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 from those who disagree with us will fade. We will find Facebook to be a friendlier place, and those Someecards of a political nature will ebb.
Regardless of the outcome, you have a reason to grab your favorite beer. Either in celebration of your guy winning the mad race to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, or as a way to console yourself over the fact that the other guy came out ahead.
Given that you may be too distracted to spend all that much time in the kitchen tonight, this meal only takes about 20 minutes.
And, I’m pretty certain it has bipartisan support.
For this recipes, I like a brown ale, a blonde, a pale or a wheat beer. Be aware that using an IPA will kick up the beer flavor considerably and may be too bitter in the end.
In a pan over medium high heat, melt the butter. Sprinkle chicken thighs on all sides with salt and pepper. Add chicken to the pan and cook on both sides until browned, about 4 minutes per side. Remove chicken from pan.
Add onions and saute until soft and translucent, about 3 minutes.
Add garlic and mushrooms, cook until mushrooms are soft and have darkened, about 5 minutes.
Add the beer, scraping the bottom to deglaze the pan.
Reduce heat to medium, add the cream and stir.
Add half of the cheese, stir until melted. Add the remaining half, stir until combined.
Add the chicken and allow to cook until sauce has thickened, about 5 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste, serve over rice or pasta.
I have wandered into a complete obsession with making bread. It started slowly, and really, rather timidly. When I first started, I was afraid of yeast, and a wee bit convinced that it hated me.
I threw several mounds of fail dough in the trash after it refused to rise. I learned a few things long the way that I am more than happy to share with you and save you from the "What the EFF is wrong with this damn bread!" frustrations that I suffered.
First, check the expiration date. Yeast expires in a biblical sense, it actually dies. Yeast is a bit of a living beast, and once it reaches it’s expiration date, don’t even think about it. It’s not like that bottle of Ibuprofen in your cabinet that expired last year but is probably still going to cure your headache. If the yeast has been in your cabinet a while, throw it out.
Salt kills yeast too. Don’t let inactive yeast come in contact with salt. I learned this the hard way when adding salt to the cream before microwaving it.
Yeast will rise between 40 and 120 degrees. Any higher than 120 and it will be killed by the heat (unless you use rapid-rise which will work until about 130), stay away from the high end of the scale in case your thermometer is a bit off. If the yeast is colder than around 90, it will take a long time to rise. At 40 degrees, it will still rise, but it will take days. 110 seems to be a bit of a sweet spot, but I live in LA, and even when the East Coast is being ravaged by Frankenstrom, it was still 85 degrees yesterday. Bread rises faster when it’s warm, slower when it’s cold. Yeast types are not interchangeable without major recipe modifications. Use the yeast the recipe calls for.
Dry milk powder is a bit of a secret weapon when it comes to bread making. I discovered this in the Secret Ingredient section of King Arthur Flour, it may be to blame for my bread making fixation. Your bread will be softer, taller and more tender. Buy a bag just to keep on hand for Thanksgiving and Christmas rolls, because if you are going to all of the trouble to make homemade rolls, you should really pull out all the tricks in your bag.
Beer. Of course, the beer. Bread is my favorite thing to make with beer. Even if you aren’t a beer kind of girl, it gives your bread a lighter, slightly more leavened quality that makes it a perfect baking liquid. And because it’s bread, a wheat beer is a natural choice.
Add the cream to a microwave safe dish. Heat for 20 seconds, test temperature and repeat until cream is about 110 degrees. Add the yeast, set aside until foamy, about 5 minutes. If the yeast does not foam, it isn't good. Discard it and try again.
In the bowl of a stand mixer add the flour, salt and dry milk powder, mix until well combined.
Add the cream and the beer, mix until combined. It will look dry and shaggy.
Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing between additions.
Add the honey and butter and allow to mix until the dough forms a smooth and shiny ball that isn't sticky, about 8-10 minutes.
Coat the inside of large bowl with oil. Form the dough into a ball and add to prepared bowl. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm room until doubled in size. This will take between 1 and 2 hours depending on the temperature of the room.
Punch the dough down, and knead lightly for about 1 minute.
Cut the dough in half, then cut each half in half. You will now have 4 equal size pieces. Cut each piece in half to create 8 equal sized pieces. Cut each of those in half to give you 16.
Roll each piece of dough into balls, place into a baking dish with a bit of space between each roll (you might need two baking pans to accommodate 16 rolls).
Cover and allow to rise until about doubled in size.
Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Combine the melted butter and honey. Brush the top of the rolls with honey butter mixture, sprinkle with salt.
I never saw them on my Thanksgiving table or at Sunday dinner. They just didn’t exist in my world. Until one chilly afternoon in College when I stopped by the dorm room of a Souther friend of mine who had just pulled a Sweet potato, covered in butter and brown sugar out of the microwave. She was nuts. A Vegetable with sugar on it? I couldn’t get over how strange it was to enjoy a vegetable as if it was some kind of dessert. She offered me a bite, and my instinct to recoil was overtaken by my overwhelming curiosity. I was hooked.
