Pilsner/Pale Ale

Beer Braised Pulled Pork Sliders with Chipotle Beer Cheese Sauce

23.01.2015 17 Comments

Beer Braised Pulled Pork Sliders with Chipotle Beer Cheese Sauce. Perfect football food!

I get to do things. Fun things, cool things. This still feels new to me, these fun cool things. I spent years working with grubby, incredible, wonderful, difficult, heartbreaking kids in South Central LA.

Then I worked behind a desk, in the pencil skirts and stilettos that I couldn’t wear in Compton, working with elderly Holocaust survivors in Beverly Hills. I social worked my way through most of Los Angeles.

Now I get to work on TV shows, and I go to Vegas for awards dinners, and cook on the news. There are times when I feel selfish, for walking away from the good work to do the fun work.

But those feelings don’t last long. I’m so grateful for what I do now that I can’t sully that with feelings of guilt. I’m lucky. I’m excited. I cooked on the news again Wednesday, I made football food, talked about beer, and made a few jokes.

It’s the same in a way, social work and beer cooking. I’m solving problems. Beer cheese sauce separates? let me help you with that. Not sure how to tell if that beer is bitter or not? I’ve got the answer. Social work was solving problems and answering questions. I do that now too, although I’m not sure I’m saving anyone’s life.

I’ll always be a person who wants to help, wants to add to your table, wants to make your life better because we came in contact. Even if the only thing you gained from me is a slider recipe or a desire to visit Fremont Brewing. Beer social work is much easier, and I’m fine with bringing my work home with me now.

Beer Braised Pulled Pork Sliders with Chipotle Beer Cheese Sauce

Print Recipe

Ingredients

For the pork:

1 tbs kosher salt
2 tbs brown sugar
1 tbs onion powder
1 tbs chili powder
1 tbs ground cumin
1 tbs black pepper
2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp dry mustard powder
4 lb Pork butt also called pork shoulder
6 cloves of garlic peeled
1/4 cup olive oil
3 cups 2, 12ounce bottles stout or smoked porter
24 slider buns

For the cheese sauce:

2 tbs unsalted butter melted
2 tbs flour
2 tbs cornstarch
1 cup beer wheat beer, blonde ale, pale ale, pilsner
2 cups shredded Cheddar do not use pre shredded
1 cup whole milk
2 chipotle chilies in adobo
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

In a small bowl stir together the salt, brown sugar onion powder, chili powder, cumin, pepper, smoked paprika and mustard powder together until combined, set aside.
Take out your pork and stab 6, 2-inch deep holes fairly evenly spaced through the meat. Push a clove of garlic into each hole until no longer visible.
Rub the entire surface of the meat with the spice mixture, using it all.
In a large Dutch oven, heat the olive oil until very hot. Sear all surfaces of the meat, even the sides, until browned. The entire process will probably take about 10-15 minutes. Pour the beer over the meat, cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook for about 3 hours, turning the meat over about every 30 minutes, until the meat is tender and falling apart.
Once the meat is tender remove from heat, use two forks to shred into pieces while still in the pot (or remove, shred and return to pot). Return to the pot to heat and allow to simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove the meat from the pot and discard the liquid.
Add all cheese sauce ingredients to a blender or food processor. Process on high until very well blended, about 5-8 minutes.
Transfer contents to a saucepan over medium high heat. Whisk rapidly and continuously until thickened, about 5 minutes.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Fill slider buns with pork, top with cheese sauce, serve warm.

Beer Crab Cake Balls

21.01.2015 6 Comments

Beer Crab Cake Balls, incredibly delicious and adictive. Perfect for game day!

We can’t over think this one. We wont.

Because if we did we would think about deep-frying, get nervous about it, wonder if people actually like crab and deep fried things as much as we do, worry about the friend who pretends to be gluten free and the guy who’s a vegetarian. And then we’d miss out on the best appetizer we’ve ever made for a football party. And that would be horrible. An actual real life First World tragedy.

Because this needs to be made for the Super Bowl. It’s crab, which can be proudly claimed with strong possession by both Seattle and New England. And so can great beer. And apparently great football teams. And amazing women (Just trust me). It’s a dish that doesn’t take sides, but it knows who’s going to win. It’s the city with the best beer. And the best women. Obviously.

Beer Crab Cake Balls

Print Recipe

Servings 12 to 16

Ingredients

1 cup Panko bread crumbs
½ cup flour
1 ½ tsp Old Bay seasoning
½ tsp baking powder
pinch cayenne
½ cup pale ale
¼ cup green onion chopped
1 large egg + one yolk
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 teaspoon brown mustard
2 tsp hot sauce such as tapatio
1 pound lump crab meat drained well
peanut or canola oil for frying

Instructions

Stir together the panko, flour, old bay, baking powder and cayenne in a large bowl.
Add the beer, green onions, eggs and yolk, sour cream, mustard, and hot sauce, stir until combined.
Gently fold in crab meat.
Cover and chill for 30 minutes.
Prepare the oil by adding about 3 inches of oil to a pot over high heat. Add a deep fry thermometer to the side, adjusting heat to keep oil at 350 degrees.
Using a cookie scoop, roll batter into balls about the size of golf balls.
Deep fry until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack set over a baking sheet until drained, about 1 minute.

Baked Buttermilk Beer Popcorn Chicken with Honey Beer Dipping Sauce

16.01.2015 5 Comments

Baked Buttermilk Beer Popcorn Chicken with Honey Beer Dipping Sauce. So easy and even freezer friendly!

When I was 22 I worked at a locked down level 14 facility that housed juvenile delinquents. I was only there to work with one. A baby faced 12-year-old named Tyrell with dark chocolate skin and big brown eyes. His sweet spirit and quiet voice made it impossible for me to believe that this was the kid that had been locked up in Baby Jail for 6 months due to assault, then moved to locked down half-way house before he could go back into foster care. He was just way too gentle.

Filling out the initial forms I asked him about himself. I asked him to pick three words that described himself. He didn’t hesitate, "Male. Athletic. Japanese." He might not have thought twice but I did, he was clearly African-American.

"Umm…Japanese?"

"Oh. Yeah. I’ve been in foster care since birth and no one knows who my bio parents are. So it’s possible. I could be Japanese. It’s possible. And I feel Japanese. konichiwa!" The last word was accompanied by an exaggerated bow.

"It’s definitely possible," I smiled at how completely endearing it was.

I made a deal with him. If he agreed to work with me on anger management skills, on Fridays I’d bring him something to explore his Japanese culture. He was thrilled. We tried out Origami, we went through an English-Japanese dictionary to learn words, we played mahjong and drew Japanese cartoons. Then we came to the idea of food. I explained different dishes, each of which were met by a horrified expressions. "I only been eating group home food. I never heard of none of that." Despite his completely institutionalized palate, he wanted to try some japanese flavors. After a lengthy discussion we decided to just try some sauces, sampled with his favorite food: chicken nuggets.

The following week I brought him 16 chicken nuggets along with Ponzu sauce, Wasabi mayonnaise, Hoisin sauce, taberu rayu, and a variety of other condiments. He wasn’t impressed. Other than the hoisin, he didn’t sample any more than once. He was disappointed that his taste buds rejected the idea that his relatives were from Japan, "Well," he sighed, "Maybe I’m only half Japanese."

