Brown Ale

20 minute Chicken in Roasted Tomato Brown Ale Herb Sauce

29.07.2015 1 Comment

We are in transition.

As much as we want to burry our summer heads in the warm beach sand and ignore the impending fall, we’re only a few weeks away for the hectic pace that September thrust onto our slightly sun seared bodies. Take a breath, take a moment, plan your last few weekends, breath in the warm air floating into your car windows as you wind down the road. Make a plan right this minute to take a trip to the brewery you’ve been neglecting, the one with the killer patio and perfect beer flight.

Once the summer starts to slip away, we’ll have brown ales to ease the transitions. Brown ales never get enough credit. They will never be as sexy as a sour, or as hip as a triple IPA, or as seductive as a barrel aged stout, but they might just be the perfect food pairing beer. The roasty flavors, the malty notes, the kiss of hops, it all plays so well with a spectrum of culinary offerings.

Don’t underestimate the humble brown ale, don’t overlook it for the sas of a Belgian dubbel. Give a brown a try with some food, smoked gouda, or barbecued pork ribs, carnitas tacos, jambalaya, roasted chicken, and pretty much anything that includes caramelized onions, brown ales will knock that pairing out of the park. Brown ales might just be what will get us through the transition out of summer.

20 minute Chicken in Roasted Tomato Brown Ale Herb Sauce

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Prep Time 5

Cook Time 15

Total Time 20

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

3 tbs olive oil divided
¼ cup chopped shallots
1 lbs cherry tomatoes
2 clove garlic minced
3 tbs tomato paste
2/3 cup brown ale
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 tsp chopped fresh oregano
2 tsp chopped fresh basil
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
½ tsp salt plus additional for chicken
½ tsp pepper plus additional for chicken
1 lbs boneless skinless chicken (breast of thighs)
½ tsp garlic powder
Rice or pasta for serving

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425.
In a cast iron skillet heat 2 tablespoon olive oil. Add the shallots and tomatoes, cook until they start to brown, about 5 minutes.
Stir in the garlic, then the tomato paste, brown ale, rosemary, oregano, basil, salt and pepper.
Transfer to the oven, cooking until the tomatoes have broken down, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, stir in the balsamic vinegar.
While the tomatoes cook, make the chicken.
Season chicken on all sides with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add the chicken, cook on each side until browned and cooked through. Remove from skillet, slice.
Plate chicken with tomato sauce for serving. Serve over rice or pasta if desired.

Notes

If using chicken breast, filet the chicken pieces to make them thinner. Cut lengthwise so that no piece of chicken is thicker than ½ inch.

Beer Brined Lemon Pepper Chicken with Mango Salsa + DIY Beer Dad Fathers Day Gifts

12.06.2015 6 Comments

Add the chicken thighs to a bowl, sprinkle on all sides with 1 tablespoon salt. Cover with beer, refrigerate for 30 minutes and up to 1 hour. In a small bowl stir together the remaining 1 teaspoon salt, lemon zest, pepper, and garlic powder, set aside. In a medium sized bowl add the mango, onion, cilantro, bell pepper, jalapeno, lemon juice and salt. Remove the chicken from the beer, rinse and pat dry. Rub the chicken on all sides with the lemon pepper mixture. Heat the olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium high heat (take care not to heat the pan over too high heat, the chicken will burn before it cooks through). Add the chicken to the pan (cooking in batches if necessary), until golden brown on the outside and cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. Plate the chicken, top with mango salsa.

Beer Brined Lemon Pepper Chicken with Mango Salsa

Let’s say that you’re the type of person that has a dad that likes beer.

And let’s also say that you’re the type of person who has procrastinated so much that you don’t yet have a Father’s Day present for said beer drinking dad.

I’m not here to judge you, I’m here to help you. With not only an easy list of beer infused DIY gifts, but also a quick and easy dinner you can pull off after work while making the thoughtful beer laden gift.

