craft beer recipes

Stout Mushroom Gravy and Chicken with Beer Biscuits

01.10.2014 9 Comments

Stout Mushroom Gravy and Chicken with Beer Biscuits

I was once friends with a man who was 100 years old. We had a bit of an unlikely friendship, since he had reached retirement age long before I was even born. He was smart, funny, and seems to have no concept of the age gap.

Life was a constant opportunity to make people laugh, and he took full advantage of it.

When he moved to Los Angeles in the 1940’s to get his pneumonia stricken daughters out of the frigid East Coast winters, he was without money, without a job, and without an education. He walked in to a Taxi company headquarters and asked for a job. He had a fantastic driving record and a winning smile, in his book, that’s the only resume he needed. As soon as the hiring manager found out that he had only lived on the West Coast of a week, knew nothing about Los Angeles freeways, and had never driven a cab, he shut down the interview.

“If you don’t know how to get from LAX to the Roosevelt Hotel, how are you going to get the client there??”

Jack responded with this famous smile, “Well if you don’t give me the cab, it’s gonna take a whole lot longer!”

He got the job.

Jack worked as a cab driver, running tourist from the Airport to Hollywood for over 30 years. He was also the very first Employee of the Month for the cab company, and to date, the recipient of the most complimentary letters ever sent to the cab company about any one of their employees.

As I sat with him only a few months before his 101’s birthday, eating biscuits that his nurse had made us, I asked him if he had any regrets.

“Not really. The secret to living 100 years old and not regretting anything is this: Do your best. Don’t hurt anyone. Make friends with anyone who will let you.”

When my job moved me farther from his apartment in the valley, I wasn’t able to visit as often as I used to so I wrote letters, postmarked from my Santa Monica office. One day I got a return letter, addressed to me with flowery handwriting. It was from his 76 year old daughter:

"Jackie,

I’m not sure what it was that formed a friendship between you and my Dad, but I wanted you to know how much he valued you. Your visits brightened his day, even his week. If there was a highlight from his last decade of life, it was the time he spent with you. He spoke of you often, and although my sister and I were at first skeptical of a friendship between him and a girl in her 20’s, it quickly became clear that there was a special bond between you two. I’m so sorry to tell you that he passed away, just a week shy of his 101’s birthday. I do want you to know that we appreciate the time you spent with him in his last year. Thank you."

I cried. And ate biscuits in his honor, his favorite breakfast. To this day, "Do your best. Don’t hurt anyone. Make friends with anyone who will let you” is some of best advice I’ve gotten.

Stout Mushroom Gravy and Chicken with Beer Biscuits

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Ingredients

For the Biscuits:

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 buttermilk
2/3 cup Belgian ale or wheat beer
2 tbs melted butter
¼ tsp course sea salt

For the Chicken and Gravy:

3 tbs butter
2 boneless skinless chicken thighs
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
¼ cup chopped yellow onion
8 wt oz chopped crimini mushrooms
¼ cup flour
1 cup beef stock
¾ cup stout beer
¼ cup heavy cream
1 tbs honey
salt and pepper to taste

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 1 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 6 to 8 biscuits. Place in a baking pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
Brush biscuits with melted butter, sprinkle salt.
Bake at 425 for 10 to 12 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
While the biscuits bake, make the gravy.
Melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium high heat.
Sprinkle the chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Sear on each side until golden brown, remove from the pan, chop (they do not need to be cooked through).
Add the onions, cook until softened, about five minutes. Add the mushrooms, cook until mushrooms are dark brown and soft.
Sprinkle with flour, cook until the flour has turned brown, about 2 minutes.
Add the beef stock and stout. Simmer until thickened. Add the chicken cubes back into the pan, simmer until cooked through.
Add the cream, honey, stir until well combined.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Split the biscuits, fill with gravy.

Pretzel Crusted Chocolate Beer Fudge Cookies

29.09.2014 12 Comments

I’ve never really been the girl with the sweet tooth. I’ve had a meat tooth. A salt tooth. A beer tooth. I could eat my weight in guacamole or tater tots and it takes a small act of God to get me to stop eating sushi. But sweets don’t give me the mad rabid cravings that get me to lose my mind. I love chocolate, and pie and cake, and I’ll always eat dessert if it’s around. I’ll take a small slice of every single pie at the Thanksgiving table, but those late night cravings that come after a few IPA’s are almost always of the salty variety.

