Beer Styles

Brown Ale Farro Risotto with Roasted Mushrooms

24.03.2014 10 Comments

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

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Servings 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

Instructions

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.

Beer Battered Shrimp Tacos with Chipotle Lime Crema

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There are a few things you don’t realize you’re giving up when you leave LA. You know you’ll miss the weather, the sunny winter days spent sunbathing on the beach, the fact that every band always has a tour stop in your town, and the unlimited Girls Night Out options.

Roasted Duck Legs with Porter Cherry Sauce

19.03.2014 3 Comments

I didn’t grow up in a cooking household. With two working parents and seven sisters it was more of a defrost and feed the masses situation. It was culinary triage every day.

I never saw a head of garlic, or a homemade cake, or real whipped cream my entire childhood. The focus was on feeding the herd of people who lived at my house, while still trying to pay the bills. Homemade fancy sunday supper wasn’t at the top of that hierarchy of needs.

Which is why meals like this mean so much to me. Being able to throw my figurative heart and soul into a meal, take a few hours doing it, and serve it to people I care about. Even if it’s on a Tuesday night.

Especially if it’s on a Tuesday night.

Roasted Duck Legs with Porter Cherry Sauce

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Ingredients

¼ cup rendered duck fat can sub olive oil, divided
4 duck legs skin on
salt and pepper
¼ cup chopped shallots
3 cloves garlic grated with a microplane
½ cup porter beer
10 wt oz 1 ½ cupsdark sweet cherries, fresh or frozen (such as bing)
¼ tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbs honey

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375.
Heat 2 tablespoons duck fat (or olive oil) in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat.
Sprinkle the duck skin with salt and pepper.
Place the duck legs into the hot pan, skin side down, cook until skin has browned, about 6 minutes. Flip the duck legs overs.
Place the cast iron skillet in the oven for 1 ½ to 2 hours or until the duck reaches 165F degrees. (If you don’t have a large enough cast iron skillet, just brown the duck legs and then transfer them, skin side up, to a baking dish). You can reduce the oven to 200 and keep the duck in the oven until ready to serve for up to 1 hour. To crisp the skin back up (of it becomes soft in the oven), preheat the broiler and place the duck under the broiler for a few minutes, keeping a very close eye to make sure the duck doesn’t burn.
While the duck is cooking make the cherry sauce. In a pot over medium high heat add the remaining 2 tablespoons duck fat. Add the shallots and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic. Add the porter, cherries, smoked paprika, black pepper and honey. Allow to boil, stirring frequently, until thickened, about 8 minutes.
Spoon the sauce over the duck just prior to serving, or serve alongside.

I use this Duck Fat (affiliate link) because it’s well priced and good quality. A little goes a long way so one jar will last a while. Also, if you cook duck in duck fat, you can save the rendered fat for later use. Like these potatoes, or this Duck Confit.

I also use this Microplane (affiliate link) all the time. Perfect for grating garlic in seconds, much easier than mincing with a knife.

New York Beer Crumb Cake Muffins

18.03.2014 14 Comments

A few years ago I’d had this unfortunate idea that a red eye from LAX to JFK was a great plan. I boarded a plane around 10pm in Los Angeles, alongside a 747 full of business travelers headed for jittery East Coast morning meetings.

It wasn’t so much that I irrationally figured that I could sleep on the plane, but I illogically decided that if I don’t really sleep well anyway, I might was well be not sleeping well on an airplane. When I arrived in New York 6 hours plus time change later, I hadn’t slept for a second. Although the decision to watch The Lovely Bones just after take off probably contributed to my lack of drowsiness.

By the time a subway ride and then a cab deposited me in Chelsea I was tired to catastrophic levels. Which, in the land of most girls means borderline weepy and slightly irrational. Finding out my hotel wasn’t ready for check in and realizing that my only option for sleep was cuddling up with the homeless man near the stairwell, I decided coffee was a necessity. And by necessity I quite literally mean as a route to avoid either crying hysterically or falling asleep on top of a man who smells like hot dogs and old cheese.

I stumbled into a coffee shop and begged for coffee. "Anything else?" The husky Brooklyn dweller spat at me from behind the counter.

"Umm, I…need…uh…the…" I did manage to point at a crumb cake.

"You want duh cake? Fuh breakfast?" Thank god it was just judgmental an rhetorical, he didn’t expect and answer and I couldn’t have given an intelligible one. He thrust it towards me with the coffee. I sat down at the counter, my bag still over my shoulder and started to devour it all. He smiled, one hand on his apron covered hip, "Not bad, huh?"

I nodded, words were still hours away from me.

New York Beer Crumb Cake Muffins

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Ingredients

For the Cake:

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg
½ cup pale ale or wheat beer
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 tbs vegetable oil

For the topping:

1 ¼ cups flour
½ cup packed light-brown sugar
½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ cup unsalted butter melted
Powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325
Line a 12 cup muffin tin with muffin papers.
Stir together 1 ¼ cups flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, beer, vanilla and vegetable oil. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, batter will be thick.
Add batter to muffin tins, about ½ way full.
Combine the remaining 1 ¼ cups flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl. Drizzle with melted butter, stir together until crumbs form.
Add the crumbs onto the top of the muffin batter until cups are slightly mounded.
Bake at 325 for 32-36 minutes or until the top crumbs have just started to turn golden brown. Allow to cool to room temperature, chill until ready to serve. Dust with confectioners sugar prior to serving.

Irish Red Ale Butternut Squash Soup with Goat Cheese and Pomegranate

12.03.2014 13 Comments

When you write a cookbook, you fall in love with some of the recipe. You don’t love them all the same, you don’t even remember them all the same. Recipes aren’t like children, you’re completely allowed to have favorites.

