Stout Braised Short Ribs over Creamy Pale Ale Polenta

Stout Braised Short Ribs over Creamy Pale Ale Polenta

I accidentally found my new favorite get-away town on Monday. A four-hour drive to interview a brewery owner for an article I’m writing turned into an overnight stay in a Northern Oregon. A little town that I’m convinced haphazardly, and purely by accident, wound its way into being excessively charming. As if one day the residents of this little river town, this former not-more-than-a-train-stop location woke up, looked at the row of shops and cafes adjacent to the water, the glorious views of the surrounding mountains, the outstanding breweries, and said, “well, look at that! We’re adorable.”

I’d HEARD of Hood River, Oregon. I’d even stopped in once on a road trip because I NEEDED to visit Pfriem. But I’d never been there long enough to look around, long enough to really see it.

Then, I was there. A Monday night, alone except for this beast, and my gypsy soul decided to stay the night. Chatting with locals for a while, drinking the beer, and realizing why I moved to Seattle in the first place. You just stumble into these little towns that make you feel like you’re a lifetime away from the place you started.

Then I realized that it’s been almost 5 years since I moved here, packed my little car and my bulldog and headed north. I realized how lucky I am to live here, to have the people in my life that currently occupy space in my surroundings, and how even when your life feels like it’s accidentally happening to you, even when things feel haphazard, you can one day wake up and realize how great they really are.

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5 from 1 vote

Stout Braised Short Ribs over Creamy Pale Ale Polenta

Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients

For the Short Ribs

Kosher salt
3 lbs beef short ribs
¼ cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 large carrots diced
2 ribs celery diced
1 cup diced white onion
12 ounces stout beer
1 cup beef broth
1 sprig thyme
1 sprig rosemary

For the polenta

4 tablespoons butter
1 cup pale ale
2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup dry polenta
3/4 cup fresh grated parmesan reggiano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

Make the ribs:

1. Preheat the oven to 325° F.
2. Generously sprinkle salt on all sides of the ribs.
3. Add the cornstarch to a wide bowl, toss the ribs in the cornstarch until well coated.
4. Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sear the ribs on all sides, remove from the pan, set aside.
5. Add the carrots, celery and onions, cook until browned and starting to caramelized, about 15 minutes.
6. Pour in the beer, scraping to deglaze the pan. Stir in the broth.
7. Add the ribs into the pot, add the thyme and rosemary, add the lid onto the pot.
8. Place the pot in the oven, cooking until the ribs are very tender and easily pull away from the bone, 3 to 4 hours.
9. Remove the ribs. Strain the sauce into a pot, removing the solids and any large pieces of fat, discard the fat.
10. Separate the fat from the sauce, either spoon it off (it’s lighter color and will sit on top), or if making in advance, add to the fridge and allow to cool, peel the fat layer off the top and discard.
11. Add the broth and ribs to a serving platter (add the carrots and celery to the serving platter, if desired).

Make the polenta:

1. In a pot over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the beer and milk, bring to a simmer.
2. Whisk in the polenta. Simmer until polenta is tender and thickened, whisking occasionally, about 25 minutes.
3. Stir in the parmesan, salt and pepper

Beer Braised Meatball Banh Mi Sandwiches

I’m not sure why I do these things. It’s that part of me that leans toward obsessing, and it’s a small but powerful part. Mini but mighty.

Food, in one form or another, often finds it’s way into that space. Duck confit, pickling weird foods, doughnuts, bolognese, you really never know when something will settle into my major obsession zone.

When I do have things fall into the crack in my personality that sucks up obsessions, it doesn’t let them go (see also: beer, early rock photography, serial killers, bulldogs. It’s Ok to dislike me based solely on that list).

Right now, it’s Banh Mi, or if I use it as a command: BANH ME! It should be a socially acceptable command that you’re allowed to yell at people until they give you a Vietnamese-French fusion sandwich. But it’s not, so don’t try it.

After making a vegan Mushroom Bahn Mi sandwich for my book that’s in the processing of being published, I want to Bahn Mi all the things. ALL THE THINGS. I’m going to try to keep this obsession in check, but it has leaked through today, onto you so I hope you’re OK with that.

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5 from 1 vote

Beer Braised Meatball Banh Mi Sandwiches

Banh Mi and Meatballs in one sandwich with a sweet and spicy beer glaze!

Servings: 4 Sandwiches

Ingredients

For the pickled shallots:

1/4 cup very hot water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 cup beer (lager, pilsner, pale ale)
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1 large shallot bulb thinly sliced

For the meatballs

1/2 cup Thai sweet chili sauce
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoons fish sauce
1.5 lbs frozen mini meatballs (pork or beef)
1/2 cup beer (lager, pilsner, pale ale)

For the sandwiches

1/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons sriracha
1 large carrot grated with a box grater
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 large jalapeno
4 crusty sandwich rolls

Instructions

1. Add the hot water, sugar and salt to a small bowl, stir until dissolved.
2. Stir in the beer and vinegar, add the shallots. Cover and refrigerate for one hour and up to 3 days.
3. In a small bowl stir together the chili sauce, brown sugar, and fish sauce, set aside.
4. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs, pulling the pan back and forth until starting to sear.
5. Lower heat the medium, pour in the beer. Allow to simmer until most of the beer is gone, stirring occasionally.
6. Pour the sweet chili mixture over the meatballs, raising the heat slightly, adjusting to maintain a low boil.
7. Cook until the sauce has thickened and the meatballs are well coated.
8. In a small bowl stir together the sour cream and sriracha (can be done up to 3 days in advance).
9. Spread the sriracha sour cream inside the rolls, fill with meatballs, carrots, cilantro, pickled shallots and jalapenos.

Pressure Cooker Stout Pho (AKA-The best and easiest way to feed a group)

Pressure Cooker Stout Pho (AKA-The best and easiest way to feed a group)

I have a confession. You won’t be surprised, it’s very typical of who I am. The last THREE times I’ve had people over for dinner, this is what I made. All three times. And then I acted like it was creative and inspired when I really just wanted to eat this again.

Luckily, these three groups of people don’t know each other and won’t be able to compare notes and realize that I’m not as creative as I pretend to be. I also have a large pot of this in my freezer, just in case I need to feed more people at the last minute. Or in case I just want to feed my own face at the last minute.

The thing about this Pressure Cooker Stout Pho, is that it’s the easiest way to get that broth, and we all know that Pho is all about the broth, once you have that handled, the rest is quick. You can even make it in a huge batch, then freeze it for when you know you’ll have to pull this off in less than 30 minutes, it’s completely doable. And you’ll look like a rock star, even if you do it three times in a row.