Baked Buttermilk Beer Popcorn Chicken with Honey Beer Dipping Sauce

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Ingredients

For the chicken:

1 lbs chicken breast cut into cubes
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup pale ale
½ cup flour
1 cup panko
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
2 tbs Olive oil
Olive oil spray

For the sauce:

½ tsp chili powder
¼ cup honey
2 tbs pale ale
1 tbs garlic chili sauce

Instructions

Place the chicken in a large bowl.
Cover with buttermilk and 1 cup beer, stir gently to combine. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour and up to 8.
Prepare a baking sheet by covering with aluminum foil and dizzling with an even layer of 2 tablespoons olive oil.
Preheat oven to 425.
In a small bowl stir together the flour, panko, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
One at a time remove the chicken cubes from the buttermilk, toss in the panko mixture until well coated. Gently dip back in the butter milk mixture and then toss again in the panko mixture.
Place on a prepared baking sheet.
Spray gently with olive oil spray.
Bake for 10 minutes. Turn the chicken pieces over, bake until cooked through about an additional 10 minutes.
In a small bowl stir together the remaining 2 tablespoons beer, ¼ cup honey and garlic chili sauce.
Serve the chicken bites with sauce on the side.

Notes

These freeze well. Just cook them completely, allow them to cool and then transfer to a gallon sized freezer zip lock bag. Freeze for up to three weeks.
Once ready to eat, cook for 15 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven or until warmed through.

I use the Chili Garlic Sauce from Huy Fong foods, it can be found in most supermarkets in the Asian foods section (affiliate link).

I also use this Olive Oil Sprayer, it’s perfect if you want to avoid using cooking spray. (affiliate links)

Garlic Beer Butter Cod with Pale Ale Romesco

12.01.2015 9 Comments

Garlic Beer Butter Cod with Pale Ale Romesco. So easy and SO good. The Romesco is insanely amazing.

Cod needs to be made with butter. It needs the beautiful richness to pull itself up through the firm flesh of this gorgeous fish and have it’s way with the flavors. Cod needs to be seduced by the warm golden pool that’s melted beneath it. Cod’s underrated, overlooked as people reach past these thick white filets to grab a brilliantly pink salmon. The texture is just as good and the flavor is better, it’s more accessible, it makes you want another helping, even when you’ve finished the entire pan. A flavor mellow enough to tease you into begging for more, but strong enough to stand up to a bold romesco. Romesco is the touch that runs the perfect line between rough and gentle. It’s bold, warms, spicy, delicious and demands to be remembered in an effortless-cool sort of way. These two make the perfect partners, add in a beer and some good company and you never know where the night will take you.

Garlic Beer Butter Cod with Pale Ale Romesco

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Ingredients

Romesco Sauce:

2/3 cup 2.8 wt oz sliced almonds
1 large bell pepper roasted (from a jar is fine)
1 cloves garlic smashed
6 wt oz tomato puree
2 tbs chopped Italian parsley
3 tbs pale ale
1 tsp red pepper flakes
½ tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp sea salt
½ tsp black pepper
¼ cup olive oil

For the Cod:

4 cod filets
salt and pepper
6 tbs unsalted butter
5 cloves garlic smashed
2 tbs pale ale

Instructions

Put the almonds in a pan over medium high heat. Pull the pan back and forth across the burner to toss the almonds until the almonds have lightly toasted, about 3 minutes (keep a close eye, they burn quickly).
Add the almonds, red pepper, garlic, tomato puree, parsley, beer, red pepper flakes, smoked paprika salt and pepper to a food processor. Process for about one minute, then slowly add the olive oil until well combined.
Dry the cod well then salt and pepper on each side.
Heat the butter over medium heat until melted, add the garlic and beer, stirring until slightly reduced and thickened (about 5 minutes) making sure to the heat isn’t too high or the garlic will burn.
Add the cod, cooking on each side until cod is cooked through, about 3 minutes per side.
Plate the fish with some of the beer butter drizzled around the fish.
Top each filet with 2 to 3 tablespoons of Romesco sauce.

Apple Pie with Pale Ale Mascarpone Cream and Beer Pie Dough

07.01.2015 8 Comments

Apple Pie with Pale Ale Mascarpone Cream and Beer Pie Dough

There are always these things that I keep coming back to. Faded destroyed jeans, vintage rock t-shirts, Van Morrison, Old Rasputin, the first Back to the Future movie, apple pie. It was one of those recipes that always felt perfect, even when it wasn’t. Even when the edges of the crusts were brunt, or the filling was runny, or the apples turned mushy, it was still apple pie.

The tartness, the sugar, the cinnamon, the flaky crust, it was all there reminding me that it has been there all along. Through my lust for a complicated soufflé, my affair with Crème brûlée, that summer I was obsessed with pavlovas, apple pie has always been there. Always perfect, even when it’s not. Classic but never boring. Just as perfect at 8am as it is at midnight.

Perfect with a cold beer, and even better made with one. Or both. Always both.

Apple Pie with Pale Ale Mascarpone Cream and Beer Pie Dough

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Servings 1 pie

Ingredients

Pie Dough

2 1/2 cups 12 ½ wt oz all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
12 tbs cold unsalted butter cut into cubes
8 tbs vegetable shortening
1/3 cup ice cold pale ale
2 tbs melted butter

Filling

1 ¼ lbs 2-3 large Honey Crisp (or Fuji) apples peeled and sliced
1 ¼ lbs 2-3 large Granny Smith apples peeled and sliced
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
¼ cup flour
1 tsp Vietnamese cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
1 tbs fresh lemon juice
1 tbs pale ale
3 tablespoons unsweetened apple sauce

Cream

8 wt ounces mascarpone
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tablespoons pale ale

Instructions

Make the crust:

Add 1 ½ cups of flour, salt and sugar to a food processor, pulse to combine. Add the butter and shortening, process until well combined and dough gathers around the blade.
Add the remaining flour and pulse 6-8 times or until all the flour has been coated.
Transfer to a bowl. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the beer until completely incorporated into the dough (don’t add the beer in the food processor or your dough will turn into a cracker). Dough will be very soft.
Lay two long sheets of plastic wrap on a flat surface.
Divide the dough evenly between the two sheets, Form into flat disks.
Wrap each disk tightly in plastic wrap, chill until firm, about 1 hour.

Make the filling:

Add the apples (about 8 cups total) to a large bowl. Sprinkle with brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, 1 tablespoon beer and apple sauce, toss until coated.
Roll out one of the pastry disks out on a lightly floured surface, line a 9-inch pie pan, trim off the excess.
Pour the filling into the prepared crust.
Roll out the remaining pie dough, cut with a small cookie cutter, layering the shapes over the filling. Brush with melted butter, sprinkle with sugar.
Place pie in the freezer for ten minutes while the oven preheats.
Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Bake the pie at 350 for 40 minutes or until the pie is golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool for at least an hour before cutting.
In a small bowl combine the mascarpone, powdered sugar, vanilla and pale ale until well combined. Top the pie with cream prior to serving.

