Like I didn’t put beer in your soup again. Like I didn’t just take this soup that I love so much, change up a few ingredients and pretend like it’s an entirely new guy. Let’s pretend like I’m more creative than that. Shall we?
Even though this is a closely related cousin of Stout French Onion, the flavors are completely different. Plus I gave you some melty cheddar, and some fresh thyme. Does that help you forget my momentary lack of creativity?
Add the onions and sauté until starting to caramelize, about 10 minutes (make sure the heat isn’t too high or the onions will burn).
Add the olive oil and mushrooms and cook until dark and soft, about 10 additional minutes.
Add the broth, stout, black pepper, and thyme, simmer for ten minutes.
Preheat the broiler.
Ladle the soup into 4 oven safe bowls.
Top with bread, then cheese.
Place under the broiler until cheese has melted.
Notes
young cheddar melts better than aged cheddar, don't be afraid to save the expensive stuff for something else and use the younger, cheaper cheese for this soup.
A lot of high calorie food and beer that can leave me feeling like I want to take a nap in some kale. I tend to pendulum swing between wanting really bad for me food and really good for me food but I want it all to taste good.
So I’ve developed a fixation with produce. And how to manipulate it into tasting like that other side of the coin that leads me down a path far away from my skinny jeans.
So here you have my version of a pasta dish, made up mostly of vegetables, and a hefty serving weighs in at only 125 calories.
In fact, if you ate the entire batch it would only be 500 calories.
And you would be very full.
Spaghetti Squash Alfredo: 125 Calories
Ingredients
1 large spaghetti squash
1 head cauliflower (1.5 lbs), chopped
½ cup skim milk (2% and whole milk work too)
½ cup chicken broth
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp onion power
pinch cayenne
1 tbs lemon juice
2 tbs Greek yogurt
¼ cup parmesan
1 large tomato, chopped
¼ cup parsley, chopped
Instructions
Cut the spaghetti squash in half, scoop out and discard the seeds and strings in the middle of the squash.
Place, cut side down, on a baking sheet that has been lined with aluminum foil.
Roast at 375 for 30-40 minutes or until a fork easily slides into the skin.
Remove from oven, allow to cool enough to handle. Using a fork, gently scrape and lift the spaghetti like strands of the squash, transfer to four serving plates.
While the squash is cooking, make the sauce.
Cook the cauliflower in lightly salted boiling water until fork tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and transfer to a blender. Add the milk, broth, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, lemon juice and Greek yogurt. blend until smooth. Return the mixture to the pot over medium heat. Stir in the cheese, cook until warmed. Thin with additional broth if desired. Salt and pepper to taste.
Pour sauce over squash, top with chopped tomatoes and parsley.
French Onion Soup was Julia Child’s last meal. Seems fitting for a woman known for French classics. And who wants to mess with a classic dish that America’s Culinary Grandma chose as her last meal?
Me. That’s who.
Although I do like to stick to classic methods when it comes to cooking this warm bowl of cheese-topped-comfort, the addition of a malty stout gives a new dimension and depth of flavor. While most French Onion Soup recipes all have nearly the same ingredients, the results vary widely depending on how you treat the onions, the star ingredient.
Stick with sweet onions when making this dish, the higher sugar content gives you a better caramelization. Cook them for a long time. Then cook them longer.
Caramelized onions will actually give off a "beefy" flavor when cooked slow and low for an extended period of time. This is one of the major key factors in bringing a soup from "good" to "great".
Although I’m sure Julia would have wanted to throw a copy of The Way To Cook at my head for putting beer in her soup, I’ll just have to make peace with that. I love a beerified soup.
8ouncesshredded or sliced Gruyère cheeseabout 2 1/2 cups
Instructions
In a large pot over medium high heat melt the butter. Add the onions, brown sugar and salt, allow to simmer over low to medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onions are a dark golden brown, at least 30 minutes and up to one hour (the longer onions cook the more flavor develops).
Add ½ cup stout beer, simmer until the beer is reduced and the pan is almost dry.
Add the remaining beer, beef stock and black pepper. Simmer for ten minutes.
Pre heat the broiler on your oven.
Ladle soup into bowls, top with slices of French bread toast and then cheese.
Slow Cooker Beer and Brown Sugar Pulled Chicken Sliders. Perfect for a football game!