Just serve it with good beer and no one will say a word.

Yum

Pressure Cooker Stout Pho (AKA-The best and easiest way to feed a group)

Serving Size: serves 6

Ingredients

For the broth:

2 pounds marrow or knuckle beef bones
2 tablespoon olive oil, divided
1 pound oxtails
1 cup stout beer
1 knob of unpeeled ginger, about 4 inches long
1 large yellow onion, peeled and quartered
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoons soy sauce
1 whole star anise
1 cinnamon stick
2 tablespoons coriander seeds
8 cups water
2 teaspoons salt

For serving:

1 pound flank steak
1 teaspoon salt
1 lbs rice noodles 1 lime, cut into wedges
4 Thai peppers, thinly sliced
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
1 bunch fresh Thai basil, chopped
1 bunch fresh mint, chopped
2 cups bean sprouts
Sriracha sauce
Sesame chili oil

Instructions

Add the beef bones to a stock pot, cover with salted water. Bring to a boil for ten minutes, discard the water, rinse the bones, set aside (this is the only way to get rid of the scum that happens when making beef broth).
Turn the Instant pot or Multi-Cooker to sauté (this can also be done in a pan on the stove top), add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Once hot, add the oxtails, cooking until browned on all sides.
While the oxtails cook, char the ginger. Slice the ginger lengthwise into 4 strips, add to a baking sheet along with the quartered onions.
Using a kitchen torch, char ginger and onions on all sides until blackened. You can also add the baking sheet to an oven with a pre-heated broiler, broiling until blackened, turning the ginger and onion pieces to make sure they char on all sides.
Once the oxtails have cooked, add the beer, stirring to deglaze the bottom of the pot.
Add the charred onions and ginger, beef bones, the fish sauce, soy sauce, anise, coriander, cinnamon, water and 2 teaspoons salt.
Add the lid tightly to the pressure cooker. Set the pressure cooker to cook for 60 minutes. Once the cooking has finished, vent to release pressure then remove the lid. Drain, removing the solids and saving the broth (broth freezes well, it can be made in advance and frozen for up to a month).
While the broth cooks, make the steak and noodles.
Dry the steak well on all sides with paper towels. Sprinkle liberally with salt. Allow to sit at room temperature for 30-60 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Add the remaining olive oil to a cast iron skillet or other oven-safe pan over high heat until just before smoking. Add the steak, cooking for 2 minutes on each side. Add pan to the oven, cooking in the oven for 6 minutes. Remove the steak, add to a cutting board, allow to rest for 5 minutes. Slice very thinly, add to a serving plate.
Cook the rice noodles in boiling salted water until al dente, drain and add to a large bowl. Toss with oil to prevent sticking (store noodles separate from the broth to prevent over cooking).
Serve broth along side the steak, herbs, sprouts, limes, peppers and sauces, allowing all guests to build their own bowls.

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Provençal Beer Chicken

Provençal Beer Chicken, five minutes prep and perfect for weeknights or dinner parties!

This is what happens when I get excited without thinking. I’m just finishing up the back-and-forth-editing phase with my publisher for my next book. The vegetarian book I finished writing this summer (you guys, I love it. I can’t wait to show it to you), so as a celebration I made chicken.

Yes, let that sink in. I made CHICKEN to celebrate my “cooking with beer and in-season produce” vegetarian cookbook. I don’t make sense, you guys know that. Like how I decided to make homemade candy the day after Halloween, or when this happened.

But, the thing is, good food is good food. Sometimes that food has meat in it, sometimes it doesn’t. Roast chicken is one of my favorite ways to feed people, no matter the season. And this beer chicken was perfect: 5 minutes prep, and tastes fancy. I hope you like it. Unless you’re vegetarian, in that case, I apologize. But I do have an entire book headed your way, so I hope you forgive me.

Yum

Provençal Beer Chicken

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil
6 cloves garlic, peeled
2 large shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
1/3 cup beer (pale ale or pale lager, I used Odell Colorado Lager)
2 cups grape tomatoes
¼ cup kalamata olives, pitted
2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
2 sprigs of thyme
1 sprig rosemary
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons herbs de Provence
4 chicken leg quarters, bone-in, skin-on
Rice or pasta for serving.

Instructions

Heat the oven to 400°F.
In a baking dish add the olive oil, garlic, shallots, beer, tomatoes, olives and 1 teaspoon salt, stir to combine. Add the sprigs of thyme and rosemary.
Combine the pepper, flour, herbs de Provence in a shallow bowl.
Sprinkle the chicken on all sides with remaining salt. Dredge the chicken in the flour until well coated on all sides.
Add the chicken on top of the tomatoes in a tight, even layer.
Bake, uncovered, until the chicken is cooked through and skin is golden brown, about 45 minutes, basting with pan juices two or three times during cooking.
Serve over rice or pasta.

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Beer Ricotta Raviolo with Egg and Herb Butter Sauce

Beer Ricotta Raviolo with Egg and Herb Butter Sauce, time to get fancy!

Plus a book giveaway!

It’s somewhere North of 3 am and we’re walking the winding back country roads of Big Bear, California. Thin dresses swishing in the cool August air as we try to walk back into town from the wedding Linda and I are in the mountains for.

Giggly and drunk on wine and still love-high from the touching vows we’d witnesses, we realize that we’re only “sort of” lost as we try to navigate the dusty walk back, void of any sidewalks or street lamps. Our ride had left hours before we did, and since this isn’t the sort of place that Uber inhabits, we decide that walking back down the mountain is our only option.

Grateful that one of the grooms insisted we wear flats—the more appropriate footwear choice for a mountain wedding over the heels we both reluctantly left in the hotel—we realize that running may be necessary when the only vehicle we’ve seen so far suddenly takes notice of us.

As the semi-truck pulls to a stop near us the driver climbs out of his cab to make his way towards us, and we bolt. In unison, we run towards town and around the bend in the road. Like a desert oasis, we see the hotel. Sprinting towards the doors, we finally stop to catch our breath once inside. We look at each other and burst out laughing. Not sure if we were in any real danger, or if the wine had turned a guy just checking on a flat tire into a sure-threat, we don’t care. We’re safe, slightly drunk, and happy.

Since that day Linda has steadily become one of the most important people in my life. Helping me in ways she can’t even understand through two of the most difficult points in my adult life. From frantic texts at midnight to long talks over bottles of wine, she’s the sort you always want to find solace in when the storm hits, or celebrate alongside when the moments are perfect. Although meeting her, years before the Big Bear wedding, I was immediately intimidated.

