recipe

Chicken in Creamy Mushroom Beer Sauce

 

 

Today is November 6th, Election Day.

As Americans spend the day thinking of little else, wedged firmly between Barack and a hard place, I wanted to give you a little motivation to get through this day.

We will soon find ourselves at the end of this exhausting Election Season, our feelings of separatism from those who disagree with us will fade. We will find Facebook to be a friendlier place, and those Someecards of a political nature will ebb.

Regardless of the outcome, you have a reason to grab your favorite beer. Either in celebration of your guy winning the mad race to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, or as a way to console yourself over the fact that the other guy came out ahead.

Given that you may be too distracted to spend all that much time in the kitchen tonight, this meal only takes about 20 minutes.

And, I’m pretty certain it has bipartisan support.

For this recipes, I like a brown ale, a blonde, a pale or a wheat beer. Be aware that using an IPA will kick up the beer flavor considerably and may be too bitter in the end.

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Chicken in Creamy Mushroom Beer Sauce

Ingredients

  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken thigh fillets
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 3 tbs butter
  • 1/4 cup onions, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 5 oz wild mushrooms, such as Shiitake (not dried)
  • 1/2 cup beer
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1/3 cup shredded parmesan
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. In a pan over medium high heat, melt the butter. Sprinkle chicken thighs on all sides with salt and pepper. Add chicken to the pan and cook on both sides until browned, about 4 minutes per side. Remove chicken from pan.
  2. Add onions and saute until soft and translucent, about 3 minutes.
  3. Add garlic and mushrooms, cook until mushrooms are soft and have darkened, about 5 minutes.
  4. Add the beer, scraping the bottom to deglaze the pan.
  5. Reduce heat to medium, add the cream and stir.
  6. Add half of the cheese, stir until melted. Add the remaining half, stir until combined.
  7. Add the chicken and allow to cook until sauce has thickened, about 5 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste, serve over rice or pasta.
http://thebeeroness.com/2012/11/06/chicken-in-creamy-mushroom-beer-sauce/

 

 

Mac And Beer Cheese Soup

 

I have a confession to make. Before starting this blog, I tried to make beer cheese soup and failed. I was baffled, at first, but figured out that a combination of my lack of patience (manifesting itself in my cheese dumping rather than slow adding) and a furious boil, resulted in a sloppy mess.

Second confession of the day (just call yourself a priest, and I’ll say a few Hail Mary’s on my way out) is that even though I love this recipe, I think I may love the photos more. Because right after I took them I was reminded via ping of my first post and how on their best day, those photos are hideously below average. I’ve worked really hard to bring my photography up to an acceptable standard and these photos reminded me of how my work is paying off.

Third confession, I won a state-wide Cook-Off on Friday. Ok, not really a confession, but I’m excited, so I thought I would share.

Fourth confession, I still have  a crush on Luke Perry. And Val Kilmer’s character in Real Genius. Looks like I went one confession too far.

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Mac And Beer Cheese Soup

Note: Cheese sauce separates easily if the mixture is brought to a boil, or if pre shredded cheese is used. If the mixture does separates, try to puree the cheese sauce with a hand blender before you add the noodles.

Ingredients

  • 3 tbs olive oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 fresh jalapeno, stemmed, seeded and chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 4 tbs butter
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1 tbs corn starch
  • 12 ounces Hefeweizen
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 2 cups cheddar cheese (thinly grated, don't use pre shredded)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 1/2 cups elbow macaroni noodles

Directions

  1. In a large pot heat the olive oil. Add the onions and jalapenos, cook until softened, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds.
  2. Add the butter stir until melted.
  3. Sprinkle the flour and corn starch on top of the melted butter and whisk until combined.
  4. Add the beer, broth and cream bring to a low simmer.
  5. 1/4 a cup at at time, add the cheese and stir until completely melted before adding more (do not boil or cheese will separate). Repeat until all the cheese is incorporated into the soup.
  6. Add the salt, pepper, smoked paprika and stir to combine.
  7. Add the macaroni noodles and cook until noodles are al dente.
  8. Add additional beer or broth to thin to desired consistency.
http://thebeeroness.com/2012/09/11/mac-and-beer-cheese-soup/

Homemade Beer Marinara From Scratch

 

The first time I made marinara was a complete accident.

