I had a craving for something sweet. I had cake in mind but wasn't sure what kind of cake I should make. At the same time I had a friend blogging about a Peanut Butter and Jelly pie. Then another friend bragged about making a peanut butter cake. 1+2=3. Peanut Butter and Jelly Cake.
I wanted the cake to be super light and fluffy. I found a good recipe for Vanilla chiffon cake. First time making it and it came out very good. Albeit, loaded with technical errors.
2 1/4 cups cake flour 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 1 tablespoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup cold water 1/2 cup canola oil 5 pieces raw eggs, separated (eggs at room temp.) 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1.1 Combine flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl then mix well.
1.2 Pour-in the cold water, canola oil, egg yolks, and vanilla extract then whisk until the texture becomes smooth. Set aside.
1.3 Transfer the egg whites in a separate mixing bowl and combine cream of tartar.
1.4 Beat the egg white and cream of tartar mixture using an electric mixer (high speed) until texture becomes fluffy.
1.5 Beat-in the remaining 1/2 cup sugar a teaspoonful at a time and continue mixing until everything is properly distributed.
1.6 At this point, you should have two mixing bowls with different mixtures. Combine the egg white mixture with the egg yolk mixture gradually by folding the egg white mixture in the egg yolk mixture (start with 1/4 of the egg white mixture followed by another 1/4 until everything is fully combined).
1.7. Grease two 9-10″ round cake pan and pour-in the folded mixture equally.
1.8 Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and bake both cake pans for 33 minutes.
Make sure your egg whites are at room temp. for whipping. If they are too cold, they won't make stiff peaks.
My cake had a minor issue of not having the whites and cake batter being blended enough. As you can see upon closer inspection of the cake. The more yellow, the less mixed. I thought I had mixed it up well enough and I was trying not to over mix it. This in turn make the other half with less cake batter deflate a tiny bit once out of the oven and cooling. It was so minor that I flipped it over and made it my base. That did end up causing a slight imbalance in the cake which I didn't realize until later. After putting the top layer of the cake on it would slide a little bit. Should have used the bottom layer for the top layer.
My technical issues explained. Still for an unsightly cake chock full of mistakes, it was damn tasty.
I used a strawberry conserve for the filling, but I feel like a chunky strawberry jam would have been better. But feel free to use any jam filling you like with peanut butter.
In a large bowl, beat butter and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Slowly beat in 1/2 of the confectioner's sugar. Mix in 1/4 cup of the cream. Beat in the remaining confectioners' sugar. If necessary, add a little more cream or milk until the frosting reaches a good spreading consistency. Makes enough to frost one 2 layer 9 inch cake or one 9x13 inch cake.
Make sure the frosting is not too stiff or you won't be able to frost your cake. It needs to be very soft and spreadable so as not to pull up cake bits. And don't judge me on my cake frosting abilities. I already know I can't frost a cake for shit. Mostly I don't care if it looks like a gorgeous store bought cake or not. I care if tastes good or not.
And there you have it. A technical disaster of a cake, but fucking awesome in my belly!
I was sick and tired of beer dinners. Sick and tired of trying to come up with concepts for beer dinners. I had hosted a series of cool beer dinners in the past like the Aztec Beer Dinner, or Soul Food Brunch pairings, chocolate beer dinners, Russian beer dinners, even the now infamous Gallia Belgica.
All of those events were cool. No scratch that, they were amazing. But I now I am done with concepts or themes. I am done working with one sole brewer and only their line up of beers for beer dinners, and I am done with beer dinners that serve amazing food, but all anyone walks away with is, did they get enough of the geekiest beer being served that night.
I am through with coming up with beer dinners for beer geeks. A lot of them will never be satisfied and only want dinners that include full pours of Allagash Gargamel or something equally rare, they want the finest food to be served with it, and only want to pay $45 dollars max to be served like and eat like kings.
Sorry beer geeks, it's simply not about you anymore.
It's also not about the uber foodie either. I am frankly sick of them too. They don't have any idea about good craft beer (some of them anyway, not all of them), and they still turn their noses up at the idea that beer can be and is amazing with food.
Of course I am completely generalizing here, but you get the idea.
No Mas! No more creating dinners to suit other peoples needs. I wanted to create a series of dinners that highlight the things we love. From the restaurants, the chefs, the waitstaff, the style of food, and various beers. It may also include a wine versus beer tasting, a beer cocktail or spirit served with the meal, or even a beer battle itself!
The idea is to elevate the foodie to beer, and bring the beer geeks back down to reality with good solid beer and food offerings.
We had been discussing a possible beer dinner with Hungry Mother in Cambridge. A favorite restaurant who hadn't hosted a beer dinner before but was really contemplating the idea of working with us. I decided this was the right place to launch such an idea. Anyone who is local around here already knows Hungry Mother and how awesome they are. If you don't, drop whatever it is you are doing, shut your mouth, and go over there and have dinner immediately.
Their style is Appalachian-style southern food with local ingredients, and French techniques.
** When I say Appalachian, I mean App-il-lay-chin. The fine folks at HM will disagree with me until we are all blue in the face, but actually being from Virginia, and more the Appalachian Mountain chain extending way up into New England, I am right! Only in the deep corners of the south and the Blue Ridge Mountains do you call it "App-a-Latch-chan."
This is the kind of place that will serve you cheesy grits and bacon that will make your mama cry. They will serve it with a Hickory Dickel (Gingerale, George Dickel, a tiny hint of liquid smoke, and a bacon lardoon garnish. They will serve you a gorgeous country-style gnocchi with peas, mushrooms, and bacon, but serve you a Genesee Cream Ale with it. This is exactly our kind of place.
Together with Todd and Jason, myself, Alon and Rachel Munzer, Barry Maiden, John Kessen, and the various waitstaff and barkeeps, we created a fun menu to showcase the fun stuff Hungry Mother likes to create, and we all had a hand in picking our favorite beers for this menu. Beers that WE loved and it didn't have anything to do with whether they were super rare or super generic. It's all about what we love and what we wanted to share with our friends and patrons.
I want to highlight that at the very bottom of the menu listed all the things Hungry Mother loves.