For all of the FanBoy love that seems to be sent to the Slow Cooker, it’s my least favorite way to produce a meal. Flavors tend to muddy, its hard to develop layers of flavor, and this culinary contraption seems to render a thinking cook obsolete: dump it in and turn it on.
Meat seems to be the best use, especially when you introduce beer into the mix. Both a low and slow cooking method and the alcohol in beer are meat tenderizers giving you a great final product.
I can concede that it’s convenient for those of you who don’t prefer to spend all day in the kitchen babying a sauce or teasing a sourdough starter back to life, I tend to favor the high maintenance meals.
Given my skepticism of a Slow Cooker meal, I was thrilled with how this came out. I made it twice, once with a stout with about 4% ABV (Alcohol By Volume, it should be listed on the label of your beer) and the second time with a porter with 9% ABV.
Because it’s the alcohol in the beer that gives it it’s tenderizing power, the higher ABV did the best job. Look for a beer that packs a punch, and you’ll have a fantastic crowd-pleasing meal that takes only about five minutes of active time.
In a small bowl whisk together the tomato paste, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, smoked paprika, garlic powder and brown sugar.
Add the sauce, chicken and beer to a slow cooker. Cook on low for 4 hours or until chicken pulls apart easy with a fork.
I’ve been asked a lot of questions about why I’ve tried so feverishly to squeeze myself into this world. After all, there are a lot of ingredients that make great culinary obsessions. So, why beer?
To explain that, we’ll have to talk about collaboration. Craft beer is the only major market that does this regularly, with breweries constantly teaming up to co-create a beer. Nike and Adidas will never team up for a collaboration shoe. Nor has Ford and Chevy ever co-produced a truck. Wineries don’t do it, or bike makers, or creameries. Brewers do. All the time.
Beer people, big and small, are wide-eyed, unabashed, gushy, groupie style fans of one another. Unafraid to share that mutual adoration. This leads not just to collaborations but deep and meaningful relationships that can be felt widely across the entire industry. It’s common to see the one brewery owner helping another, lending a hand. It isn’t rare for a one head brewery to call another and say, "I’m short a few bags of malt, can I borrow some from you?" and a truck of grains to be immediately sent over. It’s common for a breweries pubs to pour beer besides their own, unheard of any other liquor industry. It’s a community that favors connections over competition. Beer people have a rising tide lifts all ships mentality, the rivalries friendly, pats on the back and cheering each other’s successes. It’s unlike any other industry. And sure the beer is great, but the people are even better.
That’s why beer.
Potato, Porter Caramelized Onions & Beer Goat Cheese Tart
Slice the onion into 1/8 inch rings. In a pot over medium heat add the butter and olive oil. Add the onions and cook until the onions start to soften, about 5 minutes (do not cook the onions at too high heat or they will burn). Add the porter and cook until the beer has evaporated and the onions are a dark golden color, about 15 minutes.
In a small food processor add the goat cheese, cornstarch and IPA, blend until smooth.
In a cast iron skillet melt the butter, add the potatoes, sprinkle with salt and pepper, cook until the potatoes have browned.
Preheat oven to 350.
Roll the pastry crust out to a 10 inch circle, transfer to a baking sheet that has been covered with a Silpat or parchment paper.
Spread the beer goat cheese evenly across the tart, avoiding the outer 1 inch edge.
Top the cheese with caramelized onions then with the potatoes.
Fold the outer edge up over the filling of the tart.
Bake at 350 until the crust has turned golden brown, about 20 minutes.
I’ve spent the past few weeks making my way up the West Coast, traveling from brewery to brewery, enjoying the company of Craft Beer’s finest. A journey much less about scribbling my name inside a few hundred books with a black Sharpie marker than it’s been about connecting to this community I’ve fallen in love with. This world I feel so grateful to be a part of is glad to count me as one of it’s own, and I’m incredibly honored that’s the case.
This gypsy soul that I own doesn’t want the travel to end, but being able to get back in the kitchen is consoling. I didn’t miss my bed, but I missed my knives. I didn’t care about living out of a suitcase, but living without my pans was hard. I didn’t want the shoes I left behind, but I did want my spice cabinet. Other than the open road headed North, there isn’t many placed I’d rather spend a day than in a familiar kitchen.
This is a meal that doesn’t require the full day that I’d like to spend in the kitchen, it can even be accomplished after work. But with warm flavors of beer, garlic and mushrooms it has a Sunday Supper feeling.
