Stout Brined Crispy Chili Brown Sugar Pork Belly

Pork belly is a bit of a trade secret. It’s rich, delicious, and if you can get your hands on it, fairly cheap. It’s like shallots and Maldon salt, these little touches that turn a home-cooked meal into something that rivals a commercial kitchen. Pork belly is a favorite among chefs, and it’s easy to see why.

This gorgeous, fatty, melt-in-your-mouth cut of the pig is actually bacon, before it’s baconed. It’s hard to come by, but not impossible. Don’t plan to just pick this up at Safeway, you’ll have to call around to local butcher shops.

The great news is, once you find it, it’ll probably be less than $4 a pound. One thing to keep in mind is how differently the meat and the fat need to be cooked. The meat itself needs the slow and low treatment or it’ll dry out, a good brine will help with this as well.

The fat, on the other hand, needs an intensely high heat. Finishing these little bites of meat candy on a hot grill is also a great idea. Adding some sugar to the skin will help with a beautifully caramelized crackle.

It’s also perfect with beer. Fancy, slow-cooked bacon was just made for a beautiful, balanced IPA, one with extra hops but a strong malt backbone. Beer and pig, it’s hard to go wrong.

Stout Brined Crispy Chili Brown Sugar Pork Belly

Ingredients

1 cup very hot water
3 tbs kosher salt
1 tbs white sugar
1 tbs whole cloves
1 tbs whole allspice berries
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
24 ounces stout
4.5 lbs pork belly
½ cup brown sugar
3 tbs rice vinegar
2 tsp red chili flakes
1 tsp red chili sauce (such as Sriracha)

Directions

In a large bowl or baking dish stir together the hot water, salt and sugar until the salt and sugar has dissolved.
Add the cloves, allspice and peppercorns. Stir in the beer, test to make sure the brine is cold (if not, chill until cooled).
Add the pork belly, cover and chill for 12 to 24 hours.
Remove from the brine (reserve brine), rinse the pork belly well.
Place a wire rack over a baking sheet (alternately, a baking pan will work), pour about 1 cup of the brine in the baking sheet making sure the wire rack is not submerged.
Place the pork belly on the rack, bake at 275 until pork is fork tender, about 4 hours.
Remove the pork from the oven, raise the oven temperature to 500.
Stir together the brown sugar, vinegar, chili flakes, and chili sauce.
Brush the pork belly with the sugar mixture.
Roast for ten minutes, re-brush with sugar mixture, roast again until pork is golden brown and the top is crispy.

http://thebeeroness.com/2014/11/26/stout-brined-crispy-chili-brown-sugar-pork-belly/

Rosemary Potato Brown Ale Galette

Rosemary Potato Brown Ale Galette. Vegan, healthy and insanely delicious. Perfect side dish for Thanksgiving!

I once knew a woman who had marched on Washington with Martin Luther King. She was fascinating and captivating and no matter how many interesting stories I can tell you, she had me beat on all levels. I sat at a small formica table drinking bad coffee with a woman who was closer to my Grandmothers age than my own and she told me about praying with MLK Jr. in a tent the night before the big human rights rally. I was captivated. I looked at her hands, gripping a white paper cup and I imagined them gripping his. Facing each other, his hands tightly folded into hers, eyes closed, praying for the day to come, possibly wondering if they would both make it through alive. I felt like I was in the presence of Royalty. “One of the best things he ever said to me was to collect compliments, and disregard insults.” I smiled, apparently she had picked up on the fact that I tend to disregard compliments and collect insults. “I’ll give you one, one that I hope you collect. Here it is: you get it. Most white people don’t, but you do. You get it. For as much as someone who has never been a minority can get it, you do.”

To this day, it’s one of my favorites. More than Carlos Santana telling me I was pretty, or Tommy Lee saying I beautiful. It was a compliment that mattered from a woman I was intimidated by. It beat out Evan Kleiman saying my recipes are smart and even a woman I adored saying “you’re the kind of girl I hope my son marries.” But all of these compliments I’m keeping. I’m saving them up and pulling them out when I feel beaten down. You should too. Collect the compliments, disregard the insults. After all, if someone wants to throw a nasty comment your way, it says more about them than it does about you.

Rosemary Potato Brown Ale Galette

Ingredients

¼ cup olive oil
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 tsp chopped fresh sage
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
½ tsp garlic powder
4 lbs russet potatoes, sliced into ¼ inch slices
1/3 cup brown ale

Directions

Preheat oven to 400.
In a small bowl stir together olive oil, rosemary, sage, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Microwave on high for 45 seconds, allow to steep for five minutes (you can also add this to a small pan and bring to a boil on the stove top).
Place a layer of potatoes in an overlapping circle in the bottom on a 9-inch spring form pan.
Brush potatoes circles with olive oil mixture. Add a second layer of potatoes, brushing with oil, repeat until all potatoes are used. You should have three or four layers of potatoes, each layer brushed with the herbed olive oil. Once all potatoes have been used, pour 1/3 cup brown ale gently over the top.
Cover spring form pan with aluminum foil, bake at 400 for 25 minutes. Remove foil and continue to bake for an additional 30 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender.
Remove from oven and preheat broiler. Place potatoes under the broiler for 3 minutes or until the top is slightly crisp and golden brown. Press down firmly on the top of the galette with a spoon or fork. Allow to cool. Remove the sides of the spring form pan, cut galette into wedges.

http://thebeeroness.com/2014/10/29/rosemary-potato-brown-ale-galette/

This recipe is crazy delicious and just so happens to be vegan. It’s a beautiful way to serve a side dish to a diverse crowd at Thangsiving. It can even be gluten free if you use GF beer and it’s relatively healthy. Want a delicious and different breakfast offering? Put an egg on it.

Want to know how I made these incredibly delicious beer battered grilled cheese bites? You’ll love them. Check them out on the Harry & David blog.

One Pot Tomato Parmesan Brown Ale Fettuccini with Chicken

One Pot Tomato Parmesan Brown Ale Fettuccini with Chicken. Even the pasta and chicken get cooked in the same pot!

Sometimes I like to look at photos of old living rooms I used to occupy. The one when I was kid with the brown tweed couch, and the one with the tan futon from college, and the one I painted orange from right after I graduated. I stare at these images and think that if I just tried hard enough I could go back. I could walk in the door, throw my bag on that weird built in shelf next to the stove that Sophia chewed on when she was a puppy. That the awkward wrought iron table would still be there and the bad bathroom tile would still be covered in lady bug decals.

Then I remember that fight I got into with my academic advisor when I was in college. He was also the dean of my department and the type that would wear thin short sleeved button down shirts without the obligatory Hanes barrier between my eyes and his man nipples. He always had a way of pissing me off, but for some reason I told him that I was having a hard time adjusting, that friends had never been that easy for me to come by, that even going home felt more empty than I’d imagined.