Things We Love: BeerAdvocate, Deep Ellum, The Gallows, Carolina Chocolate Drops, East by Northeast, pizza, opera, Dylan & Mira, our lawyer, Jamison Farm, Tetris, Anson Mills, Eastern Standard, Muddy Pond sorghum, bourbon, hot dogs, Ridgeway Blue, rainbows and puppydogs, Kanye, days off, snood, golf, ukuleles, drinking, Strangeways Here We Come, (ex) data synapse, Joe-Joe's, Brazil, Hulu, bonfires on Wiborgs Beach, boo ya later.
We welcomed everyone to dinner with southern specialties of house made dilly beans, boiled peanuts, and homemade chips.
*Click to enlarge any image.
Great social foods to pick at and get introduced to your table. We sat a lot of people together in groups. The Dilly beans were spicy and tangy, the chips were crisp and addicting. I will take the word from everyone at the table that said the boiled peanuts were fantastic. They ate them all! I am a southerner who who doesn't care for boiled peanuts. I know, it's pure blasphemy. But it's a classic none the less and perfect for the table.
We also opened up with a beer cocktail of Campari, sorghum syrup, and Smuttynose Star Island single.
First course:
Miss Lewis' Tomato Aspic with Deviled Quail Egg and Bacon.
Beer: Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project American Darling, 7% abv
I think this was my favorite course. The aspic was soft and extremely flavorful with tomatoes. The deviled quails egg was cute and packed just the right amount of pop of creamy texture and flavor contrast for the beer. The bacon was just an awesome hint for the plate that tied every thing together. Really, who can deny a lovely piece of bacon? They should have had a piece of bacon on every course served for this dinner.
The beer was perfectly fresh, crisp, and delicious. Just a tad too hoppy for the aspic though. Not enough to clash, but while pilsners and lagers are excellent for tomatoes, the added hop bite of American darling, almost proved to be to much. But as a hop head, I never mind big hops.
HM always offers a pork plate of some sort. This was the perfect portion size for wonder flavors and two different variations of pork. Paired with the most classic beer for pork, Schlenkerla Marzen larger. Smoked beers are made for pork dishes. It's a simple pairing but packed full of flavor and proved during this dinner why we love it.
Third Course:
Catfish Caveach picholines, capers, poblanos.
Beer: Allagash White, 5.2% abv
Caveach is basically a method of pickling fish. It was fantastic catfish too. It had a lovely earthy rustic taste to it and the Allagash White really went perfectly with it. The tangy capers and vinegars tastes were smoothed out by the lovely and soft flavors of the wit bier. The soft texture and hearty flavors of the catfish were fantastic.
Fourth Course:
Shrimp and Grits with HM tasso, cornbread croutons, and rosemary.
Beer: Cape Ann Fishermans IPA, 5.5% abv
You can't have a real southern meal with out grits. HM always has a grit offering in some way. Shrimp and grits are a classic southern, soul food offering. These grits were slow cooked, creamy and deliciously buttery. The shrimp and sauce was extremely flavorful and worked well with the malty IPA. Malty and hops are good for rich sauces like this. I really didn't want this course to end.
Fifth Course:
Fried chicken picnic with "kohlslaw", compressed watermelon, and Texas Pete.
Beer: Narragansett vs. Genny Cream Ale
Yes! Yes, we did go there with fried chicken and cheap beer at a fancy beer dinner. Genny Cream Ale is a favorite of the HM staff, and Narragansett is a Todd favorite. We thought, why not battle them out and see which cheap beer is the favorite among crowd?
The best part of this was serving the chicken in paper baskets and the beer served in cans with paper cups on the tables. As soon as the beers were delivered, the cracking noises in sync around the room from the cans was amazing. It was super fun and had everyone engaged. I have never seen that many smiles for cheap beer in a long time. It goes to show you that there is a time and a lace for every beer. Only one person wasn't really thrilled with the cheap beer choices because he prefers Budweiser for his cheap beer of choice. I am a PBR girl myself, but I didn't let that stop me.
Before I announce the winner, lets talk about the food. Compressed watermelon? Yep vacuumed sealed so that all the juices compressed further into the melon. Sprinkled with salt to give it an awesome contrast to the insanely sweet and delicious melon. The "kohlslaw" was light and creamy and packed a delicate hit of flavors.
The fried chicken was perfectly southern. Juicy and that right bit of nearly burnt skin flavor. It tasted just like my mom's pan fried chicken and no one beats my mom's chicken! I was surprised to find out it was not pan fried. Close enough though. They deep fried it in a deep fryer but set the chicken high in the fryer like it was pan frying.
Winner: Narragansett!
But winner by a slim margin. The way it worked for me and a lot of people tended to agree was that the Genny Cream Ale was perfect right after the grits and worked extremely well with the "kohlslaw." But it was the 'Gansett that over took every thing by working perfectly with the watermelon and fried chicken.
Very fun course.
Sixth Course:
Pulled Jamison Lamb with hominy tortilla, corn and tomato chow chow.
Beer: Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye, 8% abv
Wonderfully tender lamb. Flavor explosion with the southwest-style flavors perfectly matched with the malty and bitter Hop Rod Rye. This was one of the best matched courses with the beer. Unfortunately this was also the course where we all realized that this we may have been in over our heads. We still had desserts and cheese coming!
Seventh Course:
Meadow Creek Grayson with green tomato and sour cherry jam, crystal malt, and house made beer bread.
Originally we had planned for the beer to be Cerise from Founders. The reason being is that that beer tastes exactly like cherry pie filling! Something so southern, and cherries were in perfect season. However, there was none available and I think it worked out for the better.
Cisco Cherry Woods was available. It too had a delicious cherry pie filling taste, but with a much more crisp and delightfully sour bite to it. Not too sour where it burns your throat going down. It was very enjoyable and delicious. I am not usually a fan of sour ales, but this is one I very much enjoyed and could drink more than one glass of.
The sour notes and carbonation cut right through the cow's milk cheese allowing for an excellent pairing.
The beer bread was homemade and soft and the sour cherry jam was actually pretty mild. I think most people were expecting more of a cherry pop to the jam, but it was soft and mild because of the green tomatoes. If if had been more sour, the beer and jam would have over powered the pairing. I really enjoyed the sweet little accent of the crystal malt sprinkled on the plate as well.