Dad’s aren’t quite as sentimental as the rest of us, mostly they just need to be told how great they are, they need some alone time, they need a cold beer and a sporting event. Dad’s also like to be fed. Give him food, tell him he’s good, pet his head. Maybe that’s dogs. Or both. Either way, they need to be fed and watered. I can help you with the feeding part, and these double as thoughtful handmade gifts that are way better than that popsicle stick birdhouses you made him in 4th grade. By the way, he just pretended to like that.

Because he’s nice. You owe him.

IPA Pickles

Chocolate Pretzel Beer Toffee

Chocolate Stout Truffles

Salted Beer Caramel Corn

Beer Candied Pecans

Stout and Sriracha BBQ Sauce

Beer and Sriracha Candied Nuts

Now, go out there, make that beer gift that dad will eat on the couch with his favorite beer while watching his favorite team play another team while he yells at the TV. And don’t forget to pet his head.

Beer Brined Lemon Pepper Chicken with Mango Salsa

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Ingredients

For the Chicken

6 chicken thighs boneless, skinless
1 tbs plus 1 tsp salt, divided
12 ounces brown ale
2 tbs lemon zest
2 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tbs olive oil

For the Mango Salsa

1 large red mango diced
½ white onion diced
¼ cup cilantro chopped
1 red bell pepper chopped
1 jalapeno chopped
1 tbs lemon juice
½ tsp salt

Instructions

Add the chicken thighs to a bowl, sprinkle on all sides with 1 tablespoon salt. Cover with beer, refrigerate for 30 minutes and up to 1 hour.
In a small bowl stir together the remaining 1 teaspoon salt, lemon zest, pepper, and garlic powder, set aside.
In a medium sized bowl add the mango, onion, cilantro, bell pepper, jalapeno, lemon juice and salt. Toss to combine.
Remove the chicken from the beer, rinse and pat dry.
Rub the chicken on all sides with the lemon pepper mixture.
Heat the olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium high heat (take care not to heat the pan over too high heat, the chicken will burn before it cooks through).
Add the chicken to the pan (cooking in batches if necessary), until golden brown on the outside and cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.
Plate the chicken, top with mango salsa.

Roasted Beer Brined Chicken Legs over Grilled Corn Puree and English Pea Herb Salad

15.05.2015 2 Comments

Roasted Beer Brined Chicken Legs over Grilled Corn Puree and English Pea Herb Salad

I met a 70-year-old woman at a bar in a tiny town in the backwoods of Northern California last week, she was tying to set me up with her friend Chad. Chad is no longer in possession of his teeth and had a very relaxed relationship with hygiene. Flattered as I was I had to decline.

The town was started during the gold rush, the small mountain community was so off the grid that the bars never shut down during prohibition, and since then the population hasn’t grown over 4,000 people. Evelyn moved there a few years ago, drawn to the place by the idea of spending her retirement as a bartender. Feist and happy, she served the locals on one side of the bar, and then grabbed a glass of Chardonnay and chatted them up from the other side once her shift was over. I clearly wasn’t from around there, I was just passing through for the night, she instantly struck up a conversation with me.

I asked her why she decided to leave the South to move West and serve booze to a rowdy crowd of men half her age. She laughed, "This is the best job I’ve ever had!" She told me about her years as a secretary, raising babies, paying bills, wearing heels. That was a life she made for other people, this life, this was just for her. Sure, she can make more money doing something else, sure her feet get tired at the end of the day, but she has another way to look at it. "You can’t take any of that with you, all you have is what you leave behind. And everyday I make someone smile, and that’s what I leave."

I like her. Although her taste in men is still somewhat questionable.