I shocked at how much I love it. It was a comfort food, and it was a vegetable. Biscuits, made from scratch, are a bit the same. Although I didn’t grow up with anything other than a biscuit from a tube with a fear inducing opening method, those always seemed amazing to me. Another incredible comfort food.
And the beer isn’t just here for the novelty of it. Beer is a mild leavening agent, giving this biscuits a lighter, more tender texture. For this recipe, I like a Hefeweizen or a Pumpkin Ale.
Pierce the sweet potato all over. Microwave on high until soft, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool enough to work with. Remove and discard skin, add sweet potato to a bowl (should be about 3/4 cup of sweet potato mash).
Add the beer to the sweet potatoes and using a potato masher, stir and mash until completely combined.
In a bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Mix to combine.
Add the butter cubes and using your fingers or a pastry blender, rub the butter into the flour until completely combined.
Add the sweet potato beer mixture and mix until just combined.
Form dough into a ball and place on a lightly floured surface. Form into a square, about 1 1/2 inches high, and about 1 foot long. Cut into square biscuits. Place on a baking sheet covered with a Silpat or parchment paper. Brush with melted butter.
Bake at 425 for 15-18 minutes.
In a small bowl, add the maple syrup ingredients and stir until combined.
I’m not a beer snob. To be honest, the term has always rubbed against the grain.
I’m a beer fan, a beer lover, a girl fascinated by beer, but I’m not a snob.
I spent years on the fringes of the music industry in LA, and the beer snobs I meet now echo those same phrases I heard then. And so do my responses.
If you loved The Killers when we saw them play free shows at The Spaceland, you should still love them when they win Grammys.
Good music, is good music. Regardless of how many, or how few, other people like it.
If you loved Rogue Dead Guy Ale when no one carried it, you should still love it when it has mass distribution.
Good beer, is good beer. Regardless of how many, or how few, other people like it.
At a beer event a few months ago I asked the rep from North Coast Brewing why he hadn’t brought any Scrimshaw, "The Beer Snobs would eat me alive if I poured that!" And then whispered to me that it was what he drank more than anything else.
Stop doing that.
Good beer is good beer. Don’t be afraid to drink what you like, even if everyone else likes it too.
In celebration of good beer, I give you my favorite one pot, quick and easy, make this for Thanksgiving, you will never make it from a box again, Mac & Cheese. Hope you still love it even when everyone else does too.
You inspire me. You really do. One of my favorite moments of my day is reading emails from you, those of you who read my blog and like what I’m doing.
And sometimes,the emails have a common theme. A thread that runs through out the world, across the internet, and remind me of how we are all connected, in one way or another, and more similar than we all think.
In the past month I’ve received four emails from all over the world about blueberry beer. Not so much along the avenue of, "I love this, you MUST try it!" but more in the vein of, "This is interesting, but not totally drinkable, what do I do with it?"
And to be honest, I feel the same way. At a beer event six months ago, an overly zealous beer server shoved a glass of Shipyards Smashed Blueberry into my hand. And, as one who will never let a beer go untasted, I began to drink. It was interesting. The presence of blueberry with bready, toasty notes that where really well balanced. It wanted to love it, but it just wasn’t for me. It’s a great example of a blueberry beer, one that you should go out and drink, if fruit beers are your thing, but just not for me. Even still, it stayed with me, because in my world there is a different place for cooking beers. And this was a great cooking beer. One that I believe in, in theory, a well crafted beer with great flavors, but one that I wasn’t eager to run home and drink.
So here we are, me and you, with blueberry beers that we find interesting but not necessarily ones we want to fill our glasses with.
So here is what I propose: an easy berry cobbler made with this intriguing beer. And here are some great ones to go out and try:
Six cups of berriesI used 2 cups each blackberries, strawberrries, and blueberries Frozen is fine
1/2cupbrown sugarplus 2 tbs divided
1/2cuppowdered sugar
2tbscorn starch
1 1/2cupsblueberry beer
2cupscake flour
2tspbaking powder
1/4tspsalt
12tbsbutter1 1/2 sticks cut into small cubes
1/2cupbeer
1/4cupmilk
1cupheavy cream
1/2cuppowdered sugar
2tbsbeer
Instructions
Preheat oven to 450.
In a pot over medium high heat, add 4 cups berries (reserve 2 cups mixed berries for the end), 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, corn starch and beer. Allow to simmer until reduced and thickened, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.
Remove from heat, add reserved 2 cups of berries, stir to combine. Add to a deep dish pie pan.
In a bowl, add 2 tbs brown sugar, flour, baking powder, salt and stir to combine.
Add the butter, rub into the flour until well combined and resembles course meal.
Add the milk and 1/2 cup beer, stir until combined.
Gently add the flour topping, a bit at a time, to the pie pan until the berries are covered.
Bake at 450 until the topping has turned a light golden brown, about 18 minutes.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the cream, 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 2 tbs beer. Whip on high until soft peaks form, about 3 minutes.