Eighth Course:
Chocolate cake, sorghum buttercream, Benne brittle.
Beer: Left Hand Milk Stout 5.2% abv
Yes!! Chocolate cake covered in chocolate. A sesame seed brittle on top and Left Hand Milk Stout served in coffee cups. I loved that detail. HM has such cool flare.
This cake was rich and balanced by a lovely sorghum buttercream filling. It was very reminiscent of a New England whoopie pie. Rich chocolate flavors, butter sesame brittle, and rich, bitter, chocolate-y beer.
When we realized we were in trouble with the lamb course, this surely sent us all over the edge. And we still had one more to go.
Taza is a local favorite of HM as it is with many local shops and restaurants. It's a natural fit for those shops and restaurants who keep it local and source ingredient from their area and local producers. I am personally not a huge fan of Taza Chocolate, but just for this once I didn't mind it. The cookies were soft, buttery, and had that perfect balance of salt by being topped with sea salt. Sweet and salty always works. The cookie dough covered up the flaws I normally find in Taza Chocolate.
The cocktail was a nice way to end the night. We were all so full and in full on food coma mode. The cocktail was soothing and settled our full bellies.
And there you have it. Hungry Mother's first beer dinner showcasing their favorite things with a combination of our favorite beers. From the details of the paper in the fired chicken course, to the mini mason jars filled with gorgeous tomato aspic, to the coffee cups filled with milk stout, they really knocked this one out of the park. For their first ever beer dinner, they really seemed to get it. Look for more events with BeerAdvocae and Hungry Mother in the future. I know I certainly can't wait to work with them again.
The idea that having a fun and a well received beer dinner without serving the most rare and geekiest of beers was made abundantly clear with the super fun fried chicken course. A successful event that proves we need to listen to ourselves more. Trust our own ideas and go with what we know works and what we love. It's up to you to come with us or not. As you can see, if you don't, you might be missing out on some really amazing food and some real good times.
After the Knighting ceremony of Todd and Jason Alstrom, Charlie Papazian, and Greg Koch by theKnighthood of the Brewers' Mash Staff (Belgian Brewers' Guild), we were invited to have lunch with Michel Moortgat of Duvel, the next day. We were told meet at a certain cafe and have some beers and then lunch.
We didn't know lunch was going to be such a fancy ordeal. I certainly didn't know as I showed up in capri pants with Chuck Taylor's on and no socks! My version causal and European casual should be explained in the fine print of all events we're invited to.
Also, in not being prepared for such an exquisite meal, this post is full of lame quality iPhone images. Had I known what we were in for, I surely would have brought my big camera with me. I did manage to get some fairly decent shots however. Enough that you will still be jealous and you will understand the general idea of how fantastic the meal really was.
We were then taken from the cafe to this gorgeous restaurant called Comme chez Soi.
It all began in 1926 when Georges Cuvelier, a brave inhabitant of the
southern Belgian Borinage region escaped the coal mines to open a small
restaurant in Brussels. A regular customer told him each visit : "Georges, in your restaurant we eat like at home." It did not take long for him to come up with the name "Comme chez Soi".
When the restaurant moved to its present location on Place Rouppe,
Georges Cuvelier's daughter married Louis Wynants, a pork-butcher from
the Flemish town of Tienen. Louis Wynants took the quality of the
kitchen to higher levels.
Their son was Pierre Wynants.
He studied at famous restaurants throughout Europe and met
Marie-Thérèse. From this union came two daughters, Laurence and
Véronique.
Laurence, the eldest, has married Lionel Rigolet, a young culinary talent who rapidly became a key element for the thouse.
The couple now has little Jessica and Loïc, a fifth generation...
They opened their famed private dining room to us, set in their kitchen to watch the chefs prepare the food and then serve it to us. On the walls were autographed placards from Leonardo DiCaprio, Catherine Deneuve, and Woody Allen to name a few.
We were given printed menus with the chef's signature on it. The lunch prepared for us was a sample from their regular menu only tweaked with beer.
We opened the lunch with pours of beers from Liefmans Kriek, and a new sweeter, fruitier, yet still tart Lambic from Liefmans. As well as being serves shrimp bites and mille-feuille of salmon.
Tiny, little shrimps rested in the center of these crispy rings. For such tiny shrimps, they packed quite a bit of flavor. Nice little decadent noshes with a very rich and fruity beer to kick things off.
Then we were served a trio of tastes. Melon sorbet, kriek gelatin, topped with Jamon Serrano or Jamon de Iberico. Don't quote me on the ham. It was a cured Jamon of some kind, but I didn't write down the exact name. Delicious non the less.
The center was a cool gazpacho with a prawn and cabbage topping. And the last taste was a cabbage roll with lamb. All fantastic with the Liefmans Kriek and the newer sweeter Kriek.
First course:
Marckerel fillet marinated with yuzu, squid salad with olive oil, and a coulis of sweet peppers.
Second Course:
Catfish with lemongrass, butternut mash, and baby carrot coulis.
Third Course:
Grilled chicken stuffed with shitake and tarragon and a Maredsous sauce.
Fourth Course:
Selection of Belgian and French cheeses with a beer glaze garnish. (Look at the detail in the beer glaze.)
Dessert Course:
Fruit Consomme with mint, and Kriek sorbet. (Kriek sorbet in a bath of fruit consomme with mint, a molding of fruit and gelatin with fruit leather on top, and a praline garnish.)
And last but not least, we were treated to "Delicacies" of Pate de Fruit, Chocolate filled with a soft passion fruit filling, housemade nougat, Macaroons, white chocolate, and filled micro pastries.
I would only be able to top a meal like this if I could return the favor for Michel Moortgat if I were to take him to Craigie on Main here in my neck of the woods. That's saying a lot.
I spent a great evening last night with the fine ladies of Cambridge Common who threw a wonderful beer dinner featuring Stoudts Brewing Co. and special guest Carol Stoudt.
Carol Stoudt is an amazing lady with lot's of history that all in the beer industry are envious of. She was there before most of the craft brewers on the scene today. Not only was she brewing beer when there was hardly anyone else out there doing it, but she was woman brewing beer when there were virtually no women on the scene!