Roasted Beer Brined Chicken Legs over Grilled Corn Puree and English Pea Herb Salad

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Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

For the Chicken:

4 chicken legs
1 tbs salt
1 tsp all spice berries
1 cup very hot water
12 ounces brown ale
1/2 cup ice
1 tsp black pepper

For the Corn:

4 ears corn
¼ cup heavy cream
¼ tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper

For the peas:

½ lbs fresh English peas shelled
1 tbs olive oil
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 tsp chopped fresh basil
1 tsp chopped fresh oregano
1 tsp chopped fresh chive

Instructions

Add the chicken legs to a large bowl or baking dish.
In a bowl combine the salt, all spice, and hot water, stir to dissolve. Add the beer, and ice, stir until ice has melted and the brine is room temperature or below. Pour over chicken, cover and refrigerate for 2 hours and up to 12.
Remove from brine, rinse well and pat dry.
Preheat oven to 450.
Place the chicken on a baking sheet, sprinkle with pepper.
Roast until skin is golden brown, juices run clear and the internal temperature of the chicken is 170F, 30-40 minutes.
Grill the corn until grill marks appear on all sides. Cut the kernels off the corn.
Add the corn kernels, cream, paprika, salt, and pepper to a blender or food processor, process until fairly smooth.
Bring a pot of lightly salted water to boil, prepare a smaller bowl with ice water.
Add the peas to boiling water, boil for 2 minutes, then drain and immediately plunge into the ice water to stop the cooking.
Add the peas to a bowl along with the olive oil, balsamic, basil, oregano, and chives, toss to combine, salt and pepper to taste.
Plate the corn puree, and then chicken and peas.

Beer Brined Roasted Rosemary Chicken Legs

29.04.2015 2 Comments

Beer Brined Roasted Rosemary Chicken Legs

We try too hard.

We always do. We underestimate the beauty of simple food, and we miss it. The value of doing something really well. We over complicate a basic Mac N Cheese and it ends up a dried mess of pasta and $30 worth of inedible cheese. We buy a pork loin, cook it wrong, and it’s dry and tasteless. We try too hard, and miss the point.

Chicken can be that way. We grew up with bags of frozen chicken breasts thawing in the sink so we think that’s what chicken tastes like. We don’t connect the dots when we have incredible teriyaki glazed chicken thighs at the fair, or when we pick the dark meat during Thanksgiving, it takes us a while to realize that white meat, our default cut, sort of blows. Dark meat, that’s where the joy is.

There are a few recipes I make all the time, beer brined chicken is one. It’s a go-to, it’s a meet the parents meal, casual dinner party, easy sunday supper, type recipe. A brine will give you the juiciest chicken you can get, the dark meat will give you the flavor, a nice olive an herb rub will make it feel important. Even when it’s simple, it’s exceptional.

Plus the left over beer will help you relax and enjoy the evening, and help you stop over thinking every thing.

Beer Brined Roasted Rosemary Chicken Legs

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Ingredients

3 lbs chicken legs and drumsticks
2 tbs kosher salt
12 ounces brown ale
¼ cup olive oil
3 large cloves garlic grated with a Microplane
2 tbs chopped fresh rosemary
1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper

Instructions

Add the chicken to a baking pan or large bowl, sprinkle on all sides with salt. Pour the beer over the chicken. Cover and refrigerate for one hour and up to six.
Remove chicken from beer, rinse well and pat dry.
Add to a baking sheet.
Preheat oven to 450.
In a small bowl stir together the olive oil, garlic, rosemary, and pepper.
Drizzle the chicken with the olive oil mixture, turning to coat.
Roast at 425 for 25-30 minutes or until the skin is browned and the chicken is cooked through.

Crispiest Beer Brined Chicken Thighs with Brown Ale and Sweet Pea Puree

18.03.2015 11 Comments

Crispiest Beer Brined Chicken Thighs with Brown Ale Bean and Sweet Pea Puree

Crispiest Beer Brined Chicken Thighs with Brown Ale and Sweet Pea Puree

I’m going to give you one of my secrets. I have a lot. This one is about food, and it’s a new secret.