Although most of you are starting to pull out those wool sweaters you neatly packed away a few months ago, here in Los Angeles we are in the throws of a record heat wave that drug us into 108 degree heat yesterday. While most of the sane people of LA stayed indoors and avoided the oven, I spent the morning interviewing ex-cons turn foodies, and then came home and made soup.
Like i’ve mentioned before, my inherent rebellion pushes me to buck tradition and even reason. I drink stouts in the summer, eat ice cream in the winter and make soup in triple digit heat.
Beer Braised Chicken and Hefeweizen Cornmeal Dumpling Soup
4boneless skinless chicken thigh filletscup into bite sized peices
3clovesgarlicminced
1/4cupwhite onionschopped
1/2cupcelerychopped
1/2cupcarrotschopped
1cupsweet white corn kernelsfresh is best, frozen is acceptable, canned is disgusting
2cupsHefeweizen Beer
2cupschicken broth
2tbsflour
1/4cupcream
For The Dumplings
1/2cupMasa Harinacorn flour used to make corn tortillas
1/2cupfine ground corn meal
1/2cupall purpose flour
1/4tspsalt
2tspbaking powder
1/2tspchopped fresh rosemary
2tbsbuttercut into small cubes
1/4cupmilk
1/2cupHefeweizen beer
Instructions
In a large pot with a lid, like a dutch oven or enamel cast iron pot, melt the butter over medium high heat. Add the chicken and cook until seared on all sides, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, onions, celery, carrots and corn, stir. Add the beer and broth, stir. Allow to simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the pot and whisk until combined. Remove from heat and slowly add the cream while stiring. Return to medium/low heat.
In a large bowl, add the masa, cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt and rosemary, stir to combine. Add the butter and rub into the flour with your fingers until completely combined.
Add the milk and hefeweizen and stir until combined. You don't want the dough too thin or it will fall apart during cooking, you want a biscuit like consistency.
Drop mounds of dough, about 3 tbs in size, equally spaced on top of the pot until all dough has been used. Cover the pot and cook on low heat until the tops of the dumplings are dry, about 15 to 20 minutes.
Although Oktoberfest has morphed into a festival of beer, it began as a celebration of a royal wedding more than 200 years ago. It starts in September, last for 16 days and ends on the first Sunday in October.
I can assume that most of you won’t be making it to Munich to participate in the festivities at the celebrations birth place. But, if you want to throw yourself your own little Oktoberfest, I have some facts for you that can help you celebrate in a more authentic fashion than those American street fairs in late October with macro beer and sorifity girls in period inaccurate midriff baring wardrobes.
First, you’ll need some local beer, Oktoberfest only serves beer brewed in the Munich city limits. Follow suit and find the breweries closest to your own home, or talk that home brewer you know into making you a batch, those guys are always up for sharing.
Second, learn the opening salute. For the past 60 years the celebration has been kicked off by the mayor of Munich yelling, "O' zapft ist!" (it’s tapped!) after the very first keg of Oktoberfest beer has been tapped.
Make fun of people who can’t hold their liquor. Really, this is always a good idea, but at the festivals in Munich, those who get too drunk and pass out are teased with the label "Bierleichen" (beer corps). Please, know your limits.
Traditional foods include: Roast pork, sausages, pretzels, potato dumplings, cheese noodles, potato pancakes, sauerkraut, and spiced cheese-butter spread.
Although not technically a traditional Oktoberfest food, beer cheese soup has made it’s way onto Oktoberfest menus all over the word. Throw in some sausage and sauerkraut and serve it in a pretzel bread bowl to make it a little more credible.
(Makes 4 bread bowls or 8 dinner rolls. Bread bowls are fairly small and only hold about a cup of soup each.)
Add flour, 1 tsp salt, and 1 tsp sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachement. Stir to combine.
In a microwave safe bowl, add the beer. Microwave for 20 seconds, test temperature and repeat until the beer reaches 110 degrees (if the beer is too hot, it will kill the yeast). Sprinkle the beer with the yeast and wait for it to foam (this is called proofing the yeast, if it doesn't foam the yeast is bad).
Pour the beer into the bowl and stir at a low speed until well combined, turn the speed up to medium until the dough gathers around the hook and is smooth.
Oil a large bowl with olive oil. Remove the dough from the mixer, form into a ball and place in prepared bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to sit in a warm, dry area until doubled in size, about 40 minutes.
Remove the dough from the bowl, knead on a light flowed surface until smooth, about 2 minutes. Break into 4 equal pieces (you can also make 8 dinner roll size portions) form into balls. Cover balls with plastic wrap, allow to sit until doubled in size, about 20 mintes.
Preheat oven to 375.
Fill a large pot with water, making sure there is room for it bubble up without spilling over, but deep enough for the large dough balls. Bring water to a boil, add the baking soda. Cut an X into the top of each bread ball. Place gently in the baking soda water and cook, turning once, for about 30 seconds. Remove from water and place on a baking sheet covered with a Silpat, or sprayed with cooking spray, cut side up. Repeat for all bread balls.