“It’s true what they say,” as he leaned back in his chair his large mass caused the seat to creak in protest under his weight, “You really can’t go home again.”

I stood up, angry at him. He was right, and it made me furious.

Sometimes I think he might be wrong. For a second I think that there might be way, if I could find the key, that I could open the door and it would all be the same.

One Pot Tomato Parmesan Brown Ale Fettuccini with Chicken

Ingredients

4 chicken thighs
salt and pepper
3 tbs olive oil
½ yellow onion, diced
1 large carrot, diced
15 asparagus stalks, trimmed
3 cloves garlic, minced
12 ounces brown ale
2 lbs fresh tomatoes, diced
6 wt oz tomato paste
4 wt oz parmesan (with rind)
½ tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried oregano
8 wt ounces fettuccini noodles

Directions

Sprinkle chicken thighs on all sides with salt and pepper.
Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Cook chicken on both sides until cooked through, remove from pot, chop.
Add onions and carrots, cooking until softened, about 5 minutes.
Add the asparagus and garlic, cook until asparagus is slightly browned.
Stir in the beer, scraping to deglaze the pot.
Add the tomatoes and tomato paste, simmer until the tomatoes have broken down. Grate the parmesan, reserve the rind. Sprinkle the pot with parmesan, stir until combined, Add the rind to the pot as well.
Stir in the garlic powder, oregano. Add the fettuccini noodles, cooking until noodles are al dente.
Plate the noodles, top with chicken.

http://thebeeroness.com/2014/10/24/one-pot-tomato-parmesan-brown-ale-fettuccini-chicken/

Gingerbread Ale Pudding with Beer Whipped Cream & Fall Beers for Non-Pumpkin People

Gingerbread Ale Pudding with Beer Whipped Cream & Fall Beers for Non-Pumpkin People

By the time October rolls around, Pumpkin ALL The Things has hit it’s crescendo. Pumpkin beer lists have been made, all the Top Ten have been analyzed and disputed, and frankly, most of us have pumpkin weary palates. Thankfully there is a mountain of non-squash related beers that fall has to offer.

Barrel aged beers are starting to be released after spending most of the summer aging in liquor barrels they finally see the inside of bottles and are shipped to your nearest bottle shop. A few to seek out:

Surly Brewing – Barrel Aged Darkness

Founders Brewing – Backwoods Bastard

The Bruery – Black Tuesday

Brooklyn Brewery – Black Ops

Fresh hop beers have a very small brewing window. The vast majority of beer is made with either hop pellets (that look a bit like bunny food), or with hop flowers that have been dried for storage. The few weeks between late summer and early fall when hops come into season and the yearly harvest begins, is the only time that brewers can use a fresh hop right off the bine (yes, it’s spelled “bine”). Once picked, fresh hops run the risk of going bad if not dried fairly quickly making this time of year a golden window for some exceptional beers. A few to seek out:

Barley Brown – Tank Slapper

Sierra Nevada – Harvest Series

Bale Breaker – Piled High Imperial Fresh Hop

Rogue Farms – Wet Hop Ale

Brown Ales don’t get enough airtime. A nice smooth transition from the session IPA’s of summer to the deep roasty stouts of winter, the brown ale is your bridge. The perfect fall beer when you aren’t quite ready to accept that snow is on it’s way but you want something deeper than a pale ale. A few to seek out:

Bell’s Beer – Best Brown Ale

Cigar City – Cubano Style Espresso Brown

Sixpoints – Brownstone

Mankato – Leaf Raker

Then we have these one of a kind beers. Like this Gingerbread Ale from Bison Brewing that just tastes like fall and scarcely has competition in it’s category. With beautiful spice flavors of fall and a deep rich color and flavor, it’s perfect for those who want to indulge in fall beers but would rather eat their vegetables than drink them.

I, of course, took it one step further and made an easy ten minutes pudding that would also be brilliant as a pie filling. But serving it out of half-pint glasses works too.

Gingerbread Ale Pudding with Beer Whipped Cream

Ingredients

¾ cup sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp Vietnamese cinnamon
1 ¼ cups heavy cream
1 cup gingerbread ale (pumpkin ale or brown ale will also work)
2 large egg yolks
3 tbs unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
For the Whipped Cream:
1 cup heavy cream
½ tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup powdered sugar
3 tbs gingerbread ale (pumpkin ale or brown ale will also work)

Directions

In a saucepan off heat stir together the sugar, cornstarch, salt, and cinnamon. Whisk in the cream, beer, and egg yolks until well combined.
Add the butter and vanilla, add pan to medium high heat. Stir constantly until butter has melted and the mixture has thickened, about 6 minutes.
Pour evenly between four small serving dishes. Chill until cooled and set, about 1 hour.
Just prior to serving add the cream, vanilla and powdered sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on high until soft peaks form. While the mixer is still running, slowly add the remaining 3 tablespoons beer, continue to beat until cream stiffens up. Top pudding with whipped cream.

Notes

To make a pudding pie, just pour pudding into a pre-baked and cooled 9-inch pie shell. Top with whipped cream just prior to serving.

http://thebeeroness.com/2014/10/13/gingerbread-ale-pudding-beer-whipped-cream/

Sweet Potato and Brown Ale Soup with Crispy Sage and Pomegranates

Sweet Potato and Brown Ale Soup with Crispy Sage and Pomegranates #soup #recipe #beer #sweetpotato #pomegranate #fall

Do you ever get wrong number phone calls?

I’m a bit of a magnet for them, even though I’ve had my current cell phone number since I was a teenager.

I get the same woman calling me about once a month, and she never remembers that she has the wrong number. Although I don’t know for sure what she looks like, in my head she is an older African-American woman, in a floral bathrobe sitting at a vintage oak dinning table sipping Taster Choice out of an old mug.

This was our most recent conversation:

My phone rings, I know it’s her.

Me: “Hi!”

Her: “Oh…Um…do I have the right number?”

Me: “Honey, you’ve called me every month for the past two years and this still isn’t the right number.”

Her, laughing: “Girl! Haha! Do I really? Aren’t you a sweetheart! Why you keep takin’ my calls?!”

Me: “Because if I don’t answer you just keep calling! Plus, I’ve gotten used to this.”

Her: “You are so sweet! You’re my girl. I won’t call you again, I promise! So nice to talk to you again.”

Me: ” Ok, hon. Talk to you next month.”

And I hope I do.

I have her number saved in my phone as Mrs. Tasters Choice and when her number pops up, I get a big smile on my face. She’s told me stories about a friend of hers in the hospital, about how she used to sell pies at Penn Station, about her husband that passed away a few years ago from a heart attack right in the middle of a Sizzler. She’s seen hard times, that’s obvious, but she’s the kind of woman who chooses to be happy, to brighten people’s day. At least that’s what she always does for me.