Just a few months after I nearly accidentally graduated college, I got a job working with teenage gang members in South Central Los Angeles. You are free to laugh at the idea of a very white girl, who grew up on a farm in Eastern Washington, working in South Central. With gang kids.

I sat on one side of a light oak dining table in a small Group Home, a transitional respite for kids who had been released from jail but who were still on probation, to talk with Dominick. He was from a rough area of Compton, and had found his way to the seat across from me via a GTA charge and a hot temper. But to me, he was a baby faced 14-year-old who secretly liked Whitney Houston. This was our first meeting, and part of my job was to compile a list of his “Triggers.” Anything that made him angry enough to lash out, to do something that could land his ass back in jail. We both had the same goal: get him back home. Most kids, in my short 4 months of experience all had a very similar trigger. This usually centered around someone “talking shit” about them, their mom, or their crew. Maybe a handful of other miscellaneous and understandable offenses.

When I asked Dominick what triggered him, what drove him to a rage that welled up in him a feeling of violence that once caused him to send a chair on a journey through a class room window, his face fell flat.

“What?” I was so curious, “What makes you that mad?”

He took a deep breath and lowered his voice, “When those mother fuckin’ girls make human pyramids.”

I laughed so hard I felt bad about it. His young face broke open into a sweet smile, “Jackie, I’m not gonna lie..” He started to giggle, “Pisses me the fuck off, I have no idea why. I want to push those chicks right over.”

Fair enough. My job was to teach him how to deal with his anger, no matter what triggered it.

He wanted to learn how to cook, and he wanted to make Spaghetti. He thought that cooking might help him channel his anger. We didn’t have any sauce, but his group home staff had just come into ownership of 10 pounds of tomatoes, so we made do.

Because of Dominick, and his human pyramid hating ways, I will always love a good, homemade, can free, marinara.

Homemade Beer Marinara From Scratch

3 lbs tomatoes

1 large head of garlic

1 tbs olive oil, plus 2 additional tbs, divided

1 large white onion, chopped

1 large carrot, peeled and diced

16 ounces wheat beer (Golden Road Hefeweizen is a great choice)

1/3 cup chopped basil leaves

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 400.

Rub the head of garlic until about half of the papery white skin comes off. Cut a small amount of the tip off the head of the garlic, just enough to expose all of the cloves. Place on a small piece of aluminum foil and drizzle with about 1 tbs of olive oil. Fold the foil tightly around the garlic, place on a baking sheet. Cut the tomatoes into quarters and place them on the baking sheet along with the garlic packet.

Roast the tomatoes and the garlic at 400 for 20-30 minutes or until the tomatoes are soft and the skin starts to peel back from the flesh. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

The skin of the tomatoes should be very easy to remove at this point, peel the skin off the tomatoes and discard. Place a fine mesh sieve or strainer over a bowl. Scoop the seeds into the strainer and place the remaining part of the peeled and seeded tomato into a bowl, repeat until all of the tomatoes have been seeded. Allow the seeds to continue to drain while you make the rest of the sauce.

In a pot over medium high heat, add 2 tbs olive oil. Add the onions and carrots, sauté until carrots are soft and onions are translucent. Add the beer, seeded and peeled tomatoes and whatever juice has accumulated in the bowl beneath the tomato seeds. Discard the seeds. Remove the head of garlic from the foil packet and squeeze the soft head until the cloves comes out and into the sauce. Add the salt, pepper and basil.

Reduce heat to maintain a low simmer, allow to cook and reduce until thickened, about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

If you want a smoother sauce, add to a food processor and process until smooth.

Use this with my Homemade Beer Ricotta to make a beer infused Lasagna or stuffed Rigatoni.

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Drunken Strawberry Tart with Beer Lemon Curd

Being wrapped in a world filled with food people, the lovers, academics and fanatics, I’ve often lost my footing. Forgotten the simple pleasures of small, honest meals for the sake of a journey towards the creation of an epic recipe. While surrounding myself with people who strive to reinvent the world of food as we know,  I’ve been so entranced that I’ve stepped away from the core of who I am and the food I fell in love with.