Brush liberally with melted butter, sprinkle with salt.
Bake at 375 for 25 minutes, or until a dark golden brown in color.
When it seems like your entire life revolves around a food blog, small things make you really excited.
Like making homemade tortillas with beer and realizing how much better they are than any other tortilla you’ve ever had.
Or getting a shout out from The Cooking Channel as if they knew just how to fuel your obsession with them.
Or realizing that because Foster Farms is willing to fly you into Napa a few days early for the National Cook-Off Finals, you get to visit the following breweries: Laguanitas, Russian River, and Bear Republic.
And then your Aunt tells you that your Grandma and Guy Fieri’s Grandma where roommates in college, which sounds like a Mad Lib, but turns out to be true.
Small wins that make me so excited, you’d think I won a Beer Cooking Oscar. This is what keeps us playing the Man Behind the Curtain on these little blogs we are so dedicated to. Bloggers are easily excitable, which maybe why we spend so much time on the other side of these computer. Sometimes our excitement isn’t fit for public consumption.
Back to these tortillas. Homemade tortillas are a completely different animal from those cardboard disks they sell in supermarkets. Soft, slightly sweet, and they only take 5 minutes to make. To use a beer analogy fit for an SAT exam:
Coors Light is to Pliny as Store Bought Tortillas are to Homemade Tortillas
I’m not kidding, that much different. If you don’t believe me, and really, why should you, I’m just the overly excited girl behind the screen, try it and report back. I really think you’ll be amazed.
For this recipe, I used Lagunaitas IPA. And like I’ve mentioned before, IPA’s give you a huge punch of beer flavor. If you want a milder beer flavor, grab a traditional Pale Ale, a Blonde or a Wheat Beer.
Beer Braised Chicken Tacos with Beer Corn Tortillas
Chop Chicken thighs into small, bite sized pieces. In a bowl, place all spices and mix well. Add the chicken pieces and toss to coat.
Heat olive oil in a dutch oven. Add the pieces and sear quickly. Reduce heat, add beer, cover and cook until cooked through, about 10 to 15 minutes.
In a large bowl, add the Masa and the salt, stir to combine.
Add the beer and butter, stir to combine. If the dough is too dry to hold together, add additional beer or water. If it is too wet, add more Masa.
Form into balls a bit larger than golf balls.
Prepare a tortillas press by wrapping in plastic wrap or covering with parchment paper (you can place tortilla ball between two sheets of parchment and use a rolling pin). Place one ball in the center.
Press, rotate and press again until thin.
Heat a griddle (or cast iron skillet) to a medium high heat (about 350 for electric griddles).
Cook until slightly brown on the bottom (about 30 seconds to a minute) flip and cook on the other side. Don’t overcook.
I have a confession to make. Before starting this blog, I tried to make beer cheese soup and failed. I was baffled, at first, but figured out that a combination of my lack of patience (manifesting itself in my cheese dumping rather than slow adding) and a furious boil, resulted in a sloppy mess.
Second confession of the day (just call yourself a priest, and I’ll say a few Hail Mary’s on my way out) is that even though I love this recipe, I think I may love the photos more. Because right after I took them I was reminded via ping of my first post and how on their best day, those photos are hideously below average. I’ve worked really hard to bring my photography up to an acceptable standard and these photos reminded me of how my work is paying off.
Third confession, I won a state-wide Cook-Off on Friday. Ok, not really a confession, but I’m excited, so I thought I would share.
Fourth confession, I still have a crush on Luke Perry. And Val Kilmer’s character in Real Genius. Looks like I went one confession too far.
Mac And Beer Cheese Soup
Note: Cheese sauce separates easily if the mixture is brought to a boil, or if pre shredded cheese is used. If the mixture does separates, try to puree the cheese sauce with a hand blender before you add the noodles.
2cupscheddar cheesethinly grated, don't use pre shredded
1/2tspsalt
1/2tsppepper
1tspsmoked paprika
1 1/2cupselbow macaroni noodles
Instructions
In a large pot heat the olive oil. Add the onions and jalapenos, cook until softened, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds.
Add the butter stir until melted.
Sprinkle the flour and corn starch on top of the melted butter and whisk until combined.
Add the beer, broth and cream bring to a low simmer.
1/4 a cup at at time, add the cheese and stir until completely melted before adding more (do not boil or cheese will separate). Repeat until all the cheese is incorporated into the soup.
Add the salt, pepper, smoked paprika and stir to combine.
Add the macaroni noodles and cook until noodles are al dente.
Add additional beer or broth to thin to desired consistency.
When it comes to baking, I’m always intrigued by a new spin on an old favorite. Not to say that I don’t fully appreciate the simplicity and beauty of a perfect and well done classic recipe. I’ll never tire of a traditional, straight forward apple pie with a huge scoop of homemade vanilla bean ice cream.