When I wrote The Craft Beer Cookbook (affiliate link), there were a few recipes I immediately feel love with, like Hefeweizen Brioche Pull Apart Bread (page 82), and the Porter Osso Buco (page129), and Amber Ale Carrot Cake with Mascarpone & Beer Spiked Cream Cheese Frosting (page 179) and a few I added because I was already in love with them, like the Beer Pecan Cinnamon Rolls (SO GOOD! page 26) and this soup.

This was a soup that I’d been making for years, with and without beer. Gleefully sprinkling the bowls with two of my culinary guilty pelasures: goat cheese and pomegranate seeds. Adding in the hop bitterness of an Irish red ale gave a great balance to the creamy decadence.

Now that we are around the corner from Saint Patricks day, I’m sharing this recipe with you. It’s a new way to celebrate the Irish, and a vegetarian friendly one at that (if that’s your thing). After all, corned beef isn’t even a tradition in Ireland. But beer always is.

Irish Red Ale Butternut Squash Soup with Goat Cheese and Pomegranate

Print Recipe

Ingredients

1 3.5 to 4 lb butternut squash
1 head garlic
6 tbs olive oil divided
2 shallots sliced
2 ½ cups vegetable broth
1 cup red ale
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
¼ tsp turmeric
pinch cayenne
½ cup cream
3 ounces goat cheese
½ cup pomegranate seeds

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400.
Cut the squash down the middle lengthwise, scoop out and discard the seeds. Place cut side up on a baking sheet, drizzle with 2 tbs olive oil.
Rub most of the white papery skin off the garlic head. Cut the tip off the head of garlic, exposing the cloves. Place garlic on a small square of aluminum foil. Drizzle with 1 tbs olive oil, fold aluminum foil up over the garlic to form a tight packet. Place garlic on baking sheet with the squash.
Place baking sheet in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove the garlic and allow to cool. Continue to roast the squash until fork tender, about an addition 20-30 minutes (total of about 1 hour). Remove from oven and allow to cool enough to handle. Gently scoop out the flesh (should be between 4 and 4 1/2 cups).
In a pot over medium heat, add the remaining 3 tbs olive oil and the shallots. Allow to cook, stirring occasionally, until the shallots have caramelized, about 15 to 20 minutes (do not cook at too high heat or the shallots will burn). Add the broth and the beer and bring to a gentle simmer. Add the roasted squash, add the soft garlic cloves (discard the rest of the head) and stir until well combined.
Use an immersion blender to puree until smooth (you can also work in batches to puree in a food processor or blender). Add the salt, pepper, turmeric, cayenne and cream, allow to simmer for 10 minutes.
Ladle into serving bowls, garnish with goat cheese and pomegranate.

You can buy The Craft Beer Cookbook at cookbook, Barnes & Noble and Urban Outfitters.

IPA Crab Salad Sliders with Apple Daikon Slaw

10.03.2014 4 Comments

There are some rules to Party Food.

Not a lot, just a few. After all, parties are about lack of restrictions. First, there needs to be a bit of portability involved. One hand, no utensils type of portability. If you’ve every tried to navigate the consumption of food that requires a knife and fork while trying to mingle, you understand the hard and fast nature of that rule.

You also need something low maintinace. Something you can set down and leave for your guests to grab, sans explanation.

Lastly (only three rules, after all, this is a party), you want something fairly quick and easy to put together. After all, you have other dishes to make, and dishes to wash, and people to mingle with.

But if you can work in beer, there are some bonus points involved.

IPA Crab Cake Sliders with Apple Daikon Slaw

Print Recipe

Ingredients

For the Slaw

½ large honey crisp apple cut into thin matchsticks
3 ounces daikon peeled and cut into thin matchsticks
¼ cup green onions sliced
2 tbs IPA
1 tbs raw honey
¼ tsp mustard powder

For the Crab:

1/3 cup sour cream
2 tbs IPA
½ tsp Old Bay seasoning
¼ tsp onion powder
pinch chili powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbs IPA
8 wt oz lump crab meat
10 Slider Buns

Instructions

Whisk together the IPA, honey and mustard powder in a small bowl. Add the apples, green onions and daikon, toss to coat. Set aside.
In a medium bowl add the sour cream, IPA, Old Bay, onion powder, chili powder, salt, pepper, and IPA beer, stir until combined. Fold in the crabmeat.
Spoon crab meat into slider buns, top with slaw.

Beer Marshmallows with Chocolate Mint Beer Sauce

07.03.2014 16 Comments

I told you last year that I wouldn’t further assault you with tales of my trip to Ireland for Saint Patrick’s day, until it was close to Saint Patrick’s Day.

But here we are, just a week away. So I’ll force another story of Ireland down your throat. But I made you some beer marshmallows so I hope we can call it even.

The night after I arrived in Dublin, still jet-lagged and a bit shaky, I found myself at a table in the back of an old Irish pub with a couple of Irish farmers in their early twenties. A scrawny, fair-haired, Irish boy, who admitted that he’d never left the mossy soil of Mother Ireland, asked me about life in the famed Los Angeles. "So…you’ve, like, met famous people. Like movie stars? and people in bands?"

I said that I had. Just part of living in LA and having friends who work in music. It wasn’t a big deal. His eyes widened, he bought the next round and pressed me for details, "WHO HAVE YOU MET?!"

I was felt slightly pushed back and delved into the database of my past celebrity meetings. I wasn’t sure who he’d like to hear about so I started to go with my favorites, "Ummm. I met James Brown once. He told me I was pretty and did a spin for me."

