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Roasted Herb Beer Mustard Potato Salad

17.04.2015 6 Comments

Roasted Herb Beer Mustard Potato Salad

It’s easy to complicate what’s supposed to be simple. Add unnecessary steps, feel the need to suffer on behalf of the task, take things a little further than needed. Potato salad, the quintessential summer side dish needs a simple touch. I roast the potatoes, the process adds a nice flavor, a creamy center and a bit of a crunchy texture that you can’t get from boiling. I keep the dressing simple and mayo-free, I use good mustard with whole seeds still in tact, and the beauty of fresh herbs.

Maybe because mustard pair so much more seamlessly with a great IPA or summer ale, or maybe because it sits at room temperature without concern longer, or maybe because mayo makes me gag, but I always favor the simple acidic tang of a german potato salad to the American version that is so often scooped out of a grocery store plastic tub.

This is perfect with beer, perfect for summer, and perfect with a grilled entrée. Look for a wet hopped IPA for some beautiful hop flavors at the end.

Roasted Herb Beer Mustard Potato Salad

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Ingredients

2 lbs red potatoes cut into cubes
6 tbs olive oil divided
salt and pepper
¼ cup whole grain Dijon mustard
¼ cup IPA beer
1 tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp smoked paprika
3 tbs fresh chopped chives
2 tsp chopped fresh oregano

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425.
Spray a cooking sheet with cooking spray.
Add the potatoes to the sheet, drizzle with 3 tablespoons olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to coat.
Cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until fork tender. Remove from oven, allow to cool.
In a blender or small food processor add the mustard, 3 tablespoons olive oil, beer, smoked paprika, and garlic powder, blend for about 30 seconds. Add the chives and oregano, pulse one or twice to combine. Salt and pepper to taste.
Add the potatoes to a large bowl, drizzle with dressing, toss to coat. Serve warm.

Beer Brat Cheese Dip

09.03.2015 5 Comments

Beer Brat Cheese Dip

A few years ago I is was at dive bar in Germany, perched at a pub table in the center of the room with two other people. We’d ordered beers, nameless, faceless pale lagers brewed close by. Through a thick accent the bartender suggested the sausage plate to go along with the beer. I’m never one to argue with those who serves my food, I instantly agreed.

A few minutes later he sets down a metal plate in the middle of the table. Coiled up in the center is a long snake of meat, one fork and a knife. We took turns slicing off a ring of hot juicy sausage, taking a bite, sipping our beer, and passing the utensils. Knife, fork, slice, bite, sip. Like teenagers huddled around a joint someone stole from their older brother, we waited anxiously for our next hit, playing it cool until it was our turn.

It didn’t take long for us to take down a two pound sausage. It went perfectly with the beer. Even as the cold beer and the warm sausage started slowly making their way to the same tepid temperature, it was still insanely satisfying.

Beer and sausage, not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

Beer Brat Cheese Dip

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Ingredients

¾ lbs 11 wt oz raw bratwurst, removed from casing
12 ounces IPA or pale ale
8 wt oz cream cheese
½ lbs cheddar cheese shredded (about 4 cups)
½ tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tbs cornstarch
¼ cup green onions chopped

Instructions

Cook the bratwurst in a pan oven medium high heat until well browned, breaking up as it cooks. Add ¾ cup beer, allow to simmer as you prepare the cheese sauce.
Add the remaining ¾ cup beer, cream cheese, cheddar (reserve 1 cup for the top), smoked paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, and cornstarch to a blender, blend until smooth.
Add cheese sauce to the pan, stirring until well combined.
Pour into an 8x8 baking dish, top with remaining cheddar.
Bake at 350 until cheese is bubbly. Garnish with green onions prior to serving.

IPA Pickles and Pickled Sweet Peppers

02.03.2015 13 Comments

When I was hardly out of my teens I sat down at a white formica table in a prominent Jewish deli in New York. Just after I placed my order, pastrami on rye, obviously, the waitress set down a plate of pickles. I hesitated, I hated pickled. The only run ins I’d had with those vinegared beasts was soggy, cooked tasting, nonsense that came via grocery store glass jars.