Twenty Minute Cinnamon Roll Beer Biscuits

29.12.2014 16 Comments

Twenty Minute Cinnamon Roll Beer Biscuits, plus the secret to the perfect cinnamon roll filling that doesn’t leak out the side once cut.

I’ve had a complicated year. One that began with life in one state and ended in another, literally and figuratively. A year of answering questions with "It’s complicated." Where I’m living, what I do for a living, my relationship status, my goals, it’s all been so complicated this year.

My goal for next year is simple. That’s it, just: simple. Live simply, dream simply, love simply. I’ve loved complicated food, complicated love, complicated life, but my heart feels at home when it’s simple. The joy and beauty of the perfect roast chicken, a love that comes from unfiltered devotion, a simple well made beer.

I’m trying to strip everything down to simple elements. Rebuild a life with solid blocks. learning recipes that use simple ingredients, simple techniques. Getting lost wandering around a city, rather than the pressure to make plans. Learning to forgive, and rebuild a relationship from scratch.

The way even a seasoned chef will screw up rice and scrambled eggs from time to time, simple is harder to learn than complicated. A smaller margin or error. But it’s worth it. I’ve done complicated and it left some deep scars. There is joy and healing in the journey towards pure and simple.

Twenty Minute Cinnamon Roll Beer Biscuits

The trick to making any cinnamon roll recipe with a lovely thick ribbon of cinnamon sugar that does not fall out the sides once it's cut is making a paste with softened butter, cinnamon, and sugar. It will stay in place and you won't lose a grain!

Print Recipe

Prep Time 8

Cook Time 12

Total Time 20

Servings 10 -12

Ingredients

For the Cinnamon Rolls:

3 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
10 tbs unsalted cold butter cut into cubes
¾ cup pale ale or wheat beer
1/3 cup buttermilk
6 tbs softened butter
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup white sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
pinch salt

For the Icing:

2 cups powdered sugar
¼ cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400.
In a processor add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar.
Pulse to combine. Add the cold butter, process until well combined. Add to a large bowl.
Add the buttermilk and beer. Mix with a fork until just combined.
Add to a well-floured flat surface, pat into a rectangle. Using a cold rolling pin (preferably marble) gently roll into a large rectangle, about 3/4 inch in thickness, using as few strokes as possible.
In a medium sized bowl add the softened butter, brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and pinch of salt. Stir until a paste forms.
Spread the dough with the butter mixture. Starting at the long end, roll into a tight log. Cut 2-inch rounds, place in a baking dish.
Bake at 400 for 12 to 15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
Allow to cool.
Stir together the powdered sugar, buttermilk and vanilla until well combined. Serve the biscuits topped with icing.

Fried Buttermilk Beer Chicken Salad with Sriracha Honey Vinaigrette

24.12.2014 4 Comments

If there is one type of book that I will always want in the print version, it’s a cookbook. I want to feel the pages, make my own notes, and someday pass it down to future generations. It becomes a conversation between decades, an engagement among generations, that connects people in a way that nothing other than food has the ability to do.

Maybe it’s the end of a brutal year that was illuminated by the writing of my second book, a lifeline to stability, that makes me want to defend the print cookbook. Maybe it’s the ghosts of the past that seem to haunt the holidays. Maybe it was a small moment over the weekend while standing in the middle of a book store in Portland and finding a note card written 50 years ago wedged in the middle of a antique Sunday Suppers cookbook. It doesn’t matter, I have an analog soul, I like things that I feel with my hands. I love the smell of old books. As much as I love innovation and the sexiness of new technology, my heart will always belong to what I can pass down, or what I can receive from those who have gone before me. Like old cookbooks and fried chicken recipes. Somethings are just made to be shared.

Fried Buttermilk Beer Chicken Salad with Sriracha Honey Vinaigrette

Print Recipe

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

For the Chicken:

4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 tbs kosher salt
½ sweet white onion sliced
¾ cups buttermilk
6 ounces pale ale
2 tsp sriracha
2 cups flour
2 tbs brown sugar
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp onion powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp cayenne pepper
canola or peanut oil for frying

For the Salad:

2 heads red leaf lettuce chopped
1 large avocado diced
½ cup pomegranate seeds
8 wt oz Burrata Cheese or goat cheese

Sriracha Honey Vinaigrette

¼ cup honey
1 tsp sriracha
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
3 tbs olive oil

Instructions

Arrange the chicken in an even layer in a large baking pan.
Sprinkle evenly with kosher salt, top with sliced onions.
In a small bowl whisk together the buttermilk, beer and sriracha, pour evenly over the chicken, cover and refrigerate for 8 to 24 hours.
In a medium sized bowl stir together the flour, brown sugar, chili powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, and cayenne.
One at a time remove the chicken pieces, dredge in the flour mixture then gently re-dip in the buttermilk/beer marinade and recoat with the flour mixture (double coating of the flour mixture will give you a crispier chicken), set on a wire rack that has been set over a baking sheet.
Allow the coated chicken to sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 200.
Add the oil to a large pot until about 6 inches deep, heat to 350 degrees using a cooking thermometer clipped to the pan, adjust heat to maintain that temperature.
Working in batches fry the chicken until golden brown and cooked through (between 4 and 8 minutes each, depending on the thickness of the chicken)
Once each piece is done, place on a wire rack over a baking sheet in the oven to keep warm. Slice the chicken.
In a small bowl whisk together the honey, sriracha and vinegar. While whisking vigorously, slowly add the olive oil until well combined.
Add chopped lettuce, pomegranates, and avocado to a large bowl, toss to combine.
Top with burrata cheese and sliced fried chicken, drizzle with dressing.

How to Make Flaky Biscuits & Sour Cream Cheddar Beer Biscuits Recipe

19.12.2014 3 Comments

How to Make Flaky Biscuits, step by step with photos, & Sour Cream Cheddar Beer Biscuits

Biscuits, the glorious tender flaky beast that they are become the subject of massive levels of debate for something with so few ingredients. Ask a Southern grandma what she thinks and she’ll tell you you’re doing it wrong, no matter what you’re doing. Everyone has an opinion and everyone has a recipe. Lard, butter, oil, buttermilk, beer, water, White Lily flour, whole wheat flour, the ingredients vary from recipe to recipe, but one technique always gives me those gorgeous flaky layers that rival that anxiety provoking poppin' fresh tube of my youth. This brilliant idea came from the geniuses at America’s Test Kitchen, and no offense to your grandma, but these guys know their shit.

Step one:

Dough on a lightly floured surface. Try to work with the dough as little as possible or it becomes tough.

Step two:

Roll out into a rectangle about 3/4 inch thick. Again, use as few strokes as possible.

Step three:

Here’s where the magic begins. Fold it into thirds, like a brochure or a letter about to go into an envelope.

Step four:

Roll back into a rectangle, using as few strokes as possible.

Step five:

Repeat the magic. Fold into thirds again.

Step six:

Roll it out again, then turn it over so that the "seam" side is down. You can also turn it over before rolling it out.