But every once in a while something will hit the right note. Like this toffee that I ate the entire batch of before I could share and then lied and said it fell on the ground when really it just fell into my mouth. The perfect combination of sweet and salty will get me every time. A little sea salt sprinkle on a danish before it’s baked, or salted caramel, or candied bacon, it’s hard for me to really fall in love with a dessert that doesn’t kick me some salt. Which is why pretzels seem to make it into my desserts more often than fruit does. Maybe you like this too, after all, chocolate and pretzels go perfectly with beer.

Pretzel Crusted Chocolate Beer Fudge Cookies

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Ingredients

1 cup bread flour
¼ cup cocoa powder
½ tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp espresso powder
¼ cup granulated sugar
10 wt oz about 1 ¾ cups, chopped good quality dark chocolate (60% cocao)
4 tbs unsalted butter cut into cubes
2 tbs vegetable oil
1/2 cup black IPA stout or porter will also work
1 large egg plus 1 yolk
2 cups mini pretzels
2 tbs golden brown sugar

Instructions

In a bowl add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, espresso powder, and sugar, mix until well combined. Set aside
In a microwave safe bowl add the chocolate, the butter and the oil. Microwave on high for 30 seconds, stir and repeat until melted. Don't over heat or the chocolate will seize.
Stir in the beer.
Add the chocolate mixture, egg and yolk to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined, some lumps are OK.
Cover and refrigerate until the dough as has set, about 1 hour and up to 36.
Preheat oven to 350.
Add the pretzels and brown sugar in a food processor. Process until pretzels are broken up but large pieces still remain.
Using a cookie dough scoop, make balls just a bit smaller than golf balls, roll into shape with your hands. Place dough balls into pretzel mixture, press until pretzels are coated.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, add cookie balls
Bake cookies at 350 for 8-10 minutes or until the edges have set but the center is still soft. Cookies will firm up as they cool. Don't over-bake or the cookies will be dry and crumbly.

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.

Porter Caramelized Onion Greek Yogurt Dip: 42 Calories a Serving

02.07.2014 9 Comments

It’s seems a cruel twist of fate that beer-drinking-burgers-dogs-dips-eating season and bikini season line up perfectly. The same time that we load our paper plates with baked beans, slow roasted ribs, chips and creamy dips, is the same part of the year that we shed our clothes and romp in the sunshine in our bikini clad bodies.

I’m a strong advocate for both summer time gluttony and semi-nude public frolicking, I refuse to chose between the two. Although I’m also an advocate for flaunting your post-lunch glow in all it’s splendor, not everyone is quite so brave.

So here we are, bikini/beer/barbecue season in full swing and here I am as the least diet friendly blogger in all of Blogland. Yet, I’m still a girl. A girl who loves beer, has a large collection black bikinis, and not a lot of modesty. I’m trying to find some balance.

Here is my entry for Healthy Appetizer For A Back Yard Party. Although there isn’t a way to strongly argue that beer is healthy, as a replacement for the butter I would normally use to caramelize onions, it’s much lower calories and gives you a great flavor.

Plus you get to say that the healthy dips has beer in it, which is a win.

And it gives you more room for beer in your pint glass.

Porter Caramelized Onion Greek Yogurt Dip: 42 Calories a Serving

Print Recipe

Servings 2 1/2 cups

Ingredients

1 head garlic
1 tbs olive oil
1 sweet white onion
½ cup porter beer
2 cups Greek yogurt
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
¼ cup chopped chives

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425.
Place garlic on a sheet of tin foil, drizzle with 1 tsp olive oil. Fold foil tightly around garlic.
Bake at 425 until garlic head is soft, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven, allow to cool.
In a saucepan over medium heat, add the remaining oil and the onions. Cook until onions have started to soften. Add ¼ cup porter beer, cook over medium/low heat until beer has reduced and pan looks dry, about 20 minutes. Repeat with the remaining ¼ cup porter beer.
Once the onions are a dark amber color and pan looks dry, remove from heat.
Add the Greek yogurt, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper and onions to a food processor. Gently squeeze the garlic until the soft cloves protrude. Add the cloves to the food processor, discard the rest of the head. Process until smooth.
Chill until ready to serve (dip has the best flavor the day after it’s made).
Top with chives prior to serving

Notes

For added flavor (and added calories) and 4 oz cream cheese to the food processor in step 6.