The waitress, an older woman with a thick brooklyn accent and bleach fried blonde hair was having none of my resistance, "These are the best in the city, eat up,"

So I did, I’m a people pleaser and I didn’t want her to be mad at me. I was amazed. Nothing at all like I’d ever had. Crisp, slightly sweet, a little herbal, and so delicious that I ate the entire plate. It was a revelation. Like finding out I don’t hate Chinese food, I just hate La Choy in a can, or that I actually like coconut I just hate Almond Joy bars.

It changed my world. I started pickling all kinds of things, like jalapenos, and coleslaw (minus the mayo) for pulled pork sliders, and I even once pickled under ripe strawberries just to see what would happen.

But the real moral of the story is that if a waitress twice your age tells you to eat something, you should do it. It’ll change your life.

IPA Pickles and Pickled Sweet Peppers

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Ingredients

12 oz of IPA beer
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 Tbs sugar
2 Tbs salt
1 Tbs black peppercorns
5 to 10 sprigs fresh dill
½ cup crushed ice
1 lbs pickling cucumbers Kirby or Persian, sliced
1 lbs small sweet rainbow peppers

Instructions

In a pot over medium high heat add the beer, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper corns. Bring to a simmer, stirring just until the sugar and salt dissolve, remove from heat.
Stir in the ice. Allow the brine to sit until room temperature.
Add the cucumbers to an air tight container, add a few sprigs of dill.
Add the rainbow peppers to a separate container, add a few sprigs of dill.
Pour the cooled brine over the cucumbers and the peppers, making sure all vegetables are submerged.
Chill for at least 24 hours prior to serving. Keep chilled or can properly for shelf storage.

Drunken Winter Farro Blood Orange Salad with Stout Balsamic Glaze

30.01.2015 2 Comments

Drunken Winter Farro Blood Orange Salad with Stout Balsamic Glaze

Winter citrus is like a promise. A reminder that spring is almost here. It’s not the standard beige winter produce, it’s bright and bold and completely unlike anything else that grows this time of year. For the few weeks that blood oranges gift us with their presence, I can’t stop buying them. I slice open the orange rinds to expose the deep ruby flesh, squeeze until I get every last drop of the juice that tastes like a collaboration between a raspberry and a naval orange. The color always gets it. It’s gorgeous, deep and stunning. I always make cocktails, like this one. I always figure out how to bake a blood orange dessert, and I eat it raw, my teeth pulling the segments free from the white pith. Every drop of juice that’s left I save in ice cube trays. For later, when the winter has passed and the rest of the world has moved on to peaches and apricots.

Drunken Winter Farro Blood Orange Salad with Stout Balsamic Glaze

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Ingredients

For the Salad:

1 cup farro
12 ounces wheat beer
1 cup water
pinch salt
4 cups baby arugula
2 blood oranges peeled and cut into segments
2 w oz goat cheese crumbled
½ cup candied pecans

For the Dressing:

1 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons honey
½ cup stout beer

Instructions

Add the farro, beer, water and salt to a pot over high heat, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low to maintain a low simmer. Add the lid at a vent. Allow to simmer for 20 minutes or until cooked but still chewy. Drain off any remaining liquid. Allow to cool.
In a pot over medium heat add the balsamic, honey and stout beer, simmer until reduced to a syrup, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.
In a large bowl add the arugula, blood orange segments, goat cheese, pecans and cooled farro, toss to combine.
Drizzle with glaze just prior to serving.

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

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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.