But I was introduced to the pure magic of a cheddar pie crust as an encasement for a traditional apple pie, by Kelly of Evil Shenanigans. I couldn’t stop thinking about how much I want to beer-ify (it’s a word) that perfect pie. Kelly’s cookbook, Not So Humble Pies is all about how to take that sweet little pie you’ve always loved and turn it into something they’ll never forget.
She even agreed to let me post my modified and beer-ified version of the crust that’s in her book. Maybe because she watched me greedily inhale two pieces of her pie in record time and was afraid of my possible reaction to not having said pie in my life any longer.
Here is my beer version of an apple pie with a cheddar crust. Which served as dessert, then breakfast the following day, then dinner.
7cupsGranny Smith applespeeled, cored and sliced (Granny Smith are the only apples that will not turn mushy during this process)
16ozpale ale or wheat beer
2lemonsjuiced
1/4cupunsweetened apple sauce
2tbsflour
1/2tspnutmeg
2tspcinnamon
1/4cupwhite sugar
1/2cupbrown sugar
1tspcorn starch
Instructions
Combine 1 1/2 cups of flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor, pulse a few times until its combined. Add the butter and process until well combined, about 2 minutes.Add the remaining flour and process until incorporated, about 1 minute.
Move to a bowl and add the cheese and 6 tbs beer, mix until just incorporated. Don't over mix. If the dough is too dry, add more beer until the right consistency is reached.
Split into two equal sized portions and form into disks. Wrap the disks in plastic wrap and chill until very firm, about two hours. Because this dough is so soft, it is very important for the pie dough to be very cold and very firm.
Place the apples, lemon juice and 16 ounces of beer in a bowl and allow to soak at room temperature for 2 hours. If the apples are not fully submerged, toss every half hour to redistribute. Remove the apples from the beer and allow to drain and dry for about 30 minutes, or until fully dry.
Preheat oven to 350.
Add the apples and the remaining filling ingredients to a bowl and toss to coat.
On a well floured surface, place one of the disks, add flour to the top of the disk as well.
Roll out into an even thickness. Marble rolling pins are very cold and don’t disrupt the fat inside the dough, making them an excellent choice for rolling pie dough. When you place your dough in the fridge to chill, add your marble rolling pin as well, allowing it to chill.
Add you pie dough to a pie pan and press into shape, removing any excess. Add the filling.
Roll out the second disk of pie dough and add to the top of your pie. Press the top crust and the bottom crust together at the edges, cut holes to vent steam.
Brush with 2 tbs melted butter.
Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Cover the edges with foil of the edge starts to brown too quickly.
Crust adapted from Not So Humble Pies, Kelly Jaggers
This is something everyone should do in their lives.
Like cliff jumping in Greece, restaurant week in New York City, and watching the sun rise over the Mediterranean. Although making pasta from scratch doesn’t require a passport.
Pasta isn’t as hard to make as you think and I have complete faith in your ability to pull this off. And impress your friends.
Plus this leaves you open to a wide variety of sauces. Not just my Beer Marianna, but can someone please make me a beer Alfredo sauce?
I’ll have a Beer Chicken Piccata for you later. But in the meantime, someone needs to make me this stout bolognese. I’ll bring the noodles.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a hook attachment, add the flour and the salt and mix well. Form a well in the center, add the eggs and the beer. Mix on a low speed until the dough, eggs and beer are incorporated, about 6 minutes. Remove from the mixer and kneed on a well floured surface until smooth and elastic, at least 10 minutes to remove all air pockets. Form a ball and brush with olive oil. Cover and allow to rest at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
Cut the dough into two equal halves. Cut each half into equal thirds to give you 6 equal sized pieces. Keep all dough covered that you are not working with.
Flatten each dough section into a long oval. Pass through the pasta roller at the widest setting. Close the pasta roller one notch and pass through again. Close the pasta roller again pass the pasta through again. Add flour to the pasta with each each pass through the pasta roller. Continue to do this until the pasta is thin. I used the Kitchen Aid Pasta Roller Attachment with the narrowest setting at 4.
Switch to the fettuccinie cutter pasta roller and cut each flattened pasta section into fettuccinie ribbons.
Allow to dry on a pasta drying rack or laid flat on a baking sheet for about 15 minutes.
Add pasta to a pot of lightly salted boiling water until cooked through, about 5-8 minutes.
Here’s my artichoke. We’re going to gut him and stuff him with bacon.
And then cook him in beer.
The first step is to trim. Start with peeling off a few layers of the outside leaves They’re tough and not very good, don’t feel bad about getting rid of them.
And if your artichoke has a long stem, trim it so that it can stand upright, with its leaves pointed at the sky. That will come in handy later.
Then you are going to cut off the pointed tip of the artichoke.
Then use a pair a kitchen sheers, (or, lets be honest regular scissors will be fine) to trim the pointed tips off of all of the leaves.
Starting at the outside and working towards the inside, pull the leaves outward.
Once you get to the inside leaves that are yellow and purple, you are going to want to remove these. There is a lot of waste with stuffed artichokes, just accept it and move on.
This part isn’t easy. If you are having a hard time, that’s normal. The best way to do it is to dig at it with a melon baller. And swear at it a few times to put it in it’s place.