Coconut Cake with Pale Ale Lime Cream Cheese Frosting

27.06.2014 8 Comments

Beer and fruit have a bit of a sordid past. From the ill-advised orange slice served on the side of a hefeweizen, to the cringe inducing Bud Light Lime. Thankfully, plenty of remarkable unions have a sordid pasts. Beer and fruit just needed a few takes to get it right. The current state of beer and fruit, in the hands of remarkable brewers, is exciting.

Craft brewers have pushed the limits of what these two can do, bringing us remarkable examples like Festina Peche from Dogfish Head, and Orange Wheat from Hangar 24. Those brilliant brewers make beer with watermelon, cherries, marionberries, and pretty much everything else they can get their hands on.

It’s evidence of what beer can do, what it’s capable of. Think for a second of the first beer you ever tasted, probably a pale lager poured from a keg out of the back of a pick-up truck. The flavors in that beer were small, a ground floor offering, a beer made to vaguely satiate the masses. Craft beer being made now is being made to get people excited, make us think. Love it or hate it, it’s beer you remember.

It’s why beer and food go so well together. It’s the only alcoholic beverage that’s made with just about any ingredient in that meal on your plate. It was only a matter of time, and dozens of brilliant brewers, before beer and fruit started to make sense. And that was only the begining. You should see what those brewers do with chai, and chocolate, and carrots, and everything else you can throw at them.

Coconut Cake with Pale Ale Lime Cream Cheese Frosting

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Ingredients

For the Cake

4 eggs divided
1 cup butter
1 ½ cups sugar
½ cup full fat coconut milk from can, shaken
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp coconut extract
1 cup pale ale beer
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ cup dried coconut flakes

For the Frosting:

1 ½ cup unsalted butter softened
8 wt oz cream cheese softened
3 cups powdered sugar
3 tbs lime juice
3 tbs pale ale beer
1/2 cup toasted coconut optional

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 .
In the bowl of a stand mixer add the egg whites, reserve the yolks.
Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Remove whites from mixer, add to a medium bowl, chill until ready to use.
In the mixer bowl add the butter and sugar, beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks, beat until well combined.
Add the coconut milk, vanilla extract, coconut extract and beer, beat until well combined.
Lift the mixer heat, sprinkle with flour, baking soda and salt, stir until just combined. Add the egg whites, stir until just combined.
Pour into a greased 9x13 inch pan.
Bake at 350 for 28-32 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool completely.
In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the cream cheese, beat until well combined. Add the powdered sugar and beat until well combined.
While the mixer is running mix in the beer and the lime juice.
Frost the cake with the frosting, chill until ready to serve.
Garnish with toasted coconut just prior to serving, if desired.

Grilled BBQ Beer Chicken and Apricot Flatbreads

18.06.2014 9 Comments

Let’s say you and I get into it over pizza. We hash it out over the best pizza we’ve ever had. We talk about Naples, and LA, and both agree that New York beats Chicago, unless you want a casserole, then Chicago pizza will do.

And then I tell you that the best Ray’s pizza in New York is the one at 4th and Houston, to which (if you’re a New Yorker) you recoiler in horror that I’ve chosen said Ray’s instead of one of the 147 other Ray’s in Manhattan.

We finally just agree to get a beer and pizza and call it a day. Nowhere in our spirited conversation do we mention Seattle. Because the thing about Seattle is that beer is world class, so is the coffee and the produce can’t be beat, but the pizza…

We’ll just talk about the beer and the coffee and the produce and leave talk of the pizza out of it shall we? Similar to a discussion of the best people in the world named Joe wouldn’t include talk of either Buttafuoco or Francis. Let’s just stick to the good stuff.

Of course I have a theory about this. The same water that makes the beer fantastic and coffee legendary isn’t so kind with the pizza dough. But here is the thing about baking your pizza dough with beer, wherever you go in the world, your dough will be the same.

Water is for the weak, switch to beer and your pizza dough will become the stuff of folklore.

It might even be brought up in the New York vs Chicago debate.