Pumpkin Ale Farro Roasted Asparagus Pomegranate and Goat Cheese Salad

01.12.2014 6 Comments

Pumpkin Ale Farro Roasted Asparagus Pomegranate and Goat Cheese Salad

Somehow I ended up being the girl who brought salad to Thanksgiving. Not my usual holiday offering. Spending the holidays in an unfamiliar city and not being the host for the first time in forever drove me to beer up a salad. Maybe it’s caused by the stir-crazy-work-from-home madness that’s set in, a fall that’s actually cold, or the life I’m living that looks almost nothing like it did a year ago, but beer in a salad made everything seem right. I needed a little familiarity in my world, and all of my favorite salads contain pomegranate seeds and goat cheese. You can even forget the fact that this salad is red, green, gold and white, making it more festive than it should be allowed to be for a holiday salad. This is a season for indulgences: barrel aged beers, cakes, fudge, cookies, and pie. With all of these perfectly fantastic holiday foods, I give you a salad. But rest assured it’s a damn good salad, and with beer infused grains, it definitely made the naughty list.

Pumpkin Ale Farro Roasted Asparagus Pomegranate and Goat Cheese Salad

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Ingredients

1 cup whole farro
12 ounces pumpkin ale
½ cup chicken broth
1 lbs asparagus tripped and chopped into 1 inch sections
2 tbs olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
½ cup pomegranate seeds
1 cup baby arugula
3 wt oz goat cheese

Instructions

Add the farro, beer, and broth to a pot over medium high heat. Bring to a low simmer. Simmer until farro is tender but not mushy, about 20 minutes. Drain off any remaining liquid.
Preheat oven to 400.
Add the asparagus to a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, toss to coat.
Roast asparagus at 400 until fork tender, about 8-10 minutes (less for thin asparagus, you still want some firmness, it’s best to under cook rather than overcook).
Add the farro, asparagus, remaining ingredients to a bowl, toss to combine. Serve at room temperature.

Rosemary Potato Brown Ale Galette

29.10.2014 9 Comments

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

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

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

Rosemary Potato Brown Ale Galette

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Ingredients

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

Instructions

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

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

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

Beer Brined Scallops over Spinach Salad With Bacon Stout Dressing

25.07.2014 9 Comments

If you’re going to make me a salad, it better be a damn good salad. After all, you’re asking me to skip carbs and satisfying fried finger foods, I might resent you if it isn’t a really good salad.

Bacon is a good start, and so is beer. Scallops are a fan favorite as well. Let’s talk about those for a second while we’re at it. Scallops will most likely come to you via a grocery store seafood counter soaking in a milky phosphate solution (yum!) that will help keep it fresh longer as well as give it an unfortunate soapy taste and an inability to sear properly. The solution to this is beer. Well, more accurately, a brine. Soaking the scallops in a brine will flush out that unappetizing liquid and give you a great taste and a great sear. Which will help that salad taste amazing. And make people forget all about the missing french fries.

But there is beer and bacon and perfect scallops, so no one should complain. If they do, take away their beer.

Beer Brined Scallops over Spinach Salad With Bacon Stout Dressing

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Servings 2 entree portions or 4 appetizer portions

Ingredients

12 ounces pale ale
2 tbs salt
1 cup water
¼ cup lemon juice
8 jumbo scallops
salt and pepper
3 thick slices bacon
¼ cup chopped shallots
¼ cup stout beer
2 tbs brown mustard
2 tbs raw honey
3 tbs olive oil
3 tbs unsalted butter
1 lbs asparagus
3 cups baby spinach leaves
2 wt oz crumbled goat cheese

Instructions

In a large bowl stir together the pale ale, salt, water and lemon juice.
Add the scallops, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Remove the scallops from fridge and place on top of a stack of 4-5 paper towels. Add another layer of paper towels and allow to drain and dry for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with pepper on both sides.
Cook the bacon in a pan over medium high heat until cooked through, remove from pan, chop and set aside. Add the shallots to the bacon grease, cook until shallots have softened, about 5 minutes. Add the stout beer, scraping to deglaze the pan. Add the mustard, honey and pepper, whisking to combine. Slowly whisk in the olive oil, stirring until thickened. Remove from heat.
Melt the butter in a skillet over medium high heat until very hot. Add the scallops, flat side down, and allow to cook until a dark golden brown crust forms on the bottom, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook until seared on the opposite side. Remove from pan when a slight hint of translucent pink still remains at the center, don’t over cook.
Trim asparagus, cut into 2 inch pieces. Cook the asparagus in lightly salted boiling water for one minute, drain and allow to dry.
Plate the spinach, top with asparagus, goat cheese, and crumbled bacon, dizzle with dressing, top with scallops.