Step seven:

Using a 3 inch biscuit cutter, cut out rounds. DO NOT TWIST. You’ll want to,that sucker is begging for a good turn, but resist the urge. Twisting the biscuit cutter will seal the layers and prevent the biscuit from rising as much as it should.

Step eight:

Now you’re ready to bake according to recipe directions. If you’re following my recipe, that’s some melted butter, coarse salt and enjoying the "leftover" beer that didn’t make it into the biscuit dough. You poor thing.

Sour Cream Cheddar Beer Biscuits

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Ingredients

3 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
8 tbs unsalted cold butter cut into cubes
1/2 cup sour cream
2/3 cup pale ale or wheat beer
½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
3 tbs chopped green onions
2 tbs melted butter
¼ tsp course sea salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400.
In a processor add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar.
Pulse to combine. Add the cold butter, process until well combined. Add to a large bowl.
Add the sour cream, cheese, green onions and beer. Mix with a fork until just combined.
Add to a well-floured flat surface, pat into a rectangle. Using a cold rolling pin (preferably marble) gently roll into a large rectangle, about 3/4 inch in thickness, using as few strokes as possible.
Fold the dough into thirds as you would a letter about to go into an envelope. Roll lightly, once in each direction to about 1 inch thickness, fold in thirds again. Gently roll into about 1 1/2 inch thickness (this will give you the flakey layers).
Using a biscuit cutter cut out 12 biscuits. Place in a baking pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
Brush biscuits with melted butter, sprinkle salt.
Bake at 400 for 12 to 15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.

Puff Pastry Shrimp Beer Cheese Sweet Chili Bites & Why I Hate Santa

17.12.2014 6 Comments

Puff Pastry Shrimp Beer Cheese Sweet Chili Bites. Only 10 minutes prep!

Right out of college I got a job working with gang kids in South Central Los Angeles, like this one and this one. I was prepared to be afraid of them, bracing myself to be on the defense, even packing pepper spray in my purse. I wasn’t prepared to fall in love with them. I worked with kids as young as 5, and as old as 19, all either on probation or in foster care, sometimes both. To this day, some of the kids I met during that time are the smartest, most kind hearted, motivated kids I’ve ever met.

The first year I worked at a group home in a particularly rough part of Hollywood, I tried to make a big deal out of Christmas in a very middle American ignorant white girl kind of way. Let’s decorate the tree! Let’s make Christmas cookies! When I found out that the very small budget the organization had to cover Christmas gifts wasn’t enough to get the kids more than one small gift each, I ran around getting donations. Kids need presents.

To my WASPY surprise this wasn’t well received. The kids, all boys between the ages of 12 and 17, were mostly kind about it, although visibly annoyed. I wanted to know why, what where the traditions they grew up with, what did they miss? A few days before Christmas one of the younger kid, Jamal, offered to help me wrap some of the gifts, so I asked him.

He sighed, not sure how to proceed.

"Is this another one of my white girl questions that you guys tease me about?"

He laughed, "Nah, it’s just…a lot of us don’t got good memories of Christmas. It’s not really our thing. Some kids do. But most don’t."

He told me he didn’t get presents when he was little because they either couldn’t afford them or his mom was too drunk to buy any. For years he figured that it was because he was bad, that’s the story right? Santa brings presents to good kids, bad kids don’t get any. He also told me a story about waking up on Christmas morning when he was 5, spending it alone because his mom was on a bender. He sat in his living room hoping that Santa wasn’t real. Santa’s lack of existence was comforting, rather than the idea that he was alone and present-less because he was bad. It hit me how terrible the Santa story is for kids that don’t get gifts. My world opened up a bit that day, being taught life lessons by a 12-year-old will do that to you. I’ll never forget his face, so matter of fact, not the tears or grief you’d expect.

I can’t remember what I got for Christmas that year. In fact, I’d be hard pressed to name a dozen gifts I’ve been given over the years. But I’ll never forget Jamal and I hope he never has to spend Christmas alone again.

Puff Pastry Shrimp Beer Cheese Sweet Chili Bites

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Ingredients

8 wt oz cream cheese
2 tbs cornstarch
¼ cup pale ale
½ cup mozzarella shredded
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp salt
1 sheet puff pastry thawed
16 jump shrimp raw, de-veined, shelled
¼ cup honey
1 tbs warm pale ale
1 tsp sriracha
1 tsp red chili flake
3 tbs cilantro chopped

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375.
In a blender or food processor add the cream cheese, cornstarch, ¼ cup pale ale, mozzarella, garlic powder, and salt. Process until well combined
Roll the puff pastry out on a lightly floured surface.
Place 1 tablespoon rounds of cheese about one inch apart for a total of 16 evenly spaced mounds of cheese mixture.
Top each mound of cheese with a raw shrimp. Cut the dough with a sharp knife between each shrimp/cheese mound.
Place the squares on a baking sheet.
Bake at 375 for 15 minutes or until puff pastry is golden brown.
In a small bowl combine the honey, warm pale ale, sriracha, and chili flake.
Plate the shrimp bites, drizzle with chili sauce, sprinkle with cilantro.

Spicy Chicken Sausage White Bean Beer Chili

12.12.2014 14 Comments

Spicy Chicken Sausage White Bean Beer Chili. One pot, twenty minutes, crazy good.

For the first time in my life, winter has been the best season of the year. 2014 has been hard on me, beating me up in ways I didn’t expect, traumatic in ways I’ll never forget. Seattle, and the beautiful winter, has been like aloe on burnt skin.

Rain on the windows when I’m alone in bed, mid-50s, and overcast as I run through the trees along moss covered trails, drizzly days at small coffee shops when I finish my second book that was like the fragile line to a lifeboat pulling me out of the storm. The dark clouds in my life are starting to lift, the new normal is starting to feel like it actually is, in fact, normal, and the frenzy is starting to mellow.

For the first time in my entire life, I’m looking forward to January, a month that has always been hideous to me. It can’t be worse that the previous 11 months, and it will mark a new beginning for me. For now, to make it through the most difficult year of my life, I need comfort food, not just for my body but for my soul.

Let’s hope 2015 is my year, I’m already looking forward to it.

Spicy Chicken Sausage White Bean Beer Chili

Print Recipe

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

1 lbs spicy chicken sausages raw, removed from casing
1 white onion chopped
1 jalapeno chopped
12 oz pale ale
2 cup chicken broth
4 15 oz cans Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup sour cream
½ cup chopped cilantro
1 large avocado diced

Instructions

Add the sausage to a large pot or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Cook, breaking up with into small pieces as it cooks.
Add the onions and jalapenos, cooking until softened.
Add the beer and broth, scraping to deglaze the pan.
Add the beans, garlic powder, paprika, and cumin. Simmer for ten minutes.
Remove from heat, stir in the sour cream, salt and pepper to taste.
Ladle into bowls, top with cilantro and avocado.

Beer Candied Bacon Bark and Craft Beer Lovers Holiday Gift Guide

10.12.2014 13 Comments

Beer Candied Bacon Dark Chocolate Bark plus Holiday Gifts for Beer Lovers

If you were to ask me about the best gift I’ve ever been given it’d take me a while to come up with the answer. I’m always uncomfortable getting gifts, awkwardly opening them as the giver waits for the expected reaction. Giving them, that’s where I excel. I can give a gift like a champ, and I love it. Figuring out what will make the person I care about wonder how I did it, how I found that perfect gift. Those stories I can tell you all day, the times I found the perfect present for someone I care about.