Feel the inside to make sure it’s smooth and none of that hairy choke is left behind. If it still feels fuzzy, keep digging. And swearing, if it helps.
Squeeze half a lemon into the cavity of the artichoke.
Next you want to make the filling (recipe below).
Stuff the filling inside the middle of the artichoke. Starting at the outside, spread the leaves out and press the filling inside the leaves, work your way in until all the leaves are full.
Place in an oven safe pot, standing upright. Pour 1 1/2 cup citrusy wheat beer into the bottom of the pot.
Cover with a lid or tin foil and bake at 375 for 40-60 minutes or until the outer leaves come away easily.
Prepare artichokes as instructed above, squeeze 1/4 lemon into the cavity of each artichoke.
In a pan over medium high heat, cook the bacon until browned. Remove from pan, and chop. Drain off most of the bacon grease, leaving about 2 tbs in the pan. Add the shallots and cook until soft. Add the garlic and stir. Add the mushrooms and cook until dark brown. Remove from heat and add the remaining ingredients as well as the chopped bacon (other than the beer), stir until well combined.
Stuff the artichokes as instructed above.
Place artichokes upright in the pot, fill with 1 cup beer.
Cover and cook until outer leaves come away easily, about 40-60 minutes.
A reader from Iceland emailed me last week to ask what I listen to when I’m cooking. "You seem like a music girl," she said.
Music, food, beer, it all seems to be a different parts of the same creature and just like food can find a matched pair with beer or wine, music is the same way.
Making these potatoes I was lured to music that was timeless, earthy and effortless. Here is a bit of that list:
Something In The Way She Moves, James Taylor
Tampa To Tulsa, The Jayhawks
Torn In My Pride, The Black Crows
Fortune Teller, Robert Plant
Wicker Chair, Kings Of Leon (this was off a Demo they made before they were famous, handed to me late one night on Sunset by Nathan. I’m not sure if it is still available online, but I still listen to that Demo all the time)
Red House, Shudder To Think
Duncan, Delta Spirit
;
Between prep, braise and eating, this is the music that joined me and the potatoes in the kitchen. A slow, lazy Sunday afternoon playlist that was a perfect compliment to a timeless potato dish.
And the beer that came along for the ride was Damnation by Russian River. A Belgian style beer that gave the starch in the potatoes a beautiful push forward in taste. If you’re a craft beer fan, or just starting to grow in curiosity about the subject, Russian River should be counted among the Craft Beer Meccas of the world. Seek out the beers they make, and plan to stop by the brewery if you ever find yourself in Northern California, or the West Coast, for that matter.
Preheat oven to 325. In an oven safe Dutch Oven or pot with a lid (check that all knobs are oven safe) melt butter. Add the shallots and cook until soft, about 2 minutes.
Add the potatoes and cook until browned, about 5 minutes.
Remove from heat, pour beer over potatoes, add rosemary, pepper and salt. Cover with lid and place pot in the oven until potatoes are fork tender, about 18-20 minutes.
Remove from oven and return to stove. Using a slotted spoon, remove the potatoes and set aside.
Add the flour and stock, whisk over medium high heat until thickened, about 3 minutes. Serve potatoes with gravy.
Tortillas are one of those glorious foods that I have found myself continuing to make from scratch. It wasn’t an epiphany that wakened me from my supermarket tortilla grabbing slumber, it was a gradual process. Tortillas are easy, and you probably have all of the ingredients in your kitchen already. And the end product will finally convince you that you no longer need that plastic bag full or pre-made taco vessels.
So why the beer? Beer is a leavening agent, mild in a way that is the perfect strength to lightly leaven a tortilla. And a beer with bread, wheat of notes of crackers will add a fuller flavor then the typical baking powder that is called for in most homemade tortilla recipes.
You only need a few ingredients to make these, so you need to choose carefully. Most people use lard, and this tends to give the best results. After I cook bacon (a weekly occurrence) I pour the rendered fat into an air tight container and store it in the fridge. Once it cools and solidifies, I use this to make tortillas with. If you are vegetarian or vegan, vegetable shorting makes a great stand in.
The beer you choose needs to be carefully considers as well. Because it has a slight cracker like taste, I use Hair Of The Dog’s Ruth. Choose a beer that has notes of yeast, bread or crackers. A wheat beer would also work well.
1/2cupfatlard, vegetable shortening, rendered and cooled bacon fat
3/4cupwarm beerPlus 3 additional tbs
Instructions
In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Add the fat and rub it into the flour with your hands until it forms course crumbs and all the fat has been distributed.
Addr 3/4 of a cup warm beer into the flour mixture, mixing with a fork until all of the flour has been moistened (adding the additional 3 tbs if needed). Knead for about 3-5 minutes or until the dough becomes shiny and slightly stiff but not firm.
Pull off pieces of the dough just smaller than a golf ball. Roll into balls and place on a plate, continue for the remaining dough. Cover the plate with a towel and allow to rest for about 30 minutes.