Grilled Corn and Crab Salad with Summer Ale Cilantro Vinaigrette

09.07.2014 10 Comments

I took a conference call yesterday with a research firm that’s spending considerable effort studying the trends of craft beer and food. An honest look at craft beer from an outsider is an interesting pool to swim in. They asked the standard questions, thoughtful and curious, and it almost always turns in the same direction:

"Why craft beer? Why now?"

I can talk about how the locavore spirit and a push towards more thoughtful eating has naturally spilled over into beverages. I can talk about how this new generation of drinkers, those who have come of legal imbibing age in the past five years are those Facebook gernerationists that have grown up in a culture of eco-friendly, culinary aware coolness and craft beer just makes sense to them. But that really isn’t the answer.

Pour the same beverage in a pint glass, but remove the impassioned brewer who’s barley making ends meet but refuses to sacrifice quality, take away the friendly comunal tables, and the tap room jockey that can’t wait to talk about the seasonal release, strip that all away and that pint isn’t the same. Craft beer isn’t just a beverage, it’s a community. It’s a culture that’s grown around a shared fascination of a culinary art, but it’s the culture that’s the big draw. It’s the people. The beer is fantastic, the beer keeps us coming back, but it’s the people that have grown the phenomenon. It’s the fact that craft beer isn’t just something you drink, it’s something you get to live. That’s why beer.

Grilled Corn and Crab Salad with Summer Ale Cilantro Vinaigrette

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Ingredients

2 ears of corn grilled, kernels cut off
6 wt oz lump crab meat
½ cup tomatoes chopped
1 avocado chopped
for the vinaigrette:
¼ cup cilantro packed
1 tsp brown sugar
1 clove garlic smashed
pinch salt
1 tbs lime juice
3 tbs summer ale
3 tbs olive oil

Instructions

Put the corn kernels, crab, tomatoes, and avocado in a large bowl, set aside.
In a food processor add the cilantro, brown sugar, garlic, salt, lime juice and beer, process until well combined. While the food processor is running, slowly add the olive oil in a slow steady stream, blend until smooth.
Drizzle the dressing over the salad, toss to combine.

Beer and Sriracha Candied Nuts

30.06.2014 16 Comments

Let’s talk for a second about last meals.

We’ve talk about this before while discussing Julia Childs last meal and how I defiled it with a stout. Many discussions have been had over what entrée and dessert we’d all have if we were afforded the choice. Would it be Grandmas pot roast? Sushi? A burrito from that place you used to go when you were a kid?

The conversation needs to extend to the pint glass, what’s your last beer? If it’s a true last beer, there are a few factors you no longer need to consider: price? Charge it. ABV? Doesn’t matter, hangovers won’t be felt. If it really is your last beer, the last sip you’ll take as an earthly being, you probably wont be rolling the fermented dice on something new, you’ll grab an old favorite, your comfort beer.

What is it? What do you drink? Is it the first beer you fell for, the one that got you into craft beer? Is it one with memories attached to it?

For me, it would be a stout. Probably the first craft beer I feel in love with: Old Rasputin.

But then again, maybe I would surprise myself. I might want one of those fantastic California IPA’s that felt like home for some long. Sculpin, Race 5, Pliny? Who knows, it would be a game time decision.

But one things for sure, if you’re the one flipping the switch, make sure there’s proper glassware; I can’t drink it out of a mason jar.

Beer and Sriracha Candied Nuts

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Ingredients

1/3 cup IPA beer
½ cup brown sugar
1 tbs butter
¼ tsp Sriracha
pinch cayenne
2 ½ cups mixed nuts

Instructions

Add the beer and brown sugar to a large saucepan over medium heat.
Stir until sugar has melted.
Bring to a boil. Allow to boil untouched for 3 minutes.
Remove from heat, stir in butter, Sriracha and cayenne.
Add the nuts, stir until all the nuts are well coated.
Line a baking sheet with a silpat (or aluminum foil sprayed with cooking spray), spread the nuts in an even layer on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake at 350 for 6 minutes, stir bake for an additional 6 minutes.
Remove from oven, allow to cool, break apart.