He was confused. "Who’s that? Who else have you met? Do you know Madonna"

"No. But I did go to Elton Johns birthday party. It was small, only a handful of people but I was too nervous to talk to him. But I did spend the night talking with-"

"Let me cut to the chase." He turned serious, he wanted to get right to the information he was looking for, "I want to know if you’ve met THE GUY."

I was blank. Who was the GUY? Which guy?

"You know!" The dozen Guinnesses he’d had since he’d left the sheep farm were starting to settle into his demeanor.

"I really don’t know. Who’s THE GUY in Hollywood?" I was more curious than confused.

Exasperated he finally spit it out, "EDDIE MURPHY!"

"Oh. No." If I’d had one million guesses I wouldn’t have pulled that name, "I haven’t met him."

"That’s too bad. But you know, he lives in LA. So, you might. Right? At some point, like at Starbucks or something?"

"Ummm, yeah. I guess there’s still hope."

But, sadly I did leave LA never having met Eddie Murphy. So unless he’s a Seahawks fan, we may never meet. But I do suspect that if he’s a beer drinker, he might like beer marshmallows. With stout chocolate sauce. And if he doesn’t, then it’s probably a good thing we never met.

Beer Marshmallows with Chocolate Mint Beer Sauce

Print Recipe

Ingredients

For The Marshmallows

Powdered sugar
3 ½ envelopes unflavored gelatin such as Knox
1 cup beer flat and cold*
2 cups granulated sugar
½ cup light corn syrup
2 large egg whites
½ tsp salt
3 tsp vanilla extract

For the Chocolate Sauce

10 wt oz dark mint chocolate I used Green & Blacks
1/3 cup chocolate stout

Instructions

Grease a 9x13 baking pan, sprinkle with powdered sugar until well coated, set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer add ½ cup cold flat beer. Sprinkle with gelatin. Allow to stand while the sugar is being prepared.
In a large saucepan (mixture will bubble up considerably) over medium heat, add the remaining ½ cup beer, sugar and corn syrup. Stir until the sugar has dissolved.
Raise heat to high and allow to boil until the mixture reads 240F on a candy thermometer (about 6-8 minutes).
Once the temperature has been reached, turn off heat.
Turn the mixer on low and slowly pour the hot sugar mixture into the gelatin. Once all the sugar has been added turn the mixer on high until light and fluffy and tripled in volume, about 6 minutes.
While the mixer is running, prepare the egg whites. Add the egg whites to a bowl with the salt. Beat on high with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold the egg whites and vanilla extract into the stand mixer ingredients until just combined.
Pour the marshmallows into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Allow to set at room temperature until set, about 2 hours. Remove from pan, cut into squares.
To make the chocolate sauce, add all chocolate sauce ingredients to a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for 30 seconds, stir and repeat until melted.
Dip the marshmallows into the chocolate, remove with a fork, set on wax paper until set. Or just pour it on in a ridiculous but photogenic stream to make a delicious mess.

Notes

*The beer in these marshmallows can be very present. Pick a beer you like. Try to avoid really high hop beers, they can get really bitter. If you want a low beer flavor, pick a pilsner, pale lager, or wheat beer. You can also use a malty belgian or a brown ale. If you LOVE hops, you can use an IPA but take note that the beer bitterness will be very present.

Molasses Stout Glazed Salmon with Herb IPA Mashed Potatoes

05.03.2014 15 Comments

No matter how often you move, there are things that you forget. Every time. You forget that you won’t know which drawer to put Sharpie markers and batteries in (they always end up in the same drawer), you’ll turn to grab the knife from where is "used to be," you won’t know where the Target is, or where to take your dry cleaning, or where to buy the best prosciutto and you can forget about that guy who offered to sharpen your knives for free if you bring him cookies THAT guy doesn’t exist in your new land.

I have a gypsy soul, I’ve never missed my own bed, I don’t have the home sick gene, I’m never nervous about new roads or new words or new food. I look forward to building a new database of people and place. But there is a learning curve with a new place. Things I didn’t know that I didn’t know. I’ve had to adapt to a new climate, one that was not 80 degrees on Christmas, and involves a near wardrobe change when I need to run out to the car to grab the beer I left in the back.

But the upside is that beer would have been overly warm in my old land, in this place, it was the perfect 43 degrees and ready to drink.

Now I just need to find a guy to trade knife sharpening for baked goods and I’ll be half way there.

Molasses Stout Glazed Salmon with Herb IPA Mashed Potatoes

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Ingredients

For The Potatoes

2 lbs russet potatoes peeled and chopped
6 tbs unsalted butter
1/3 cup sour cream
1 tsp salt
½ tsp sage minced
½ tsp thyme. minced
½ tsp rosemary minced
3 tbs IPA beer

For the Salmon

1 tbs olive oil
¼ cup shallots
2 tbs soy sauce
1/3 cup stout
2 tbs molasses not blackstrap
¼ tsp smoked paprika
¼ tsp chili powder
¼ tsp onion powder
4 4-6 ounce Salmon fillets

Instructions

To Make the Potatoes:

Add the potatoes to a pot of lightly salted boiling water. Allow to boil until fork tender. Drain and return to pot.
Add the remaining potato ingredients, stir and mash with a potato masher until well combined.

To Make The Salmon:

Preheat oven broiler.
Add the oil to a pot over medium high heat until hot but not smoking.
Add the shallots, cook until softened and slightly browned, about 3 minutes.
Add the soy, stout, molasses, smoked paprika,onion powder and chili powder. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally until slightly thickened, about 6 minutes.
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Spray lightly with cooking spray (or drizzle with vegetable oil.
Place salmon on the foil, skin side down.
Brush liberally with glaze.
Broil for 3 minutes, re-brush with glaze, and place under the broiler for 3 more minutes. Repeat (re-brushing and broiling) until the salmon is cooked through and flakes easily with a fork.
Serve over potatoes.