Grilled BBQ Beer Chicken and Apricot Flatbreads

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Servings 4 (6-inch) flatbreads

Ingredients

Crust:

1 ½ cups flour
1 1/8 tsp rapid rise yeast
1 tsp sugar
½ cup wheat beer or pale ale
2 tbs oil
½ tsp salt

Chicken:

2 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 cup wheat beer or pale ale
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp smoked paprika
¼ tsp chili powder
¼ tsp cumin
¼ tsp salt
oil for the grill

Topping:

Stout and Sriracha BBQ Sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
¼ tsp cilantro chopped
2 apricots thinly sliced
¼ cup red onion chopped

Instructions

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, add the flour, yeast and sugar. Mix until combined.
In a microwave safe bowl add the beer. Microwave on high for 20 seconds, test temperature with a cooking thermometer and repeat until temperature reaches between 120 and 125 degrees Fahrenheit.
Add the beer to the stand mixer and mix on medium speed. Once most of the dough has been moistened, add the oil and salt while the mixer is still running.
Turn speed to high and beat until dough is smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.
Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl, tightly wrap with plastic wrap. Allow to sit in a warm room until doubled in size, about 45 to 60 minutes.
Remove from bowl and add to a lightly floured surface. Knead several times, cut into 4 equal sized pieces. Form each piece into 6 inch circles.
While the dough is rising, make the chicken. Place the chicken in a bowl, cover with 1 cup beer. Chill for 30 to 60 minutes. Remove from beer, rinse and pat dry.
Preheat the grill.
In a small bowl combine the onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, chili powder, cumin and salt.
Sprinkle chicken on all sides with spice mixture.
Grill chicken until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.
Remove from grill, slice.
Oil the grill (alternately, you can oil the flatbreads). Grill one side of the flatbread until grill marks appear, about 2 minutes, flip and very lightly grill the other side, about 30 seconds, remove from grill. Place the flatbreads on a flat surface with the well grilled side facing up. Top with barbeque sauce, cheese, chicken, sliced apricots, cilantro, and onions. Place back on the grill, close over, cook until cheese has melted.

My recipe for Stout & Sriracha BBQ Sauce, you have to make it.

Blackberry Basil Belgian Ale Milkshake

16.06.2014 13 Comments

I’m going to confess to you the least foodie thing I’ve ever done.

A few years ago I was in Spain, I’d missed my flight out of Madrid because of an ill-timed visit to the Prado, some churros, and a bullfighting poster and I was stuck for an indefinite amount of time. I wanted some comfort food.

I wanted something familiar to help me deal with the fact that I was stuck half way across the world, dealing with an airline that was refusing to help, and all the budget hotels and hostels were sold out for the night. So I went to McDonald’s.

I was in one of the most culinary rich countries in the world and I went right past all those great markets and family run cafes right to the American capital of sub-mediocre food to order a milkshake and some french fries.

And it worked. It was bland, and salty and creamy and reminded me of my processed food childhood and made me feel like everything was going to be OK. I’m not proud of myself, I could have had cured meats and cheese and fresh bread.

But I don’t care. Sometimes, you just need a milkshake.

Blackberry Basil Belgian Ale Milkshake

Print Recipe

Servings 2 servings

Ingredients

3 cups vanilla ice cream
1 cup belgain ale
5 leaves basil chopped
1 cup blackberries

Instructions

Put all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth.

Jalapeno Cornbread Beer Bread Muffins with Salted Beer Honey Butter

13.06.2014 14 Comments

Jalapeno Cornbread Beer Bread Muffins, cooking with beer

There’s a contradictory element to cornbread.

It’s enough to be a meal all on it’s own, especially when you eat 4 of them, with a beer and some honey butter, but you miss the rest. You miss the ribs, and the greens, and the coleslaw and the mac n cheese and the fried chicken. You miss all those things that cornbread always sits beside on the plate. Maybe it’s just that cornbread is a social food, it just goes with everything. Or maybe it’s because your cornbread memories are accompanied by other comforting good-time food.

But either way, it’s a food that seems to be lonely all by itself. So you should probably make some beer fried chicken and some beer and bacon mac n cheese, maybe some stout BBQ sauce ribs while you’re at it.

Or just eat 4 of them with a beer and call it day.