I am not a moderist cook.

I am not a chef.

I may never create an epic recipe.

I am OK with that.

It was through a process, not of self discovery but of self remembrance, that stumbled upon a memory that I had almost lost within my catalogue of food experiences. Under the thousand dollar dinners, PR events, celebrity chefs, and world renowned restaurants was a small Italian city, and a home cooked meal.

Years ago, on what turned out to be a 16 hour layover, I was stuck in Pescara Italy. A girl about my age, just past 21, took pity on a broke and confused American in her tiny local airport and asked if she could show her town to me. It began with a home cooked meal, from her own mothers hands on a rickety folding table in her living room, the only place in the small apartment that would accommodate us all. Homemade bread, a small green salad, smashed peas and a roasted chicken.

For dessert was a lemon tart. Simple, beautiful and tangy, made by the hands of a woman who didn’t speak a word of English, but who took time to cook for me even though we would never have the ability to have a conversation, and I could never properly thank her. This is the food that I fell in love with, and I am reminding myself to stay true to that.

I’ve done my best to make the beer infused version of the tart that was made for me in Pescara, and chose a beer that is nearly as fascinating to me. Cooney Island Lager has flavors that remind me a great meal made in spring, orange, citrus, bread and apples.

If you can’t find this beer, look for a low hop beer with notes of citrus, tropical fruits and bread.

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Drunken Strawberry Tart with Beer Lemon Curd

Ingredients

    For the tart crust:
  • 1 1/4 cups of flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 stick of unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
  • 3-5 tbs ice cold water
    • For the curd:
  • 1 tbs lemon zest
  • 2 whole eggs plus six yolks
  • 1 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (about 6 large lemons)
  • ½ cup beer
  • 2 tbs corn starch
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, cut into cubes
    • For the Strawberries
  • 3 cups strawberries
  • ½ cup beer
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
    • For the Whipped Cream
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 2 tbs beer
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions

  1. In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Pulse to combine. Add the cubes of butter and process until combined, about 1-2 minutes. Your dough should resemble course meal.
  2. Start with 3 tbs of water, pulse until combined. If the crust doesn’t hold together add more water, a bit at a time, until it does.
  3. Dump the dough into a 4 inch deep, 9 inch wide tart pan with a remove-able bottom (you can also use a pie pan). Starting with the sides, form the crust inside the pan, trying your best to make it all as even as possible. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for a least 3 hours.
  4. Preheat oven to 375.
  5. Place a sheet of parchment paper inside your tart and fill with pie weights. If you don’t have any, dried beans work great.
  6. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until your tart is a light golden brown. Remove from oven, allow to cool slightly. remove pie weights.
  7. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, beer, sugar, corn starch, whole eggs and yolks to a bowl and whisk until well combined. Add the lemon mixture to a pan over medium/low heat along with the butter. Whisk until thickened, about 10 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature.
  8. Add the curd to the crust and chill until set, about 4 hours.
  9. Just prior to serving add the berries to a shallow bowl of pie pan and cover with 1/2 cup beer. Allow to stand at room temperature for 15-20 minutes. Drain and return to bowl with the sugar, stir to combine.
  10. Add all of the whipped cream ingredients to a stand mixer and mix on high until soft peaks form, about 4 minutes.
  11. Top tart with berries and whipped cream just prior to serving.
http://thebeeroness.com/2012/06/12/drunken-strawberry-tart-with-beer-lemon-curd/

IPA Marinated Citrus Pork Chops With Peach Poblano Salsa

A really well crafted IPA is a beautiful thing,but this is the style that is most often poorly done. The art of balancing a  hop forward beer delicately with its subtle back notes is an art that only a few persistent pros seem to be able to manage. The well crafted, well balanced IPA is an incredible art, that takes the dedication of a thoughtful and persistent brewer to really ace.

 I present to you Stone Ruination. It is a Masters level education on how to do the IPA right. Seek it out if you adore the Indian Pale Ale, or even if you tend to avoid it. That’s how you make an IPA.

