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… Read More
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… Read More
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… Read More
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… Read More
I like homebrewers. Mostly because they give me beer, but also because there is this fascination with flavors and a “What Would This Taste Like?!” attitude that is at the core of every food bloggers culinary soul. I feel like they get me. They have an understanding of why I write down crazy ideas, unexplored… Read More
Today is November 6th, Election Day. As Americans spend the day thinking of little else, wedged firmly between Barack and a hard place, I wanted to give you a little motivation to get through this day. We will soon find ourselves at the end of this exhausting Election Season, our feelings of separatism… Read More
There’s a good chance that when you think about cooking with beer, a meat recipe comes to mind. Your Dad’s beer marinated ribs? Beer can chicken? Beer braised pork? There’s a good reason for that. Not just for the spectacular flavors that craft beer can impart on the meat, but because beer, especially high acid… Read More
The best part about visiting a brewery is the opportunity to sample those special release beers that never make it into bottles. Those brews that are only made in small batches, put into casks that sometimes make it to local pubs or events but will never make it into bottles in your local distributors shelves.… Read More
I want you to start thinking of beer as an extract. A complex amalgamation of flavors that functions in a recipe as an extract. If you were baking a fabulous caramel cake recipe, and the recipe calls for vanilla extract and all you had was mint would you just go ahead and use that? I… Read More
Why do I cook with beer? What is it about this fantastic beverage that drives me to create recipe after recipe with beer as a star ingredients? Flavor. Beautiful and complex flavors that take months, even years to perfect by brewers. Aside from that, beer is a natural meat tenderizer, making it the perfect choice… Read More
I’m in the process of developing a beer scale for the recipes I write. A scale that lets you know how much beer flavor comes through upon the final result. From the low end being, “Mild Hints of Beer Flavors” to the high end of “Strong Bold Forward Beer Taste.” Some people want to be… Read More
Choosing a beer for a recipe isn’t as arbitrary as it may appear. It also isn’t difficult, but it does require thought and planning. Substituting your favorite beer in a recipe isn’t always a good idea, and may result in an end product that is nowhere near the intentions of the recipes author. Where do… Read More
This week will be full of recipes for Guinness. Although I will always favor local craft beer, I do harbor a soft spot for Ireland and their World Famous Brewery. Just out of college I scraped together enough money to put myself on a flight from LAX to Dublin. I landed in Ireland on a drizzly… Read More
There are two ways to look at this post. Either it’s a week late, or 11 1/2 months early. I prefer the latter. Unless you are a turkey on Christmas type of person, in that case, I’m right on time. I use Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar for several reasons. This is a beer with the… Read More
There is nothing new about braising with beer. In fact, it should be the standard. Beer, as with all alcohol, is a natural meat tenderizer but it’s the flavors of the beer that make for braise meat that has a truly special taste. Craft brews are known for more intense flavor profiles and will always… Read More