Jalapeno Cornbread Beer Bread Muffins with Salted Beer Honey Butter

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Ingredients

For the muffins

1 1/4 cups cornmeal
3/4 cup flour
3 jalapenos chopped (remove seeds for a lower heat level)
1 ear of corn grilled (leftover grilled corn works perfect)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
¾ cup melted butter
¾ cup wheat beer
2 eggs
3 tbs vegetable oil

for the butter:

½ cup butter
2 tbs wheat beer
1 tbs honey
1 tsp Maldon salt

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400.
In a large bowl stir together the cornmeal, flour, jalapenos, kernels cut off the cob of corn, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
Make a well in the center.
Add the melted butter, beer, eggs and vegetable oil, stir until jut combined.
Scoop into the wells of a muffin tin that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
Bake at 400 until lightly browned and top spring back when touched, about 12 to 15 minutes. Allow to cool.
In a stand mixer, beat the butter with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Slowly add the beer and honey, mix until well combined, stir in the salt.
Scrape the butter onto a sheet of plastic wrap, roll into a log, refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes.
Serve the cornbread with butter.

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

Print Recipe

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.

Porter Black Bean Dip

02.06.2014 11 Comments

I’ve been told that a writer is no greater than the sum of their experiences.

Experiences, those I’ve got, more than most. More than I’ll ever admit to. But are the ones I’ve accumulated the right inlay for the foundation of the life I want? I was never anyones high school sweetheart, but I was the mysterious girl at an Italian hotel. I’m not sure I’ve been anyone’s best friend, but I was the girl drinking beer at Elton Johns birthday party. I’ve never made cookies with my grandmother but I did learn to make a noodle kugel from a 90-year-old Holocaust survivor. I’ve never been to Disney World, but I’ve taken a taxi ride to feed monkeys in Middle Atlas. I’ll never be the person who works at the same company for 20 years, but I have taught anger management skills to gang members in South Central Los Angeles.

Are these the experiences that I’ll be glad I’ve accumulated? Are they the right ones because they’re more rare? Am I missing out on the beauty of a more traditional life? I’m not sure.

But I know that I have a gypsy soul that likes to wander, and doesn’t gravitate towards convention.

Porter Black Bean Dip

Print Recipe

Ingredients

2 15 wt oz cans black beans, rinsed and drained
½ cup 4 wt oz cream cheese
2/3 cup smoked porter beer
½ cup cilantro plus additional for garnish
3 jalapenos chopped
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp cumin
½ tsp smoked paprika
salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup cotija cheese

Instructions

In a food processor add the beans, cream cheese, porter, cilantro, jalapenos, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin and smoked paprika. Process until smooth.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Pour into a serving bowl, top with cotija cheese and cilantro.
Can be served warm or at room temperature.

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

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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.

Orange Saison Sour Cream Ice Cream

16.05.2014 7 Comments

You need to know about Saisons.

One of my favorite summer beer styles, it’s crisp, fruity, nice carbonation and great spice. It’s prefect for those summer cookouts, it pairs well with everything from potato salad to ribs. Saisons is a style that was born out of a farm house in Belgium, and lets be honest nothing bad can ever start in a farmhouse in Belgium, it was made for consumption during the summer months. Maybe it’s just a coincidence that it also goes incredibly well with ice cream, or maybe the Belgian just knew what they were doing when they invented the perfect summer beer. It’s a great one to try if you’re new to craft beer, and after a near beer extinction, it’s back in a big way. Saisons are an easy style to find these days, and prefect for those of your friends that don’t think they like craft beer.

For this ice cream, I need an assertive saison, one that has bold flavors and good kick of spice. Of course, Stone never disappoints when you’re looking for a beer full of flavor and this Stone Saison was the perfect man for the job, the big flavors can stand up to sour cream and orange and hold their own. But I’m sure you’re not surprised, no one ever accused stone of being subtle.

Orange Saison Sour Cream Ice Cream

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Prep Time 20

Cook Time 2 20

Total Time 2 40

Ingredients

1 cup sour cream
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup sugar
½ tsp salt
¾ cup Saison beer
2 tbs cornstarch
3 tbs fresh orange juice
1 tbs orange zest

Instructions

Put all ingredients in a blender, blend until smooth.
Churn in an ice cream maker according to manufactures specifications until a soft serve consistency (about 15 minutes in a KitchenAid ice cream maker).
Pour into an air-tight container, freeze until set, about 2 hours.

Notes

Since the beer isn't cooked, the alcohol is still alive and well, be careful who you serve this too, it's not appropriate for children.