IPA Marinated Citrus Pork Chops With Peach Poblano Salsa

For the Pork Chops:

1 cup IPA (Stone Ruination Preferred)

1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 tsp salt

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp agave

1/2 tsp Sriracha

4 bone-in pork chops (about 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick)

3 tbs olive oil (plus additional if needed)

For the Salsa:

1 cup chopped fresh yellow peaches (about 1 large peach)

1 cup chopped red bell peppers, stem and seeds removed (about 1 medium sided pepper)

2/3 cup chopped poblano pepper, stem and seeds removed (about 1 large pepper)

2/3 cup chopped red onion (about 1/2 of 1 large onion)

1/4 cup chopped green onion

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbs IPA

1/4 tsp chili powder (add more for a spicier salsa)

 

In a large bowl or baking dish, combine the IPA, lemon juice, salt, agave, garlic and srirach, stir to combine. Add the pork chops, turning to coat. Place the bowl (or baking dish) in the refrigerator and allow to marinate for 30 minutes.

Add all of the salsa ingredients to a bowl and toss to combine.

In a pan over medium high heat, add the olive oil and allow to get hot but not smoking. Add the pork chops, cooking one or two at a time, don’t crowd the pan. Cook on each side for 3-4 minutes. You want them to still have a slight hint of pink still in the center, pork chops go from undercooked to overcooked really quickly, so keep a close eye on them.

Plate, and top with salsa. You will have more than enough salsa for the chops, serve the excess in a bowl with chips.

Beer Braised Pulled Pork

There is nothing new about braising with beer. In fact,  it should be the standard. Beer, as with all alcohol, is a natural meat tenderizer but it’s the flavors of the beer that make for braise meat that has a truly special taste. Craft brews are known for more intense flavor profiles and will always produce a vastly superior product when cooking than a macro brew. Craft beer is truly that, a craft. I have had a soft spot for Rogue brewery for years. Rogue is beer lovers beer, and dedicated to the art of the craft. Actual real life people making really good beer. If you live on the West Coast, this Portland Oregon brewery’s beer is probably at your local grocery store. It’s one of the few great craft beers that I have a very easy time getting my hands on.

What does braising mean? What a good question. Braising just means to sear meat at a very high heat and then cook it slowly at a low heat until cooked through. I used another amazing craft beer for this recipe. Rogue’s Chipolte Ale:

 

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Beer Braised Pulled Pork

Ingredients

  • 1 tbs kosher salt
  • 2 tbs brown sugar
  • 1 tbs onion powder
  • 1 tbs chili powder
  • 1 tbs ground cumin
  • 1 tbs black pepper
  • 2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 2 tsp dry mustard powder
  • 3.5 lb Pork butt (It’s acctually the pigs shoulder, and sometimes called that. The actual butt is called Ham.)
  • 6 cloves of garlic, peeled
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 3 cups Chipotle ale, or smoked porter (I used Rogue’s Chipotle Ale)

Directions

  1. In a small bowl stir together the salt, brown sugar onion powder, chili powder, cumin, pepper, smoked paprika and mustard powder together until combined, set aside.
  2. Take out your pork and stab 6, 2 inch deep holes fairly evenly spaced through the meat. Push a clove of garlic into each hole until no longer visible.
  3. Rub the entire surface of the meat with the spice mixture, using it all.
  4. In a large Dutch oven, heat the olive oil until very hot. Sear all surfaces of the meat, even the sides, until browned. The entire process will probably take about 10-15 minutes.Pour the beer over the meat, cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours, turning the meat over about every 30 minutes, until the meat is tender and falling apart.
  5. Once the meat is finished, remove from the pot and allow to cool. Use two forks to shred into pieces. Return to the braising liquid and allow to simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove the meat from the pot and discard the liquid.
http://thebeeroness.com/2011/09/24/beer-braised-pulled-pork/

 

 

I used this meat in three ways, on italian bread as a delicious sandwich, over rice and beans, and in a burrito. Other ideas for pulled pork include:

Pulled pork nachos

Pulled pork sliders

Pulled pork tacos

Pulled pork enchiladas

Pulled pork flatbread pizza

Pulled pork hand pies

Seriously, you could go all Bubba Gump about this and it would be endless. There is no shortage of uses for Pulled Pork.