Stout Soaked Mushrooms and Herbed Goat Cheese Crostinis

03.03.2014 22 Comments

Photos from my Instagram account

I made it.

From LA to Seattle, up Highway 1. Past fat lazy seals, miles of winding coastlines, epic Redwoods, and into an unusually sunny Seattle. Although the sun has now given way to the typical rain, it’s somehow comforting.

Although figuring out how to wield a camera in low light has been a bit challenging.

But the food isn’t. This part of the word has gorgeous produce, fantastic seafood, incredible beer. I’m starting to get familiar with the Northwest breweries and the beautiful beer that I’m now so close to. If you know of a local brewery I should go to, please, I’m all ears.

As I unpack the boxes, rely heavily on my navigation to get around, figure out what local stations to set my car radio to, and try to amend my ill-equipped wardrobe (warm socks?? I need new socks?), I’m excited to be here. My Gypsy Soul gets to wander a new city.

Stout Soaked Mushrooms and Herbed Goat Cheese Crostinis

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Ingredients

1 wt oz 1 ½ cups assorted dried mushrooms (I used Porcini, Shiitake & Chanterelle)
12 ounces stout beer
1 tbs olive oil
2 tbs unsalted butter
¼ cup chopped shallots
½ tsp kosher or sea salt
½ tsp black pepper
1 baguette sourdough or French
4 ounces chevre goat cheese softened
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
1 tsp chopped fresh sage
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary

Instructions

Put the mushrooms in a small bowl or jar. Cover with the stout beer. Leave at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours or until the mushrooms are soft and have reconstituted.
Drain the mushrooms and rinse well to remove any residual grit.
Slice the mushrooms into thin slices (unless mushrooms were pre sliced).
In a pan over medium high heat melt the butter with the olive oil.
Add the shallots and cook until softened and starting to brown, about 5 minutes.
Add the mushrooms to the pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper, cook until most of the oil and butter has been absorbed, about 5 minutes.
Preheat the boiler on the oven.
Slice the baguette into 18-24 slices.
Place the slices on a baking sheet. Place until the broiler until golden brown, about 2 minutes, flip over and place under the broiler until golden brown the opposite side.
In a small bowl stir together the goat cheese, thyme, sage and rosemary.
Spread each slice with goat cheese, top with mushrooms.
Serve immediately.

Blood Orange Beer Pound Cake

24.02.2014 16 Comments

I’m sitting in a coffee shop in a little part of East LA called Silverlake. Near the house that’s no longer my home. All of my belongings, except an oversized suitcase and some beer, are packed tightly into a moving truck somewhere along the West Coast.

It occurs to me that I don’t really live anywhere right now. My old house is gone, no longer mine, and I have yet to move in to the new place that’s waiting for me on Lake Washington. I’m no longer a resident of California and have yet to become a resident of Washington State.

It’s a strange feeling, sitting here in my quasi-homeless state, feeling like a Man Without A Country. Simultaneously excited to get to Seattle and start a new chapter of my life, and grieving the loss of my old life. It’s not a polarizing feeling, it’s both happy and sad. It’s both sweet and savory. After all, you should never live a life that you wouldn’t be sad to leave behind. And you should never go seeking a change that doesn’t both excited and terrify you.

And that’s me. As I sit here and finish my cold brewed coffee on a warm day in February in Silverlake. I’m sad, excited and terrified. And I couldn’t be happier about it.

Blood Orange Beer Pound Cake

Print Recipe

Servings 6 -8 servings

Ingredients

For the Pound Cake

2 cups all purpose flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 ½ cups sugar
zest from one blood orange
1 cup of butter softened
2 large eggs
¼ cup blood orange juice
¼ cup wheat beer
1 tbs olive oil
½ tsp vanilla extract

For the Blood Orange Glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar
2 tbs blood orange juice
2 tbs beer

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325.
Stir together the flour, baking powder and salt, set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer add the sugar and zest, beating until well combined.
Add the butter and mix on high until well combined and pale yellow, about 3 minutes.
Beat in the eggs one at a time.
Add the orange juice, beer, olive oil, and vanilla beat until combined (some curdling is expected after you add the beer).
Sprinkle the flour mixture over the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.
Grease and flour a 1.5 qt loaf pan.
Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
Bake at 325 for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes or until the top is golden brown and springs back when lightly touched.
Allow to cool completely before slicing.
To make the glaze, stir together all glaze ingredients in a bowl until well combined. Add additional beer or juice to thin, if desired.
Pour glaze over the cake before slicing. Refrigerate to set, if desired.

I’m on the road now! I’d love to have you along for the ride.

I’ll keep you updated here:

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Chicken Thighs with Rosemary Tomato Beer Sauce

18.02.2014 14 Comments

In high school I had a guidance councilor ask me what I thought I would be when I grew up. Not "what do you want to be" but "what do you think you will be," much different questions for a kid, and much more accurate window into the future.

I thought about it for a minute. What do I think I will be? I thought about the way I normally answer the question when it’s phrased the other way, I wanted to be a veterinarian. I wanted to help sick animals. But when I was asked where I thought I’d end up, it made me realize that I didn’t even believe that I’d end up as a vet.

I paused for a minute and said I thought I’d have a job that wasn’t invented yet, "You know, something that isn’t included in those check boxes in those forms," was my response. Non-comital, vague, but for the first time, I actually believed my response. He wasn’t so sure. He leaned back in his old wheeled desk chair and looked at me like I was a genuine crazy person.

"Hasn’t been invented? There are jobs that haven’t been invented? Like a robot mechanic?"