Beer Crepes with Beer Caramelized Apples

12.05.2014 5 Comments

Let’s just say that you want to dive into the world of craft beer. Or even that you’re curious enough that you just want to know a bit more. Or maybe you’re just as much of a geek as I am and you just like to know stuff.

Let’s also assume that you’re starting with little more knowledge than knowing what IPA stands for and that Guinness is a stout. Or maybe less.

I was there once, we all were. No one is born with a head full of beer knowledge, and unlike other adult beverages, very few people were born into the world of beer. People are born into vineyards, or distilleries, but very few are born into breweries. Most of us start out knowing nothing, wondering what’s past the pale macro lager, dabbling in craft beer, and then wondering why it’s so much better than that stuff we chugged out of kegs in college. We seek out the knowledge, and most of us self educate. So, where do you start?

My picks for the best introduction to craft beer books, great for the beer novice, or even those who claim Beer Geek status:

The Naked Pint: An Unadulterated Guide to Craft Beer, By Christina Perozzi, Hallie Beaune*

The Brewmaster’s Table ,By Garrett Oliver*

The Oxford Companion to Beer, By Garrett Oliver

The Complete Beer Course, By Joshua M. Bernstein

Tasting Beer: An Insider’s Guide to the World’s Greatest Drink, By Randy Mosher

Beer Pairing: The Essential Guide from the Pairing Pros, by Julia Herz and Gwen Conley

*two personal favorites of mine

If you know a great introduction to craft beer book let me know in the comments section.

Beer Crepes with Beer Caramelized Apples

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Ingredients

For the Crepes:

2 large eggs
3/4 cup cream ale pale ale or wheat beer
½ cup whole milk
1 cup flour
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbs melted butter plus additional for pan
pinch salt

For the apples:

5 tbs butter
1 lbs about 3 granny smith apples, peeled, cores and thinly sliced
1/3 cup brown sugar
½ tsp cinnamon Vietnamese cinnamon preferred
pinch salt
¼ cup cream ale pale ale or wheat beer

Instructions

Put all the crepe ingredients in a blender, blend until combined. Put the batter in the fridge for one hour and up to 12 (can be made the night before).
To make the apples melt the butter in a pan over medium heat. Add the apples, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon. Cook until the apples have softened. Add the beer and simmer until the liquid has thickened to a syrup, set aside.
In a 10 inch non-stick skillet melt 1 tablespoon butter.
Add about ¼ cup batter, swirl the pan to spread the batter into a thin circle.
Cook over medium high heat until the top is dry. Flip the crepe using a spatula, cook until the underside is golden brown. Continue until all batter is used.
Fill the crepes with apples, serve warm.

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

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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.

Strawberry Lemonade Beer Pound Cake

05.05.2014 17 Comments

When you’re a kid, there are monsters in the closet. Monsters that terrify you, chill your blood and ice your bones. You don’t know they aren’t real, because to you they exist in a way that’s more real than death and taxes.

When we grow up the monsters don’t leave our lives, they just change shape. They come in scarier, bigger forms that exist outside our closets. Conversations that need to be had, admissions that need to see light, relationships that need to end. And what we often can’t see is that the monster is bigger when it’s in the dark, it can only control us if it stays hidden. Once we unleash the beast, and face his teeth it’s often that he’s much smaller than we would have thought. More often than not, his power isn’t what we’d imagined.

And now we have space for all those things the monster would have eaten up. I’ve faced some recently. I’ve found courage. Not without tears, not without consequence, but in a way that feels like I am finally able to figure out what I was really scared of all along.

And it wasn’t quite the monster I’d imagined.

Strawberry Lemonade Beer Pound Cake

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Ingredients

For the cake:

1 cup butter
2 ½ cups sugar
6 eggs
¼ cup canola oil
½ cup full fat sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cups cake flour
2 cups all purpose flour
2 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup wheat beer
1 cup chopped fresh strawberries

For Moist Cake Infuser:

¼ cup white sugar
2 tbs very hot water or beer
2 tbs lemon juice

For the Icing:

4 cups powdered sugar
3 tbs lemon juice
¼ cup beer or lemon juice

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350.
In a bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter and sugar until well combined. While the mixer is running add the eggs, one at a time, scraping the bottom of the bowl between additions.
Add the canola oil, sour cream, and vanilla extract, beat until well combined.
In a medium bowl sift together both kinds of flour, baking powder, and salt.
In a small bowl add the beer and lemon juice.
Alternating between the dry ingredients and the beer, slowly add both to the mixer, a little at a time until all ingredients are just combined.
Add the strawberries, stir until incorporated.
Grease and flour two large (1.5 qt) loaf pans.
Divide batter evenly between pans.
Bake at 350 until golden brown and top springs back when lightly touched, about 28-32 minutes.
Remove from oven, allow to cool for about ten minutes.
In a small bowl stir together the hot water and ¼ cup sugar until the sugar has dissolved. If the sugar doesn’t dissolve, microwave for 20 seconds. Stir in the lemon juice.
Poke a dozen small holes in each loaf with a long wooden skewer. Drizzle the warm lemon simple syrup over both loafs (you can also brush on with a pastry brush).
Allow to sit in the pans until cooled, about 2 hours. Remove from pans and refrigerated.
Stir together all icing ingredients. Pour over cakes, chill until ready to serve.

Yogurt and Beer Marinated Chicken Skewers

21.04.2014 15 Comments

I’ve decided that the grill is officially open. Regardless of the weather, regardless of the time constraints, regardless of the lack of Meats on Sticks occasions in my near future. The grill needs to be open. Maybe it’s the catastrophic levels of stress in my life right now, maybe it’s my severe vitamin D deficiency since leaving Southern California, or maybe the grill should never be closed at all.

There’s a therapeutic quality to the first grilled food of the season. That delicious char you’d almost forgotten about. Cooking in the great wide open with sun on your face, beer in one hand, ridiculously oversized tongs in the other. And the realization that winter has passed. It all adds up to one of the most satisfying meals of the year.

Although I am considering not closing the grill at all next winter, but I’ll report back to you once the snow hits.

Yogurt and Beer Marinated Chicken Skewers

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Ingredients

1 cup plain Greek yogurt
½ cup pale ale
1 tsp dried crushed red peppers
1 ½ tsp sweet smoked paprika or 1 tsp sweet and ½ tsp smoked paprika
2 tbs tomato paste
2 tsp kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 large garlic cloves grated with a microplane
2 1/4 pounds skinless boneless chicken thighs or breast, cut into cubes
vegetable oil for the grill
2 tbs chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

In a large bowl stir together the yogurt, beer, red pepper, paprika, tomato paste, salt, pepper, and garlic. Add the chicken cubes, stir until fully submerged and coated. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 24.
Preheat grill to medium high.
Remove chicken from marinate and thread onto metal skewers (or presoaked wood skewers), discard marinade.
Brush the grill with oil to prevent sticking.
Grill the chicken skewers on each side until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.
Sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving, if desired.

Miniature Coffee Stout Cinnamon Rolls

14.04.2014 8 Comments

No matter how great beer is in meat recipes, bread will always be it’s culinary kindred spirit. Because the heart and soul of bread and beer is the same: yeast. The beast that gives us bread, also gives us beer. A few months ago I was interviewing a brewer at an LA brewery who told me how he really feels about his job, "I don’t work for the brewery, I work for the yeast."

It might sound intimidating, but really, nothing will work harder for you in the kitchen than yeast. It’s the most active ingredient you’ll ever work with, it becomes a cooking partner if you can just follow it’s rules and it will do more for your bread than you do.

And there is something about watching yeast dough rise, smelling it bake in your kitchen, and tasting it fresh from the oven that just has healing powers. Just follow the simple steps: make sure the yeast hasn’t expired, make sure the temperate is correct (use a cooking thermometer), and make sure your kitchen isn’t too cold, and you’ll be fine. You’re yeast will work for you to make a gorgeous loaf.

Then theres the beer, that has it’s own yeast, and it’s made from bread like ingredients. It’s a bread makers dream when it comes to baking the perfect batch of cinnamon rolls. You’ll get more than what you’ve worked for, and a batch of unforgettable rolls that are more than worth the effort they took. Plus you’ll be able to serve beer for breakfast, and that’s a dream all on it’s own.

