tact). Turn the bread and cut in the same manner to create a diamond crosshatch pattern with the bottom crust still intact.
  • Use a small spatula or butter knife to spread the cheese mixture into the cut marks.
  • Add the loaf to a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Top with remaining cheese. Sprinkle with bacon.
  • Bake for 10minutes or until the cheese has melted.
  • Sprinkle with green onions, serve warm.

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Garlic Parmesan Skillet Beer Potatoes

Garlic Parmesan Skillet Beer Potatoes

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"If you do it right, you’ll life several lifetimes before you’re done." She was 80-years-old, only frail on the outside, and telling me about the life she lived decades ago. One where she was a young activist living in 1960’s San Francisco. That life, she said, was one that still makes her feel vibrant and rebellious even in her compression socks and sensible shoes.

She shows me pictures, her wildly unkempt hair flowing out of the frame. She says that if I do it right, I’ll look back on this moment with the photo in her hand and her words filling her small kitchen and think to myself, "That was a different life."

That was about 7 years ago, and she was right. She’d served me scalloped potatoes that she’s baked in a skillet and showed me all the age-worn photos that she could find of that past life she once lived. The one that fills her head as she falls asleep.

"You don’t always have to be a good girl, you can rattle the cage sometimes, dear. Sometimes those are the best choices to make."

She was also right about that. Skillet potatoes remind me of her, and the advice she’d given. Maybe someday when I’m 80 I’ll make some wide-eyed-farm-girl some potatoes and tell her to rattle cages.

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Garlic Parmesan Skillet Beer Potatoes

Servings 4 -6 side dish servings

Ingredients
  

  • 2-3 large 2lbs russet potatoes, thinly sliced
  • 3 tablespoons 32g all-purpose flour
  • 3 cloves garlic grated with a microplane
  • 1 teaspoon 2g chopped fresh rosemary
  • 1 teaspoon 6g salt
  • 1 teaspoon 3g pepper
  • 1 cup 124g parmesan cheese, grated with a microplane, divided
  • ¼ cup 58g wheat beer
  • 3 tablespoons 45mL heavy cream

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 375.
  • Add the sliced potatoes to a large bowl. Sprinkle with flour, garlic, rosemary, salt, pepper, and most of the parmesan cheese (reserve ¼ a cup for the top). Toss until well coated.
  • Layer the potatoes in a circular pattern in a 9-inch cast iron skillet.
  • Drizzle the potatoes with the beer and the heavy cream. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
  • Bake for 28-30 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender. Heat the broiler, add the skillet under the broiler until the cheese is golden brown, about 5 minutes.
  • Serve warm.

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