Heat a griddle or cast iron skillet over medium high heat.
Roll the tortillas out until they are thin enough to see through. On a lightly floured surface, flatten a ball of dough with the rolling pin, then roll forward and back across it; rotate a sixth of a turn and roll forward and back again; continue rotating and rolling until you reach a very thin consistency. Alternately, you can use a tortilla press.
Throw onto the griddle and allow to cook until lightly brown, about 1 minute per side. Don't over cook or your tortillas will be crispy.
The first time I made marinara was a complete accident.
Just a few months after I nearly accidentally graduated college, I got a job working with teenage gang members in South Central Los Angeles. You are free to laugh at the idea of a very white girl, who grew up on a farm in Eastern Washington, working in South Central. With gang kids.
I sat on one side of a light oak dining table in a small Group Home, a transitional respite for kids who had been released from jail but who were still on probation, to talk with Dominick. He was from a rough area of Compton, and had found his way to the seat across from me via a GTA charge and a hot temper. But to me, he was a baby faced 14-year-old who secretly liked Whitney Houston. This was our first meeting, and part of my job was to compile a list of his "Triggers." Anything that made him angry enough to lash out, to do something that could land his ass back in jail. We both had the same goal: get him back home. Most kids, in my short 4 months of experience all had a very similar trigger. This usually centered around someone "talking shit" about them, their mom, or their crew. Maybe a handful of other miscellaneous and understandable offenses.
When I asked Dominick what triggered him, what drove him to a rage that welled up in him a feeling of violence that once caused him to send a chair on a journey through a class room window, his face fell flat.
"What?" I was so curious, "What makes you that mad?"
He took a deep breath and lowered his voice, "When those mother fuckin' girls make human pyramids."
I laughed so hard I felt bad about it. His young face broke open into a sweet smile, "Jackie, I’m not gonna lie.." He started to giggle, "Pisses me the fuck off, I have no idea why. I want to push those chicks right over."
Fair enough. My job was to teach him how to deal with his anger, no matter what triggered it.
He wanted to learn how to cook, and he wanted to make Spaghetti. He thought that cooking might help him channel his anger. We didn’t have any sauce, but his group home staff had just come into ownership of 10 pounds of tomatoes, so we made do.
Because of Dominick, and his human pyramid hating ways, I will always love a good, homemade, can free, marinara.
Rub the head of garlic until about half of the papery white skin comes off. Cut a small amount of the tip off the head of the garlic, just enough to expose all of the cloves. Place on a small piece of aluminum foil and drizzle with about 1 tbs of olive oil. Fold the foil tightly around the garlic, place on a baking sheet. Cut the tomatoes into quarters and place them on the baking sheet along with the garlic packet.
Roast the tomatoes and the garlic at 400 for 20-30 minutes or until the tomatoes are soft and the skin starts to peel back from the flesh. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
The skin of the tomatoes should be very easy to remove at this point, peel the skin off the tomatoes and discard. Place a fine mesh sieve or strainer over a bowl. Scoop the seeds into the strainer and place the remaining part of the peeled and seeded tomato into a bowl, repeat until all of the tomatoes have been seeded. Allow the seeds to continue to drain while you make the rest of the sauce.
In a pot over medium high heat, add 2 tbs olive oil. Add the onions and carrots, sauté until carrots are soft and onions are translucent. Add the beer, seeded and peeled tomatoes and whatever juice has accumulated in the bowl beneath the tomato seeds. Discard the seeds. Remove the head of garlic from the foil packet and squeeze the soft head until the cloves comes out and into the sauce. Add the salt, pepper and basil.
Reduce heat to maintain a low simmer, allow to cook and reduce until thickened, about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
If you want a smoother sauce, add to a food processor and process until smooth.
Use this with my Homemade Beer Ricotta to make a beer infused Lasagna or stuffed Rigatoni.
There are foods that I relent to making from scratch, taking hours to carve a meal out of whole ingredients. Hours spend on homemade pasta, breads, pie dough and sauces. The extra time is more than worth it for real food, feed to those I love from the earth, to my hands to the table.
And then there are things that take so little time and effort, I am amazed that it took me so long to start making them from scratch.
Like whipped cream, tortillas and ricotta.
The active time on this recipe is so little, and the reward is so great, I will never buy it again. No special equipment or difficult to find ingredients. No extensive aging times or unusual techniques. Just a few simple ingredients and a stove.
Spread it on bread and top with fresh vegetables.
Make homemade ricotta ice cream.
Stuffed cannellonis.
Ricotta Cheesecake.
You might need to make a double batch.
This is recipe that needs a wheat beer. The citrusy breadyness comes through in really great way. I used Colete By Great Divide. The flavors were perfect for this ricotta and lent themselves well to either sweet or savory recipes using the cheese.
I was grateful that I bought a six pack, this is a beer that will make it’s way in my normal drinking and cooking rotation.