Food is the one common thread we all share. Since the dawn of time, food, and the pleasure we find in it, has been comprehensively universal. The community and connection found over broken bread doesn’t need explanation. Maybe that’s why beer and food find a seamless union, beer is a communal beverage. Beer begs to be shared, enjoyed, talked about, in a very similar that food does. You can feel it in the community that craft beer has created. It isn’t about competition, it’s about collaboration. It favors quality over quantity and people over profit. It’s why I wanted to be a part of this world.
As my offering to the world of craft beer and her people, I wrote a cookbook, The Craft Beer Cookbook (affiliate link),. As a fantastic byproduct of said book writing, I’m going on tour. In a few weeks I’ll embark on a West Coast Brewery Hopping Book Tour, to sign books, meet people and, of course, drink some beer. If you’re on the West Coast, come out and see me, we can trade beer cooking war stories.
I’ll be stopping at Ninkasi in Eugene Oregon, a sexy, hip kid when it comes to breweries in the Pacific Northwest. With equal parts Consistent Old Soul and Youthful Daringness, these are beers to seek out. I was able to get my hands on a bottle of Believer Double Red Ale, a beer with a great balance of low malty notes and the higher, bright citrus notes. It’s creamy and smooth, but still kicks you some hops, it’s a great beer. I used it to beerify (that’s a word, I swear) some mushrooms, and added some creamy cheese to balance it out on a flakey crust. It’s a beer flavored tart that can, and should, be shared. Over beer.
Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium high heat. Add the mushrooms and onion, cook until the mushrooms darken and onions start to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the beer, reduce heat and allow to simmer until the beer is almost completely evaporated.
Preheat oven to 400.
Roll out puff pastry on a lightly floured surface, transfer to a baking sheet. Brush the entire pastry with melted butter.
Sprinkle the cheese evenly across the tart, avoiding the outer 1-inch edge.
Spoon the mushrooms and onions over the cheese.
Sprinkle with coarse salt, and thyme.
Bake at 400 until a light golden brown, about 10-12 minutes.
SweeTango apples seemed to come out of nowhere, at least to me. As someone who grew up mere feet from two different apple orchards in Easter Washington, it seemed like these fantastic little gems of produce brilliance appeared as if by magic as a brand new species of one of my favorite fruits. In the old school fashion of cross pollination (nothing new, plants have been doing this without human intervention since the dawn of time) the SweeTango is a cross between the fantastic Honey Crisp and a Zestar. The flavor is beautiful, but it’s the sharp snap crisp when you bite into one that’s unlike anything else out there. As much as I love the apples in this soup, it’s eating them raw that’s really the way to go.
I was introduced to the SweetTango at a press event at my favorite Los Angeles Resturant, Animal. A table at this sought after joint, and a meal cooked up by the celebrity chef-owner team of Vinny Dotolo and Jon Shook may take you months to secure and is on every LA based foodies Must Do list. I was thrilled to spend an afternoon among a small group of other writers, eating the dishes cooked up by Jon and Vinny themselves, all featuring SweeTango apples. Other than the chance to chat it up with on of my favorite local chefs, this soup was the highlight. Jon and Vinny even sent us home with the recipe. And even let me share it.
You could win an all expense paid trip to Los Angeles as well as an unforgettable dinner at Animal, one of LA’s best restaurants. Enter here.
Sweet Potato And SweeTango Apple Soup
Ingredients
1/4 lb Butter
1 cup Yellow onion, diced
1 cup SweeTango apple, peeled, cored, diced
1 cup Butternut squash, peeled, seeded, diced
1 cup Sweet potato, peeled, diced
2 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup Heavy cream
1/4 cup Maple syrup
Salt and espelette pepper to taste
Instructions
In a 1 gallon pot, melt butter. Add vegetables cook until onions are translucent. Add stock, and cook for 20-30 min, or until vegetables are soft. Puree in blender, strain, and add cream and maple syrup. Season to taste, serve, and enjoy!
Although it seems like most of America sees Oktoberfest as The Festival of Barely Contained Breasts And Bad Beer In October, it really isn’t meant to be any of those things. Oktoberfest began more than 200 years ago as a wedding celebration, it’s morphed into a celebration of local food and drink.