Sriracha Beer Butter Grilled Corn

11.06.2014 17 Comments

I was once invited to leave The Viper Room when the guy I’d been chatting with escalated past douche bag right up into unignorably obnoxious territory and I was swept up in his wake.

I not so subtly parted ways with him to cross the street towards The Roxy when he escalated further,"You’re leaving?! I pulled out my best stuff for you!" I had no idea that he’d been trying to get somewhere with his meaningless rambling.

Oh, you mean the uber-impressive story about having lunch with Alan Thicke last week? Or telling me that your ex-girlfriend was a sexsomniac?

Or bragging about stealing wifi from your neighbor? Because it was all gold, so clearly I have no reason to leave with this depth of conversational wealth that’s being offered to me.

Sometimes, people just try too hard when what they really want is to impress. We can do the equivalent of Over-Sharing-Drunk-Viper-Room-Guy with food. We can try too hard, do too many things, and make a mess of it all.

Keep it simple this summer, some grilled produce, good ingredients, real butter and great beer.

And save the stories of your ex-girlfriend for your guy friends and only after they’re too drunk to object.

Sriracha Beer Butter Grilled Corn

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Prep Time 7

Cook Time 8

Total Time 1 15

Servings 6 servings

Ingredients

½ cup unsalted butter chopped into cubes
3 tbs IPA beer
1 tsp sriracha
½ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp kosher salt
6 ears fresh corn shucked
2 tbs olive oil
salt and pepper
¼ cup chopped cilantro

Instructions

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment beat the butter until light and fluffy.
Add the beer, sriracha, garlic and salt. Beat until well combined.
Add the butter to a piece of plastic wrap, roll tightly into a log. Refrigerate until set, about 1 hour.
Preheat the grill.
Brush the corn with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Grill on all sides until lightly charred and tender, 8-10 minutes.
Add the corn to pieces of aluminum foil, top with several slices of butter, sprinkle with cilantro.

Slow Cooker Maple Bacon Beer Baked Beans

04.06.2014 62 Comments

Slow Cooker Maple Bacon Beer Baked Beans

Before my gypsy soul led me to Los Angeles, I spent a few years growing up on a pig farm. With seven sisters. Eight girls, startling close in age, running around like ferrel children on endless acres of farmland. Although I learned to drive a tractor before I could drive a car, maneuver a 300 pound pig anywhere I wanted him to go using just a 5 gallon bucket, and how to milk goats, these are skill that don’t really come in handy in a more urban area.

One useful skill that farm livin' did teach me was how to grill meat and what to serve with it. This was the first occurrence of beer cooking in my life, the meat was always marinated in a mixture of barbecue sauce, Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke and beer (Coors light I’m sad to say). Two sides were always, ALWAYS served alongside any meat that came off the grill: potato salad and baked beans. Potato salad and I have our issues, mostly the cringe inducing overuse of mayonnaise. But baked beans I never passed up. I like mine deep in flavor, and not too sweet. If you like your baked beans on the sweet side, add 1/4 cup brown sugar. If you like your potato salad swimming in mayo, you’re on your own.

Slow Cooker Maple Bacon Beer Baked Beans

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Prep Time 10

Cook Time 10

Servings 6 servings

Ingredients

½ lbs pinto beans
½ lbs navy beans
½ tsp baking soda
12 ounces smoked porter or stout beer
½ lbs bacon chopped
1 sweet white onion chopped
3 tbs molasses
¼ cup real maple syrup
3 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp mustard powder
1 ½ cups hot water

Instructions

Add the beans and baking soda to a large pot (the baking soda softens the beans and allows them to soak more efficiently). Cover with about 2 inches of water.
Bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes.
Remove from heat, allow to soak for on hour. Drain.
Add the beans and remaining ingredients to a slow cooker.
Cook on high for 10 hours. Salt and pepper to taste.