Now I got to look at him like he was the genuine crazy person, "I’m pretty sure that robot mechanic exists. And I think the world is changing enough that there are jobs that aren’t invented yet." He quickly dismissed me, apparently I had reached the maximum level of guidance that he had for the day.

I thought about this today, as I was being filmed for a feature-length documentary about the craft beer industry. Among other titles that I hold, I’m a food blogger. A job that had not been invented was I was a freshman in high school. A job that I couldn’t be happier to do. After years of forcing myself into the check boxes on the high school guidance counselors forms, there is an absolute freedom in breaking away from that. A freedom in inventing my own job, and working tirelessly to make it happen.

It took me too many years to chase this dream, and the change happened years after I left that cluttered office in the last semester of my first year of high school.

The change happened when I stopped asking, "Who am I to want a job like that?" and starting asking, "Why not me?"

Chicken Thighs with Rosemary Tomato Beer Sauce

Print Recipe

Total Time 20

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

2 tbs olive oil
4 chicken thighs bone in and skin on
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 cup chopped red onions about ½ a large onion
3 garlic cloves minced
1/2 cup wheat beer
1 14.5 wt oz can diced tomato
1 tbs minced fresh rosemary
½ tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste
Chopped parsley or chives for garnish optional

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400.
In a cast iron skillet over medium high heat, add the olive oil until hot but not smoking.
Sprinkle the skin of the chicken thighs with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
Place in a skillet, skin side down until skin has browned and fat has rendered, about ten minutes. Turn over and cook until the bottom has browned.
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
Transfer chicken to baking sheet, place in oven until sauce is ready, about 10 minutes.
Add the onions to the skillet and cook until browned, about 3 minutes.
Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the beer, scraping to deglaze the pan. Cook until slightly reduced about 2 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, rosemary, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly reduced, about 5 minutes.
Add the chicken thighs back into the skillet, simmering until chicken is cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
Sprinkle with parsley or chives before serving, if desired.

Notes

Serve over rice, mashed potatoes or pasta

I’m a big fan of this cast iron skillet, it’s amazing and I use it several times a week (affiliate link).

Roasted Asparagus with Beer Béarnaise Sauce

17.02.2014 12 Comments

I’m living in a maze of boxes that seem to push up from the ground like stalagmites in a mid century modern cave. The move is just a week away, starting with a meandering drive up Highway 1 with my fat lazy bulldog. And still, it doesn’t seem real. The 78 degree days, don’t feel like the last open-the-back-door-bare-feet-outside kind of weekend for a while.

I keep forgetting that those restaurant I’ve been meaning to go to won’t be eaten at and the friends I haven’t seen in a while probably won’t be seen again.

It doesn’t quite feel like I’ll be calling Seattle home in just a handful of days. That the amazing restaurants and breweries I’ve only heard about will be my new haunts. That those incredible oyster bars will be down the street and that I’ll be able to grab a quick drink with the friends I’ve accumulated up in the Pacific Northwest.

It still feels like I’m caught in a bit of an undertow and I’m not sure what the view will be like once I come up for air. But I do know that although I’m leaving the best produce state in the nation (California grows half of all the produce grown in the USA), I am going to a state that has an incredible amount to offer when it comes to food. Asparagus will probably become an obsession once I’m in the state that grows it best.

Asparagus, oysters, beer. I’m pretty sure I can handle the rain with a good beer and some great food.

Roasted Asparagus with Beer Béarnaise Sauce

Print Recipe

Ingredients

2 lbs asparagus washed and dried
2 tbs olive oil
½ tsp kosher or sea salt
½ tsp black pepper
¼ cup pale ale
2 tbs white wine vinegar
1 tbs chopped shallots
2 tbs tarragon
1 tbs chervil
3 egg yolks
½ cup unsalted butter

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425.
Cut off the bottom 1 to 2 inches of asparagus (the tough woody ends).
Place on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, toss to coat.
Roast for 8-10 minutes (longer for asparagus that’s very thick).
While the asparagus is cooking, start making the sauce.
In a pan over medium high heat, add the beer, vinegar, shallots, tarragon and chervil. Cook until reduced by about half.
Put the beer mixture in a blender with the egg yolks, blend on high for three minutes.
Heat the butter until very hot and steamy. Remove the cap from the blenders top. While the blender is running, slowly add the butter in a slow steady stream. Continue to blend on high for 2 more minutes. Sauce should resemble slightly thin mayonnaise. Plate the asparagus, pour desired amount of sauce over just before servings, or serve sauce alone side.

I start my drive up the West Coast in just one week. Join me, it’s going to be a big move and a big adventure. I’d love to have you along for the ride.

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White Bean White Ale and Ham Soup

13.02.2014 12 Comments

Most of the phases of life we live fade in a way that we don’t really know the exact moment it ends. We don’t always know the day we stopped being children or the moment we fell out of love, or the day a big friendships started to drift away.

With moving, you know. You know the last day you lived in that house you loved so much. The last day you were a resident of city. And you know the day you started a new life in a new city.

The boxes are starting to get packed, the nonsense I’ve accumulated over the past few years has started to find it’s way to the donation centers, and my days as an LA resident are counting down. I’m saying Goodbye to things I didn’t know I’d miss, the warm weather is being reveled in, and the I’m finding more still moments to just enjoy the view. Even on the packed LA freeways.

I’m also preparing to live in a world were I’ll eat a lot of cold weather comfort food. Like slow cooked soup. I’m starting now, cooking big pots of warm soup, made with beer, and topped with fresh produce. Because some habits die hard.