In Germany, they take that local notion seriously. Only beer brewed within the Munich city limits is allowed to be served at the festivities, and last year nearly 7 million liters were served up. Which may explain why 37 kids were reported missing, as well as a live rabbit, during last years event (all children and furry creatures were found safe and sound).
The authentic Oktoberfest festivities take place in Munich Germany, starting around mid-September and ending the first Sunday in October, making this year’s event well underway. To celebrate in my own house, far, far from the Bavarian epicenter of the German Beer Lovers Fest, I made a hearty pasta, full of beer brats and brown ale.
The bratwurst began as a peasants dish, using all the scraps left over once the more expensive cuts were taken, which makes it a perfect addition to carbonara pasta, which has its own humble beginnings on a peasants table in Europe.
To sum it up, my friends, celebrate in an authentic fashion: strap on some lederhosen, drink local beer, cook some sausages in beer, but just don’t forget where you put your kids or woodland creatures.
In a large pot over medium high heat, cook the gaunciale (or bacon). Remove from pan, chop. Pour off about half the pork fat, leaving about 2 tbs still in the pan. Add 1 tbs olive oil and onions, cook over medium heat until the onions start to caramelize, about 8-10 minutes. Remove onions from pan, set aside.
Increase heat to medium high, add the bratwurst, cooking until browned on both sides. Add the beer and reduce heat to medium low, simmering until the bratwurst are cooked through, 10-12 minutes. Slice into rings.
While the bratwurst are cooking, cook the spaghetti in lightly salted boiling water until al dente, drain and return to pot.
Add sliced brats, chopped gauncaile (or bacon), caramelized onions, tomatoes, cheese, salt, pepper and remaining 2 tbs olive oil to the spaghetti, toss to combine.
One at a time poach the eggs in simmering water until the whites have set but the yolks are still runny.
Divide the pasta between 4 bowls, top with poached eggs. Serve immediately.
If you want to watch a culinary sports crowd get rilled up, ask what the "right way to make chili" really is. Just meat? Beans? No beans? Pork, vegetables, beef? Tomatoes? Because if you do it "wrong" you might was well be at Morton’s and ask for ketchup with your steak. Or waltz yourself in the kitchen of a southern Grandma and boss her biscuit making ways around: you might get yourself punched.
Regardless of your "right" way to make chili, I hope your take away from this recipe is that the braising liquid, what is left after a pork shoulder simmers in beer for 4 hours, is the perfect liquid to use in chili. It’s packed with flavor, beer, broth, spices, and meaty goodness. Don’t wash it down the drain, strain it and save it for making soup and chili. Even freezing it if you have to.
It’s like a free secret ingredient, even if you still have to fight with your brother in law about why you want to add beans.
114.5 ounce can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
114.5 ounce can stewed tomatoes
3-4chipotle peppers in adobominced
2tspadobo sauce from chipotle can
Garnish:
1cupsharp cheddarshredded
½cupcilantrochopped
½cupred onionchopped
1large tomatochopped
Instructions
In a small bowl stir together the brown sugar, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and cayenne pepper.
Sprinkle pork on all sides with spice mixture.
Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven until hot but not smoking. Sear pork on all sides until browned.
Pour the beer and beef stock over the pork.. Reduce heat to a low simmer. Add a lid at a vent and allow to cook until pork is very tender and shreds easily, about 4 hours. Remove from the pot, shred using two forks, return to the pot and allow to simmer for 5-10 minutes. Remove meat from the pot with a slotted spoon to drain off excess moisture (reserve braising liquid).
In a separate pot heat 2 tbs olive oil, cook the onions and red pepper until soft, about 4 minutes. Stir in the garlic. Add 1 ½ cups of the pork braising liquid, black beans, kidney beans, tomatoes, chipotle pepper and adobo sauce. Simmer for 20 minutes.
Serve topped with cheddar, cilantro, red onion, tomatoes and pulled pork.
California Quinoa Bowl is healthy, naturally gluten free, dairy free, and complete delicious in just 15 minutes.
There are a few things we like here in California when it comes to naming dishes after our state. First, it should be healthy, we like to at least pretend that we lean towards the health conscious way of life. Second, the inclusion of avocados is almost a necessity (you can leave off those sprouts, by the way) we are quite proud of those gorgeous avocados around here. Lastly, at least three different types of produce is a must, HALF of all the fruits and vegetables that are grown in the United States are grown in California (don’t look so surprised, we are more than just palm trees and reality shows).