Miniature Coffee Stout Cinnamon Rolls

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Ingredients

For the Dough:

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 packets rapid rise yeast
1/4 cup dry milk powder
4 tbs butter
1/4 cup cream
¾ cup coffee stout
2 large egg yolk room temperature
½ tsp salt

For the Filling:

1/2 cup butter softened
½ cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
2 tbs cinnamon

For the Frosting:

8 oz cream cheese
½ cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
¼ cup Coffee Stout

Instructions

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook add the flour, sugar, rapid rise yeast (do not use regular dry active yeast), and dry milk powder. Stir to combine.
In a microwave safe bowl, melt the butter. Add the cream and stout, microwave for 15 seconds, test temperature and repeat until the temperature of the liquid reaches between 120 and 125 degrees.
Add liquid to the mixer and stir until incorporated.
Add the egg yolk and salt, mix on medium high speed until dough comes together and gathers around the blade.
Place the dough in a lightly oiled large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit in a warm room until doubled in size, 1 ½ to 2 hours.
On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough to an approximately 12 inch by 16 inch rectangle.
In a bowl stir together the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
Spread the cinnamon-sugar butter evenly over the dough. Cut the dough in half, lengthwise.
Starting at the long end, roll each half into a tight log.
Cut each log into 1-inch rolls, place cut side up in a mini muffin tin (or tightly into a baking dish) that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Cover and allow to rise until doubled, about 45 minutes (to make ahead, the second rise can take place over 12 hours in a refrigerator. Remove from fridge and allow to come to room temperature the following day prior baking).
Heat oven to 350. Bake until golden brown, about 22-25 minutes.
To make the frosting, beat the softened butter and softened cream cheese until well combined and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and mix until well combined. Add the beer and mix until light and fluffy. Spread frosting on rolls prior to serving.

Lime Sugared Blackberry and Coconut Pale Ale Pastry Cream Tart

11.04.2014 15 Comments

When I was a kid I thought you grew up, picked a life and that’s were you sat. You stayed in this grown-up place, and that was it. You’d found your grown-up life and you were done.

But my grown-up life seems to go through a comprehensive metamorphosis every few years. New city, new job, new people. For a natural-born gypsy with the soul of a wanderer, this isn’t a bad thing. Experiences are satisfying and change can be cleansing.

But then there are times when it seems catastrophically difficult, even when it’s necessary. Like cleaning out road rash so the wounds of a bike crash will heal. Sometimes it’s the cleaning that hurts more than the crash. But it’s part of the process, part of the evolution, part of necessity of growth that keeps us from the stagnation that will kill our souls.

Growth, change, healing, just because it hurts doesn’t mean it isn’t the right path. Keep moving forward, keep breathing, know that it isn’t selfish to fight for your own happiness. Know that it’s hard because it’s worth it.

These are the days I bake. The days I cover fruit in sugar. The days I open a beer, grab a friend and take stock of the things I’m truly grateful for. Because no matter what is on the the hard list, the good list can always be longer.

Lime Sugared Blackberry and Coconut Pale Ale Pastry Cream Tart

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Ingredients

For the Tart Crust:

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
½ cup unsalted butter cut into cubes
1 egg yolk
¼ cup ice cold beer
1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the Coconut Pastry Cream:

1 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup full fat coconut milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 egg yolks
1/3 cup Saison beer or Hefeweizen
1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch

For the Blackberries:

1 lbs black berries
½ cup granulated sugar
Zest from one large lime about 2 tbs

Instructions

Add ¾ cups of flour, salt and sugar to a food processor, pulse to combine. Add the butter and egg yolk, 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 a long sheets of plastic wrap on a flat surface.
Place the dough onto the plastic wrap, form into flat disks.
Wrap disk tightly in plastic wrap, chill for 1 hour and up to 3 days.
Preheat the oven to 350.
Roll the tart dough into an even circle on a lightly floured surface. Line a tart pan with the crust. Prick bottom of the tart with a fork several times, adding pie weights if desired.
Bake at 350 until lightly golden brown, about 15-18 minutes. Allow to cool.
In a sauce pan off heat add the milk, cream, coconut milk, vanilla, egg yolks, Saison, sugar and cornstarch, whisk until well combined. Add to medium heat, whisk until thickened, about 10 minutes.
Pour pastry cream into crust. Chill until set and cooled, about 3 hours.
Add the sugar and lime zest to a food processor, process until all the lime oils and sugars have been well combined, about 3 minutes (this can be done days or even weeks in advance, keep in an air tight container until ready to use.)
Just prior to serving, add the blackberries to a bowl, pour the sugar over the berries, toss until well well coated.
Top tart with the berries prior to serving.