Sweet Potato and Brown Ale Soup with Crispy Sage and Pomegranates

Ingredients

4 tbs unsalted butter
¼ cup chopped shallots
3 tbs flour
2 tbs brown sugar (if using orange sweet potatoes, reduce to 1 tbs)
12 oz brown ale
1 ½ cups chicken broth
3 lbs (6 cups) white sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
¼ cup heavy cream
2 tbs olive oil
¼ cup fresh sage leaves
½ cup pomegranate seeds

Directions

Melt butter in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add the shallots, cooking until softened. Sprinkle with flour, stir until well combined, thickened and flour has browned.
Add the brown sugar, brown ale, and chicken broth, stir to combine.
Add the sweet potatoes, cook until potatoes are fork tender. Remove from heat.
Using an immersion blender, blend until smooth.
Stir in the salt, pepper, cayenne and heavy cream.
Heat the olive oil in a small sauce pan over medium high heat until hot but not smoking.
Add the sage leaves, fry on both sides until crispy, about 10 seconds per side. Remove from oil, allow to drain on paper towels.
Spoon soup into the bowl, top with sage leaves and pomegranate seeds.

http://thebeeroness.com/2014/10/06/sweet-potato-brown-ale-soup-crispy-sage-pomegranates/

Caramel Apple Brown Ale Cake

I was once asked to write a piece about apples for a print magazine. Seems easy enough, I did grow up on a farm flanked by apple orchards. But here’s the problem: I tend to be a bit opinionated about certain things. Most issues bring out a very “live and let live” spirit in me, but ask my opinion and I’ll tell you.

For instance, this exchange happened recently:

I was at Nordstroms Rack recent perusing the discounted designer shoes and a woman had her foot stuck into a particularly hideous pair of white and black slingbacks. “You look stylish, can I ask you a question?” She asked as I tried to squeeze past her. I said yes, of course. “Do these look good on me?”

As any man can tell you, the immediate answer should be “Of course, you look fantastic, no one has ever looked better in mid-range kitten heels!” But I’m not typical, and I never want to hear that. I want the truth, sorry Jack Nicholson, I can handle it. So I assume if you ask a complete stranger—rather than the man whom you’re letting see you naked on the regular— you want the actual truth. If you don’t, don’t ask me.

“No, those are terrible.” I said, in a sympathetic tone.

She looked genuinely shocked, as if she’d cobbled them herself in an elf-infested cottage. “They aren’t flattering to your toes, they don’t seem to fit well and the pattern looks dated. Try these.” I said, grabbing her a slightly higher heeled pair with a more muted pattern and a larger opening at the toe. They were also a half size bigger.

“But I’m not a 7 1/2.” She said as she slid her foot into the perfect fitting pair of shoes.

“Yes you are, just try them on. No one can see the size.” They looked great on her, “See, your legs look longer, your toes look smaller and that shoe goes with more things.”

“Oh, wow. Thank you.” She bought them. And to this day I imagine her saying a silent thank you to the girl in the discount clothing store for talking her into buying them every time she gets compliments on her favorite pair of shoes.

I’m going to do this for you right now with apples, like I did for that print magazine.

Don’t ever, under any circumstance, ever, ever, cook with a Red Delicious apples. It’s a giant mistake and your baked goods will suffer. Like a vapid 22-year-old in a mini skirt holding a cosmo at a trendy bar: all the good qualities are on the outside. Sure they look good, but nothing on the inside is worth the stunning good looks. The flesh of a Red Delicious is mushy, mealy, and breaks down during cooking.

What should you use? I’m so glad you asked. You need an apple that can take a punch. You need one that has a bit of a sour bite to balance the sugar in your recipe. I love Honey Crisp, although some can tend to be a touch sweet and occasionally mushy (but that’s rare and usually for an overripe apple), SweeTangos are fantastic but hard to find. Granny Smith is an easy go-to, although a bit more sour than other varieties. However, the flesh stands up to baking, and the tartness is a great balance to the sweetness of a baked good.

Just don’t ask my opinion about your shoes or produce unless you’re prepared for the truth. But then again, I think you can handle it.

Caramel Apple Brown Ale Cake

Ingredients

For the caramel layer:

3 tbs butter
1 cup white sugar
¼ cup brown ale
2 tbs cream
2 large SweeTango or Granny Smith apples, sliced

For the cake layer:

1 1/3 cup AP flour
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 large egg
2/3 cup brown ale
1/4 cup heavy cream
¼ cup melted butter
1 tsp vanilla

Directions

Add the butter, white sugar and brown ale to a saucepan over high heat. Stir until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Allow to boil without stirring until dark amber color, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in the cream, allow to cool until the bubbling stops.
Arrange the apples slices in a cake pan or deep dish pie pan that has been well greased.
Pour the caramel over the apples.
Ina large bowl stir together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, salt, white sugar and brown sugar.
Make a well in the dry ingredients, add the eggs, beer, cream, melted butter and vanilla, stir until just incorporated.
Pour batter over apples.
Bake at 325 for 45 minutes or until golden brown and top springs lightly when touched.
Wait precisely ten minutes, invert on a serving plate to remove from pan.

http://thebeeroness.com/2014/09/03/caramel-apple-brown-ale-cake/

Garlic Herb Beer Butter Roasted Potatoes

Cowboys and brewers aren’t that different.

I grew up on a farm, surrounded by cowboys and farms and it didn’t take long to notice how different their “job” was from those 9 to 5’s that other people had. There were no days off, and this had nothing to do with the fact that ranches and farms never shut down, it was because you can’t keep a cowboy away. Give him a day off and he’ll still be there, boots laced up at dawn, hat pulled on as he heads out the door, driving a truck through the fields.

Give a brewer a day off and his brain will still be there. He’ll write down notes about what he wants to brew next, try to solve the problems with his last batch, wonder how the fermentation is going on what he’s brewing now, briefly considering going in to check. You can’t take the brewery out of the brewer.

Maybe that’s what life is about. Finding a job you’d do on your off time, finding a way to earn a paycheck from your obsessions. Even if that paycheck is smaller than the one you get from that job that you can’t wait to leave when the clock hits 5:00. Maybe it just comes down to a quality of life issues. The best advice I got in grad school was “Never get paid to do a job that you wouldn’t do for free.”

Maybe it isn’t the doctors and CEO’s we should be jealous of, maybe it’s really the brewers and the cowboys that really have it all figured out.