So take my gift giving advice if you have a beer lover on your list, skip the can cozies, and the kitschy pint glasses, and those weird tin signs that they won’t hang in their dens, and buy them things that will make them think you’re brilliant. Because you are. And if all else fails, make some bacon studded chocolate treats, those are always a hit.

State Beer Shirts: Not from California? It’s cool, they have other states. Maybe even yours, and if not, California is a pretty great one.
Homebrew recipe journal: For the homebrewer in your life that has a drawer full of spiral notebooks that are hard to decipher. Their future batches will thank you.
Sierra Nevada Lip Balm: The perfect stocking stuffer. And at only $1, you can fill the entire stocking.
The Craft Beer Cookbook (affiliate link).: Don’t look so shocked. Of course I’d add my book to this list. I’m pretty proud of it. Plus, it’s a great gift for the craft beer loving cook in your life.
Oatmeal Stout Soap: Because for a true craft beer lover drinking it isn’t enough, bathing in it is imperative.
Beer Glassware: I love these. I have every one. You can’t open a rare bomber of beer and expect to put it in Solo cups.
Beer Tote: Especially great for the beer lover who frequents the farmers market. It’ll be her favorite, she can use it to haul around her growler or her produce.
Rogue Hop Salt: How can you possibly have homemade popcorn without it?! It’s hops and salt!
Growler Tap: Growlers are great, if you can drink it all in one sitting. If you’re a normal person, you can’t. This allows you to take your time and enjoy it over time. It’s amazing.
Hard to find beer, like: The Lost Abbey’s Angels Share. Especially if you live in a different region than the person you’re gifting, it’s almost a guarantee that you can get a beer that they can’t. Go to your local bottle shop and ask about it.

Beer Candied Bacon Bark and Craft Beer Lovers Holiday Gift Guide

Print Recipe

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

For the Bacon

6 strips thick sliced bacon
½ cup brown sugar
2 tbs stout or porter or pale ale
pinch cayenne

For the Bark

10.5 wt oz dark chocolate 72% cacao content
¼ cup stout or porter or pale ale
1/3 cup smoked almonds

Instructions

Preheat oven the 350.
In a sauce pan over medium high heat, bring the brown sugar, beer and cayenne to boil, boil for one minute.
Place the bacon on a wire rack over a baking sheet. Brush the bacon on each side with sugar mixture.
Bake at 350 for 10 minutes, flip, re-brush with sugar mixture, bake for ten more minutes until bacon is a dark brown. Remove from oven, allow to cool. Bacon will harden as it cools. Chop the bacon once it has cooled.
In the top of a double boiler over gently simmering water add half the chocolate and the 1/4 cup beer, make sure the heat isn’t too high or the chocolate will seize. Stir constantly until chocolate is melted. Remove from heat. Stir in the remaining chocolate until melted and well combined. Stir in the smoked almonds.
Pour chocolate onto a baking sheet that has been covered with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Sprinkle with chopped bacon. Chill until set. Break into pieces.

Notes

A stout or porter will work well, especially a barrel aged version. For a more intense beer flavor use an IPA or a pale ale.

Trashed Up Beer Cheese Tater Tot Pizza

04.11.2014 25 Comments

Trashed Up Beer Cheese Tater Tot Pizza.
Worth every. single. calorie. SO good.

A great blog sucks you in.

Not just the food, or the photos, but the person behind it. A person you become a least mildly obsessed with. A real-life human who writes in a way that you makes you want more of them. When I first started blogging, Jess from How Sweet It Is was that girl. After I found her blog I binge read her past posts for at least two hours, and then proceeded to creepily google stalk her.

The most shocking thing about this endeavor was that she was on the other side of the computer, stalking me right back. When I finally met her in real life she gave me the biggest, most genuine hug I’ve ever been on the receiving end of and said, "I love your blog! I even google stalked you!" I was too shocked and flattered to tell her that I’d done the exact same thing to her, so I tried my best to play it cool.

Of all the people I’ve been fortunate enough to meet in this crazy world of blogging, there isn’t anyone more genuinely nice than Jessica. She’s even more of what you want her to be, sincerely gracious, food obsessed, blogging groupie, people fan, she’s the real deal and absolutely worthy of your google stalking hours.

She not only makes incredible food, she’s also making a human. In her guts. In honor of this incredible feat, a bunch of bloggers, all of whom have done our share of Jessica How Sweet Google Stalking decided to show her some love. We trashed up some food in her honor.

And I can’t wait to see the human she makes. Someone as nice, talented and genuine as Jess, I think she should make all the babies from now on.

My Top Five Favorite How Sweet Posts Using Beer:

Trashed Up Beer Cheese Tater Tot Pizza

Print Recipe

Ingredients

1 lb pale ale pizza dough
½ cup pizza sauce marinara or barbeque sauce
1 cup mozzarella shredded
2 cups tater tots cooked according to package directions
Olive oil for crust about 2 tbs
2 tbs Butter melted
2 tbs Flour
1 tbs Cornstarch
½ cup beer wheat beer, blonde ale, pale ale, pilsner
1 cup shredded Cheddar do not use pre shredded
½ cup whole milk
salt and pepper
¼ cup cilantro chopped
4 strips bacon cooked and chopped
¼ cup pickled jalapenos nacho jalapenos

Instructions

Place 10-inch cast iron skillet in the lower third of the oven. Heat to 425 degrees with pan in the oven. Heat for at least half hour prior to baking.
Stretch the pizza dough into a 10-inch circle, avoid a rolling pin as this will remove the air bubbles that give great texture. Carefully remove the skillet from the oven, gently placing the crust in the pan.
Spread with sauce, top with mozzarella cheese and then cooked tater tots. Brush exposed crust with olive oil.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cheese has melted the edges are golden brown.
While the pizza is baking make the sauce.
Add the melted butter, flour, cornstarch, beer, cheddar cheese and milk to a blender. Blend on high until well combined. Add to a pot over medium high heat until thick and bubbly. Salt and pepper to taste. (If you encounter any issues with the texture, just re-blend until smooth).
Once the pizza is cooked, remove from oven, top with beer cheese sauce, sprinkle with cilantro, chopped bacon and pickled jalapenos.