White Bean White Ale and Ham Soup

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Ingredients

3 tbs unsalted butter
1 tbs olive oil
½ cup chopped shallots
1 lb dry great northern beans
4 1/2 cups chicken broth
12 ounces white ale
1 ham bone
2 cups chopped precooked ham
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup fresh shaved parmesan cheese
1 cup baby arugula

Instructions

In a large Dutch oven over medium heat melt the butter with the olive oil. Add the shallots and cook until caramelized, about 15 minutes (make sure the heat is rather low, if the heat is too high and your shallots will burn before they caramelize, patience is key).
Add the beans, broth, beer and ham bone to the pot, bring to a low simmer.
Allow to simmer until the beans are cooked through, about 2 hours.
Add the ham, salt and pepper, simmer for about ten minutes.
Ladle into bowls, top with parmesan and arugula before serving.

I use my Dutch oven all the time, it’s essential in my kitchen (affiliate link).

Hello Seattle + Spicy Steamed Mussels in Beer

10.02.2014 30 Comments

Photos in this post were taken in Seattle with vintage Polaroid cameras by my incredibly talented sister Kim van Groos

Check out her Flickr, it’s very impressive.

I told you last week that I’m in the process of saying goodbye to Los Angeles. A process made easier by the fact that it will end with a move to Seattle, a city that I’ve loved for years. A city with a vibrant love for food, people who are aware and grateful, plus a craft beer scene that is one of the best in the world.

I’ll get to discover a new city, fall in love with the local beer, cook with the incredible produce. I’ll also be near my sister who took all these photos, as well as my other sister who almost died with me in Morocco. I’ll be around the world’s best hops and the country’s best seafood. The idea of wandering around a new city, losing myself in the streets and the strangers is incredibly exciting. Especially a city like Seattle that has so much to offer.

I’m not limiting my explorations to Seattle. The entire Pacific Northwest, from Medford to Bellingham, has an incredible craft beer scene that I can’t wait to explore. The beer, the people, the pubs and the events, I plan to jump in with both feet, grab a pint, and become a part of what’s happening up North.

I want to share it all with you. Not just on the blog, but also on Instagram and Twitter. I want you to see the beer I find, the salmon I catch, the people I meet, the butcher shops, the breweries, the farmers markets, the coast and everything else that’s waiting for me up there.

As I pack the boxes and say goodbye to Los Angeles, I wanted to make something that has a bit of Seattle in it, a reminder of what I have to look forward to.

Seafood and beer it is. Can’t wait to dig in.

I start my trek North in two weeks. Join me, it’s going to be a big move and a big adventure. I’d love to have you along for the ride.

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Spicy Steamed Mussels in Beer

Print Recipe

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 5

Total Time 15

Servings 2 entre portions, or 4 appetizer portions

Ingredients

4 strips thick cut bacon
1 cup diced white onion
4 tbs unsalted butter
5 cloves garlic minced
1 lbs diced tomatoes about 2 large
1 jalapeno sliced
1 tbs red pepper flakes
½ cup pale ale
1 lime juiced
1 ½ lbs black mussels cleaned and de-bearded
¼ cup green onions diced
Bread for serving

Instructions

In a large pot or deep skillet cook the bacon over medium high heat. Remove the bacon from pot, chop and set aside. Pour off about half of the bacon grease, leaving about 1 tablespoon still in the pan.
Add the butter and cook until melted.
Add the onions, cook until slightly browned.
Stir in the garlic, then add the tomatoes, jalapenos, red pepper flakes, beer, lime juice and chopped bacon. 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 green onions over the pan.
Serve with crusty bread.

Adapted from Epicurious

Goodbye Los Angeles + Avocado Wit Beer Alfredo

07.02.2014 31 Comments

The photos in this post were taken with a vintage film camera

in or around Los Angeles over the past 10 years.

I took them with a 1965 Nikon F (excluding the pasta photos)

Los Angeles has become a part of me, imbedded itself into my soul and grew me into the person I have become. Leaving feels heavy. It’s hard to say goodbye, to walk away, but I’m ready. I’m excited to take the next step into a new phase of my life even with the feeling of grief I have over leaving the City I’ve been in for so long.

I’ve done more than just live here or even thrive here. LA has been more than just the backdrop to the majority of my life. She is a part of who I am and I love Los Angeles. I will fiercely defend her when outsiders can’t see past the Hollywood Portrayal of a very small side of the city I’m in love with.

I was born in LA, briefly left, making my way back in my late teens behind the wheel of an old Ford Bronco packed with little more than a suitcase.

I know LA, in a way that you can’t if you’ve never lived here. Like outsiders can never really know what it’s like to grow up in your family: it’s flawed and dirty and beautiful and yours. This is LA.

LA has been good to me. She’s seen me fall in love, become broken, find myself, find a love for food, chase my dreams. But I’ve seen her change too.

I’ve watched my friends go from homeless musicians to Grammy winners. I’ve worked with gang members in Compton. I’ve cried with holocaust survivors in Beverly Hills. I’ve smoked cigars on the roof of Chateau Marmont with literal rock stars. I’ve eaten bacon wrapped hot dogs outside The Short Stop and burritos on Sunset at 3 am. I’ve watched the sunrise over an empty beach in the middle of winter. I’ve been trapped inside a broken down car on the 405 at rush hour. I’ve watched the beer scene go from non-existent to thriving. I’ve played Guitar Hero with famous musicians at Sound City Recording Studio. I’ve worked a waitress job for a money launderer. I’ve bartended a party at a crumbling Frank Lloyd Wright house. I’ve stuck the Troubadour VIP sticker on the thigh of my jeans many, many times. I’ve spent the afternoon talking to homeless vets on the streets of Downtown. I’ve gotten lost on the worthless Metro. I taught a homeless kid how to drive a stick shift at 5am in a mall parking lot. I’ve eaten dinner on stage at The Hollywood Bowl. I’ve been an extra in a movie and witness a drive by shooting in the same day. I walked a catwalk in nearly nothing at a low-budget European designers US press show.