I’ve been told for years to sear my chicken in a hot pan. I did it, dutifully, obediently, and I was given beautiful chicken. But here’s the secret: there’s a better way. I obsessively read about food (not a secret). About the history behind it, about the experiments to improve recipes, about what the difference between baking soda and baking powder is, about marinate vs marinade vs brine, it’s all very boring. Unless you’re me, and in that case, it’s fascinating.

I’ll save you the thousands of words that brought me to the door of this secret, I’ll give you the Cliff’s notes. In a smoking hot pan you just have a few minutes to sear the skin of a chicken before it burns. This will render some of the fat and give you a fairly crispy skin. BUT if you start in a cold pan the fat has more time to render as the pan heats giving you an even crispier skin. I told you. Very boring unless you’re me.

Try it. Try out this little secret, cold pan, no oil, crispiest skin ever.

Kept the secret, share the chicken. Or share both, it’s up to you, but you should always share the beer.

Crispiest Beer Brined Chicken Thighs with Brown Ale and Sweet Pea Puree

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Ingredients

For the Chicken:

4 chicken thighs bone-in, skin on
salt and pepper
12 ounces brown ale

For the Peas:

12 wt oz about 2 ¼ cups green peas (thawed if frozen)
1 cloves garlic smashed
¼ cup sour cream
3 tbs brown ale
½ tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
¼ cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
2 tbs olive oil
¼ cup green onions

Instructions

Sprinkle the chicken thighs on all sides with salt and pepper. Place in a large bowl or baking dish, pour beer over chicken. Refrigerate for 30 minutes and up to 4 hours.
In a high powdered blender or food processer add the peas, garlic, sour cream, brown ale, salt, pepper, parmesan and olive oil, process until smooth.
Add the peas to a pot over medium low heat, simmer until warmed through, remove from heat.
Remove chicken from the brine, pat dry.
Place the chicken skin side down in a cold cast iron skillet, add the pan to medium high heat. As the pan heats, fat will render making the skin crispy. Once the skin is golden brown, turn the chicken thighs and cook until internal temperature reaches 165.
Plate the peas puree, add the chicken, sprinkle with green onions.

Grilled Parmesan Beer Chicken Calzones

11.03.2015 5 Comments

Grilled Parmesan Beer Chicken Calzones. Your new favorite grill recipe.

Sure, you can grill meat. You can throw hot dogs on the grill, and a couple burgers. You can have yourself a hot meat party and invite your friends over.

Meat just scratches the grilled-food surface. It’s the obvious choice, the blended margarita on taco Tuesday, the teddy bear holding a heart on Valentines day. Other foods needs a sharp heat and a quick char. Have you grilled fruit yet? Or salad? Ice cream?! Maybe that’s too far. Let’s start with pizza, and pizza like hand held beer and cheese filled pies. Grilled pizza, as well as adjacent pizza like items, are my favorite ways to indulge in fire seared foods.

Plus, beer is essential when you stand near an open flame and cook your dinner. It’s not even up for negotiations.

Grilled Parmesan Beer Chicken Calzones

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Servings 12 calzones

Ingredients

1 can 14.5 wt oz diced tomatoes
6 wt oz tomato paste
1/3 cup wheat beer
½ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp dried basil
2 lbs raw pizza dough enough for two large pizzas
8 wt oz chicken cooked and chopped
4 wt oz parmesan cheese fresh grated
4 wt ounces mozzarella grated
oil for grill

Instructions

Preheat grill to medium high.
In a blender add the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, beer, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and basil. Blend until smooth.
Cut the dough into 12 equal sized pieces.
One at a time doll the dough balls into flat 6 inch circles.
Add 2 to 3 tablespoons sauce in the center, top with chicken, about 1 tablespoon each of mozzarella and parmesan.
Fold the dough over into a crescent shape, rolling and pinching the edges to seal.
Brush each side with olive oil.
Place the calzones on the hot grill, close lid. Grill on each side until strong grill marks appear, about 4 minutes per side. ‘

My favorite pizza dough recipe: Beer Pizza Dough

My favorite quick dough recipe: One Hour Rosemary Beer Pizza Dough

Rosemary Beer Chicken and Skillet Potatoes

27.02.2015 6 Comments

Rosemary Beer Chicken and Skillet Potatoes. Just one pot and dinner is done.