Garlic Herb Beer Butter Roasted Potatoes

Ingredients

2 lbs baby red potatoes, cut into quarters
6 tbs unsalted butter
1/4 cup brown ale
2 large clove garlic, grated with micropalne
1 tbs chopped fresh basil, minced
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme, minced
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary, minced
½ tsp flakey sea salt (smoked Maldon salt preferred)

Directions

Preheat oven to 425.
In a pot over medium high heat melt the butter. Stir in the beer and garlic, cook for about 5 minutes, remove from heat.
Stir in about half the herbs, reserve the other half.
Place the potatoes in a 9x13 baking dish, drizzle with butter, toss to coat.
Roast at 425 for ten minutes, stir, then continue cooking until fork tender, about another ten minutes.
Remove potatoes with a slotted spoon and add to a serving dish.
Sprinkle with remaining herbs and salt.

http://thebeeroness.com/2014/05/21/garlic-herb-beer-butter-roasted-potatoes/

Beer Poached Pears with Chocolate Stout Fudge Sauce and Moose Munch Crumble

One of the perks of blogging is the invitations for the behind the scenes tours of places you’d never be allowed in otherwise, to fully indulge the Food Geek in all of us in the how it’s made process that thrills and fascinates those of that have dedicated our loves to internet food. The vast majority of these invites I turn down. The ones I accept are only from companies I can get behind.

Harry & David is a fantastic Pacific Northwest company. Although I choose to highlight their pears and Moose Munch, they’re so much more. They even have a well stocked bottle shop section of their Harry & Davids company store in Medford Oregon, I picked up a bottle of Alameda My Bloody Valentine and Walkabout Jabberwocky Ale. I was also amazed that this company that does such large volumes or candy, fruit, wine and gifts was run by a small and dedicated team. They all seemed to know each other, support each other and value the quality of their products. It’s exactly the type of company I want to support. Plus there is talk of beer cheese dip and beer bread mixes making their way into the Harry and David baskets, something I’m definitely keeping an eye out for.

Until then, I’ve poached some pears in beer and smothered them with beer chocolate sauce and topped it with some of that famous Moose Munch for a little texture.

Beer Poached Pears with Chocolate Stout Fudge Sauce and Moose Munch Crumble

Ingredients

3 cups beer*
1 cup sugar, plus 1/3 cup, divided
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp whole cloves
2 large Comice pears, peeled
hot water
¼ cup chocolate stout
3 tbs corn syrup
¼ cup cocoa powder
1 cup Moose Munch caramel corn, rough chopped

Directions

In a large pot over medium high heat add the beer, 1 cup sugar, vanilla, cloves. Bring to a simmer. Add the pears and enough hot water so that pears float. Cook until the pears are fork tender, 15-20 minutes.
In a separate pot add the chocolate stout, corn syrup, remaining 1/3 cup sugar and cocoa powder, bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 8 minutes.
Drain the pears and add to small bowls. Drizzle with chocolate sauce, sprinkle with chopped Moose Munch.

Notes

*For the poaching liquid you want a malty beer, but not a dark beer (dark beers may change the color of the pears). Look for a Belgian ale, brown ale or amber ale. *You can also use regular caramel corn in place of Moose Munch.

http://thebeeroness.com/2014/04/25/beer-poached-pears-chocolate-stout-fudge-sauce-moose-munch-crumble/

Harry & David paid all the expenses for the trip , but this post was not sponsored or expected.

All opinions are my own.

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Crazy for Crust

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Porter Caramelized Onion Flatbreads with Smoked Gouda and Roasted Tomatoes

A few years ago I decided that I need unbiased proof that I was actually good at this recipe development thing. That my recipes were good, not because the photos were pretty, or because they sounded good, or because some guy on twitter said he wanted to marry me.

But that an unbiased panel of experts thought they were good.

My solution to my self-esteem crisis was to enter recipe contests. The second one I entered was a chicken cook-off. Of course I choose chicken thights, and added a chipotle béarnaise and a few months later I got a call: I was in the finals. The unbiased panel of experts had chosen my recipe, along with 4 others, out of thousands of recipes that were submitted as the best that were entered. A few weeks later they shipped me off to San Diego to compete in a Chicken Challenge that ended with a giant foam core check with my name on it. I’d won.

Of course the $1000 check and trip to San Diego was a great prize, but the real trophy was the validation that I was actually good at this thing I want to dedicate my life to. At a post Winner Winner Chicken Dinner press conference I’d asked one of the chefs who had been a part of the original selection process what he looked for in a recipe, clearly he didn’t make all thousand submitted recipes.

He told me that all great entree recipes have these elements: fat, acid, protein, and a fresh herb. That’s what he looked for. Maybe that’s why I always reach from something green to sprinkle on top of the entrees I make.

Although he didn’t say anything about beer. Maybe he should re think his strategy.

Porter Caramelized Onion Flatbreads with Smoked Gouda and Roasted Tomatoes

Ingredients

For the Crust:

1 ¾ cups flour
1 envelope yeast
1 tsp white sugar
½ tsp garlic salt
2/3 cup malty beer (brown ale, beligan ale, etc)

For the Onions:

2 tbs unsalted butter
2 tbs olive oil
2 sweet white onions, sliced
pinch salt
pinch white sugar
1 cup porter beer

For the Toppings:

4 wt oz smoked gouda cheese, sliced
1 cup grape tomatoes
2 tbs olive oil
½ tsp sea salt
½ tsp pepper
2 tbs flat leaf parsley, chopped

Directions

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, add the flour, yeast, sugar and garlic salt. Mix until combined.
In a microwave safe bowl add the beer. Microwave on high for 20 seconds, test temperature with a cooking thermometer and repeat until temperature reaches between 120 and 125 degrees Fahrenheit.
Add the beer to the stand mixer and mix on medium speed until most of the flour has been moistened.
Turn speed to high and beat until dough is smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.
Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl, tightly wrap with plastic wrap. Allow to sit in a warm room until doubled in size, about 45 to 60 minutes (while the dough rises, start the onions).
Remove from bowl and add to a lightly floured surface. Knead several times, cut into 6 equal sized pieces.
One at a time form the dough into 6 inch circles. Place on a baking sheet that has been covered with parchment paper.
While the dough is rising, make the onions. In a saucepan or Dutch oven melt the butter with the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions with a pinch of salt and sugar, cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add beer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the beer has mostly evaporated and turned to a glaze about 20 minutes. Make sure to keep the heat low or the onions will burn before they caramelize.
Preheat the oven to 400.
Add the tomatoes to a small bowl. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, set aside.
Top the 6 flatbreads with slices of Gouda, then add about ¼ cup of caramelized onions, then tomatoes.
Brush exposed crust with olive oil.
Bake at 400 for 12-15 minutes or until crust has turned golden brown.
Sprinkle with parsley just before serving.

http://thebeeroness.com/2014/03/26/porter-caramelized-onion-flatbreads-smoked-gouda-roasted-tomatoes/

Brown Ale Farro Risotto with Roasted Mushrooms

There is one thing I can’t stop doing every time I travel.