The moments haven’t all been pretty, but they haven’t been dull. There is this feeling in LA, that if you find the right place and stand there long enough, the entire world will walk past you. And it’s with a heavy heart that I leave. But I’m taking LA with me. The person I’ve been made into, the food I’ve fallen in love with, the beer that is a part of my story and a part of my life.

This isn’t Goodbye, LA. Not really. I’m moving North, LA, but a part of me will always be your girl.

I want you to join me on this journey. I’ll be posting on Instagram and Twitter. Follow me, give me your advice, show your support, watch me move and then explore a new city.

I’ll tell you more about where I’m going next week, come back and I’ll tell you all about the new city that I’ll be writing The Beeroness from and the great beer they have.

If you’re in Los Angeles, come join me for one last pint at Basin 141 in Montrose, February 19th from 6 to 9PM. I’ll be signing books and the kitchen will be making some of my dishes. The fantastic Eagle Rock Brewery will be there too, taking over all the taps.

Today, lets eat some pasta. With beer from one of my favorite Los Angeles breweries, Angel City, as well as Avocados, which might as well be California’s official State Fruit.

Avocado Wit Beer Alfredo

Print Recipe

Ingredients

4 servings of pasta of choice about 1 pound
½ lbs avocado about 1 large or two small
½ cup cream
½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese 2 wt. oz
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp salt
3 tbs wit beer
1 cup arugula
2 large tomatoes diced

Instructions

Cook the pasta in salted water until al dente, drain and return to pot.
In a food processor add the avocado meat, cream, parmesan, pepper, salt and beer, process until very smooth.
Add the sauce to the pasta pot, return to heat, stirring until warmed, about 3 minutes.
Plate, top with arugula and tomatoes before serving.

Like The Beeroness on Facebook and Instagram to follow all the post from my move and into my new city! I might be leaving LA, but The Beeroness is coming with me. I will continue to write, post, cook, eat and drink.

Chocolate Porter Berry Cobblers

05.02.2014 11 Comments

There is this way that I make food that I can only really see in retrospect as a mirror to how I’m feeling. Messy food means that I’ve wandered into internal chaos. It’s OK, there are much less healthy ways of dealing with emotions than the culinary mood ring that my kitchen becomes.

There are some changes on my horizon, good changes, but ones that will put me on a new path. A path I’m ready for, excited for, but the thing about transition is you can only clearly see what you are giving up. What you have to gain is still a mystery, but you have a firm account of what will be lost in the shift. It takes faith in yourself, and those decision you’ve made, to keep your eyes firmly on the next trapeze bar after you’ve already let go of the one you were holding, flying through the air with nothing more than hope in what you’ve decided to do. Faith that the world will conspire in your favor.

I’m not going to keep you in the dark for long. I want you to join me in this transition, this journey. But today isn’t for that. Today is for eating chocolate, drinking beer and enjoying the moment. More about my figurative trapeze leap later.

Chocolate Porter Berry Cobbler

Print Recipe

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 45

Total Time 1

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

Topping

¾ cup flour
¼ cup quick oats
¼ cup white sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ tsp salt
½ cup chilled butter

Filling

3 cups berries* thawed if frozen
7 wt oz dark chocolate about 1 ¼ cups
¾ cup porter or stout I used Stone Smoked Porter with Vanilla Bean

Instructions

Add the flour, oats, both sugars, and salt to a food processor, pulse to combine.
Add the butter, process until combined.
Place in the freezer until the filling is ready.
In a double boiler over medium heat, add the chocolate and the beer, stir until melted, remove from heat.
Stir in the berries.
Place 4 oven safe bowls (8 to 10 fl oz size) on a baking sheet.
Add the filling to the bowls, about 2/3 full.
Add the topping until level with the top of the bowl.
Bake at 350 until golden brown, about 45-50 minutes.

Notes

I used a combination of strawberries, raspberries and blackberries. Because overly ripe berries are so hard to ship, most pickers choose those to freeze, making frozen berries of a very high quality. Don't be afraid to use frozen berries when baking, they are often the best choice and most often frozen in season rather then grown in greenhouses out of season like some berries often are in the winter.

Drunk Shrimp Diablo

03.02.2014 17 Comments

I have a confession to make.

I’ve been hiding my Instagram account from you under a different name. I changed my Instagram name to The Beeroness last week after I realized that you want to see my life. This is the hang-up for me, the part that’s so hard to wrap my brain around: that invisible people on the other side of the computer actually want to see what my life is like. Sure, it speaks to a hideous level of insecurity on my part, but why wouldn’t I let you in?

After all, you trust me with your Thanksgiving turkey, and to give you a Beer Cheese Dip for your football party, and you even ask my advice on what to do with the remains of the Blueberry Kolsch homebrew that didn’t exactly go as planned.

So why has it taken me so long to show you pictures of my dog, or the behind-the-scenes of my cooking segment on CBS, or that time I stole wood from a construction site to make a prop table? Maybe I still can’t believe that I’m a person that people would want to know about. That you care about me as much as I care about you coming to visit my blog.

After all, you are the reason I’m able to spend my life cooking and drinking beer.

I owe you a lot.