Homemade Beer Ricotta
3 cups whole milk (do not use Ultra-Pasterized, it won’t work)
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup Saison beer, Plus 2 tbs divided
3 tbs Apple Cider Vinegar (you can also use lemon juice, or a combination of the two)
Makes about 1 1/4 cups
In a pot over medium high heat (do not use an aluminum pan) add the milk, cream, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/3 cup beer.
Clip a cooking thermometer onto the side of the pan.
Bring the liquid to 190 degrees, stirring occasionally to prevent the bottom from scorching. Keep a close eye on it, the liquid reaches and passes 190 very quickly and you don’t want it rising above 200.
Remove from heat, add the 2 tbs beer and then the vinegar (or lemon juice) and stir gently once or twice. It should curdle immediately. Allow to sit undisturbed for about 5 minutes.
Line a large strainer with 1 or 2 layers of cheese cloth, place the strainer in the sink over a large bowl.
Pour the ricotta into the strainer and allow to drain for 15 to 30 minutes and up to an hour.
After 15 minutes you will have a smooth creamy spreadable cheese. As you continue to allow it to drain, it will become more and more firm. It will also continue to firm once it is chilled, remove it from the strainer before it reaches the firmness level you want as it will continue to firm up in the fridge.
Place in an air tight container and store in the fridge.
You seem to have no interest in healthy beer recipes. You want your beer recipes to be a flagrant indulgence of full-flavored stimulation. You want chocolate and bacon and sugar and whatever else I can manage to squeeze into your meal.
I like that about you.
No "semi-homemade" or "skinny" versions will do for your beer baking, you want it to be bold and extravagant, diet repercussions be damned. You also have no problem with my recipes that take hours, making Bacon Beer Jam with delighted voracity.
So it is by pure accident that I offer to you a recipe that only takes 5 minutes to throw together and less than 20 to bake, allowing you to get a fully flavored beer muffin on your table in less than a half an hour.
Although I know you would have been more than willing to spend much longer. I appreciate your tenacity.
For these Beer Bread Muffins, I used Lagunitas Red, a special release that’s just so fun to drink.
3/4cupshredded cheddar cheeseplus additional for topping, if desired
2tbschopped green onions
1/4cupmelted butterplus 2 additional tbs, divided
3/4cupbeer
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350. Spray muffin tins with cooking spray.
In a bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cheese and onions, stir until well combined. Pour in 1/4 a cup of melted butter plus the 6 oz of beer, stir until just combined.
Pour batter into muffin tins until each well is about 1/2 full. Pour remaining 2 tbs of butter onto the tops of the muffins, dividing evenly between each muffin. Top with additional cheese, if desired.
Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes or until the muffins have puffed and a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Serve immediately, these are best right out of the oven.
Remember the Beer Cooking Scale I told you about last month, the one I want to invent? The one that would let you know the approximate level of Beeryness the final product has? This recipe is at both ends of that yet-to-be-invented scale’s spectrum. The beer butter has a kick you in the mouth beer flavor that will be heartily enjoyed by beer enthusiast, and the shrimp has a subtle note of beer in it’s finish. If you are a Kick You In The Mouth kinda person, cooking for a Maybe Just A Touch kind of person, this will satisfy you both. You get a butter full of intense beer flavor to slather onto whatever you so choose, and your little friend gets a plate of shrimp with slight notes of beer. Harmony between the two of you once again.
For this recipe I used a Saison brewed with sage, giving really great herb notes to the finished product. This is a special release beer from Epic Brewing called Utah Saison Sage #2.
If you can’t find this beer, look for a Saison with herb or citrus notes.
Roasted Garlic Beer Butter
1 head of garlic
1 tbs olive oil
1/2 cup Saison beer
1 stick of butter, softened
Preheat oven to 425. Rub several layers of the white papery skin off the head of garlic, leaving a light layer still in tact to keep the bulb together. Cut off the top point of the head, exposing the cloves inside.
Place on a sheet of foil, drizzle with olive oil and fold the foil tightly around the garlic. Place in a baking dish and roast in a 425 degree oven until the cloves are soft, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
While the garlic is roasting, add the beer to a pot on the stove. Cook until reduced to 3 tbs, about 10 minutes. (To lower the level of beer flavor in the butter, reduce 1/4 cup of beer by half.)
In a food processor, add the softened butter and the beer. Squeeze the head of garlic until the cloves push out, adding just the cloves to the food processor and discarding the papery skin.
Process the butter until smooth. Add to an air tight container and store in the fridge.
Roasted Garlic Beer Butter Shrimp, two methods
3 tbs beer butter
10 shrimp
pinch of salt and pepper
Metohd one: Grilling
Preheat grill. Melt the beer butter in a microwave safe dish. Skewer the shrimp with a heat safe skewers(or water soaked wooden skewers). Sprinkle with salt and pepper, brush liberally with melted butter. Grill until pink and cooked through, about 2-3 minutes per side. Brush occasionally with butter while cooking.
Method two: Stove Top
In a pan over medium high heat, add the butter and stir until melted. Sprinkle the shrimp with salt and pepper, add to the pan and saute until cooked through about 5 minutes.