At a food conference in Los Angeles, she seemed to just appear in front of me. Tall, beautiful, wickedly smart, and incomprehensibly talented, she’s the sort you should be intimidated of. With a rapidly growing following and several TV shows and appearances under her belt, she’s the type that can pull of being pretentious and snobby. She could even get away with it, if she wanted. But the thing about her, possibly the most endearing part, is that there isn’t a trace of that in her, not one bit. She has a heart of gold, a passion for social justice, and she connects with damn near everyone. She won’t just remember you, she’ll remember the story you told her three years ago about your mom being in the hospital and she’ll ask you about it. She is just so likable. She’s also charmingly inappropriate, and wildly unpredictable. Which just makes you like her more.

She’s spent the better part of the past two years pouring herself and her immense knowledge of pasta into her new book, Pasta, Pretty Please, and it’s beautiful. If you don’t follow her on Instagram, you’re missing out, it’s the most impressive feed you’ll see.

I’m giving away a signed copy of the books that won’t just teach you how to make pasta, it will make you fall in love with it. You can enter on Instagram. Don’t have an Instagram? Share this post on Facebook (make sure it’s public so that I can see!) and post a link to your Facebook post in the comments below.

Linda has offered to sign the book for you, or Linda has also offered the option for her to sign your boobs, or both if you’re up for it.

Yum

Beer Ricotta Raviolo with Egg and Herb Butter Sauce

Yield: 6 servings

Adapted from Pasta, Pretty Please by Linda Miller Nicholson

Ingredients

For the Green Dough*:

1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 punch flat leaf parsley
2 large eggs
2 ¼ cups “00” pasta flour

For the Red-Orange Dough:

2 large eggs
2 ¼ cups “00” pasta flour
¼ cup tomato paste

For the Ricotta:

3 cups whole milk (do not use Ultra-Pasterized, it won’t work)
1 cup heavy cream
½ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup Saison beer, Plus 2 tablespoons divided
3 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar (you can also use lemon juice, or a combination of the two)

For the Filling:

6 large egg yolks

For the Sauce:

½ cup unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 large leaves sage, minced
Leaves from 1 sprig rosemary, chopped
½ cup chicken or vegetable broth
Salt to taste (the amount of salt you need will be dependent on the broth you use)
¼ cup fresh grated parmesan

Instructions

Make the ricotta:

In a pot over medium high heat (do not use an aluminum pan) add the milk, cream, salt and 1/3 cup beer.
Clip a cooking thermometer onto the side of the pan.
Bring the liquid to 190°F 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 tablespoons 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 cheesecloth; 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 (the longer it drains, the firmer the consistency)
Place in an air-tight container and store in the fridge, can be made up to 3 days in advance.

Make the green dough (skip if you aren't making the decorations):

In a large saucepan over high heat, bring the salt, baking soda and 8 cups water to a boil. Add the parsley and boil it for 15 seconds, remove it and place in a strainer, run under cold water to blanche. Drain and press out the water.
Add the parsley to a blender along with the eggs, blend first on low speed, then increase the speed and green liquid until smooth.
Strain the puree with a fine mesh strainer, reserving the green liquid and discarding the pulp.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the flour and puree. Mix on low speed until a ball of dough forms. Raise the speed to medium and continue to knead for 3 minutes (or by hand for 6-8 minutes) until the dough is smooth and elastic. Cover the ball of dough with plastic wrap and allow to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes (you can also refrigerate the well-wrapped dough for up to three days).

Make the red-orange dough:

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the flour, eggs and tomato paste. Mix on low speed until a ball of dough forms. Raise the speed to medium and continue to knead for 3 minutes (or by hand for 6-8 minutes) until the dough is smooth and elastic. Cover the ball of dough with plastic wrap and allow to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes (you can also refrigerate the well-wrapped dough for up to three days).
*(skip to step 17 if you aren’t making a decoration) Cut the green dough into four equal sized pieces. Roll one piece out several times to make it thin enough to pass through your dough roller (wrap up the remaining pieces so they don’t dry out).
Pass through your dough roller on the widest setting, then again. Close the dough roller one more stop to make it thinner (one away from the widest setting), pass the dough through twice. Fold into thirds, like a letter going into an envelope. Pass through your dough roller again with the folded ends on the sides (this will make the sides of the dough sheet straight rather than jagged).
Continue to pass through the dough roller stopping down to a thinner setting every two passes until you reach halfway between the thinnest and thickest setting.
Using a cookie cutter, cut out 6 of your desired decoration shapes, set aside while you work on the rest of the Raviolo.
Cut the red-orange dough into four equal sized pieces. Roll one piece out several times to make it thin enough to pass through your dough roller (wrap up the remaining pieces so they don’t dry out).
Pass through your dough roller on the widest setting, then again. Close the dough roller one more stop to make it thinner (one away from the widest setting), pass the dough through twice. Fold into thirds, like a letter going into an envelope. Pass through your dough roller again with the folded ends on the sides (this will make the sides of the dough sheet straight rather than jagged).
Continue to pass through the dough roller stopping down to a thinner setting every two passes until you reach two stops away from the thinnest setting.
Repeat for one more piece of red-orange dough.

Make the Raviolo:

Lay the pasta sheets on a flat surface lightly dusted with flour.
If using a decoration, brush the top of one sheet of pasta with water. Brush the bottom side of the green pasta decoration with water. Place the decorations evenly spaced every 6-8 inches on the sheet of dough. Gently roll with a rolling pin to press together and adhere.
Add the ricotta to a piping bag or a Ziplock bag with the corner cut off.
Make circles of ricotta (a ricotta “nest”) on the blank pasta sheet evenly spaced every 6-8 inches. Nests should be about 3 inches across with a well big enough to just nestle an egg yolk into.
Place one unbroken yolk into each nest. Brush the pasta with water around each nest.
Carefully move the sheet of pasta with the green decorations on top of the sheet with the ricotta nests. Line the sheet up so that the green decorations are directly above the egg yolks.
Press firmly to adhere the top sheet of pasta to the bottom, taking care to remove all the air and seal the dough together.
Cut each Raviolo between each nest making 6 individual Raviolo. Allow to dry for about 15 minutes, flip over and allow the bottom to dry for about another 10 minutes.
Prepare a large pot of salted boiling water.
In a large saucepan melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the garlic, sage and rosemary, cook for about 5 minutes.
Stir in the broth, cooking until warmed, salt to taste. Allow the sauce to simmer gently but not boil.
One at a time gently add the Raviolo to the boiling water, boil for 2 minutes. Using a large slotted spoon or a Spider, gently remove and allow all the water to drain off. Add to the sauce, cooking for an additional 3 minutes in the sauce while gently spooning the hot butter on top of the Raviolo.
Add to a plate with a spoonful of sauce, top with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese, serve immediately.