And not just when I get to leave the country, but even when I just leave the state. I just need to wander around a market. A locals only place, stocked with whatever people who live in the neighboring streets like to eat. Once while in Costa Rica, in a small and run down town, I found myself in a small market that had just lost all power.

“It happens,” the shop owner told me, “We just stay open, hope the light from the door can reach to the back.” I made a mental note not to buy any thing perishable, but did leave with 3 bags of coffee and an unidentifiably spice that I later used on roasted vegetables.

Sometimes these little adventures just bring me back to an ingredient that I forgot that I loved. My recent trip to a local market in a neighborhood heavily populated with Italian imigrants lead me to buy a bag of farro. I love this little grain, much more than rice, much more than quinoa and I can’t understand why it isn’t used more often. It doesn’t get mushy the way that rice can, it has a nice almost chewy texture, tons of those vitamins/protein/ health benefits that people seem to like, and much more flavor than other trendy grains.

Plus it cooks up really well with beer. Which means it wins.

Brown Ale Farro Risotto with Roasted Mushrooms

Yield: 4 entre sized portions, 8 side dish portions

Ingredients

For the Risotto:

2 cups (15 wt oz) faro
6 cups low sodium chicken (or vegetable) broth
3 tbs olive oil
½ white onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbs unsalted butter, divided
1 cup, plus ¼ cup brown ale, divided
¼ cup heavy cream
2 wt oz (about ¾ cup) fresh grated parmesan cheese

For the Mushrooms:

8 wt oz assorted wild mushrooms
3 tbs olive oil
½ tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Directions

Add farro to a large bowl. Cover with luke warm water, let stand for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Drain well.
Preheat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Add the mushrooms, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss until well coated. Roast for 15 minutes, stir and roast for an additional ten minutes. Drain the liquid off the mushrooms, set mushrooms aside.
Place the chicken broth in a saucepan and bring to a low simmer, keeping to warm, but not boiling.
In a separate pot, heat the 3 tbs olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until softened, but don’t allow to brown. Add the garlic and cook until you can smell it, about 20 seconds
Stir in the faro and 3 tablespoons butter, cooking until the farro is completely coated with butter and it smells slightly nutty, don’t allow to brown. About 2 minutes.
Add 1 cup of the brown ale and cook until the pan begins to dry, stirring frequently. About 6 minutes.
Add about ½ cup of broth into the farro. Stir frequently until the farro is almost dry, and then add another ½ cup and repeat until the farro is cooked. This process should take about 30 minutes. Don’t leave the risotto while it’s cooking, the farro on the bottom of the pan burns easily. (if you run out of broth, just use hot water the same way you would broth)
Once your risotto is cooked through (taste it to verify that the farro is cooked and not crunchy), turn heat to low and add the cheese, cream, remaining 3 tablespoons butter and ¼ cup brown ale and salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the roasted mushrooms just prior to serving.

http://thebeeroness.com/2014/03/24/brown-ale-farro-risotto-roasted-mushrooms/

Honey Chili Beer Chicken

I see how you get here. The keyword searches that bring you to this little blog of mine. Most of these keyword searches make sense, like “Beer recipes,” “Cooking with beer,” and even “The Beeroness.” This past year nearly 8,000 people came to my blog with the keyword “The Beeroness,” or it could have been just one guy searching for me eight thousand times. If that was you, thank you and you’re creepy.

Sometimes those keywords don’t make sense, like the person that found my blog while searching, “fun recipes for toddlers” or all those people looking for “healthy quick meals.” I am not the top pick for either of those catagories. But it’s post holidays, and we are in that ill fitting week between Christmas and New Years that feels like the calendar equivalent of the end of a loaf of bread and you all seem to want something at least semi healthy.

Me too, I did eat three cinnamon rolls yesterday in about 5 minutes. I could use a little not-as-bad-for-me one pot meal.

So here it is. One pot. Not completely unhealthy. Quick and easy. But for the “fun for toddlers” part you’re on your own.

Yum

Honey Chili Beer Chicken

Ingredients

3 tbs olive oil
6 boneless skinless chicken thigh filets
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1-2 tbs flour
½ cup sliced sweet white onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup brown ale, divided in half
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
2 tbs honey
½ tsp red chili sauce (such as Sriracha) plus additional if desired

Instructions

In a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat add the olive oil.
Sprinkle the chicken thighs on all sides with salt, pepper and flour.
Cook the chicken thighs until browned on all sides, about 3 minutes per side. Remove, and set aside.
Reduce heat to medium-low, add the onions and caramelize over medium heat until golden brown, about 10 to 15 minutes.
Stir in the garlic then add ½ cup brown ale, balsamic vinegar, honey and chili sauce. Simmer until reduced and thickened. Add the chicken back to the pan along with the remaining ½ cup brown ale.
Cover loosely with a lid, lower heat to maintain a simmer and allow to cook until chicken is cooked through, about an additional 10 minutes. Turning once during cooking.

Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by Yummly Rich Recipes

http://thebeeroness.com/2013/12/27/honey-chili-beer-chicken/

I highly recommend this cast iron skillet. I use my almost every day (affiliate link).

Buttermilk Beer Pancakes & How to Make Super Fluffy Pancakes

Pancakes are my first food memory.

I’m one of 8 kids (all girls, wrap your head around that) and one of about 27 cousins (I don’t even know the actual number) which made alone time with my grandparents really special.

The spring after I turned 4, I spent a Saturday night in a My Little Pony sleeping bag on the floor of my Grandparents bedroom, falling asleep to a wall mounted TV playing Wheel of Fortune. When I woke up, my Grandpa (Papa) was already gone. He was an artist that had done quite a bit of the original artwork for the Madonna Inn, looked a lot like Desi Arnaz and had a heart of pure gold.

My Grandma packed me into her 1980′s Cadillac with overstuffed seats that felt a lot like recliners and headed for the San Luis Obispo community center’s Pancake Sunday. My Papa was the “featured chef” and the hall was packed. My Grandma shuffled me past tables of seniors, wide eyed and waving at the tiny blond 4 year old. I was like a celebrity, I was Harry Tregarthen’s granddaughter and I was a “baby” to these ladies who just wanted to pick me up and squeeze my cheeks.

My Grandma and I joined a round table with four other older ladies. “Your Papa makes the best pancakes, you know,” one of the ladies was actually talking to me, instead of about me, that was new for me as a 4 year old, “That’s why this place is so busy. Last weekend, when Sal was cooking, only half full. Today, standing room only!” I didn’t know what “standing room only” meant, but I knew it was good.