As a girl who was born in California and spent most of her life here, I tend to eat this way quite a bit (when not making an egregiously Non-california type dishes such as the Beer Doughnuts). I love quinoa (I always cook it this way as not to render it mushy) I load my plate with produce, and I always use chicken thighs, so much better than those chicken breasts people seem to be so fond of. But then again, maybe it’s living in LA too long I just might be sick breasts all together.
California Quinoa Bowl
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
4 boneless skinless chicken thigh fillets
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp onion powder
1 tbs olive oil
2 cups cooked quinoa
1 red pepper, roasted and sliced
1 English cucumber, peeled and diced (or 2 persian cucumbers not peeled but diced)
4 Roma tomatoes, diced
1 cup hummus (I used a spicy hummus)
1 avocado, sliced
Instructions
Sprinkle the chicken thighs on all sides with salt, pepper and onion powder.
Heat olive oil in a cast iron skillet until hot but not smoking.
Cook chicken on both sides until browned and chicken is cooked through, about 3-5 minutes per side. Remove from pan, allow to cool sligthly and slice.
Evenly distribute the quinoa between 4 bowls, top with sliced chicken, red pepper, cucumber, tomatoes and chicken.
Top each bowl with 1/4 cup hummus and a few slices of avocado.
If I have a guilty-pleasure-trash-food-first-love-can’t-believe-I’m-admitting-this food, it’s tater tots. I own a deep fryer that has produced more tater tots than all other foods combined. I even created a Tater Tot Cone Holder for use at parties for my Tater Tot Bar with Accompanying Sauces.
We all have Ore-ida, the inventor of tater tots, to thank for the best of all bad foods. And although they make a fabulous version (it is the original after all) I tend to favor the Trader Tots from Trader Joe’s. Either way, turning them into The Best Veggie Patty Of All Times is a great idea. No meat eater on the planet will complain about this meatless burger.
Tater Tot Burger with Sriracha Sour Cream
Yield: 4 burgers
Ingredients
2 cups tater tots (thawed if frozen)
2 eggs
1 tsp onion powder
¼ cup Italian style breadcrumbs
2 tbs olive oil
sliced cheddar cheese
4 hamburger buns
1 cup sour cream
2 tsp sriracha
Instructions
In a large bowl add the tater tots, eggs, onion powder, and breadcrumbs. Using a potato masher, mash and stir until well combined.
Form into 4 well compacted patties.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
Gently place the patties in the skillet, allowing to brown before gently flipping.
Add the cheddar cheese and cook until melted.
Transfer to buns.
Mix together the sour cream and sriracha.
Top burgers with sriracha sour cream prior to serving.
Sriracha Sour Cream adapted from The Sriracha Cookbook. Buy it. Right now. For real.
My grill could replace my oven at this point. I love the smokey char, the quick cooking time, and the way that food just tastes transformed. This is a really quick and easy recipe that’s perfect for weeknights, but fit for weekend parties.
I would absolutely recommend chicken thighs for this. The flavor is so much bigger and the high heat of the grill is really drying on chicken breasts. If you’ve never cooked with chicken thighs, give them a try, I really think it’ll be your new go-to cut of chicken. Most stores sell boneless, skinless, chicken thigh filets, making it a really easy cut to use. I switched over about two years ago and haven’t even thought about going back, the flavor is just so much better, plus they are often much cheaper than chicken breasts. More flavor, less money, that’s just a big win all the way around.
Bacon Wrapped Chicken Skewers
Prep Time: 8 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Ingredients
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tsp smoked paprika
4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
8 slices bacon
Instructions
Whisk together the honey, vinegar and smoked paprika in a pot over medium high heat. Allow to simmer until thickened, about 8 minutes.
Preheat the grill to medium high.
Cut each slice of bacon into thirds.
Cut chicken thighs into cubes.
One at a time place a chicken cube onto a small slice of bacon. Wrap the bacon around the chicken cube and skewer onto a grill skewer.
Brush all sides of the chicken with honey glaze.
Place on a hot grill. Turn every two minutes, re-brushing with glaze, until cooked through about 8 minutes.
Notes
If using wooden skewers, place them on a rimmed baking sheet, cover with water, place a heavy plate on top to submerge for 30 minutes.