Notes

The green pasta decoration is optional. I used a hop flower cookie cutter, but any cookie cutter will do. Feel free to skip this step, it's mostly asthetic and skipping it will not diminish the overall flavor of the dish.

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Crock-Pot Express Crock Multi-Cooker Pressure Cooked Beer Chicken Jambalaya

Pressure Cooker Beer Chicken Jambalaya

This post was sponsored by the Crock-Pot brand. Partnerships with The Beeroness and outside companies only occur when the company’s products are ones I use and enjoy myself. All ideas and opinions are my  own.

The reason I made this two days in a row is the same reason I love this little machine so much. I had every intention of this being a slow-cooker recipe, and that’s what I did. I slow cooked a jambalaya with all the meat, spices and rice that I wanted to cram into one bowl.

I liked it, I did. It was a super easy and satisfying way to eat a big ‘ol bowl of comfort food. But I couldn’t stop wondering how it would taste pressure cooked, and since the Crock-Pot Express Crock Multi-Cooker can do both, that’s just what I did. It was perfect, even better than the slow cooked version. Since the rice setting was built into the pressure cook mode (one of the hardest things to slow cook and get right is rice), it was simple.

The rice was perfectly cooked, the chicken was fall-apart-tender and the flavor tasted like it had slow cooked all day. THIS is how I’ll make jambalaya going forward, it was much better than I even hoped. I hope you like it as much as I do, this may be a staple in my house from now on.

The new Crock-Pot Express Crock Multi-Cookeris a game changer. It has eight different functions that encompass all the functions you would achieve from using multiple different kitchen appliances from slow cooking to pressure cooking and sautéing to searing. The Crock-Pot Express Crock Multi-Cooker is also available in NEW 4-Quart and 8-Quart Models.

Yum

Crock-Pot Express Crock Multi-Cooker Pressure Cooked Beer Chicken Jambalaya

Yield: 6-8 servings

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 bell peppers, diced
1 sweet white onion, diced
1 rib celery, diced
1 lbs Andouille sausage, sliced
1 lbs chicken thighs, cut into cubes
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
12 ounces beer (pale ale, pilsner, pale lager, or wheat beer)
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoons Cajun seasoning blend
¼ to ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (more for spicier)
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon salt (a full teaspoon if your Cajun spice mix is low or sodium free)
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 ½ cups uncooked long grain white rice
¼ cup chopped parsley for garnish

Instructions

Set the Express Crock to sauté on high. Add the oil, allowing to get hot before adding the bell peppers, onions, and celery. Cook until the vegetables have softened.
Stir in the sausage and chicken, cooking until the chicken has turned white on the outside. Stir in the remaining ingredients (reserving the parsley for garnish).
Add the lid, turning to the locked position. Make sure the steam release value is set to sealed.
Turn the rice/risotto setting to high for 8 minutes. The Express Crock will take about 10 minutes to heat up and build pressure, during this time the display will say “HEAt” (yes, with a lowercase “t”). Once the 8 minutes have finished, turn the steam release valve to open (careful, the steam is hot!). Allow the steam to release before opening the Express Crock.
Ladle into bowls, top with parsley.

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Pale Ale Thai Chicken Noodle Soup

Pale Ale Thai Chicken Noodle Soup, 20-minutes to a deliciously satisfying soup!

We need to brace ourselves. The fall is spilling into winter and you can feel the frost and fire in everyone, online and in person. It makes me retreat, slowly back out the door and avoid other people in order to still like humans in general.

I imagine that we all, just for a moment, agreed on things. A literal moment, 90 seconds or so, all focus on what we can all get behind, even if it’s small. Small things that help us all feel like we get each other: how wrapping our hands around a warm drink on a cold day softens every stress, how squirrels are cute but also little assholes, and how we all dislike Gwyneth Paltrow (but we do, right?).

Maybe it won’t help, but these are the soup-making-days, the days I try to treat collective soul wounds with food. Sure, I know it doesn’t really help. I know I can’t make soup for all of you invisible internet people across the world. But I also know that you probably feel the same, in one way or another. At least this is what I try to believe in order to stay sane in the rapidly dissolving humanity of the world we live in.

Yum

Pale Ale Thai Chicken Noodle Soup

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup white onion, chopped
1 large red bell pepper, julienne
1 small Thai chilies, sliced
½ cup pale ale
1 (13.5 oz) can full fat coconut milk
3 cups chicken broth
3 large chicken thighs, chopped
1 teaspoon fish sauce
3 tablespoon Red curry paste
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
5 large basil leaves, sliced
4 servings rice noodles
Cilantro for garnish

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in large pot or Dutch oven, add the onions, bell pepper and chili. Cook until the vegetables have started to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in the beer.
Add the coconut milk, broth, chicken, fish sauce, salt, garlic powder and curry paste.
Simmer until chicken has cooked through, about 6 minutes.
Stir in the basil and rice noodles, simmer until noodles are cooked, about 5 minutes.
Adjust seasonings to taste (the amount of salt you need is directly dependent on the broth you use).
Ladle into bowls, garnish with cilantro.

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Crock-Pot Express Crock Multi-Cooker Carnitas Sliders with Chipotle Sour Cream

This post was sponsored by Crock-Pot. Partnerships with The Beeroness and outside companies are rare and only occur when the company’s products are ones I use and enjoy myself. All ideas and opinions are my  own.

I’m still sort of in shock. If you’re a long time carnitas lover, you’ll know what I’m talking about. The best part of this delicious slow-cooked meat dish is the lovely caramelization you get on some of the end bits. It’s really not the same without that.

What shocks me is that I was able to get the perfect seared caramelization in a Crock-Pot! If you’d have told me that was possible, I might have fought you, bet you several pitchers of good beer that it wasn’t possible. And now here I am. I’d owe you quite a few beers, and I’d have gladly paid up, these carnitas were the best I’ve made and that sear is perfect! (Yes, it’s SUPER nerdy that I’m THIS excited about it. But I can’t even try to care, I’m so excited!)

The new Crock-Pot Express Crock Multi-Cooker is a game changer. It has eight different functions that encompass all the functions you would achieve from using multiple different kitchen appliances from slow cooking to pressure cooking and sautéing to searing. The Crock-Pot Express Crock Multi-Cooker is also available in NEW 4-Quart and 8-Quart Models.

I was a bit skeptical that the brown/sauté setting would work as well as a stovetop pot. It’s a good thing I didn’t have a bet going, it was perfect. Also, SO much easier. I didn’t have to use anything but the Multi-Cooker. I’m usually someone who digs the traditional Dutch ovens for such endeavors, but these carnitas came out so well, I’ll never go back.

