Pork Chops & Chicken

Journeyman ~ Wine Stains: Highs & Lows with Mr. Hill 04-25-11

 

 

A financier, a Chocolate Advocate, an opera singer, a doctor, and a BeerAdvocate walk into a restaurant.....

 

Seth Hill, the beverage director for Journeyman in Union Sq. Somerville, Ma., invited us to a small wine tasting on a quite little Monday evening. Me being a wine lover, I was absolutely interested in going. Dragging Todd out to expland his horizons on wine a bit, wasn't as hard of a push as I thought it was going to be. He was thinking the same thing I was. The last time we had dinner at Journeyman's it was unbelievable. And wine or not, we just knew this was going to be good. We were so right.

Seth had us sit at a communal table with some nice people Neil, Neil, and Tania. The doctor, the financier, and the opera singer. Made for a fantastic evening of good and widespread conversations.

Click to enlarge the pictures.

 

Flight of Vermouths

Sutton Cellars Brown Label Vermouth, Dolin Blanc Vermouth, and Cocchi Americano.

Paired with cured fish and a white bean salad.

 

 

This was the most surprising course for me. I know next to nothing about vermouths. I didn't even know they were wines. I thought it was a liqueur of some sort added to cocktails and martinis. Being able to sit back and taste them, get a better understanding of them was great for me. The men at the table seemed to like the more herbal, earthy one which had a lot of Fernet Branca qualities about it. It is the last one pictured, the Cocchi Americano, but I liked the Dolin Blanc the best. The one pictured int he center. It was soft, subtle, and floral. Really delicate and delicious.

They all worked really well with the white beans and the cured mackerel. There was also some cured ham on the plate that added some smokiness that really brought out those herbal notes on the Cocchi Americano. It went in the right succession. The white beans for the Sutton Cellars, the fish for the Dolin, and the smoked meats for the cocchi.

 

Sour-style Beers

Panil "Bariquee Riserva" and Cantillon "Bruocsella 1900 Grand Cru"

Paired with Wheatberry risotto, bone marrow, herb, and pea tendril salad.

Fats and acids. Fatty bone marrow and acidity from two sour beers. The buttery broth, and earthy wheatberry risotto, creamy and butter-like bone marrow with just enough sear on it to make it have crispy edges, with bright green and fresh tasting pea tendrils paired with the more fruity and acidic Panil Bariquee, and the much more mild and softer Cantillon.

I felt like the bone marrow was best paired with the Panil based on the deep fruit character of the beer and the acidity, while the Cantillon balanced the wheatberry and pea tendrils. Deliciously rich, but not overbearing. A perfect pairing and a delicious way to highlight contrasts in these sours.

It was also nice to feature this beer pairing in the center of a wine tasting. The folks at our table who were not that familiar with these kinds of beers, really liked it. For us, it felt like home.

 

 
Category-Foiling Wines

Heidi Schröck "Furmint" and Frères Grosjean "Premetta"

Paired with Spanish Mackerel, potato and tarragon.

 

 

Mackerel has been slowly but surely becoming one of my favorite sea food dishes as of late. I hadn't really been that familiar with it before going to Belgium. I love it. This again was a fats vs. acid course. Fatty fish oils versus bright wine acidity.

This was one of the first times white wine worked for me. My palate maybe changing, or maybe I am finding the right kinds of white wines to drink lately, but normally they are not for me. I cant usually drink too many white wines as they give me a headache very quickly and easily, and they tend to have an off taste to me that I have yet to understand what the cause might be. But not this time. The Furmint worked exceptionally well with the potatoes and tarragon and the light taste of the fish under all the oils.

The Premetta, was excellent in it's ability to work with the fish and it's salty skin. Seth described this as being a sort of Hamburger wine. It had remarkable light qualities to it but also a big enough, fruity balance for the oily and salty fish. And the tarragon potatoes also worked well here as tarragon tends to be sweeter and worked with the brightness of the Premetta.

 

Cabernet Francs from the Loire

Domaine de la Pepiere "La Pepie" and Clos Rougeard "Les Poyeux" Saumer-Champigny

Paired with Pork Knuckles, parsnips, radish, and greens.