She is pretty much an icon and idol, and listening to her talk about beer and talk about the industry from where it was to where it is now, was definitely inspiring.
Kate Baker and Suzanne Schalow making the introductions.
Check out Carol, what a fox. She is just awesome!
The menu and welcoming beer. Stoudt's Gold, a Munich-style Helles, 5% abv.
I am not usually one to throw back a nice cold lager. I haven't really progressed to them yet. I know that sounds funny, but my palate started backwards. From big sweet Belgians, to super malty double IPA's. Now I want everything dry and crisp. So when I drank this beer last night it was a nice welcomed change to the normal range of beers I drink. It was fresh, clean and delicious. A great way to start this dinner.
First Course: Ploughman's Platter with Grafton aged cheddar, homemade pickles, peppadew peppers, peach chutney, and rustic bread.
Beer: American Pale Ale, 5%
This was a great pairing. The acidity on the pickles was tamed by the peach chutney, the peppers gave off a bit of heat, and the cheddar added a creamy texture and sharp taste. The beer with it's sweeter malts rounded everything out. A simple offering with a lot going on on the palate.
Second Course: Gorgonzola and chive deviled eggs.
Beer: Double IPA, 10%
Don't be fooled by this pairing. Sounds like a simple course, except this one really hit home for nearly everyone at this dinner. Double IPA's and creamy blue cheese such as gorgonzola work based on the alpha acids in the hops cutting through the creamy fatty texture. The steel-y malts interact with the taste of the blue cheese. Adding creamy whipped up yolks to the equation and now the malts of this beer made the offering more like a sweet nectar and not overly bitter.
Everyone pretty much said we should have been sat with a huge platters of these deviled eggs and started off with the DIPA. A little bit of a blurry beer pic, but then again I am not that great of a photographer.
The American Pale Ale also worked out well with these eggs. I still had some left over and tried it. The carbonation acts the same way as the acids in hops. Cuts right through and then the sweet malts do the rest.
Third Course: Choice of Half roasted chicken with white asparagus and warm German potato salad.
Beer: Heifer-in-Wheat, 5%
Or
Pork medallions with a mustard cream sauce and scalloped cauliflower and potato casserole.
Beer: Scarlet Lady ESB, 5%
I went with the Pork but I did get a picture of the chicken as well.
This was so good. The pork was juicy and rich with the mustard cream sauce. The scalloped potatoes and cauliflower were creamy and awesome. It worked out really well with the ESB. At first sip of the ESB it seemed pretty tame and mild. That's because the beer before was a big DIPA. But then with the food it really brought out the hop character and also nutty malts. This was comfort food and certainly was big, filling, and very tasty. I loved it.
Fourth Course: Chocolate bread pudding with vanilla bean sauce.
Beer: Fat Dog Stout, 9%
This was just too much!! The entree course had already sent quite a number of us over the edge, and then this thing came out. I was feeling okay after the entree, and when they sat this in front of me, without thinking I systematically ate it all. And then I hit the wall with food coma.
The sweet sauce was like a frosting you put on cinnamon rolls. It was sticky and delicious. The bread pudding was nice and soft and chocolate-y. Of course chocolate and vanilla are both made for stouts. The first sip of the stout was sweet and rich, and then with a bite of the very sweet bread pudding, the bitter qualities and rich roasted notes came through making it another amazingly delicious pairing.
Simple comfort foods and fantastic beers from Stoudt's really knocked this dinner out of the park. I live a good life where I am fortunate to be invited to events like this. Where I get to imbibe on great beer and delicious food and hang out with some amazing people in the beer industry. As Suzanne Schalow always says; "I am living the dream baby!"
I celebrated my iconic 30th birthday last October in Las Vegas. I woke up to filet mignon and red wine for breakfast in bed and finished my night at Hubert Keller's restaurant Fleur De Lys in Mandalay Bay.
This was an intense chef's tasting menu all paired around a beer for a change and not paired around wine. They offered it with wine at first, but also let us know once we chose beer, that they would be offering up a regular chef's tasting menu paired around beer as well as their wine course. Finally fine dining is starting to get it.
For those of you who don't know, the Las Vegas strip is a craft beer wasteland. That is until you visit the Burger Bar in Mandalay Bay, also owned by Hubert Keller. A fabulous, low-key burger joint where you can a glorious offering of craft beers, and just about any kind of burger you want. Including their famous $60 burger, The Rossini. It's made with Kobe beef, sauteed foie gras, shaved truffles, Madeira sauce on an onion bun.
Yeah, it's like that.
After deciding I wanted something rich and fabulous to eat for my 30th birthday dinner, we decided on Fleur De Lys. Having recently seen Hubert Keller on Top Chef, I really liked him a lot. He had amazing skills, and a general nice attitude. For once I didn't see a disgusting egomaniac celebrity chef. I know that sounds rude, but most celebrity chefs are so full of themselves. I liked watching Keller, and he seemed like a decent guy. Again his skills were unbelievable. I would love to sit and watch him cook.
This was their 6 course chef's tasting menu prepared by Chef Steve Wolf.
It didn't matter what glorious food was about to be presented to me. They had Tripel Karmeliet and paired my entire meal around this beer. It was a little funny when our waiter informed me that it as a bigger bottle of beer since Todd had ordered his own beer, a Sierra Nevada Torpedo. I informed him that I am a BeerAdvocate and to please bring it on!
Amuse Bouche: Lobster avocado roll in a watermelon bath.
Light, delicious, and refreshing. Clean and finished with a slight hint of salt contrasting the sweet watermelon. This was so refreshing with the crisp, sweet Tripel Karmeliet.
First: Ahi tuna on fennel salad with ponzu sauce.
Fresh, delicate taste, salty ponzu sauce was the right balance with the sweet ginger cracker. Soft tuna, earthy greens, and crunchy cracker made for a wonder mix of textures.
Second: Maui onion cream soup with black truffle and duck ragout wrapped in a crepe and red onion puree with bordeaux.