Notes

Cooking the bacon and caramelizing the onions in the bacon fat before adding it all to the slow cooker will give you a deeper flavor, if you have the time.

I use this slow cooker (affiliate link).

Slow Cooker Maple Bacon Beer Baked Beans

Lemon Parmesan Beer Asparagus

30.05.2014 6 Comments

I’m writing this from a hotel room 26 floors above the Las Vegas strip.

I’m nearing the end of the second day of the Saveur Magazine Best Food Blog Awards party and the feeling of gratefulness is still growing. The fact that such an important food magazine recognized what I’m doing as Best of the Best brings a validation to what I’ve been stumbling towards. It’s humbling to know who many millions of food blogs are out there, and how just a handful of us are here. To feel in a small way that there must have been a mistake made, wondering if I really am good enough to be sitting in a room so full of talent.

But I’ll take it, with a smile and renewed sense of purpose. Closer to the goals I set when I started this journey, and closer to feeling like I belong here.

And that feeling of gratefulness, that feeling that I’m incredibly lucky to do what I do, that’ll just keep growing.

Lemon Parmesan Beer Asparagus

Print Recipe

Ingredients

1 tbs butter
1 clove garlic minced
½ cup pale ale
1 tsp lemon zest
1 lb asparagus washed and ends trimmed off
½ tsp black pepper
pinch salt
¼ cup fresh shaved parmesan

Instructions

In a cast iron skillet over medium high heat, melt the butter. Add the garlic, stir for thirty seconds, add the beer and lemon zest.
Add the asparagus, cooking on all sides until beer has mostly evaporated and asparagus is barley fork tender but still has some firmness.
Sprinkle with salt and parmesan, serve warm.

Garlic Herb Beer Butter Roasted Potatoes

21.05.2014 5 Comments

Cowboys and brewers aren’t that different.

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

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

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

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

Garlic Herb Beer Butter Roasted Potatoes

Print Recipe

Ingredients

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

Instructions

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

Grilled Beer Soaked Rosemary Potatoes (with a grill or without)

07.05.2014 8 Comments

I’m not crazy. There is an actually practical reason to soak your potatoes in a beer brine before they hit the grill. Potatoes are mostly water, held in by the starch. Using the water extracting powder of salt you can help remove the water and give your potatoes a crispier outside with a creamy middle while cooking.

And let’s talk about that cooking. For well over a year I’ve been taunting you with grill recipes, like grilled Beer & Buttermilk Sriracha Chicken, and Beer Marinated Steak with Porter Gorgonzola Butter, but what if you don’t have a grill? First, you should buy one, but if you can’t swing it, a grill pan is a great alternative. I went nearly two years without a grill and I used my grill pan weekly as a substitute.

Because no matter what life throws your way, there is something about grilled food and cold beer that makes it seem like all is right in the world again.

Grilled Beer Soaked Rosemary Potatoes

Print Recipe

Ingredients

12 ounces pale ale
1 tbs kosher or sea salt
2 lbs russet potatoes sliced into ¼ inch rounds
2 tbs olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp sea salt
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp white sugar
2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary

Instructions

In a large bowl stir together the salt and beer. Add the potato rounds and add enough water until potatoes are fully covered.
Chill for at least 2 hours and up to 12.
Remove from the brine and allow to dry completely on a stack of paper towels.
Add the potatoes to a bowl or baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with spices, toss until well coated.
Preheat the grill (or a grill pan) to medium high.
Place the potatoes on the grill (working in batches if necessary), until grill marks appear, about 3 minutes. Flip and continue to cook until fork tender, about 3 additional minutes.

Green Beans with Bacon and Beer Glaze

28.03.2014 11 Comments

When I first got into cooking, I was terrified of pronunciation. There is this huge gap between reading a word, knowing it, being able to cook the crap out of it and being about to say it out loud. To other humans. Who have ears.

I spent an entire summer making Galettes. Look at these! So cute and rustic! With a homemade crust! and I can’t talk about them in public because I don’t know if it’s Guh-Lay or Gal-Let. DAMN IT!! (By the way, it’s Gah-Let).