So, if you want to win yourself a couple beers, just bet someone that you can’t make a Crock-Pot sear. Or pressure cook. You’ll never have to buy beer again.

Yum

Crock-PotExpress Crock Carnitas Sliders with Chipotle Sour Cream

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

4.5 lbs pork shoulder, cut into cubes
1 tablespoon salt, plus ½ teaspoon divided
12 ounces stout beer
6 ounces tomato paste
Juice from 1 large lime
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoons chili powder
½ teaspoon cayenne powder
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon chopped chipotle peppers in adobo
24 slider buns
chopped cilantro

Instructions

Sprinkle the pork on all sides with 1 tablespoon salt.
In a small bowl stir together the beer, tomato paste, lime juice, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, cayenne, and smoked paprika.
Add the pork and the sauce to a Crock-Pot Express Crock Multi-Cooker, add the lid (make sure the lid to the Multi-Cooker is locked but the steam value is open to “release” mode). Cook on high for 6 hours, or low for 8 hours.
Remove the inner bowl of the Crock-Pot, pouring off the liquid (leave a small amount, about 2 tablespoons, the amount doesn’t need to be exact), place the bowl back in the Crockpot.
Turn the multi-cooker to the “brown/sauté” setting on high. Shred the pork, in the cooker with two forks while the pot heats up in sauté mode. Press meat firmly down with a wooden spoon into a firm even layer.
Cook for 5-8 minutes, stir and press again into a firm even layer.
Once the remaining liquid is gone and there are pieces of meat that have been nicely caramelized, remove from the pot and add to a serving bowl, toss with the remaining ½ teaspoon salt.
Stir together the sour cream and chipotle peppers.
Add the carnitas to the slider buns, top with sour cream and sprinkle with cilantro.

Notes

*If you plan to make the meat in advance, save about ½ cup of the cooking liquid and add the storage container. It will help to keep the meat moist once you reheat.

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Oven Baked Orange Pepper Beer Chicken

Oven Baked Orange Pepper Beer Chicken, delicious one-pot, super quick and easy meal!

There’s a thing about chicken that always seems to be true no matter how I make it: it’s just as much at home on a white tablecloth in a dimly lit sommelier infested fine dining space as it is on the rickety picnic table of a small backyard gathering.

I like this about chicken, it can go all places. This, in one way or another, is how I try to live my life. I want to be able to feel at home at the opera, or on the farm, or in the inner city. I say I TRY, not that I succeed. I try to be chicken, with its delicious versatility. I try to please everyone from nugget-loving-kids, to batter-dipped-and-fried-devotees to people who confit things.

I don’t, however, think it works all the time. I swear too much, making suburban moms nervous to have me at football parties. When I drink I get loud and start to draw too much attention. And I will probably knock down a toddler to pet a strangers dog. These are not very chicken-like things. Chicken makes people happy, chicken blends in but leaves a good impression. Chicken is a crowd pleaser.

I’m more like beer. You either love me or you don’t. But I do my best to make everyone happy. And maybe there is enough chicken in the world. But a girl can dream.

Yum

Oven Baked Orange Pepper Beer Chicken

Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients

1 tablespoon orange zest (about 1 large orange)
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoons kosher or sea salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 lbs chicken legs
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup (4oz) pale ale (or pilsner, wheat beer)
¼ cup (2oz) orange juice (about ½ one large orange)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a small bowl combine the zest, pepper, salt, garlic powder and cornstarch.
Rub the spice mixture into the legs on all sides.
Heat the olive oil in a large cast iron skillet until hot but not smoking.
Add the chicken, searing on all sides until browned. Pour the orange juice and beer over the chicken.
Transfer pan to the oven, cooking until the chicken is cooked through, about 25 minutes.

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Sweet Potato Stout Shepard’s Pie (Meatless)

Sweet Potato Stout Shepard’s Pie (Meatless). Vegan, full of warm deliciousness, and freezer friendly.

Some days just making it to dinner feels like an accomplishment. After rage-cleaning your house because you spent too much time reading the news. After seriously considering faking an illness to stay in bed. After realizing that the hint of gray that’s peeking through the windows at noon is all the sun you’re gonna get today, and maybe for quite a while longer.

Baking helps, I promise. You get to feel like you did something, made something, provided something. You get to lose yourself in the task of it and force those other rage-inducing thoughts to the back of the shelf for a bit.

You also get to eat, and that’s always a win.

Today I decided to beer-ify a childhood favorite, that just seemed to be appropriate. I decided to make it vegan, because if I have beer, sweet potatoes, and caramelized leeks I don’t need much else. Also, it makes me feel healthy and that makes me less likely to want to stay in bed all day tomorrow.

This also freezes well, so that you can make a double batch and maybe bring it to someone who may need a little warm, beerified comfort. Because we’re all in this together.

Yum

Sweet Potato Stout Shepard’s Pie (Meatless)

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

For the topping:

3 lbs sweet potatoes
¼ cup almond milk (or sour cream of choice)
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon garlic powder

For the filling:

2 tablespoon olive oil
2 large leeks, sliced (white and light green parts only
1 large carrot, diced
1 rib celery, diced
1 lbs (16 oz) sliced mushrooms
2 teaspoons sage leaf, minced
1 teaspoon rosemary, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 tablespoons flour
½ cup stout beer
1 cup corn kernels
1 cup vegetable broth

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425°F.
Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into chunks, add to a large pot of salted boiling water. Cook until fork tender, drain and return to pot.
Add the almond milk, salt, and garlic powder. Mash until well combined.
Heat the olive oil over medium high heat in a large skillet. Add the leeks, carrots and celery, cooking until softened.
Add the mushrooms, cook until darkened and softened.
Stir in the sage, rosemary, salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder. Sprinkle with flour, stir until the flour has been moistened. Pour in the beer, scraping to deglaze the pan.
Stir in the corn and vegetable broth. Simmer until thickened.
Pour into am 8x8 pan. Spread the sweet potatoes over the top of the pan.
Bake until filling is bubbly, about 15 minutes.
Serve warm.

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Lazy Chicken: Dump, Bake, Done

Lazy Chicken: Dump, Bake, Done. Super delicious meal with just 5 minutes active time.

We all need this right now, don’t we? Something easy and uncomplicated to pair with the rest of our messy complicated lives. I’ve been making some version of this for a while, some version of baked-chicken-with-stuff-on-it when the weather shifts and the darkness of the day makes it harder for me to dig creativity out of my brain.