“They must be good pancakes!” It’s all I could think to say, but the thing about being 4 is that as long as you form a coherent sentence and say it with enthusiasm, people laugh. And they did, these ladies were my crowd and I was on fire.

“Do you know the secret ingredient is?” She asked, clearly as excited with the banter as I was. “Sugar?!” I said, because I’m 4, and that’s pretty much my life.

I hit again, they were rolling. I could have mic dropped. Once she caught her breath the older lady let me in on the secret, “7-up! Can you believe it? Instead of milk!” I didn’t know how to make pancakes, or even that milk was a part of the process but I did like 7-UP. He was brilliant, I couldn’t believe it. He had put soda in pancakes?! At 4 years old, before I had even seen a recipe, let alone followed one, my Papa taught me that you should experiment. Break the rules, do your own thing.

It wasn’t until years later that I realized that it was the carbonation that did it. The bubbles in a carbonated beverage gave a light and fluffy texture to the World Class Pancakes. I’ve graduated from soda to beer, but the effect is still the same. To bring that a step further, I whip the egg whites separate to give an ultimate light and fluffy texture with a slightly crispy outside.

Buttermilk Beer Super Fluffy Pancakes

Ingredients

2 eggs, divided
½ tsp cream of tartar
½ cup beer (wheat beer, pale ale, brown ale work best)
¼ cup buttermilk (or heavy cream)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup flour
2 tbs sugar
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
3 tbs butter

Directions

Set out a stand mixer (or a bowl and a hand mixer), a small bowl and a large bowl.
Separate the eggs, putting the whites in the stand mixer and the yolks in the small bowl.
Add the cream of tartar to the egg whites and beat on high until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes.
Add the beer, buttermilk, and vanilla to the egg yolks, beat until well combined.
In the large bowl stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda.
Add the yolk mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until combined.
Gently fold the egg whites into the pancake batter.
Add the butter to a preheated griddle (preheated to 350) or large skillet over medium high heat, push around until melted.
About ¼ cup at a time, pour the pancake batter on the preheated surface. Allow to cook until bubbles form in the center, flip and allow to cook until golden brown on the underside.

http://thebeeroness.com/2013/12/20/buttermilk-beer-pancakes-make-super-fluffy-pancakes/

Salted Beer Caramel Sauce plus 5 More Edible Homemade Beer Gifts

‘Tis the Season.

To drink too much, eat too much and blame it all on seasonally appropriate Holiday Cheer. I can get behind that, excess seems to agree with me. And while we’re at it, DIY’ing a few holiday gifts infused with beer is another great excuse to break into that beer stash. After all it’s better to give, right? Especially if a byproduct of that giving is figuring out what to do with that “leftover” beer. It can’t go to waste, that just doesn’t make economical sense.

1. Chocolate Pretzel Beer Toffee

A surprisingly easy to make candy that’s always a big hit. It also makes a great addition to a cookie tray, but be careful it’s hard to stop eating this stuff, it has a crack like presence.

2. Stout & Sriracha Beer BBQ Sauce

A little break from all the sweet treats, this is a great sauce to pass along to friends and family. Don’t forget to print out a few recipe ideas to go along with, like these Oven Roasted BBQ Beer Ribs or these Oven Baked BBQ Chicken Wings.

3. Chocolate Stout Truffles

These are pure decadence. A beerified version of a traditional holiday favorite.

4. Beer Caramel Corn

A little treat reminiscent of childhood, with a grown up flavor of craft beer.

5. Beer Candied Pecans

Bring Beer Nuts to entirely new level.

6. Salted Beer Caramel Sauce (recipe below)

Ice cream socials will never be the same.

Salted Beer Caramel Sauce

Ingredients

2 cups sugar
½ cup beer (see note)
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, cut into cubes
1 cup heavy cream, room temperature
1 tsp flakey sea salt

Directions

Add the sugar and beer to a very large heavy bottom saucepan over high heat (caramel will bubble up to 10x's it's original volume). Stir just until the sugar has melted then stop stirring.
Allow to boil untouched (you can swirl the pan a few times to evenly distribute caramel but stirring will cause crystallization) until the caramel reaches a deep amber, almost reddish color.
Add the butter, stirring continuously until all the butter has melted. Remove from heat.
Slowly whisk in the cream and salt until well combined.
Return to heat, cooking until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes
Allow to cool for ten minutes before transferring to a glass jar.
Keep refrigerated until ready to use, heat the caramel to thin, if desired.

Notes

You want a beer with some maltyness. Look for a brown, red or amber ale that has a strong malt backbone.

http://thebeeroness.com/2013/12/03/salted-beer-caramel-sauce-plus-5-edible-homemade-beer-gifts/

Bruleed Pumpkin Beer Pie

I know what you’re thinking.

You think that I put a Pumpkin Ale in that pie. It’s a fair assumption, and not a bad route to take when beerifying (that’s a word) a pumpkin pie. Sure, you can use that. Go ahead, be my beer-cookin’ guest, it’s not a bad choice. But for this I wanted to play up those brown sugar flavors with a nice barrel aged brown ale. So that’s exactly what I did.

Brown ales don’t get enough air time. They are often forgotten in the beer-of-the-moment hype. Browns are the George Harrison’s of the beer world. The Willem Dafoe’s of the beer world.

But brown ales have a lot of potential, a lot of great flavors, a lot of depth. Especially when they’ve been aged in a bourbon barrel. Like this Palo Santo Marron from Dogfish Head which has unleashed that underrated brown ale potential in a way that will remind the Beer Snobs that it’s here to play. Or make pies. Or maybe both.

I used this Kitchen torch, because it’s amazing, easily one of my favorite kitchen tools. (affiliate link)

Bruleed Pumpkin Beer Pie

Ingredients

1 Pale ale pie crust
¾ cup heavy cream
2/3 cup packed golden brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
5 large egg yolks
¾ cup brown ale (preferably a barrel aged brown ale)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups of pumpkin purée
1 tbs cornstarch
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract
White sugar for brulee topping (about 3 tbs)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375.
Roll the pie dough out on a lightly floured surface and line a 9-inch pie pan. Place in the fridge to chill until the filling is ready.
In a pot over medium heat, add the cream. Heat until the cream starts to bubble around the edges.
In a large bowl whisk together the white sugar, brown sugar and egg yolks. Whisking continually, slowly pour the hot cream into the eggs. Whisk until well combined.
Add the remaining ingredients (other than the brulee sugar), whisk until well combined.
Pour into the prepared pie pan.
Bake at 375 for 50-60 minutes or until the filling puffs slightly and has set around the edges (the center will still be wobbly). Chill until set, at least 4 hours.
Just prior to serving, sprinkle the remaining white sugar over the top of the pie in an even layer. Using a culinary torch brulee the sugar until melted and turned a dark amber color.

http://thebeeroness.com/2013/11/15/bruleed-pumpkin-beer-pie/

For this recipe I use The Pale Ale Pie Dough

Beer Brat Carbonara Pasta: An Oktoberfest Recipe

Although it seems like most of America sees Oktoberfest as The Festival of Barely Contained Breasts And Bad Beer In October, it really isn’t meant to be any of those things. Oktoberfest began more than 200 years ago as a wedding celebration, it’s morphed into a celebration of local food and drink.