Sadly my second image was blurred, but that doesn't change how decadent and amazing this soup was. So rich and creamy. The duck fat added a nice flavor to the soup while the black truffle was potent and added a wonderful dirty and delicious earthy tasting pop. The red onion pure was the best part in my opinion adding a nice sweet and rich backbone to the soup. Did I mention that this soup was rich?
Third: Veal and Yukon Gold Potato raviolis with sweet English peas and sunchoke foam.
A wonderful sweet and rich broth balanced by the earthy greens, sweet peas. This is the kind of thing that makes me kick myself for eating veal, but secretly coveting it at the same time.
Two negatives to this course. This was the point where the richness started to become almost too much and it only gets more rich as the courses keep coming. Also I am not a fan of foams on fancy dishes anymore. It's a neat trick albeit an overused technique. I get that it adds the right hint of a flavor you want to add to a dish, but it looks sloppy by the time it gets served. If they could do table side service of adding the foam while it's being presented, I think that could make all the difference. Delicious course, but the foam doesn't exactly make it look all that appetizing.
Fourth: Hamachi with black trumpet mushrooms, ginger foam, and tempura scallions.
More foam but at least this one looked more appetizing than the veal raviolis. The foam was very salty, but the raw Hamachi helped tame it. Another super rich broth course but the unbelivable part was that I couldn't stop myself from eating it all. I was getting a little too full at this point but I had one more main course to go.
I know an American not entirely used to super rich French foods, but this was almost too much.
Fifth: Colorado rack of lamb with harissa, caramelized red onions and potato puree.
The lamb was fatty and perfectly cooked. The harissa was not too hot thankfully. I can't handle too much hot spice. The potatoes were rich and creamy and delicious loaded with pure butter. Despite the potatoes being so rich, they were a nice contrast to the plate and a break up of the rich sauce.
I think at this point you can see why I am beginning to get too full with these fabulously decadent and rich courses. It was just about too much. I was beginning to feel sick-full instead of satisfied.
This will get better though...
Intermezzo: Coconut soup with large tapioca pearls, kiwis, strawberries, and fried plantains, and mango and coconut sorbet.
Like any chef worth their salt, they know when the situation is getting a little precarious. After all the rich and super decadent food sent out, this course came and like magic it erased the sickeningly full feeling.
This course was so light and delicious and a perfect way to cut the richness out of the picture. It was after this course, I was able to sit back and relax feeling comfortably full. If it wasn't for this course, I don't think I would have made it.
Dessert: Sauterne poached pears with fall spices over pressed walnut sable with toasted cinnamon ice cream with sesame crisp. Compressed trio of pears marinated in fino, port, and banyals.
Sauces: Vanilla Sauterne gel Port spice reduction
I had to have them write this course down. There was literally so much going on on this plate. Wonderful and light dessert course once again perfect and delicious after such an amazingly heavy meal. The pears were fantastic and simple. The walnut sable was a little bit odd and chewy, but flavor wise it was right on point and balanced.
This was a cool little culinary feat for a dessert. Simple tasting and refreshing, but a lot of techniques displayed.
But it didn't end there....
Homemade Madeleines with hot chocolate dipping sauce.
And with our check came a collection of nougat, pate de fruit, a chocolate financier, a lemon macaroon, and something I called a "Tower of awesomeness" in my notes about this dinner.
This was probably the single most expensive meal I have ever had with a check nearing $500 (I did buy two cook books on top of all of this food and it was my birthday), but without a doubt, one of the best meals I have ever had in my life. Everything was wonderful and expertly prepared. Even though I reached my limit with the rich foods, the coconut soup saved the day and reset everything leaving me completely satisfied with my meal.
Our waiter was delightful, helpful, and enthusiastic about beer and past beer dinners the restaurant has held before. I was thrilled to have heard about this place being open to and having hosted beer dinners before. It would be a dream of mine to host a BeerAdvocate sponsored beer dinner at Fleur De Lys. There would be nothing else that could even come close to something that awesome.
This was a fantastic culinary journey and well worth a visit if you happen to be in Las Vegas. And furthermore, they paired that whole amazing dinner around my beer. The beer worked with everything sat in front of me. It was incredible.
This was our first event after landing in Anchorage, Alaska. We literally flew into town, got showered up, and were back out for beer and food.
Billy Opinsky, the owner of Humpy's Great Alaskan Ale House, owns and shares a kitchen with another bar called SubZero Micro Lounge. Anyone who know beer in Alaska, knows Billy O. He is a kind and generous proprietor of two Anchorage's mainstay's and is extremely knowledgeable about craft beer. After our week in Alaska, I can safely call Billy O, my pal!
SubZero was the scene for the "Break Into The Cage" beer dinner. Billy Opinsky broke into his stash of rare offerings of Belgian beers kicking off a week of beer events for the Great Alaskan Beer And Barely Wine Festival. There were some excellent surprises in store and some other offerings that were not so much.
Welcome Beer:Castelain 2001 Blonde Biere de Garde, 6.4%, France
This one came out a little chunky, but tasted amazing for nine year old beer. I felt like it held up well.
The French are known for their farmhouse style ales. Very classic, wild farmhouse ales. As pretty as Biere de Garde's are though, I am looking forward to France finally competing with the Italians and making more varieties of craft beer. But having said that, I have never been to France. There could be a beer revolution going on there right now.
First Course: Artisan greens with pomegranate, tossed with meyer lemon, olive oil, and geuze, topped with gorgonzola and crispy pancetta.
This was an excellent pairing. The sour gueze went right to work on the earthy greens and the blue cheese. The pomegranate seeds added a touch of sweet tart to the plate. And of course the pancetta, that's always a welcome guest to any dish.
I liked this course a lot because reinforces the power of a good pairing. I am not a fan of sour beers. If the ph is off, they become undrinkable to me. It's not the flavors of them despite how funky they can be, it's the physical effects they cause to my body. Like instant heart burn. If they are too funky, they wild bacterias cause instant bloating. An uncomfortable issue to talk about with beers, and in the middle of a beer dinner discussion, but it still happens. These aged beers were certainly funky but I was able to handle them okay with food.