I don’t do much measuring when I’m just making it for my own consumption (for you, I meticulously weight and measure to make sure I give it to you the way it’s intended). Sometimes I just add what I have, sometimes I throw some rice or farro in the bottom and hope it cooks enough to eat.

This one I like. I like the sauce, I like the garlicy pesto, I like the way the broiler browns the cheese just a little bit. I hope you like it too and I hope it makes things just a little less complicated for you this week.

Yum

Lazy Chicken: Dump, Bake, Done

Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients

3 cups (85g) baby spinach, packed
1 lbs chicken thighs
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup (4oz) beer (wheat beer, pale lager, pilsner)
½ cup (4oz) chicken broth
¼ cup(62g) pesto sauce
½ teaspoon black pepper
10 sun dried tomatoes
½ cup (40g) shredded parmesan cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°F.
Add spinach in an even layer to a 9x13 baking dish, add the chicken thighs on top, sprinkling with salt.
Add the beer, broth, pesto, pepper, and sun dried tomatoes to a bowl, stir to combine.
Pour the mixture over the chicken. Sprinkle with cheese.
Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Turn the broiler to high, place under the broiler until the cheese starts to brown, about 4 minutes.
Serve over rice, quinoa, or farro.

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Salmon in Italian Beer Cream Sauce

Salmon in Italian Beer Cream Sauce is a simple, one pot, crazy delicious way to make dinner in under 20 minutes.

It’s fitting, don’t you think? A dish that’s both easy and transitional, an echo of the month in a way. September is the most transitional of all months, far more than January and closely followed by June. It’s changing of the weather, a realization that not only is the year mostly over but we’re nearing the holidays, it’s back to school, back from vacation, back into sweaters.

I wanted to make a dish using those last gasps of summer produce, but nodded at the chill filling the air. Something quick (because we have enough to so this month amiright?), but something you could serve to guests. Or just something that felt special even for an average Tuesday.

So I did this, and I hope you like it. I LOVED it, and I’ll make it again soon. If you make it, let me know. Getting Instagram notifications that you’ve made, loved and posted one of my recipes makes my day. For real.

Yum

Salmon in Italian Beer Cream Sauce

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

1 lbs salmon, cut into fillets
2 teaspoons salt, divided
2 teaspoon pepper, divided
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup (150g) diced onions
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon cornstarch
¾ cup (6oz) brown ale or Belgian ale (look for a malty beer with a low hop profile)
1 cup (240mL) heavy cream
½ cup (55g) fresh grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
1 teaspoon garlic powder
3 cups (70g) baby spinach leaves
1 large tomato, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped

Instructions

Sprinkle 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper on the salmon.
Heat the oil in a pan over medium high heat. Add the salmon, skin side down, cooking until the skin is crispy, about 5 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side until fish is cooked to desired doneness. Remove from pan, set aside.
Melt the butter in the pan, scraping the brown bits from the bottom.
Stir in the onions, cooking until starting to brown, about 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic, cooking for about 30 seconds.
Sprinkle with cornstarch, stir to combine.
Pour in the beer, scraping to deglaze the pan. Allow to simmer until reduced by about half.
Stir in the cream.
A handful at a time, stir in the cheese. Stir until completely melted before adding more cheese.
Stir in the garlic powder and remaining 1 teaspoon salt and pepper.
Stir in the spinach, cooking until wilted. Remove from heat, stir in the tomatoes and basil.
Return the salmon to the pan, serve warm.

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Green Tomato Recipe: Beer Chicken Posole Verde

Green Tomato Recipe: Beer Chicken Posole Verde

It’s really time for me to stop pretending as if my tomatoes will redden before the first frost. Every morning, trudging out my back door in flip flops with a still sleep-fogged brain, I hope to find one or two showing a shade of ripening, and it’s just not happening.

There are tricks, I know. I’ve read about bringing them inside, or wrapping them in newsprint, or boxing them up with (gag) ripe bananas. But I can’t wait. I want to use them now.

I’m impatient like a child sometimes, and the tomatoes are gorgeous even in their grassy hue, and I want to pick them. I wanted to give you a green tomato recipe. So I did. Sure, I thought about fried green tomatoes, but I know you won’t actually make those right now. It’s September, you’re busy, you have so much going on right now, you really don’t want to babysit a slab of battered tomato as it splatters hot oil on your arms. Me either. Not this month.

But soup, soup I’ll make. I think you will too. It’s the perfect month for Posole. All of the garden ingredients that you need for this spicy pot of goodness are still in season, but the weather isn’t nearly as hot as it was a few weeks ago. It still tastes like summer but it feels like fall.

Really, it’s my way to give those green tomatoes a purpose before the fall claims them and I miss out.

Usually, I tell you about the beer I used IN the recipe, this time I’m telling about the I had WITH the recipe. This gorgeous Green Coyote Tomatillo Sour from Odell Brewing was perfect. It uses tomatillos usually seen in Posole Verde, but in a deliciously tart beer that pairs beautifully with a slightly spicy soup.

Yum

Green Tomato Recipe: Beer Chicken Posole Verde

Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients

1 tablespoon (15mL) olive oil
1 cup (155g) diced onions
1 poblano chili, cored, seeded and chopped
2 jalapeños, seeded and quartered
4 large garlic cloves, smashed
1 cup (8oz) pilsner or wheat beer
7 cups (56 oz) chicken broth
1 pound green tomatoes*, quartered
1 lime, juiced
1 (25 oz) cans of hominy, drained
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon salt
4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

Garnishes:

Finely shredded green cabbage
sliced radishes
diced avocado
Mexican crema
tortilla chips
chopped cilantro

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onions and peppers, cooking until softened, about 8 minutes.
Stir in the garlic, cook for about 30 seconds. Pour in the beer, scraping to deglaze the pan. Add about half the broth (it does not need to be exact), tomatoes, lime juice and about half the hominy. Simmer until the tomatoes have softened.
Transfer to a blender, blend until smooth, return to pot.
Add the remaining broth, remaining hominy, the spices and the raw chicken.
Simmer until the chicken has cooked through.
Remove chicken from the pot, shred using two forks, return to pot. Adjust spices to taste.
Serve warm, allowing guest to garnish as they choose.

Notes

*if you don't have green tomatoes: remove the green tomatoes and the lime juice from the recipe, replace with 1 lbs tomatillos, husked and quartered.

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Beer and Bacon Short Rib Tacos

Beer and Bacon Short Rib Tacos. SO good, and really hard to screw up!

I couldn’t decide what this was. I was certain that it was short ribs cooked in bacon fat, that was the most important part. Serving specifics and other semantics could be worked out later.

This rarely happens. Usually, I have a very well thought out, well researched and obsessed over plan prior to cracking open the stock pot. But short ribs are different, they aren’t like your usually cooking adventure.