 

 

Let us bow our heads and give thanks to the 380 pound pig that gave it's humongous life so that we could be the happiest gluttons in town. The oldest pig on the farm sourced from about 40 miles away. This pig gave us this huge pork knuckle, the smoked, cured meat on the first tasting, and even bits of ham in the parsnips.

Neil the doctor, took the reigns and cut this bad boy up. So many different tastes of pork in this huge monstrosity. Light meat surrounded by thick and flavorful fat, and then gorgeous dark meat from the bones. But there were different tastes on that dark meat depending on where Neil hunted it down. He found the most delectable pieces of meat that most might have ignored. The sides came to the table, and thinking the the pork was in the parsnips, we didn't expect to see this giant bone in pork knuckle come to the table like being presented with a massive ham at Christmas dinner. But family-style servings of this beast was the perfect way to go.

The La Pepie was my favorite to drink and sip on. It was very light bodied. It worked with the parsnips and the light meat cut of pork. While the more oak-y Les Poyeux, it was almost like it was taylor-made for the darker cuts of meat. Big, rich oak flavors and sweet ham. The greens worked with both wines wonderfully based on the garlicky and earthy flavors, while the surprise was the radish dish. It was sweet and fresh but also savory at the same time giving us a little high and low on it's own.

 

Lesser-known Sparklers

Camillo Donati "Malvasia Dolce" and Patrick Bottex "Bugey-Cerdon"

Paired with Pistachio cake, black treacle ice cream, and raspberry.

 

 

This course was all over the place and yet it worked so well. I think we all decided the black treacle was the best part of the desert while the pistachio cake was unexpected and fabulous. Very much like my first experience with Journeyman, where you might expect a big chocolate dessert but when you get treated to a nut cake and it ends up completely changing your thinking on how desserts should finish your night. Our first time, we had the most delicious pear cider with a nutty semolina cake. It was fantastic.

I thought that the Bugey-Cerdon was the best paring for the dessert. It just balanced so perfectly. But I think the table was most fascinated with Malvasia Dolce. It smelled like a Gueze and had this interesting aroma of peppercorns with an underlying stone fruit aroma. These aromas weren't gradual they were literally stacked on top of one and other. But it tasted nothing like that. It was very, very soft and subtle. It worked wonderfully with the pistachio cake.

 

Treats of Madeleines and chocolate cookies with a taste of Cappellano Barolo Chinato.

 

That Barolo Chinato was pure joy. Cinnamon and cloves aroma with a dry and earthy rich tobacco leaf taste. It was unreal.

Fantastic evening once again at Journeyman and most impressive was all of this for $85. This easily could have gone for way more. It was a comfortable evening with nice people that felt like old friends by the end of it. The pairings were spot on and really taught me a few things about wine.

If my two posts about Journeyman, haven't been able to convince you that they are indeed the best new restaurant in the Boston area, then you must be one of those people who simply can't be pleased. Get over there soon for dinner. You won't be left unsatisfied. Ask for one of their awesome cocktail creations too. Seth is always sending out messages on Facebook about testing, creating, trying new cocktails.

BeerAdvocate Presents Things We Love @ Hungry Mother 9/23/10

 

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.

 

 

 

   
The Bro's approve.

 

 

Second Course:

Pork Plate of smoked cocktail sausage, ciccioli, stout mustard, zucchini relish.

Beer: Schlenkerla Rauchbier Marzen, 5.4% abv

 

 

 

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.

Beer: Cisco Brewing Co. Cherry Woods Ale, 4.7% abv

 

 

 

 

 

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. 

Via Meadow Creek Website:

Grayson

Reminiscent of the Italian Taleggio or French Livarot, but with our rich Jersey milk and a longer aging time. A soft, finely textured cheese, very rich and beefy with a pungent aroma and a nutty, sweet overtone. Surface ripened with a thin reddish-orange washed rind. Loaves are approximately 7" square, 2" high and weigh an average of four to five pounds.

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.