Then came the Great Quinoa Explosion of 2007 and I wasn’t sure about that one either. Jesus Christ why is there so many vowels?! (It’s Keen-Wa, by the way).

So then we all get fancy and stop calling them green beans and the words haricots verts start coming my way. And even after I figured out it’s pronounced "ah-ree-koh-ver" I still can’t bring myself to say it that way, they are French green beans. Because I grew up on a farm and I drink beer.

Green Beans with Bacon and Beer Glaze

Print Recipe

Ingredients

4 slices bacon
2 lbs French green beans
1/2 cup stout
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
salt and pepper

Instructions

In a cast iron skillet cook the bacon until crispy. Remove from pan and allow to cool, then chop.
Add the green beans to the hot skillet, sear until slightly browned.
Add the stout and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook until the beer is reduced and turned into a glaze, about ten minutes.
Sprinkle with smoked paprika. Salt and pepper to taste (depending on how salty the bacon is, more or less salt will be needed).
Sprinkle with chopped bacon.

Brown Ale Farro Risotto with Roasted Mushrooms

24.03.2014 10 Comments

There is one thing I can’t stop doing every time I travel.

And not just when I get to leave the country, but even when I just leave the state. I just need to wander around a market. A locals only place, stocked with whatever people who live in the neighboring streets like to eat. Once while in Costa Rica, in a small and run down town, I found myself in a small market that had just lost all power.

"It happens," the shop owner told me, "We just stay open, hope the light from the door can reach to the back." I made a mental note not to buy any thing perishable, but did leave with 3 bags of coffee and an unidentifiably spice that I later used on roasted vegetables.

Sometimes these little adventures just bring me back to an ingredient that I forgot that I loved. My recent trip to a local market in a neighborhood heavily populated with Italian imigrants lead me to buy a bag of farro. I love this little grain, much more than rice, much more than quinoa and I can’t understand why it isn’t used more often. It doesn’t get mushy the way that rice can, it has a nice almost chewy texture, tons of those vitamins/protein/ health benefits that people seem to like, and much more flavor than other trendy grains.

Plus it cooks up really well with beer. Which means it wins.

Brown Ale Farro Risotto with Roasted Mushrooms

Print Recipe

Servings 4 entre sized portions, 8 side dish portions

Ingredients

For the Risotto:

2 cups 15 wt oz faro
6 cups low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
3 tbs olive oil
½ white onion chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
3 tbs unsalted butter divided
1 cup plus ¼ cup brown ale, divided
¼ cup heavy cream
2 wt oz about ¾ cup fresh grated parmesan cheese

For the Mushrooms:

8 wt oz assorted wild mushrooms
3 tbs olive oil
½ tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Instructions

Add farro to a large bowl. Cover with luke warm water, let stand for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Drain well.
Preheat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Add the mushrooms, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss until well coated. Roast for 15 minutes, stir and roast for an additional ten minutes. Drain the liquid off the mushrooms, set mushrooms aside.
Place the chicken broth in a saucepan and bring to a low simmer, keeping to warm, but not boiling.
In a separate pot, heat the 3 tbs olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until softened, but don’t allow to brown. Add the garlic and cook until you can smell it, about 20 seconds
Stir in the faro and 3 tablespoons butter, cooking until the farro is completely coated with butter and it smells slightly nutty, don’t allow to brown. About 2 minutes.
Add 1 cup of the brown ale and cook until the pan begins to dry, stirring frequently. About 6 minutes.
Add about ½ cup of broth into the farro. Stir frequently until the farro is almost dry, and then add another ½ cup and repeat until the farro is cooked. This process should take about 30 minutes. Don’t leave the risotto while it’s cooking, the farro on the bottom of the pan burns easily. (if you run out of broth, just use hot water the same way you would broth)
Once your risotto is cooked through (taste it to verify that the farro is cooked and not crunchy), turn heat to low and add the cheese, cream, remaining 3 tablespoons butter and ¼ cup brown ale and salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the roasted mushrooms just prior to serving.