Short ribs are really hard to screw up. As long as you cook them long, slow and low they always give up a great meal. They aren’t like tenderloins, which can be the assholes of the meat world, drying out and lacking flavor and not living up to its pretentious price tag.

Short ribs also lend themselves well to just about any serving vehicle. Over pasta? Sure! Atop cheesy polenta? Of course! On pizza?! YES, PLEASE! But when my bacon-beer-short-ribs cooking adventure came to an end, and I lifted the top of my Dutch oven, it was clear. These were tacos.

I made these beer corn tortillas, and these pickled red onions, and sat down to decide if I’d made the right call. Where they tacos, or should I have pizza’d them? It turns out, they are tacos. And not just any tacos, completely fabulous and fantastic tacos.

Until the following day when I turned the leftovers into breakfast hash and topped them with an egg.

Yum

Beer and Bacon Short Rib Tacos

Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients

2.5 lbs beef short ribs
2 teaspoons salt
12 oz bacon, chopped
1 cup (about half of one large) chopped white onion
1 tablespoon flour
2 cups (16 oz) Belgian abbey ale beer
1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
6 ounces tomato paste
Tortillas, pickled red onions and cilantro for serving

Instructions

Preheat oven to 300°F.
Remove the bacon from the fridge, sprinkle liberally on all sides with salt.
Allow to sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes while you begin cooking the dish.
Add the bacon to a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook until the bacon becomes crispy.
Remove bacon with a slotted spoon, add to a plate covered with paper towels.
Pour off most of the bacon grease leaving only about 2 tablespoons still in the pot.
Return to heat, add the onions. Cook over medium high heat until starting to brown, about 8 minutes. Remove the onions with a slotted spoon, add to the pile of bacon.
Sprinkle the ribs on all sides with flour, rub to coat.
Increase the heat to high, add the ribs, searing until browned on all sides.
Pour off most of the fat that has accumulated.
Pour in the beer, scraping to deglaze the pan. Stir in the tomato past and the herbs.
Add the onions and the bacon back into the pot.
Cover and add to the oven, cook until the ribs fall off the bone and the meat is fork tender, 3 to 4 hours.
Remove the ribs, shred using too forks. Discard the bones and any large pieces of fat.
Return the meat to the pot, stir into the sauce (this helps the meat to be more flavorful and juicy).
Scoop the meat into a serving dish.
Serve with tortillas, onions and cilantro.

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Super Juicy Grilled Pork Tenderloin (only 4 ingredients!)

Super Juicy Grilled Pork Tenderloin (only 4 ingredients!)

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Hoisin Glazed and Beer Brine. Just 4 ingredients to a perfectly juicy pork tenderloin!

This is for you. All of you who’ve ever avoided pork tenderloin because it’d dry. I feel you, I was you. In the wrong hands and with too much heat, these long and lean cuts of meat can do you wrong.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Getting a tender, juicy, flavorful hunk of pork comes down to this: get it drunk. Not you, the meat. Or both, it’s your life.

Any lean white meat (I’m looking at you, chicken breasts) needs a good long soak in salt and beer. It’ll tenderize and falvorize (that’s totally a word, I swear) your meat in a way that cooking it right out of the package never can.

Don’t be shy with the brine, let that sucker sit in there for days! As soon as you get it home from the market, put it away in a salty soak and it’ll be ready when you are. poultry really only has about 24 hours in a brine before it starts to get mushy and mealy, but pork is tougher and can stay in a brine for days without issue.

Hoisin is the perfect glaze. It’s got the rich umami flavor as well as a great sweetness that caramelizes well on the grill. Not a hoisin fan? Feel free to glaze with your fav. Barbeque sauce works well, want to try it with this Stout Beer Barbecue sauce? You should. Let me know how it goes, tag me on Instagram, (it totally makes my day).

Yum

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Hoisin Glazed and Beer Brine

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

2 lbs pork tenderloin
2 tablespoons kosher salt
12 ounces pale ale, pilsner or wheat beer
¾ cup hoisin sauce

Instructions

Sprinkle the pork on all sides with salt. Add to a shallow dish or a large Ziploc bag. Pour the beer over the pork. Remove as much air as possible before sealing the bag (or cover dish with plastic wrap).
Brine for 24 hours and up to 3 days.
Remove from the brine, rinse well, pat dry.
Heat the grill to 500°F.
Brush the pork on all sides with hoisin, add to the grill. Grill on all sides until the internal temperature reads 145°F.
Remove from grill, allow to rest for 5 minutes. Slice and serve.

Notes

Don't over cook! The FDA recently lowered it's reccomended cooking temp for pork from 165°F to 145° probably because they were sick of their moms dry, overcooked ham. You stil want a slight hint of pink in the center, not pure white and fiberous.

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Skillet Sour Cream Beer Chicken

Skillet Sour Cream Beer Chicken

I travel a lot, you know this. Last minute trips to South America, a rapid-fire two-day trip to Copenhagen, sometimes just a long road trip to clear my head.

I don’t travel the way normal people travel. To be honest, I rarely do anything in a conventional way, it’s something you just have to get used to. While I’m not a creature of habit, I do like to search for the same souvenir every time I travel. Two, in fact.

It started when I began seeking out the little markets locals shopped at, usually dingy and unappealing, always far from tourist-heavy streets, and once even in a total city-wide blackout in a sketchy part of Costa Rica.

I wandered the aisle in the little store in Dominical, Costa Rica lit only by the afternoon sun streaming in from the open doors in the front of the bodega, only accompanied by a few older women picking up last minute supplies for dinner. The beige aluminum shelves boasting as much dust as dry goods and the summer heat heavy on my skin, making wandering the store a conscious effort. I found what I was looking for.

A small glass jar with what appeared to be a home-printed label with a scripty font that read, “Miel.” Honey. That’s what I wanted. It’s a part of the land, the honey and it’s hard working bees allowing me to check in my luggage 6 ounces of the terrior to take home.

Ever since that trip, I seek it out, a small jar of the land to take home with me. Salt is the same. If it’s possible to find salt harvested from a local ocean, that comes home with me as well. So far, I have honey or salt from 15 countries.

I use it. On toast, in recipes, making bread. I don’t store it on a shelf to crystallize and be forgotten. It gets used, enjoyed, shared. It’s a way to keep the places that I’ve been a part of my life when I’m off the road. A way to remind myself that it’s OK to use, because my next adventure awaits.

Maybe even as I type this some little bugs are making my next souvenir for a trip I haven’t even planned yet.

The honey I use in this recipe was from my recent trip to Brazil, a place I fell in love with and a country I will most definitely visit again.