In Germany, they take that local notion seriously. Only beer brewed within the Munich city limits is allowed to be served at the festivities, and last year nearly 7 million liters were served up. Which may explain why 37 kids were reported missing, as well as a live rabbit, during last years event (all children and furry creatures were found safe and sound).

The authentic Oktoberfest festivities take place in Munich Germany, starting around mid-September and ending the first Sunday in October, making this year’s event well underway. To celebrate in my own house, far, far from the Bavarian epicenter of the German Beer Lovers Fest, I made a hearty pasta, full of beer brats and brown ale.

The bratwurst began as a peasants dish, using all the scraps left over once the more expensive cuts were taken, which makes it a perfect addition to carbonara pasta, which has its own humble beginnings on a peasants table in Europe.

To sum it up, my friends, celebrate in an authentic fashion: strap on some lederhosen, drink local beer, cook some sausages in beer, but just don’t forget where you put your kids or woodland creatures.

O’zapft is!

Beer Brat Carbonara Pasta

Ingredients

5 ounces gaunciale or 6 strips thick sliced bacon
1 sweet white onion, sliced into rings
1 tbs olive oil, plus 2 tbs, divided
6 bratwurst (raw)
12 ounces brown ale
1 lb spaghetti
2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 cup fresh grated Pecornio or Parmigiano-Reggiano
½ tsp sea salt
1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
4 large eggs

Directions

In a large pot over medium high heat, cook the gaunciale (or bacon). Remove from pan, chop. Pour off about half the pork fat, leaving about 2 tbs still in the pan. Add 1 tbs olive oil and onions, cook over medium heat until the onions start to caramelize, about 8-10 minutes. Remove onions from pan, set aside.
Increase heat to medium high, add the bratwurst, cooking until browned on both sides. Add the beer and reduce heat to medium low, simmering until the bratwurst are cooked through, 10-12 minutes. Slice into rings.
While the bratwurst are cooking, cook the spaghetti in lightly salted boiling water until al dente, drain and return to pot.
Add sliced brats, chopped gauncaile (or bacon), caramelized onions, tomatoes, cheese, salt, pepper and remaining 2 tbs olive oil to the spaghetti, toss to combine.
One at a time poach the eggs in simmering water until the whites have set but the yolks are still runny.
Divide the pasta between 4 bowls, top with poached eggs. Serve immediately.

http://thebeeroness.com/2013/09/24/beer-brat-carbonara-pasta-oktoberfest-recipe/

Beer Brined Roasted Cornish Game Hens with Orange Chili Sauce

I’ve started to think about dishes that have made an impact on me over the years, a salt roasted whole fish I ate in italy, curried soup I had in New York, even pancakes from my Grandfather. I didn’t grow up in a culinary family, I grew up in a defrost-and-feed family and decided I wanted to figure out this cooking thing when I was in High School. I met a guy who was older than me, SO old, in fact, that he had his own apartment. I wanted to impress him, so I offered to cook him dinner. Newly licensed, I drove to the grocery store all by myself for the first time. I had planned to buy steak and try to figure that out, but a combination of seeing these tiny chickens and realizing how expensive good steak was made the decision easy. Two “tiny chickens” were only $4, and I peeled the price tag off so that he wouldn’t know how cheap I was.

I just rubbed them with butter (probably margarine, to be honest) and salt and pepper, and cooked them until I thought they were done. They turned out amazing, I think I was more impressed than he was. It was my first official Kitchen Win, Roasted Cornish Game Hens at 16 years old, in the kitchen of a crappy post war era apartment off George Washington Way.

I haven’t made them since (until now), and I can’t even tell you why. I make roast chicken all the time, and this is just as easy, and if you are having a dinner party, it’s really impressive, everyone gets their own tiny chicken. You don’t even have to tell them how cheap they are.

A beer brine is incredible, the combination of the subtle flavors and the meat tenderizing properties of beer give you a fantastic final product. I usually use brown ale, I love the notes of molasses and nuts that are easy to find in brown ales. I remembered Brother Thelonious from North Coast, a strong, dark, Belgian Style Abbey Ale . The notes of nuts, fruit, malt, brown sugar and cherries, along with a relatively high ABV of 9.3%, it was exactly what I was looking for. North Coast is a stellar brewery out of Northern California, that has brought us such hits as Old Rasputin and PranQster. North Coast has been preaching the craft beer gospel for 25 years, producing beer that is diverse and on point, you’ll never hear anything but praise out of me for North Coast.

Another reason to enjoy the Brother Thelonious is that a portion of the proceeds go to support the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, It’s a beer with a mission.

The sauce can be made with what you have “leftover” from the beer brine, but let’s be honest, it probably won’t last that long. You can also use a lighter wheat beer, or a pale ale. Just a warning, alcohol intensifies heat so the higher ABV you use, the higher the heat level will be. Removing the seeds from the pepper gives you a greater control over the sauces final heat level. Most of the heat of a pepper is found in the seeds, with almost no flavor.The flesh of the pepper still has significant heat, but also contains the flavor of the pepper. If you are worried about the heat not being high enough, reserve some of the seeds and add them into the sauce as needed.

Beer Brined Roasted Cornish Game Hens with Orange Chili Sauce

Yield: Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients

For the chicken:

12 ounces Belgian ale, wheat beer, or brown ale
¼ cup kosher salt
2 tbs white sugar
1 tbs whole cloves
2 cups ice
2 Cornish game hens (1.75 to 2 lbs each)
1 large lemon
2 tbs melted butter
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper

For the sauce:

1 habanero chili
2 cara cara oranges, juiced (about 1 cup)
1 tbs corn starch
1 tbs white sugar
¼ cup wheat beer
1 tbs white vinegar
1 tbs red chili flakes

Directions

In a pot over medium high heat, add the wheat beer, salt, sugar and cloves. Cook, stirring frequently, until the sugar and salt have dissolved, remove from heat. Add the ice, stir until dissolved.
Rinse the game hens inside and out, place together in a large bowl. Pour the brine over the hens, refrigerate for 6 to 12 hours.
Preheat oven to 425.
Remove hens from brine, rinse thoroughly and pat dry.
Place in a roasting rack of a roasting pan or on a wire rack on a rimmed baking sheet. Cut lemon into quarters. Place one quarter into each hen, place the remaining two in the roasting pan beneath the hens.
In a small bowl combine melted butter, salt and pepper.
Brush the hens liberally with the butter mixture.
Roast at 425 for 45 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165.
While the hens are roasting, make the sauce. Using gloves remove the seeds from the habanero, discard seeds and stem, chop remaining pepper.
Add habanero, orange juice, cornstarch and white sugar to a saucepan over high heat, whisk frequently until mixture has thickened. Remove from heat, add beer and vinegar, bring to a boil just until re-thickened, stir in about half (1-2 tsp) of the 1 tbs chili flakes. Taste sauce, add additional red chili flakes for a higher level of heat.
Serve the orange chili sauce in small sauce dishes along side the hens for dipping.