I once tried to help a homeless woman get an apartment.

She’d wondered into the lobby of the building I was working at in Beverly Hills. She was sweet, well over 70-years-old, and seemed quite healthy for the life she was living. I was given the task of "dealing" with her and decided that she was far more fascinating that paperwork that I’d previously been laboring through.

She handed me a stained envelope of papers, ID cards, receipts and bus passes, "I’m too old for this," She collapses in a leather chair near the window, "I think it’s time for me to have a place to live."

I got her a cup of coffee and asked her questions, most of which were purely to satisfy my own curiosity. She’d been homeless for 30 years, since her mid 40’s, she was once a waitress, then a secretary. She has a daughter who now lives in Chicago, they don’t talk. I didn’t pull at that thread. She spent most of her days in the Library, reading mystery novels, or at the park watching the people. She made homelessness seem almost charming.

I made some calls. Local shelters, community centers, soup kitchens. I googled searched the city looking for housing. After an hour, I struck gold. I found a HUD funded apartment complex that had a vacant unit that was designated for a formerly homeless senior citizen. I ran to the lobby to tell her the news.

"An open apartment? Where is it?' She was much less thrilled than I was.

"It’s on Adams and La Brea."

"Mmmm, child…. Honey…. I’d rather be homeless than live east of the 405." She slowly eased herself out of the chair and walked right out the door. Not even a goodbye.

You’d think I’d be irritated, or frustrated, but I found it so entreatingly hilarious that I called everyone I knew who lived in Santa Monica. To this day I’m asked to tell the story any time I’m at a party in the home of anyone who lives WEST of the 405.

Rosemary Beer Chicken and Skillet Potatoes

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Ingredients

2 tbs fresh rosemary chopped
3 tbs olive oil divided
1 tbs stone ground mustard
1 tbs honey
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1 cup beer pale ale, brown ale, hefeweizen
4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1.5 lbs small red potatoes quartered

Instructions

Add the rosemary, 2 tablespoons olive oil, mustard, honey, salt, pepper and beer to a large bowl or baking dish. Add the chicken, refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 12 hours.
Preheat oven to 375.
Heat the remaining 1 tablespoons olive oil in a cast iron skillet until hot but not smoking. Add the potatoes, cook until browned on cut sides, but not cooked through, about 5 minutes, remove from heat.
Place the chicken on top of the potatoes, pour ½ cup of the chicken marinate over the chicken.
Bake at 375 until chicken and potatoes are cooked through, about 25 minutes.

Drunk French Toast Sticks with Beer Blood Orange Syrup

02.02.2015 4 Comments

Drunk French Toast Sticks with Beer Blood Orange Syrup. Win at breakfast.

Breakfast being the most important meal has nothing to do with nurtition. It’s not about blood sugar, or enriched whole grains or jumpstarting your metabolism. It’s emotional.

Breakfast is important because of who we eat it with. The people who live in your house, the out of town guest, the friend who is worth getting up early and meeting at that overcrowded brunch place in Silverlake.

It’s OK if breakfast takes a while, and it’s OK if it doesn’t. This takes about 20 minutes, leaving you more time for coffee and conversation. Serve it with a side of eggs, or a side of beer mimosa. Dunk the sticks in your latte.

Lick the syrup off your fingers, or the other guys fingers, or your plate.

You should probably stop licking things.

Breakfast will always be my favorite meal. I can share a mid-day coffee or a late night dinner with anyone, but if you find a seat at my breakfast table, especially before I’ve showered, then you know you’ve really made my inner circle. Breakfast means you’re really important.