Grilled pizza is my favorite way to make homemade pizza right now. On the rare occasion that I think about it a day ahead of time, I like to make this pizza dough, but if I’ve only got an hour, I use this one hour pizza dough recipe. The grill gives the dough a nice lightness with just a bit of crunch from the high heat. There are a few things to keep in mind when grillin' up a pizza, but overall, it’s really quick and simple.
To start, make sure you have all of your topping ingredients, sauce and shredded cheese ready to go and next to the grill before you throw the dough on. The process can move a bit fast and you don’t want to be running back and forth to the kitchen to grab what you forgot.
Preheat the grill to medium high.
Roll out your dough on a floured surface.
You’ll have to move the dough to something that you can carry to the grill. The best option is a pizza peel, if you have one, they are a great tool when grilling pizza.
If you don’t have one, a large cutting board will work well.
Next, brush the dough on one side with olive oil.
Transfer the dough to a hot grill, oiled side down (you can also try sliding it onto the grill without oiling it, but there is a chance it will stick). If you’re using a pizza peel, you can flip it like a pancake onto the grill (it’s what I do) or have someone help you transfer it. That’s the hardest part, once you get that down, it’s pretty simple.
Next, brush the top side with olive oil.
Once the underside of the dough has started to form grill marks (about 3 to 5 minutes), flip the dough. The dough will have stiffened by now, making flipping the dough pretty easy. Use the peel if you have it, or a large grill spatula.
Immediately top with your chosen toppings.
Close the lid and allow to cook until the dough is cooked through and the cheese has melted, about 5-8 minutes. Transfer to a serving tray.
Grilled Reuben Pizza and How To Make Grilled Pizza
Ingredients
1/4 cup dijon mustard
1/4 cup olive oil (plus additional for the grill)
1 lb pizza dough
2 cups shredded swiss cheese
3/4 lb corned beef, chopped
1 cup sauerkraut
Instructions
Preheat the grill to medium high.
whisk together the olive oil and mustard, set aside.
Roll out your dough on a floured surface.
You’ll have to move the dough to something that you can carry to the grill. The best option is a pizza peel, if you have one, they are a great tool when grilling pizza. If you don’t have one, a large cutting board will work well.
Brush the dough on one side with olive oil.
Transfer the dough to a hot grill, oiled side down.
Brush the top side with olive oil. Once the underside of the dough has started to form grill marks (about 3 to 5 minutes), flip the dough.
Brush with mustard mixture, top with cheese and then corned beef.
Close the lid and allow to cook until the dough is cooked through and the cheese has melted, about 5-8 minutes. Transfer to a serving tray, sprinkle with sauerkraut.
Notes
You can also drizzled the pizza with Thousand Island dressing just prior to serving for a bit more of the Reuben flavor!
We tend to feminize or masculinize food. Beer is man food, as is bacon, grilled red meat and bourbon. While tea, lavender, scones and blueberries tend to been feminine. Chocolate seems to be neutral go-between, grabbing it’s gender label once the final product is presented. Chocolate Stout Cake with Maple Bacon Frosting: Man Cake. Chocolate Strawberry Mousse: Girly.
Although I don’t ascribe gender to my food, I can clearly see the lines drawn in the sanding sugar. These daintly looking no-cook treats will fool you like the little vixens they are. One look at these mango and shellfish filled lettuce cups and you firmly place these in the Chick Food category. But with a sharp bite of beer and a punch of spicy heat, they would beg to differ.
Along the lines of my I think now is a really good time to tell everyoneminor motorcycle crash story, It’s past time to tell you that alcohol intensifies heat. While there is no way to tell the precise Scoville Units in any given jalapeno pepper, I can tell you that number will be dramatically increase after those suckers have spent an hour soaking in a high ABV IPA. So if you don’t want to turn on the oven, and don’t mind a little capsasin abuse to the mouth, this is a great meal.
Place the shrimp in a small bowl. Cover with ½ cup lime juice and ½ cup lemon juice. Cover and refrigerate until the shrimp have turned pink, about 2 hours.
In a separate bowl combine the remaining ingredients (except the radicchio and the endive), allow to marinate for at least one hour.
Just prior to serving, drain the shrimp, add to the mango bowl and toss to combine.