Yum

Skillet Sour Cream Beer Chicken

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

1 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon (15mL) olive oil
1 teaspoon minced basil
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon (15g) Dijon mustard
1 cup (240g) sour cream
2 tablespoons (30g) lemon juice (about ½ medium sized lemon)
2 teaspoon (12g) honey
1 teaspoon garlic powder
¼ cup (2oz) pale ale
Rice or pasta for serving

Instructions

Sprinkle the chicken thighs liberally with salt and pepper on all sides
Heat the olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add the chicken, sear on both sides until browned.
In a bowl stir together the basil, rosemary, mustard, sour cream, lemon juice, honey, and garlic powder, set aside.
Pour the beer into the skillet, scraping to deglaze the bottom of the pan.
Pour the sour cream mixture over the chicken, cover skillet and lower heat to maintain a simmer. Simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
Serve with rice or pasta.

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Chinese Stout BBQ Pork Recipe (Char Siu)

Chinese Stout BBQ Pork Recipe (Char Siu)

I really think the reason Chinese BBQ Pork is so appealing is because it’s shiny. This probably makes us all giant infants on some primitive level, but it’s true. It’s hard to resist something that catches the light the way this does. It’s like a gemstone.

A slow cooked, juicy, flavorful, deep red meaty gemstone. This isn’t anything like the grocery store dish, that one tightly wrapped in clear plastic, red ringed and dry. Overly sweet but without much flavor beyond that. This version is sticky, shiny, juicy and full of flavor.

Maybe it’s the beer that gives it this extra boost, maybe it’s the long marinade time or even the pickling salt. Most likely, it’s the magical combination of all those elements.

Although it does take some time, the active time is really low. It’s the perfect way to end a lazy weekend.

Yum

Chinese Stout BBQ Pork Recipe (Char Siu)

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

2 lbs pork shoulder roast
1 teaspoon (6g) pickling salt
¼ cup (80g) hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons (24g) brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon (15g) cooking sherry
¼ cup (2oz) stout beer
2 tablespoons (30g) soy sauce
1 teaspoon (2g) Chinese 5 spice powder
2 large cloves garlic, grated with microplane

Instructions

Cut the pork roast into strips that are the length of the roast and about 2 inches wide, sprinkle with pickling salt, put into a large Ziplock bag.
In a small bowl stir together the remain ingredients, pour over the pork. Seal the bag removing as much air as possible.
Marinate for 24 to 48 hours.
Preheat the oven to 275°F.
Remove the pork from the marinade, add the marinade to a pot over medium heat, boil until thickened.
Add the pork to a wire rack over a baking sheet. Brush with the thickened marinade.
Cook, turning and basting ever 45 minutes, until tender, 3-4 hours.
Although the pork is ready to eat now, I finished this on a preheated grill. To do so, preheat a grill to about 500°F. Add the pork, cook on each side until slightly charred, about 3 mintues perside.
Slice and serve.

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Squash Blossoms Garden Pizza with Beer Pickled Cherries and Beer Crust

Squash Blossoms Recipe: Garden Pizza with Beer Pickled Cherries and Beer Crust

I just hit send. Out into the ether to the inbox of my publisher. I just sent off the completed manuscript for my 3rd cookbook along with 96 photos.

I started a year, and what feels like a lifetime of experiences ago. When I wrote this to you last year, I was just starting off, just dipping my feet into the pool of the third installment of my cookbook trilogy.

This one, the one I just dispatched to the publishing house, is by far my favorite.

Leaving it behind, walking into a life that isn’t center around conceptualizing and creating recipes that I won’t get to share with you until next year, is bittersweet. I love this project, I love what I did and I can’t wait to see it materialize in my hands as a physical manifestation of a year’s worth of work.

Until then, I have some pizza for you. When I moved into this house a few months ago the garden gave me a volunteer squash plant. A small sprout that would grow nearly exponentially every day, a plant that I just discovered wasn’t the zucchini plant I’d imagine it to be (thank god, I hate zucchini), but a pumpkin vine that snakes around the yard.

Sure, It’ll give me harvestable pumpkins soon, but it’s already giving me squash blossoms, which are far superior. Even if that’s the only thing I harvest from it to indulge in as many squash blossom recipes as I can make, it’s well worth the effort to care for it.

I also planted peas, not just for the traditional reasons but because pea shoots are delicious. If you grow peas and just harvest, well, peas, then you’re missing easily half the reason to plant them in the first place. The vines and leaves are not only edible but have a gorgeous herbal, floral, mildly sweet but peppery flavor that’s perfect on everything from pizza to salad.

That reminds me, I should pesto those. Yes, I used “pesto” as a verb and you can’t stop me!

Yum

Squash Blossoms Garden Pizza with Beer Pickled Cherries and Beer Crust

Ingredients

For the cherries:

½ cup (3 oz) Bing cherries, pitted and cut into quarters
½ cup (4 oz) white vinegar
½ cup (4oz)pale ale
1 tablespoon (15g) sugar
1 tablespoon (18g) salt

For the crust:

2 ½ cups (300g) bread flour
2 ¼ teaspoons (1 envelope) rapid rise yeast
½ teaspoon (1.5g) garlic powder
1 teaspoon (5g) granulated sugar
¾ cup (6oz) wheat beer
½ teaspoon (3g) kosher salt
¼ cup (60g) olive oil

For the toppings:

¼ cup pizza sauce
4 oz buratta cheese (or mozzarella ball, sliced)
6-8 squash blossoms, cut in half
3-4 pea shoots (chopped if desired)
3 leaves of basil, ribboned

Instructions

Add the cherries to a storage container. Add the remaining cherry ingredients to a saucepan over medium high heat, stir to combine. Bring to a boil, remove from heat. Pour the pickling liquid over the cherries. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, add the flour, yeast, garlic powder and sugar.
Mix until combined. Heat the beer until the temperature reaches between 120°F and 125°F (double check your yeast package to confirm this is the temperature your yeast needs. Default to the temperature listed on the package).
Add the beer to the stand mixer and mix on medium speed. Once most of the flour has been moistened, slowly add the salt and oil while the mixer is still running. 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.
Add a pizza stone to the grill, heat the grill to 500°F.
Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to about 10-inches in diameter, add to a pizza peel covered with semolina flour or corn meal. Cover with pizza sauce, cheese, squash blossoms and cherries. Carefully transfer to the pizza stone. Shut the lid and allow to cook until the top of the crust is bubbly and starting to brown, about 6-8 minutes.
Remove from the grill, transfer to a serving platter, top with pea shoots and basil. Slice and serve.

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