It proves to me that food and beer really change one and other. Beers you may not like, end up being wonderful with the right food. And once you accept that factor that food changes the experience all together, it reinforces a mantra that I have been repeating over recent months: You don't not need to give a person "training wheel" beers in order to make them a convert. People think non beer drinkers should be weened into beer versus giving them the best beers no matter what style they are. All it takes is an expertly matched pairing. The same can be said about me who has professed a dislike towards sour beers. Food changes everything for the better.
Second Course: Seared Foie Gras resting on red cabbage braised in Hanssens Kriek with a blackberry compote and fresh berries.
This was an amazing dish. Huge pieces of wicked soft foie gras. Absolutely sinful and artery clogging. Just the way I like it! The red cabbage and the blackberry compute was fantastic.
The beer was not so much for me. Despite it's gorgeous red color and crisp carbonation still hanging on, there was a funk going on that I just couldn't get passed. It was little rough on my esophagus as well. All the other geeks at the table were going bonkers over it. This was one I just couldn't agree with. I wound up drinking the Boon Oude Geuze with it and it worked just as well. Same basic principles of the high acid content cutting through the rich fats as well as the carbonation.
Despite a super funky beer, this course was amazing.
Amuse Bouche: Crostini with a gouda spread, spring onions and chutney.
Now this was a Cantillon I could handle. Cantillon is world renowned for their lambics and gueze's. But they are also know for being some of the most sour beers you can get. These are some of the worlds prettiest beers, but the some of the roughest on me. Luckily not this one thanks to aging rounding out all the dramatic sharp sour edges. Big lovely peaches and apricots in this muted sour beer.
It went perfectly with the little nosh of gouda crostinis.
Intermission Beer:Unibroue Edition 2005, 10% Abv, Dark Belgian Strong Ale, Quebec, Canada.
Sadly from this point on I can only post the picture from this beer dinner. I had to head back to the hotel and sleep. I had a headache so bad. We landed that afternoon and went right to the dinner. This was the kind of headache that wouldn't go away without a few hours darkness and sleep. Luckily I woke up feeling great the next and had a glorious breakfast of King Crab Leg Cakes Eggs Benedict. But bad luck for me, I missed the bread pudding dessert. Todd finished taking pictures for me.
Third Course: Deconstructed venison stew with root vegetables.
Beer:Thomas Hardy's Ale 1996 Old Ale 11.7% abv, England (Retired)
Fourth Course: Pistachio crusted lamb resting in Duchess de Bourgogne demi glace with potatoes au gratin.
I love bread pudding. What a shame I couldn't make it all the way to the end. But from everything I did have, it was an incredible meal. Todd said the rest of the meal was fantastic. I got to meet and hang out with some really great people. And I got to bad mouth Sarah Palin with some like minded Alaskans.
Thank you Billy O for kicking off our week in Alaska with an amazing beer dinner.
I love chocolate, I love Bourbon, and I love cupcakes. Why not combine all three? This is what happens when I have cravings at midnight and I have to do something about it right away.
This won't be another one of my tl;dr (too long, didn't read) posts. Just a simple recipe with a few a additions and viola, Bourbon Pecan Chocolate Cupcakes.
First thing you need to to know is that this is the very best chocolate cake recipe of all time. I don't mean fancy fuck-all cakes that have no flour, added coffee, or blah, blah, blah added to them. This is for straight up chocolate cake. Now, I did tweak the recipe for the cupcakes, but you need to know that this recipe is makes simply the best chocolate cake in the world. Super moist, and super chocolate-y.
2 cups sugar 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour 3/4 cup Hershey's cocoa 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 2 eggs 1 cup of milk 1/2 vegetable oil 2 tsp vanilla extract *1 cup boiling water
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
2.
Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt
in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of
mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour
batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until
wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove
from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with "PERFECTLY
CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING. 10 to 12 servings.
VARIATIONS: ONE-PAN
CAKE: Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350° F.
Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely.
Frost.
THREE LAYER CAKE: Grease and flour three 8-inch round
baking pans. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake
30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool
completely. Frost.
BUNDT CAKE: Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt
pan. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55
minutes. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool
completely. Frost.
CUPCAKES: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in
diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full
with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30
cupcakes.
What a Hershey's recipe? Yes! Hershey's unsweetened cocoa is actually world class. Only snobs will shun it because it's from Hershey's. Eff them! You don't have to use Hershey's if you don't want to, but certainly follow this recipe. I used Droste because it was on sale when I bought it. You know how expensive Whole Foods is and when they put stuff on sale, it's a jump at moment.
What I did to change the recipe was, I added one cup of chopped pecans to the cake batter. I found that after they were baked they tasted amazing, but next time I will probably roll the frosted cupcakes in chopped pecans instead. It's up to you. Either way its still delicious.
Instead of boiling water, I heated 1 cup +2 tbls Buffalo Trace Bourbon. Add one cup to a sauce pan and heat. Add the 2 tbls of bourbon to the batter itself. Do Not let it boil. Just heat it up to the point before it boils and add it to the batter.
Bake as recipe calls for.
For the frosting I just tweaked another classic recipe I found for a chocolate butter cream that calls for hot fudge.
Cream together the butter or margarine with the shortening.
Sift the cocoa with the confectioners' sugar and add to the creamed
mixture. Mix together adding 1 tablespoon at a time of milk to keep
mixture smooth. Don't add more than 1/4 cup of milk.
Add the hot fudge topping and the vanilla extract. Blend until smooth and creamy.
I simply subbed the milk for the Buffalo Trace Bourbon. I added little bits more at a time if the frosting was too thick.
And there you have it. Super moist, very decadent, bourbon-y, deliciousness in the guise of a simple cupcake.
I didn't have time to go through and take step-by-step pictures of all the foods I made for Christmas. But I did get some good pictures of the foods I made. Enough for a food porn post.
The first thing I made were truffles. I followed this awesome recipe for Cookie Dough Truffles from a FoodBuzz friend Kristen King or user KrisKishere.
Then I made a batch of Bourbon Pecan Truffles. I put so much Buffalo Trace bourbon in them, I thought the ganache wouldn't set enough for me to form in to balls and dip in chocolate. But I learned a good lesson that you can never use too much bourbon. A recipe that called for 2 tbls. of bourbon was amped up with nearly a full cup!