Scoop a few tablespoons of the ceviche into the leaves of the endive and the radicchio, serve chilled
Notes
For a lower heat level, reduce Sriracha to 1/4 or 1/2 tsp.
I have two very distinct sides to my personality, dueling forces that pull me in opposing directions with near cartoon ideation. Although Devil and Angel would be easier to deal with, mine are more Old Lady and Free Spirited Gypsy.
As much as I would like to tell you that Gypsy wins the battles, it’s Old Lady that tends to run the show.
A few years ago Gypsy got ahold of the controls and decided to buy a motorcycle. Paying penance to Old Lady, I signed up for a Motorcycle Riders Training Course. It was a three-day crash course (pun intended) in how to ride a motorcycle without killing yourself.
I also allowed the Old Lady side of me to buy the safest helmet and motorcycle jacket with armor I could find.
The first day of class I was equal parts nervous and intimidated, as I noticed I was the only novice in the group and one of the youngest. Most were crotch rocket guys wanting to "blast the Crest" as soon as possible. The only other girl was a woman who wanted to learn to ride so she could bike cross-country with her partner for their 20 year anniversary.
No one talked to me. Really, no one talked. We were all a bit insular trying to figure out how to learn not to kill ourselves, drowning in the Dead People Smeared On The Road stories told by the ex-bike-cop who taught the class.
On the final day of class we met early in the morning in a parking lot in Long Beach just as it started to rain. A little drizzle that scares the crap out of most of Los Angeles. We were given the opportunity to come back on a non-rainy day but collectively decided, with a series of sideways glances and nods, that we would all stay and ride like Bad Ass SoCal People in the very light drizzle.
The final segment of the day was an obstacle course through the gigantic empty parking lot. Trying to make sure I was at least in the top half of the pack, time-wise, I set out a bit faster than I should have.
As I rounded the first curve, set over a large white arrow painted on the pavement of the parking lot, my bike slipped out from under me and began to skid along the wet ground as I tumbled in the opposite direction.
Ex-bike-cop was visibly relieved to see that I was fine and address the issue with the group by saying, "I think now is a really good time to tell everyone that paint on the pavement gets really slippery when it rains."
To which I responded, "No, ten minutes ago would have been a really good time to say that. At this point, it’s pretty obvious."
Sometimes, when you are so immeshed in an activity, you don’t think to state what’s really obvious to you, like ex-bike-cop and the paint. For me, it’s this chicken. Maybe you’ve noticed that I tend to lean away from that popular Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast that we all grew up with. Mostly because it’s so often dry and flavorless.
If you favor that cut, try the boneless skinless chicken thigh fillets, so much more flavor and they can take some serious heat before they dry out. Chicken thighs are a bit of secret ingredient when it comes to chicken dishes, making your favorite chicken breast recipe taste at least 30 percent better if you use the thighs instead. They do take a bit longer to cook, but it’s completely worth it.
And that was the only time I ever dumped a bike. At least so far.
6boneless skinless chicken thigh filletscut into cubes
oil for the grill
Chopped cilantro for garnishoptional
Instructions
In a small bowl whisk together the garlic, honey, porter, red pepper flakes, mustard, soy sauce and pepper. Add the chicken cubes, refrigerate for 1 hour and up to overnight.
Remove the chicken from marinade (reserve the marinade) thread the chicken through wooden skewers.
In a pot over medium high heat, add the olive oil and shallots. Sautee until shallots have softened, about 5 minutes. Add marinade and boil, stirring frequently, until reduced and thickened, about 8 minutes.
Grill directions:
Preheat grill to medium high.
Brush the grill lightly with oil.
Brush the chicken with the glaze, place on the grill. Brush with glaze and turn every 2-4 minutes until cooked through, about 10 minutes.
Sprinkle with chopped cilantro prior to serving.
Oven directions:
Preheat the oven to 400. Place chicken on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil. Brush liberally with glaze. Roast at 400 for 30-40 minutes, brushing with glaze every 8-10 minutes until cooked through.
None of us really know what we’re getting into when we launch that very first blog post, that Hello World! salute that enters us into the abyss of Blogland. We start these little cubbyholes in the internet Universe out of curiosity, desperation, boredom or just the hope that maybe our lives will take a dramatic tilt. We see the Holy Trinity of blog talent, the online mistress Trifecta we have to master when it comes to blog success: Food, Photos & Writing.