 


Cheddar Beer Biscuits

When you go about baking biscuits, beer is a great addition. Not only because beer is fantastic will every possible edible substance, but because the the carbonation is an amazing leavening agent that lends itself well to culinary beer usage.

For this recipe I used a Orange Wheat beer from Hangar 24, a Southern California based brewery. The beer was beautiful and the flavors where perfect for these biscuits. When I pick up a beer with fruit on the label, I am initially a touch apprehensive. I wait for the possibility of a Hard Cider like taste with the hesitation of a contused prostitute, before taking a sip. I am HAPPY to report that the natural orange was perfectly subtle and a well balanced citrus flavors, with a clean, crisp finish.

Even after cooking, the flavors stayed intact and complimented the white cheddar beautifully.

 

I also used Kerrygold cheese, although this has nothing to do with Oktoberfest, it’s just really great cheddar. The flavors are perfect for this recipe.

Cheddar Beer Biscuits

2 cups of flour

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp sugar

1 stick (8 tbs) butter, cut into small cubes

1/2 cup craft wheat beer (Orange Wheat from Hanger 24 preferred)

1/2 cup white cheddar (Kerrygold reserve preferred)

Preheat oven to 400.

Put the flour, salt, pepper, baking powder, baking soda and sugar in your food processor and pulse until combined. Add your butter cubes and  process until the butter is evenly distributed, about 1-2 minutes.

Move to a bowl and add the cheese and beer and stir until combined.

 

Dump the dough onto a floured surface. Squish together with your hands to form a ball and then flatten into a rectangle about 6  inches wide and 10 inches long and 2 inches high. Use a sharp knife to cut the biscuits into squares.

 

You can make them as big or small as you want, but this recipe will make 6-8 average sized biscuits.

Place the biscuits on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Sprinkle the top with a bit of sea salt and pepper.

Bake for 12-14 minutes or until light golden brown.

 

Oktoberfest Beer Creme Brulee

I know that Oktoberfest started as the celebration of a royal wedding that would have put the recent William/Kate union to shame. I also know that it is not an actual proper Holiday.
But for those of us completly in love with all things Beer, it might as well be.
Oktoberfest, as in the one that takes place late September  to Early October in Munich, is about LOCAL beer. I love all beer, but I have a special affinity for beer brewed close to home. Although this beer isn’t actual German beer, being that I am in California, it is in line with the locavore spirit of Oktoberfest and their rule for never serving any beer at the official Oktoberfest Festival that is not brewed in their own backyard. And that backyard would be the Munich City limits.
For this recipe, which I loved SO much, I used another incredible local craft beer, this one came from  Bison Brewing. Honey Basil Beer. It’s local (to those of us in California), it’s organic and the flavors are amazing.

Beer Creme Brulee: Creme Beer-lee
  • 3/4 cups heavy cream
  • 3/4 cup Bison Honey Basil Beer (can sub German style wheat beer)
  • 5 egg yolks
  • 1/2 cup sugar, plus another 1/4 cup for the topping
  • Preheat the oven to 300.

Put the cream, and beer in a sauce pan over medium heat. Cook just until its bubbly around the edges but not boiling. Remove from heat, cover and allow to cool for about 15 minutes.

In a bowl, combine the egg yolks, and 1/2 cup of sugar. Whisk until frothy, about 3 minutes.

While continuing to whisk, slowly add the cooled cream mixture until well combined.

Put 8 ceramic ramekins in a baking dish, filling the baking dish with about 1 inch of water (don’t get any water in the ramekins).

Pour your custard through a mesh strainer into ramekins.

Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 40-45 minutes or until the edges are set and the middle is still slightly wobbly.

Remove from oven and allow to cool, at room temp, in the water filled baking dish for 30 minutes. Transfer to a plate and allow to chill and set in the fridge for 4 hours. Right before serving, cover the top of your set custard with an even, thin layer of sugar (about 1/2-1 tsp). Then run a culinary torch over your sugar, slowly, until it melts and turns an amber color.

Notes

Cooking tip: Don’t brulee the sugar until you are ready to serve. After about an hour of sitting, the sugar will start to liquefy again.