Then I made the stuffing. Originally I was going to make smoked oyster stuffing. But when I went to make the Sweet Potato and turkey bacon stuffing, it yielded me two large and very full 9x13 pans worth. Naturally I nixed the oyster stuffing. The stuffing was awesome. It originally called for bacon, but they folks I was making the stuffing for, the head of household doesn't eat bacon. But she is quite fond of turkey bacon. No problem at all in substituting. I also added fresh sage to go with the fresh thyme the recipe called for.
And lastly, I made Pfeffernusse. A German black pepper spice cookie. These are so yummy and fabulous they should be made all year round. I even had them a few days after Christmas with hot mulled cider with rum. They are wonderful. There are many variations to this cookie. I have used this recipe several times now and it's just fine.
And that was my contribution to Christmas. The only thing missing were chocolate cupcakes. The head of household requested a chocolate cake of some sort. As I went to make them, I discovered I had no more cocoa powder. Had plenty of hot fudge for frosting, but no cocoa powder for the cupcakes.
Cambridge Brewing Co.'s Autumn Brewers dinner from November 2009.
This was a fabulous beer dinner I went to last minute at CBC back in November. I wasn't sure if we were going to end up going or not and then two friends called saying they really wanted to go too so off we went.
Amuse Bouche:
Double Happiness Cocktail. Tangerine twist with duck crackling and apple cider caviar.
Double Happiness- strong golden ale refermented in chardonnay barrels with Brettanomyces and lychee fruit. Bright with perfumed tropical fruit and a lightly tart finish. 10.4%
This was an awesome little opening. The caviar was solely made from apple cider. The duck crackling added an odd but oddly necessary hit of grease to the whole tasting. It seemed strange but it worked.
The brettanomyces was low and not dominating in this beer, and the fruit flavors were crisp and fresh, not cloying as it would seem with something sweet and sticky like lychees. Very refreshing and unique.
Apple cider caviar? At first I thought it was actual caviar in apple cider. But it was apple cider in small pearls like caviar. It even had that little bursting effect when you eat caviar. Very interesting and cool.
For those of you who haven't been to a CBC dinner before, the way they offer the courses is to have a few selections from each course to choose from. When the waiter comes to take your order you generally order the whole meal in one shot. I am going to post the menu and and then talk about the courses I myself had and some of the folks at our table had.
Local Celeriac Soup Beer Brown Bread Croutons, Crispy Carrot-Celery Salad, Raisin Jus Beer: Cambridge Amber
Cambridge Amber- Well balanced, medium-bodied, deep amber-red. Malty caramel notes, hints of chocolate, slightly roasty finish, complemented by a touch of fruity, spicy hops. 4.7%
This was an excellent pairing. The soup was creamy and rich. The amber was a perfect match. The soup actually brought out a lot more of the complex characters of the Amber like the roasted finish. The only negative to this course was that I finished it all the way through and it was more filling that it sounds. We had a whole evening to get through....
Sadly my shot of the amber was blurred, but I got a somewhat decent shot of Todd's beer. He had the Island Creek oyster bisque paired with the Black out Stout. I did not however, get a shot of his soup. Todd gets annoyed when I take foodie pictures while we're trying to eat. Boo Todd.
Third course:
Long Island Duck Rillette Cerise Cassee Cherry, Clear Flour Sourdough, Beer Mustard, Micro Green Salad Beer: Cerise Cassèe
Cerise Cassèe- sour ale spontaneously fermented along with 300 pounds of tart red cherries and aged in a Solera system of wine barrels. Aggressively tart with flavors of sour cherries, malt, vanilla and oak tannin, and a finish that defies description in its funky-yet-balanced uniqueness. 8.5%
Another great course. The Cerise cherries were so delicious and sweet. The duck was simple, flavorful and fatty. This batch of Cerise Cassèe was more acidic and tart than normal. Usually Cerise is a sour beer with a decent level of acidity that doesn't burn the throat when drinking. so people live for that burn I do not. Having said that, the fatty duck helped tone down the acid. The acid in turn helped cut the fats and oils and allowed the flavors of the mustard, sweet cherries, and duck to add their own pop. Lots of different tastes, but very tasty.
Sadly my pictures of the beer are not doing them any justice to get the full effects of their rich colors.
Warm New England Vegetable Timbale Spaghetti Squash, Glazed Root Vegetables, Aged Gouda,Braised Greens, Hazelnut Vinaigrette Beer: Red God
Red God- Featuring Simcoe, Amarillo, and Columbus hops at a rate of over three pounds per barrel, with American pale and Belgian caramel malts providing a malty but dry pedestal upon which this hop fest rides to its long, lingering, hop-bittered finish. Beware this vengeful god.8.5%
My
friend Courtney went with this course. She suffered the same fate I did
with the soup. It doesn't look like it from the picture, but this course was huge. And she weighs all of 90 pounds soaking wet. But from what I gathered it was hard to stop eating this course. And it was paired with Red God which is one of my all time favorite beers from CBC. Courtney is a hop head too. So this course was hard to not gorge on.
And Todd had the lobster pierogies.
Maine Lobster Pierogies Local Spinach, Porcini Cream, Amaretto Crumb Beer: Om
OM- Strong golden ale aged in French oak chardonnay barrels. Brettanomyces exresses with flavors and aromas of pineapple and peach fruit, creating a harmonious balance of honeyed malt and hop, yeast and flora, and oak character. 9.4%
Fourth Course:
Wild Mushroom Cannelloni Autumn Squash Bolognese, Toasted Pumpkin Seed, Parsnip Béchamel, Crispy Kale Beer: Great Pumpkin Ale
Great Pumpkin Ale- 150 pounds of fresh, locally grown, organic sugar pumpkins are hand-carved and added to each batch, along with a touch of cinnamon and allspice. An appropriately orange beer with subtle pumpkin flavor, enhanced by a touch of traditional autumn spices. 4.2%
I didn't get a shot of the beer because I jumped right into this course. This thing was fabulous. And it paired really well with the Great Pumpkin. GPA from CBC is one of my all time favorites. They have really mastered making a pumpkin ale that tastes like squash and not over-spiced. It's so tasty. It went amazingly well with the cream sauce and rich mushroom cannelloni. I loved this meal. And unusual for me is getting a vegetarian course when there are meat options. This sounded terrific and it was. Very rich and filling. Noticing a pattern here?