Notes

This recipe makes an abundance of sauce, enough for 4 to 6 servings. If you make more Game Hens, you won't need to double the sauce unless you make 8 or more servings. If you are worried about the heat not being high enough, reserve some of the seeds and add them into the sauce as needed.

http://thebeeroness.com/2013/05/08/beer-brined-roasted-cornish-game-hens-with-orange-chili-sauce/

Mirin Stout Glazed Roast Chicken with Maple Sweet Potatoes topped with Caramelized Shallots and Balsamic Glaze

When I first got into food blogging I had this idea that I would just take pictures of my dinner and post the recipe online. Somewhere between installing Google Analytics and starting an LLC, I realized that I was cooking in order to develop content rather than just posting what I was eating.

I guess that’s inevitable when I started to earn an income and see my website as a small business. I also realized that although I often stray from who I am as a cook in order to cultivate blog hits, I love cooking, I love food and I got in this business because of those things. When the recipes you love get ignored and the ones you don’t have strong feelings about go viral, it’s hard not to just continue to post those Pandering to the Masses recipes that go viral, but I know that I am the most happy when I cook the food I want to cook and hope that you love it, too.

I loved the way this came out, even though I know it wont go viral. It’s how I like to eat, and how I like to spend my time in the kitchen, hope you don’t mind too much.

Mirin Stout Glazed Roast Chicken with Maple Sweet Potatoes topped with Caramelized Shallots and Balsamic Glaze

Yield: Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

For the Brine:

2 cups water
3 tbs kosher salt
12 ounces brown ale
2 cups ice
4 chicken leg quarters (or 1 whole roasting chicken, cut into quarters)

For the Glaze:

1 cup stout
2/3 cup mirin
¼ cup soy sauce
½ tsp chili powder
1 tbs cornstarch
3 tbs honey

For the Sweet Potatoes:

2 large shallots, sliced (2/3 cup)
2 tbs butter, plus 4 tbs divided
1 tbs oil
3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced
2 tbs real maple syrup
2 tbs heavy cream
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ salt
1/4 cup chopped pecans
3 tbs balsamic gaze

Directions

In a pot over medium high heat, add the water and the salt. Stir until salt has dissolved, remove from heat, add the beer and ice. Stir until ice has dissolved and brine is at room temperature or below.
Add the chicken quarters to a large bowl. Pour the brine over the chicken, cover loosely with plastic wrap, refrigerate for 3 hours and up to 24 hours.
Preheat oven to 425F.
Add the stout, mirin, soy, chili powder, cornstarch and honey, whisk to combine. Add sauce pan to high heat, allow to boil until slightly reduced and thickened, about 5 minutes.
Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil, place a wire rack over the foil lined baking sheet.
Remove chicken from brine, discard the brine. Rinse the chicken well and pat dry. Place chicken on the wire rack.
Brush liberally with the glaze.
Roast at 425F for 45 to 55 minutes, brush with glaze every 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven when the internal temperature reaches 175F.
While the chicken is cooking make the sweet potatoes. In a saucepan, melt the butter with the oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook over medium-low heat until caramelized, about 20 minutes.
Boil the potatoes in a pot of lightly salted water until fork tender, about 12-15 minutes. Drain, return sweet potatoes to the dry pot. Add 4 tbs butter, cream, maple syrup, salt, and nutmeg, mash with a potato masher until well combined and potatoes are well mashed, transfer to a serving dish. Top with caramelized shallots, chopped pecans and drizzle with balsamic glaze.

Notes

Balsamic glaze can be bought at the store, often by the balsamic vinegar, or you can make it by reducing 1 cup balsamic and 1 tbs white sugar or honey in a saucepan until reduced and thickened.

http://thebeeroness.com/2013/04/26/mirin-stout-glazed-roast-chicken/

Soft Batch Beer and Brown Sugar Cookies

How do you like your cookies? For me, cookies need to be soft and chewy. Did you know there is a bit of a personality test that goes along with cookie preferences? Here it is:

Chewy: You’re generally flexibly and easy going

Crispy: You like to be in control

Soft center: You tend towards the sentimental

Cakey: You tend to be emotionally sensitive

Flat: You don’t like surprises

Puffy: You tend to be chatty

Actually, I completely made that up. Slow news day over here, forcing me to resort to trickery. Was it true for you? My assessments are based solely on the people I know with those cookie preferences, a fairly small sample that will never meet statistical significance.

Just like the theory I formed about the link between cowboys, their beer preferences and their truck choice:

Coors people like Ford

Budweiser people like Chevy

That theory was formed while growing up on a (Ford, Coors and New Holland) farm. These days I can’t really say I know many people in any of those four camps, but I still maintain that theory has validity.

So what car goes with Russian River?

For this recipe I like an American Brown Ale, something that will kick you a bit more hops than the standard English Brown Ale.

Soft Batch Beer & Brown Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

¾ cups unsalted butter, softened (12 tbs)
1 ¼ cups golden brown sugar
1 large egg yolk
½ tsp vanilla
1/3 cup American brown ale
1 ¼ cups All purpose flour
1 cup bread flour
1 ¼ tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cornstarch
¼ tsp cinnamon

Directions

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter and brown sugar. Mix on high until very well combined. Add the egg yolk and the vanilla, beat until light and fluff. Add the beer, beat until well combined.
In a separate bowl, add both kinds of flour (bread flour is used to make chewier cookies), baking soda, baking powder, salt, cornstarch and cinnamon.
Sprinkle the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.
Using a cookie scoop, scoop out balls of dough slightly smaller than a golf ball onto cookie sheets that have been covered with parchment paper.
Place the cookies in the fridge to chill for at least 20 minutes (this prevents them from spreading too much during baking).
Preheat oven to 325.
Bake at 325 for 12-14 minutes or until the edges just start to turn golden brown (for a puffier cookie bake at 350 for 8 to 10 minutes). Immediately pull the parchment paper off the cookie sheet onto the counter and allow the cookies to cool to room temperature.

http://thebeeroness.com/2013/04/23/beer-brown-sugar-cookies/