Drunk French Toast Sticks with Beer Blood Orange Syrup

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Ingredients

French Toast Sticks

One loaf Italian bread or Texas Toast, cut into thick slices
1 ½ cup half & half
1 cup brown ale
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs
3 tbs unsalted butter

Syrup:

1 blood orange
1 cup white sugar
½ cup beer
1 tbs cornstarch
pinch salt

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 200. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or tin foil sprayed with cooking spray.
In a large bowl whisk together the half & half, beer, brown sugar, salt, vanilla extract and eggs until well combined.
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
One at a time dunk the bread sticks in the mixture until well saturated. Remove and allow excess to drain off.
Cook until golden brown on all sides. Place French toast sticks on the baking sheet in the oven when you finish the rest of the French toast sticks to keep warm until serving.
Zest the orange with a microplane. Juice the orange.
In a pot over medium heat whisk together the sugar, beer, cornstarch, salt, orange juice and zest. Bring to a boil, boil for three minutes without stirring. Remove from heat, allow to cool (syrup with thicken as it cools).
Serve French toast sticks drizzled with syrup.

Stout Brined Crispy Chili Brown Sugar Pork Belly

26.11.2014 14 Comments

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

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

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

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

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

Stout Brined Crispy Chili Brown Sugar Pork Belly

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Ingredients

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

Instructions

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

Rosemary Potato Brown Ale Galette

29.10.2014 9 Comments

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

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

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

Rosemary Potato Brown Ale Galette

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Ingredients

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

Instructions

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

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

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

One Pot Tomato Parmesan Brown Ale Fettuccini with Chicken

24.10.2014 8 Comments

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

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

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

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

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

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

One Pot Tomato Parmesan Brown Ale Fettuccini with Chicken

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Ingredients

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

Instructions

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

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

13.10.2014 11 Comments

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

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

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

Surly Brewing – Barrel Aged Darkness

Founders Brewing – Backwoods Bastard

The Bruery – Black Tuesday

Brooklyn Brewery – Black Ops

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

Barley Brown – Tank Slapper

Sierra Nevada – Harvest Series

Bale Breaker – Piled High Imperial Fresh Hop

Rogue Farms – Wet Hop Ale

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

Bell’s Beer – Best Brown Ale

Cigar City – Cubano Style Espresso Brown

Sixpoints – Brownstone

Mankato – Leaf Raker

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

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

Gingerbread Ale Pudding with Beer Whipped Cream

Print Recipe

Ingredients

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

Instructions

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

Notes

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

Sweet Potato and Brown Ale Soup with Crispy Sage and Pomegranates

06.10.2014 11 Comments

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

Do you ever get wrong number phone calls?

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

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

This was our most recent conversation:

My phone rings, I know it’s her.

Me: “Hi!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

And I hope I do.

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

Sweet Potato and Brown Ale Soup with Crispy Sage and Pomegranates

Print Recipe

Ingredients

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

Instructions

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

Caramel Apple Brown Ale Cake

03.09.2014 17 Comments

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

For instance, this exchange happened recently:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Caramel Apple Brown Ale Cake

Print Recipe

Ingredients

For the caramel layer:

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

For the cake layer:

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

Instructions

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

Garlic Herb Beer Butter Roasted Potatoes

21.05.2014 5 Comments

Cowboys and brewers aren’t that different.

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

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

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

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

Garlic Herb Beer Butter Roasted Potatoes

Print Recipe

Ingredients

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

Instructions

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

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

25.04.2014 6 Comments

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

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

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

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

Print Recipe

Ingredients

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

Instructions

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

Notes

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

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

All opinions are my own.

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Other blogger’s posts:

Reluctant Entertainer

Crazy for Crust

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Porter Caramelized Onion Flatbreads with Smoked Gouda and Roasted Tomatoes

26.03.2014 11 Comments

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

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

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

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

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

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

Porter Caramelized Onion Flatbreads with Smoked Gouda and Roasted Tomatoes

Print Recipe

Ingredients

For the Crust:

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

For the Onions:

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

For the Toppings:

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

Instructions

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

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

Print Recipe

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.