This was our other friend at the table Mark's course. Originally it was supposed to be be scallops, but he ended up with monk fish instead. I am not sure if they had run out of scallops, or if it was requested to be different. Mark was happy with his course.
Nantucket Bay Scallops (Monk Fish) Brown Butter Fried Cauliflower, Fingerling Potato, Candied Kumquats, Toasted Pinenuts Beer: St. Alphonso
St. Alphonso- Our American take on the Belgian single, or table beer, with our house Belgian yeast strain and bucketloads of American hops. Well-attenuated, super-dry, light-bodied beer with tons of fresh hop flavor. 4.5%
Olde Pumpkin Porter- After one year of age in bourbon oak with Brett., this porter was blended with fresh pumpkin, crystallized ginger, whole cinnamon, and new toasted oak. Very complex yet drinkable, with smooth blending of subtle spices and roasted malts. A great dessert porter! 6.5%
This was amazing but messy! This was by far the worst thing I could have done to myself ater having this insanely rich meal before and finish it off with a decadent and super rich dessert like this. The cookies were weird though. They tasted amazing and were soft, yet you couldn't just cut into the dessert. It smashed and squished all the insides out. So while it was delicious and awesome, it was incredibly messy.
This dessert paired awesomely with the pumpkin porter. Another brett beer that didn't overwhelm me with funk. Brett beers are an interesting thing for me. My body will either respond well to them or not. This was one of those days where the funk just added some flavor and didn't make me ill. It wasn't overwhelming to the beer either. Sometimes when working with brettanomyces it has a propensity to completely overtake a beer and all other flavors there may have been in the beer.
I had a hard time noticing the ginger in the beer with ginger cookies and crystallized ginger on the plate, but the pumpkin spices, and the rich notes of the porter were enough to come through and make this a flavorful and yet again, super rich course.
Todd got the cheese plate and flight of barleywines.
2009 Blunderbuss Barleywine, Port barrel finish- A delightful sneak preview of this year's unreleased expression of Blunderbuss. Aged in vintage port wine barrels, which provide a touch of fruit and oak to this massive, malty brew. 13.2% sherry glass
2008 Blunderbuss Barleywine, Bourbon barrel finish- Last year's expression spent time in barrels from the Buffalo Trace distillery, where it picked up notes of caramel, vanilla, hints of cotton candy, and toasty oak. Super smooth. 11% sherry glass
2007 Blunderbuss Barleywine, Dry Hop finish- heavily dry-hopped with Simcoe and Ahtanum hops before its annual release. This extraordinarily complex ale boasts flavors and aromas of caramel, dried fruits, toffee, lots of spicy, resiny, and floral hops, and a very warming alcohol finish. 11.5% sherry glass
This is generally how CBC rolls when they do a beer event. Their pairings are spot on and the food is always creative, good, and really filling.
*Beer course descriptions via CBC menu courtesy of Will Meyers, Brewmaster.
I was told by several people, if you want to get the best buffet on the strip in Las Vegas it's either at the Belagio or at the Wynn. We went with the Wynn. We did not lose on this deal. And although I haven't seen the Belagio's Buffet, I feel confident enough to say that Wynn Buffet was the best.
The Wynn hotel is amazing. It's gorgeous, has all the high end shopping and beautiful gaming areas. The only problem I had with the Wynn is that you can't win on their video poker machines that well. Their Black Jack video poker removed the double down feature. Total bullshit and scam. Nothing was paying out for me over there.
But this post isn't about the gambling. It's about the food.
The Buffet at the Wynn is huge. It has a whole separate room for just desserts. Of course it has meat carving stations, but everything is super clean and steril and broken down into regions. Asian section, American food, Italian, ect.
Before we went over to the brunch, we stopped to have a drink at Up Parasol while waiting for a friend to join us. I was in the mood for a Dirty Martini and they made me the best Dirty Martini ever. It was so smooth and tasty and I could have had 50 of them.
Up Parasol is a beautiful lounge in the middle of the gaming area. It's bright, colorful, and comfortable with sofas and couches everywhere. The waitress was the friendliest person we had come across in Vegas. And that's saying something because everyone is cool in Vegas. At least to us anyway.
Our friend finally came and joined us and it was off to the buffet. Keep in mind it was a Sunday at noon and the lines to get into the buffet were long. It didn't take too long, but be prepared anyway.
They also offer a cool deal. For $60 bucks you can eat there all day. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It's a good way to economize while you blow all your money on gambling or drinking.
I went the hot route first.
Okay there is a lot going on on this plate. Let me break it down. Sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, french toast, pancake, waffle, eggs benedict, stir fried shrimp, cornish game hen in southwestern sauce and corn, pulled pork with cole slaw on corn bread, and a cheese and beef enchilada.
Every last bit of it was awesome! And you better believe I ate it all.
The cold route.
Shrimp cocktail, Mediterranean tuna ceviche, Tropical scallop ceiche (in cup), sushi rolls, Chow Shao Bao, and smoked salmon.
There was so much more food to be had, but my belly only had so much room. My husband managed to get some carved meats. Although I wanted them, I am glad I didn't get any carved meats. It would have sat like a lead brick in my belly and I wouldn't have been able to taste all the desserts we had.
Now for the dessert. A small disclaimer is that I did not, I repeat did not eat all that is pictured. I had a bite of each and shared. After the last two plates, there is no way anyone could eat all things I am about to show you.
Grasshopper Mint Slice and Banana Cream Slice.
Blueberry tart and Oreo Mousse slice.
Bailey's Panna Cotta and Hazelnut Chocolate Decadence.
Caramel, Chocolate parfait and Lemon Meringue Pie Parfait , Mango and Lychee Parfait with Tapioca Pearls, and Strawberry Parfait.
And Caramel and coffee ice cream. The coffee ice cream came highly recommended and was amazingly good and creamy.
After this we were the walking dead. Zombies who have succumbed to the dreaded food coma.
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