I used this Beer Pizza Dough recipe

Check out the rest:

trashed up salads

Gimme Some Oven – Asian Broccoli Salad with Peanut Sauce
The Lemon Bowl – Brussels Slaw with Tahini Dressing and Za’atar Crostini
With Style & Grace – Kale Salad with Apple, Hazelnuts & Bacon

trashed up cocktails

Dine & Dish – Hot Buttered Rum Cocktail
Food For My Family – Cranberry Orange Dark and Stormy Cocktail
Minimalist Baker – Bourbon Pumpkin Milkshakes
Stylish, Stealthy & (sometimes) Healthy – Apple Cider Shandy
A Spicy Perspective – Preggy Punch Mocktail
Girl vs. Dough – Boozy Maple Peanut Butter Cup Milkshake
Honestly Yum – Maple Bacon Pisco Sour
Cookin Canuck – Pink Grapefruit Margaritas
A Thought For Food – Mezcal Citrico Cocktail
A House in the Hills – Pomegranate Rosemary Spritzer
The Novice Chef – Ginger Bourbon Apple Cider
Bran Appetit – Citrus Cider Punch Floats

trashed up burgers

Edible Perspective – Meatloaf Veggie Burgers with Mashed Potatoes + Gravy
The Little Kitchen – Salmon BLT Sliders with an Avocado Aioli & Brie
Daisy At Home – Balsamic Beef Burger with Mac and Cheese
Cookies & Cups – Candied Bacon Maple Cheddar Burger
Climbing Grier Mountain – Trashed-Up Steak Burger with Chicken Fried Bacon & Dijon Gravy
Dessert For Two – Bleu Cheese Burgers + Sweet Potato Fries
Country Clever – Fig Rosemary Roast Chicken Brie Brussels Sprout Panini
Foodie Crush – The Best Cheeseburger Soup
Lady and Pups – Spicy Sambal Chicken Meatball Sub with Eggs
Two Peas & Their Pod – Sweet Potato and Kale Grilled Cheese
Bake Your Day – Ultimate Breakfast Sandwich

trashed up tacos

Spoon Fork Bacon – Crunchy Ground Beef and Cheesy Tacos
The Fauxmartha – Boozy Beef and Butternut Tacos
With Food + Love – Harvest Hash Breakfast Tacos
Mountain Mama Cooks – Crispy Kale and Brussels Sprout Tacos with Bacon
Heather Christo – Bahn Mi Tacos with Spicy Sriracha Honey Sauce
A Couple Cooks – Loaded Huevos Rancheros Tacos
Fitnessista – San Diego Lobster Street Tacos

trashed up desserts

Table for Two – Salted Caramel, Dark Chocolate, and Brown Butter Shortbread Bars with Sprinkles
My Name is Yeh – Mini Vanilla Loaf Cakes, All Trashed Up
Picky Palate – Pumpkin Spice Butterscotch Sprinkle Cupcakes
Sprinkle Bakes – Cake Batter Confetti Cupcakes
Averie Cooks – Easy Homemade Funfetti Cake with Vanilla Buttercream
Sweet Phi – Trashed Up Shortbread Cookie Bars
Love & Olive Oil – Loaded Junk Food Brownies
Lauren’s Latest – Bakery Sugar Cookies
Cookie + Kate – Peanut Butter, Banana, Honey and Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies
Flourishing Foodie – Triple Layer Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting
The Sugar Hit – Salted Caramel Popcorn Ice Cream Cake
Hummingbird High – Breakfast Cereal Cake Donuts
Top With Cinnamon – Triple Chocolate Vanilla Swirl Crumb Cake
Bake at 350 – Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sundaes
Simple Bites – Lemon Layer Cake
Bakerella – Baby Block Cake Pops
She Wears Many Hats – Chocolate Covered Grapefruit

trashed up pizza

Bev Cooks – Beer Battered Fried Calamari Pizza
Rachel Cooks – Apple and Chicken Sausage Pizza with Macaroni and Cheese Stuffed Crust
Foodie With Family – Trashed Up Barbecue Turkey Pizza
Shutterbean – Pesto Potato Bacon Pizza
i am a food blog – Grilled Cheese Pizza
My Life as a Mrs – Chili Cheese Dog Pizza
Simply Scratch – Steak + Blue Cheese Pizza with Crispy Fried Shallots and Honey Balsamic Drizzle
The Beeroness – Beer Cheese Tater Tot Pizza
Yes I Want Cake – Roasted Pumpkin Pizza
Two Red Bowls – Bacon Mashed Potato Pizza
Dula Notes – Pork Bahn Mi Pizza
Weelicious – Trashed Up Mexican Pizza Pockets
Take a Megabite – Roasted Beet Pizza
Hungry Girl Por Vida – Hard Cider Braised Pork with Sour Cherries and Cheesy Polenta
Bakers Royale – Trash’d Street Tacos

Sriracha and Beer Fried Chicken with Sriracha Honey Glaze

20.10.2014 8 Comments

Sriracha and Beer Fried Chicken with Sriracha Honey Glaze. The best fried chicken I’ve ever made, and really simple.

The best fried chicken I’ve ever had was in a trailer park in Compton, a particularly rough part of South Central Los Angeles (you can read that story here). Since then I’ve had a mild obsession with perfecting the at-home fried chicken recipe. It’s an easy recipe to obsess over, its meant to be an at-home recipe. It’s origins are in home kitchens in the South, kitchens that don’t have fancy equipment or any need for expensive ingredients. It’s a recipe that often turns out better in a home kitchen than in a commercial one. Fried chicken is meant to be shared, made in larger batches, and eaten with both hands. I’ve learned a few things along the path of my obsession that help get that perfect bite that turns Fried Chicken into Crack Chicken:

1. Brine. Always, always brine. A mixture of beer and buttermilk gives you an incredibly juicy chicken that has no trouble standing up to the heat of a deep frier.

2. Sweet and heat. A little brown sugar and chili powder will give you a nice full, rounded flavor to your breading that can’t be matched. Don’t be afraid of the sugar, it’s a secret ingredient for many, many chefs and home cooks.

3. Wire rack. Skip the paper towel covered plate, it’ll make the bottom part of your chicken soggy. Place a wire rack over a baking sheet and the entire thing will stay crispy.

4. Skip the spendy oil. Because of the low smoke point of olive oil, it’s the last thing you want to use. Use canola oil or peanut oil for best result. Some home cooks (particularly the Southern Grandma types) like to use a mixture of Crisco and peanut oil.

5. Use your oven too. It’ll take a while to cook 3 pounds of chicken, make sure that the first batch is as warm as the last by sticking it on a wire rack over a baking sheet and placing that in the oven while you finish up. It will also help keep the crispy coating from turning soggy.

6. Let it sit for a few minutes. Allowing the chicken to rest between the buttermilk/flour step and the deep frier will help your chicken cook more evenly and help the breading to stick to the chicken.

My last advice is to pair it with a highly carbonated, moderately hopped pale ale. But that’s your call. Have a great fried chicken tip? Please add it in the comments section!