Drunk Shrimp Diablo

Print Recipe

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

2 tbs olive oil
2 tbs butter
1 cup diced white onions
3 cloves garlic minced
2 tbs tomato paste
2 tbs garlic chili sauce
2 tbs red chili flakes
1 tsp chili powder
¼ tsp cayenne
2/3 cup IPA or Pale Ale beer
1 lbs raw shrimp deveined (shell removed if desired)
1 cup cherry tomatoes sliced

Instructions

Heat the olive oil and butter to a skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté until browned, about 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic.
Add tomato paste, chili sauce, red chili flakes, chili powder, cayenne pepper and beer, Stir over medium heat until well combined.
Add the shrimp and tomatoes, cook until shrimp are pink and have curled, about 6 minutes.

I use this Chili Garlic Sauce from Huy Fong, and this amazing cast iron skillet that I can’t get enough of (affiliate links).

Goat Cheese Crostini with Beer Pickled Jalapenos and Mangos

29.01.2014 4 Comments

I told you about the time I almost died in Morocco, and the time I was in Dublin without a place to stay during St. Patricks day, but what about the time I was stuck in the drug smuggling capitol of Spain?

(As an aside, it bears mentioning that I apparently did little with my early 20’s other than accumulate ridiculous travel stories and the debt that goes along with them. There are worse things.)

I was on my way back from Fez, Morocco, a terrifying and beautiful experience, clutching the second half of my round trip ticket between Tarifa, Spain and Tangier, Morocco. The sun was setting over the port and I was shivering under a red fleece travel blanket with my sister, desperate to get back to Spain and still jittery from a 7-hour bus ride through the wild country side of Morocco.

And then a large white ferry boat appeared with the words TANGIER TO TARIFA 30 MINUTES painted on the side pulling into the dock in front of me. Handing my ticket to the port official, and a quick chat with him about how thrilled I was to get back to the charming Spanish town of Tarifa, walking on to that boat felt like I was being salvaged from a scrap yard.

The 30-minute ride turned into 45-minutes and then an hour. Slowly, as the time change pushed us past midnight, the TANGIER TO TARIFA boat started to pull into a port that looked nothing like the quaint Spanish town I remembered. As my sister and I met each other with puzzled looks, we heard an announcement over the crackling loudspeaker.

First in Arabic, then in Spanish, then in English, it ended with, "…Welcome to Algeciras."

It was past midnight, I’d just left a country that almost killed me twice and I had no idea where I was. My sister and I locked eyes, and burst out laughing. It was hilarious, mostly because of sleep deprivation, that I had no idea where I was but at least I probably wouldn’t be killed by a mob of young Moroccan men.

We both pull out our respective guide books. Hers had one sentence about our new destination, "The best thing to do in Algeciras is to leave."

Mine was a bit more diplomatic, "Be careful while in Algeciras, it’s the drug smuggling capital of Spain, avoid this spot if possible. If you find yourself here, leave as quickly as you can."

Both of these commentaries on our new local added to the hilarity of our situation. We probably should have been panicked, or upset, or at the very least concerned, we were delightfully amused.

After an overly concerned inspection agent ravaged my backpack, even sniffed my shampoo bottles, I was through customs about the time the clock hit 1 am. The guide books were no help, the Algeciras chapters might as well have just said YOU’RE SCREWED on every page, we decided to wander the streets until we found a hotel or hostel that looked like we probably won’t need IV antibiotics after a nights stay.

The least terrifying place we could find apparently figured us for American drug dealers, we must have had that Brokedown Palace look, and questioned us for twenty minutes. "Why are you in this town? Why so late? Show the passports. Open your bags."

We finally had a room. Two beds, four walls, one door and a window. Sanctuary.

After double checking the locks and climbing into the uncomfortable bed, I found sleep quicker than I ever had before or since.

The next morning I was determined to follow the advice of those who had gone before me. I wanted to leave as quickly as possible, I loved Spain and wanted to see more of it, more of the places that would imbed themselves in my soul. On the way towards the exit, the hostel looked really beautiful and peaceful by the early morning light. Before I left I found a small breakfast set out for the weary travelers. Bread, cheese and fruit. It felt perfect. It was exactly what I needed to feel renewed, like I could take on another day of uncertainty and road travel. It made me glad I was in a strange town with a strange story to tell.

Something about the right combination of good bread, cheese and fruit that makes you feel whole.

Goat Cheese Crostini with Beer Pickled Jalapenos and Mangos

Print Recipe

Prep Time 15

Total Time 1 15

Servings 16 -18 crostinis

Ingredients

3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup pale ale beer
2 tbs sugar
1 tbs salt
2 ice cubes about 2-3 tbs water
2 large jalapenos thinly sliced*
1 large mango peeled and sliced julienne
1 sour dough baguette sliced
4 wt oz Chevre goat cheese
3 tbs raw honey
2 tsp smoked maldon salt

Instructions

In a pot over medium high heat add the vinegar, beer, sugar and salt. Stir until the sugar and salt have dissolved, remove from heat.
Add the ice cubes and stir until melted and the liquid has reached about room temperature.
Add the jalapenos and mangos to a small bowl (use separate bowls if you want the mangos not to be spicy, if you pickled them together the mangos will also have heat), pour the liquid over the jalapenos and mangos, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
Preheat the broiler on your oven.
Arrange the bread slices on a baking sheet. Place under the broiler until lightly golden brown, about 2 minutes. Flip the slices over and place back under the broiler until browned, about an additional 2 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
Spread each slice with goat cheese.
Drain the jalapenos and mangos.
Add two to three slices of mangos and jalapenos to each bread slice.
Drizzle generously with honey then sprinkle with smoked salt.

Notes

It's impossible to tell how hot a pepper will be. If you are worried about the heat level, remove the seeds. Most of the heat in a pepper is contained in the seeds and seed membrane in the middle of the pepper. Removing all or some of the seeds and membrane will give you an ability to control the heat.