This by itself is a huge undertaking, the hope to be really fantastically,mind-blowingly amazing at three really specific careers, wrapped up in one title, delivered to you at our chosen URL. But that, unfortunately is just the perfectly placed cherry on top of the seasonally appropriate Sundae. Beneath that homemade cardamom whipped cream and strategically placed sprinkles melts an amalgamation of skills that we don’t just need to attempt, we need to master.
Of course we need to be a skillful recipe developer, photographer, food stylist, culinary-guru and engaging author. But that’s not all, your plate isn’t nearly full enough, pull yourself up to the buffet of online careers and load your platter. You will also need to add to the aforementioned list: SEO expert, web designer, social media darling, PR pro, marketing expert, branding aficionado, and business manager. After all, if you hired someone for each of those positions you’d be in the hole for over 200K.
But who else is going to register the LLC, build the website, apply for a trademark, get a PO box, take those gorgeous photos, not to mention edit them, write the posts, send DMCA take down notice, answer the emails, write the recipes, cook the food, do the interviews, fix that broken code, install the right plugin, promote the content, network with the right people and ohmygodican’tdoitall!
We need to give ourselves a break. These are ten really difficult jobs, ten careers for which colleges all over the land offer 4 year degrees. We can’t be good at them all and we can’t really afford to hire them all out.
We need to learn to make peace with it the things that aren’t were we want them to be. It’s a triage in a way, the biggest blood loss goes to the front, the rest can wait. In the midst of these panics, we need to remember the list of thing we are really good at is longer than the list of things we shame ourselves for. Because, odds are, there is someone out there wishing to be as good as you are at something.
Don’t forget that when you start to panic about creating a newsletter or figuring out copyright laws. You are really good at more that you are really bad at, the ship will float, it just takes time.
In a saucepan over medium high heat stir together the smoked paprika, garlic, cayenne, chili powder, red chili flake, tomato paste, beer, honey, pepper and salt. Add the butter and bring to a strong simmer, stirring frequently until reduced and thickened, about 5 minutes.
In a separate pan heat the olive oil until hot but not smoking. Add the shrimp and cook until ust starting to turn pink, about 2 minutes. Pour the sauce into the shrimp pan, cook until the sauce thickens and shrimp are cooked through.
Recently I read a response that a famous food personality had to the aggressive criticism of what is arguable to the worst food show on TV. She said that people who expect American households to cook with real, whole, unprocessed ingredients just don’t understand how real US households function, that it isn’t realistic to expect people to cook food that isn’t mostly can-and-box, defrost-and-feed type food.
I can’t underscore enough how much I not only disagree with this mentality, but how that line of thinking devalues food and the abilities of working America. I grew up in a family of ten, a family that was pay check to pay check on our best months, I’m not naive to what American households face when it comes to limited time and money.
I also have more faith in America, in food, and the resources we all have access to that can empower people to cook for their families in ways that don’t necessitate can openers and microwaves. The mentality that the best we can do is a jazzed up Hungry Man and a can of apple pie filling in the middle of a pre-made cake is demeaning. We can do better, regardless of budget. Corn is inexpensive, it’s easy to grow herbs in even the windowsill of an apartment, and inexpensive meat like chicken thighs have more flavor than their light meat counterparts. We can buy vegetables in season, when they are the least expensive, and freeze batches for months. We have options and abilities that extent far past what may be expected of us. Some of the best food I’ve ever had was handmade food in the poorest parts of the world, made with simple, inexpensive ingredients. America isn’t old enough to have a rich culinary history, but it isn’t too late to start building one that doesn’t begin with yelling a food order out of a car window into a metal speaker.
Heat olive oil in an enamel cast iron pot or Dutch oven.
Sprinkle salt and pepper on chicken cubes.
Once the oil is hot but not smoking add the chicken, cook until browned on all sides, about 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove chicken from pot.
Add red peppers, carrots and shallots (plus additional oil if the pan is dry), cook until vegetables have started to soften, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds.
Sprinkle with flour, add the beer, scrapping to deglaze the pot, making sure the flour is well combined without lumps.
Add the chicken back into the pot along with the corn and peas.
Reduce heat to maintain a low simmer, cover with the lid at a vent and allow to simmer for ten minutes.
Stir in the lemon juice, remove from heat.
Stir in the cream, turmeric, salt and pepper. Sprinkle with basil.