Sriracha and Beer Fried Chicken

Print Recipe

Ingredients

3 lbs chicken pieces thighs, legs, wings
2 tbs kosher salt
1 sweet white onion sliced
1 ½ cups buttermilk
12 ounces pale ale
1 tbs sriracha
2 cups flour
2 tbs brown sugar
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp onion powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp cayenne pepper
canola or peanut oil for frying

For the Glaze:

¼ cup honey
3 tbs sriracha

Instructions

Arrange the chicken in an even layer in a large baking pan.
Sprinkle evenly with kosher salt, top with sliced onions.
In a small bowl whisk together the buttermilk, beer and sriracha, pour evenly over the chicken, cover and refrigerate for 8 to 24 hours.
In a medium sized bowl stir together the flour, brown sugar, chili powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, and cayenne.
One at a time remove the chicken pieces, dredge in the flour mixture then gently re-dip in the buttermilk/beer marinade and recoat with the flour mixture (double coating of the flour mixture will give you a crispier chicken), set on a wire rack that has been set over a baking sheet.
Allow the coated chicken to sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 250.
Add the oil to a large pot until about 6 inches deep, heat to 350 degrees using a cooking thermometer clipped to the pan, adjust heat to maintain that temperature.
Working in batches fry the chicken until golden brown and cooked through (between 4 and 12 minutes each, depending on how thick the chicken and if the piece has a bone in it, use a meat thermometer to check for doneness).
Once each piece is done, return to the wire rack and place baking sheet in the oven while the remainder of the chicken is cooking.
Whisk together the honey and sriracha, drizzle over the chicken just prior to serving (alternately, it can be used as a dipping sauce).

Roasted Garlic and Potato Beer Cheese Soup

24.09.2014 28 Comments

Roasted Garlic and Potato Beer Cheese Soup

I’m a bit of a free spirit, an outside the box person. The thought of taking a cruise makes me feel panicked and trapped, as does the thought of living in a tract house, or working in a cubicle. These are all things that people want, right? To feel safe, secure, solid. There comes a day when these "things we should want" lose the gilded film of social pressure and we start to ask: but did I ever really want these things in the first place? Maybe you do, but maybe you don’t, neither authenticates your personhood.

I’ve had more experiences than I should legally be allowed for someone my age, at least twice what I’d ever admit to. I’ve told you about teaching anger management to gang members in South Central Los Angeles, I’ve told you about Italy, Spain, and almost dying in Morocco, and then there are the years I spent with the marginally famous in Hollywood (which I probably won’t ever tell you about unless you get me drunk enough), but there is one thing that I’ve learned that I know for sure: most decision, if made correctly, come down to a quality of life issue. And it is certain that another persons idea of a great life, and whether or not I have it, doesn’t raise that quality. This is freeing. I can wear what I want, live where I want, work how I want, and learn to ignore the social and Pinterest pressure to behave otherwise.

It takes some time for this all to sink in, and you’ll have some question to answer over (and over) again, but it’s a better way.

I like it, it always seems to fit.

Roasted Garlic and Potato Beer Cheese Soup

Print Recipe

Ingredients

1 head garlic
1 tbs olive oil
2 tbs unsalted butter
½ cup chopped carrots
½ cup white onions chopped
2 tbs flour
2 tbs cornstarch
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
12 ounces pale ale wheat beer or pale lager
½ tsp dried basil
½ tsp chili powder
1 large russet potato about ¾ lbs, peeled and chopped into small cubes
½ cup heavy cream
2 cups shredded cheddar
½ cup shredded parmesan
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425.
Cut the top tip of the head garlic off, just enough to expose all of the cloves. Place garlic on a piece of tin foil. Drizzle with olive oil and seal the foil around the garlic.
Place garlic packet on a baking sheet or baking dish. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Once it has cooled, squeeze the head to remove the cloves, chop/smash the garlic into a paste.
Melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add the carrots and onions, cooking until softened. Sprinkle with flour and cornstarch, stir until thickened.
Add the broth, beer, basil, roasted garlic paste and chili powder, bring to a low simmer.
Add the potatoes and cook until softened, about 15 minutes.
Stir in the cream. About ¼ cup at a time, add the cheese, stirring well between additions.
Salt and pepper to taste.

Chipotle Beer Cheese Oven Fries

08.09.2014 14 Comments

Football fries: Chipotle Beer Cheese Oven Fries

When I was 17 I decided to sell vacuums door-to-door. It was a great plan, I’d met a guy who had made a few thousand dollars in just one day, it seemed like easy money.

After a quick intro seminar in an office park in a bad area of town, they loaded up a floor model into the back of my car and gave me a folder of pre-screened targets that I had appointments with. My first stop was a nice apartment overlooking the water. I nervously waited for the door to open as I practiced my opening line in my head a few times.

The door swung open and an attractive 22-year-old guy was on the other side of the door. The look on his face mirrored my own: you’re not what I was expecting. He eagerly invited me in, offering me a drink, clearly unaware of my underage status. I declined, trying to stick to the script. I didn’t get paid unless this guy buys an overpriced cleaning machine, and I needed money.

I start the routine I’d been taught, demonstrating the equipment, quoting stats and specs, and trying to get him to pay more attention to the vacuum than my jeans. Mid-pitch, he stops me, "I have an Ikea couch and my TV is held up by a shipping crate, do you really think I can afford a $600 vacuum? It’s not going to happen."

I explained that I had to call my boss to tell him how it was going, but I had to wait at least 30 minutes after my arrival. I asked him to give me more time. He hesitated. "Look, how about this. We’ll play one game of poker, if I beat you, you buy the thing. If not, I’ll leave before I have to make the call."

A few minutes later he emerged from his kitchen with a pack of cards and a box of matchsticks he wanted to use as poker chips. Due to a lack of furnishing, we sat cross-legged on the floor of his living room as I dealt hold ’em and watched him suck down a second scotch. Fifteen minutes later, I had all the match sticks. For a second time.

"I just beat you twice," I said as I motioned towards the overpriced vacuum.

"I still can’t afford it. But can I take you out this weekend?"

"Are you going to buy a vacuum?" Which was really a poor choice of words, I just wasn’t sure how to respond to his advance.

"You’re making me buy that thing before I can take you out?"

"No, I’m not going out with you either way. But….it’s a really good vacuum."

He laughed. "Look, I’ll help you load it up. There really is no chance that I’ll buy this thing. How about we walk over to that cafe across the street and I’ll buy you dinner for your trouble."

I hesitated, I didn’t want him to think it was a date, he clearly noticed.

"It’s not a date! I owe you something for your time and the fact that you’re oddly skilled at poker, and I feel bad just sending you away. Just let me buy you dinner."

I agreed, but I also ordered the cheapest thing on the menu, cheese fries, to remind him that there wasn’t any chance this was more. They were fantastic. I canceled all other vacuum-related meetings, returning the stupid thing in the morning. Cheese fries and winning at poker isn’t a bad night, but it never earned me any money.

Football fries: Chipotle Beer Cheese Oven Fries

Chipotle Beer Cheese Oven Fries

Print Recipe

Ingredients

1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp chili powder
2 lbs russet potatoes cut into wedges
3 tbs canola oil
2 tbs cornstarch
¾ cup beer
1 cup shredded Cheddar do not use pre shredded
¼ cup heavy cream
2 chipotle chili plus additional to taste
2 tbs Butter
¼ cup green onions chopped
¼ cup cilantro chopped

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425.
In a small bowl stir together the salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and chili powder.
Add the potatoes to a small bowl, sprinkle with spices, toss to coat.
Add the oil to a baking sheet.
Add the potatoes to the baking sheet in one even layer, with one of the cut sides down.
Bake for 12 minutes. Turn the potatoes over so the other cut side is down.
Bake for an additional 12 minutes or until the potatoes are golden brown and fork tender.
While the potatoes are baking, make the cheese sauce.
Add the cornstarch, beer, cheese, cream, and chipotle to a blender or food processor. Process until smooth.
In a pot over medium high heat, melt the butter. Add the cheese sauce, cook until thickened and warmed.
Plate the potatoes, drizzle with cheese sauce. Sprinkle with cilantro and green onions.

Football fries: Chipotle Beer Cheese Oven Fries

Blackberry Beer Breakfast Muffins

05.09.2014 9 Comments

Blackberry Beer Breakfast Muffins

A few years ago I spent a week in Ireland, at a hostel at the base of the Guinness brewery. Somewhere near 9am I wandered into a nearby restaurant that was much more pub than grub. At the bar was a bit of a surly local, just him and me. I ordered some arrangement of eggs and a coffee, he had a beer. That’s it, just an inky black glass of beer. He saw me eyeing his breakfast pint. "Whaaat? It’s like bread. It’s pretty much like bread, but easier to drink." Which, in my opinion makes it completely OK to have beer for breakfast.

These muffins also give you a legitimate reason to break two rules. Beer is a leavening agent, giving you a legitimate reason to add it to your grab-and-go breakfast, the texture of the muffins is incredible. The second rule breaking has to do with berries. Although there is a strong leaning towards fresh produce in this world, there is also a legitimate reason for baking with the frozen variety. Berries that are completely ripe and juicy are too fragile to ship, these are the ones that get frozen, making frozen berries actually better than those that ripened on a truck on the way to the market. Don’t be afraid to head to the freezer section rather than the produce section when you want to make these. And don’t be afraid to open a beer before noon, you know, to make breakfast with.

Blackberry Beer Breakfast Muffins

Print Recipe

Ingredients

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 ?2 tsp salt
1 egg
5 tbs butter melted
1/3 cup sour cream
2/3 cup pale ale
2 cups frozen blackberries
½ cup brown sugar packed
½ cup oats

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350.
In a large bowl stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Make a well in the dry ingredients, add the egg, melted butter, sour cream and beer. Stir until combined. Stir in the blackberries.
Spoon into muffin tins until each well is about 2/3 full. Sprinkle each muffin with brown sugar and oats.
Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes (baking time will be less if you use unfrozen blackberries).

Hot Crab Beer Cheese Dip

18.08.2014 13 Comments

When I was 22 I was recruited by a modeling agent while I was shopping for shoes on Melrose.

I said no. Nothing about that interested me at all. At the time I was teaching anger management skills to gang members in south central LA, doing work that matter to me, walking around looking pretty meant nothing to me.

Maybe it was because I’m a people pleaser, or I’m detrimentally curious, but she was able to talk me into it. I took headshots and a few weeks later I was on a catwalk in Culver City modeling high waisted jeans, and a mesh top with no bra, with vines and flowers drawn on my face.

Backstage I was so nervous I felt like I was going to throw up. At 5”7’ and 118 lbs, I was the “short, fat” model that needed the 7-inch heels to make the $500 denim inseam work. I was in a world that didn’t belong to be, in an ill-fitting role. A seasoned model, one with dead eyes and the purse full of cocaine walked by and gave me a smirk, “First show? Good lucky, honey” in a voice as nasty as garbage.

A switch flipped. I’ve never been the mean girl, I’ve never been the center of attention girl, and I was learning how not to be push over. I smirked back.

I walked out on the long black stage, lights from all sides. Camera bulbs flashed. I was acutely aware of being nearly topless, and I owned it. I got to the end of the runway, I knew it was going well. When I got halfway back, I saw Dead Eyes at the other end, she’d paused. I put my hand up, forcing her to stop. I turned back around and did another pass, walking back to the end of the runway. For some reason, the crowed cheered at my double pass. Dead eyes had to wait, she was furious at the back of the stage. When I finally exited the stage, I did so with a death glare at my back. I very quickly changed my clothes, grabbed my things and left, vines and flowers still painted on my cheeks. I didn’t get paid for the show and I never did another, but it was worth it.

I’d much rather run around a kitchen that a runway. It was a reminder that sometimes when you don’t belong somewhere it’s not your loss. Sometimes, with a little luck, we just end up where we are supposed to be. And it fits really well.

Hot Crab Beer Cheese Dip

Print Recipe

Ingredients

8 oz cream cheese
¼ cup sour cream
1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp chili powder
1 tsp hot pepper sauce
2 tbs cornstarch
2/3 cup IPA beer
1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
½ cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella
¼ cup green onions chopped
8 wt oz crab meat

Instructions

In a food processor add the cream cheese, sour cream, old bay, garlic powder, chili powder, hot pepper sauce, corn starch, beer, worchestershire sauce, parmesan cheese, and mozzarealla, process until smooth.
Stir in the onions and crab meat.
Add to an oven safe serving dish.
Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until warm and golden brown.
Stir, garnish with green onions.

Asparagus and Sausage Meatball Orzo with Parmesan Beer Cream Sauce

13.08.2014 10 Comments

I get a little itchy if I don’t get to cook.

The way musicians get when you keep them away from a stage, or an athlete when you take the ball away or how a runner will start to chew on the curtains if he can’t get out on the road. Even on the tail end of writing recipes for my second cookbook, like this one, I spend most days cooking in my kitchen surrounded by dirty dishes and half empty bottles of beer. And even though I should be writing recipes for my cookbook, I just wanted to make something that I wanted to make because I wanted to make it. It just happened to turn out photogenic, and so delicious that I wanted to share it with you. It’s an amalgamation of stuff in my fridge as well as half started recipes in my brain, and it also helped me use up one of those half empty bottles of beer I had laying around. And in the midst of cooking three other recipes, this one just took twenty minutes, which is good given the amount of cooking I need to do on a daily basis.

After six hours of cooking, and three rounds of dishes, I feel a little less itchy. But I do need a beer, a full one.

Asparagus and Sausage Meatball Orzo with Parmesan Beer Cream Sauce

Print Recipe

Ingredients

½ lbs raw Italian sausage removed from casings
2 tbs pale ale plus ½ cup pale ale, divided
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tbs olive oil
1 lbs asparagus
¼ cup heavy cream
2 wt oz fresh shredded parmesan cheese about 1 cup
1 tsp honey
½ tsp black pepper
2 cups orzo
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
½ cup grape tomatoes optional

Instructions

In a small bowl stir together the sausage, 2 tbs pale ale, and 1 tsp red pepper flakes with your hands. Form into small balls, about half the size of golf balls.
Heat olive oil in a pan over medium high heat. Add the meatballs, cook until browned on all sides and cooked through, remove from pan.
Add the asparagus to the hot pan, cook until softened and starting to blister, about 5 minutes, remove from pan.
Add the remaining ½ cup pale ale, scraping to deglaze the pan. Lower heat to medium, stir in the cream. Simmer until reduced and thickened, about 6 minutes. Stir in the parmesan, honey, and black pepper
Cook the orzo in lightly salted boiling water for 6 minutes or until just before al dente. Drain and add the orzo to the sauce, stirring until cooked through, about 3 minutes. Add the meatballs and asparagus back into the pan, simmer until meatballs are warmed through. Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with parsley and tomatoes.