 

 

 

Ninth Course:

Taza Chocolate Chip Cookies with sea salt.

Small Cocktail: Makers 46, Amaro Meletti, 888 Huixoc Coffee, Bittermens xocolatl mole.

 

 

 

 

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.

These are the Things We Love.

Creamy Chicken Pesto with Mushrooms and Sundried Tomatoes

This is the day I realized my camera was dying. The day I realized it's time to upgrade to a more professional type camera. Yellow pictures, blurry images with the setting set on still images. What a disaster, but I couldn't resist sharing this recipe.

I attended the 1st Annual FoodBuzz Blogger festival in the beginning of November last year. As part of the tons of swag we were given, I got a jar of this Mezzetta Napa Valley Homemade style pesto. Unfortunately it leaked all over my bag on the way home so I had a day or two use it.

I am not a huge pesto fan and I haven't really cooked with it before. So I searched the internet for a creamy chicken dish that I could add the pesto to. I found a very simple recipe from the FoodNetwork for Chicken in Parmesan chive cream sauce. This was the recipe I used for my base and then improvised the rest to make an awesome chicken pesto dish.

Forgive these pictures and pay attention to the recipe. You will want to make this. I cut out the chives and added a few different things to this recipe. Look for the asterisk to indicate what has been changed from the original recipe.

Chicken in Parmesan Cream Sauce by Robin Miller

1 tbls olive oil
1/2 cup diced shallots
3 cloves of minced garlic
2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 tsp dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
* 1/4 cup parmesan
salt
pepper
* 1 6.25 oz jar of basil pesto
* 10 large white mushrooms sliced
* 1 cup of sundried tomatoes chopped
* 1 pound of cooked bowtie pasta

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallots and garlic and cook for 2 minutes stiring with a spoon. 

Add chicken and cook for 3 to 5 minutes until golden brown on all sides.

Add thyme and bay leaves and cook for one minute, or until fragrant.

Add heavy cream and bring to a simmer for 1 minute or until sauce has thickened. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes, until chicken is cooked through. Add parmesan cheese and simmer for 1 minute or until sauce has thickened. Remove bay leaves.

Boil bowtie pasta and cook until pasta is tender. Drain the pasta and leave in pot. Add the entire jar of pesto, sliced mushrooms, and sundried tomatoes to the pasta. Pour on the creamy chicken from the skillet into the pot and stir well. Make sure all the pesto and cream sauce has coated everything.

Serve immediately in bowls with garlic bread.

The asterisk next to the parmesan is there because the recipe called for 1/4 cup, but I found that I needed a lot more than that. Start with the 1/4 cup and gradually add more as you need it. But allow it time to thicken before adding more so as you don't over do it. Just watch that you don't over cook the chicken while you wait for the cream sauce to thicken.

Christmas '09

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 Pumpkin Pies with Toffee-Walnut Topping. I made these pies before and they are really good and rich. It's exactly what you want for Christmas.

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.

Mascarpone And Fig Jam Cookies

The first time I made these cookies I nearly died when I tasted them. This is a really simple recipe for cookie dough using mascarpone cheese which adds an awesome richness to the cookies. Like sour cream cookies but better.

This recipe comes from ItalianFoodForever.com. There is no permalink for the recipe but you can do a search under cookies and its there for reference.

Mascarpone and Fig Jam Cookies by Deborah Mele

1/2 Cup Or 1 Stick Unsalted Butter, Brought To Room Temperature
1 1/2 Cups Sugar
1 Large Egg
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/2 Cup Softened Mascarpone Cheese
2 3/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Cup Fig Jam, Or Jam Of Choice

Beat together the butter and sugar until light. Add the egg and vanilla, and mix until smooth.



Add the mascarpone cheese, and beat until smooth.



Sift together the dry ingredients, and fold them into the butter mixture, mixing just until combined.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and refrigerate 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place sheets of parchment paper, or silicone baking liners on two cookie pans.




On a lightly floured counter or board, roll the dough into 1 1/2 inch balls. Using a blunt round object like the end of a wooden spoon, create an indentation in the center of each cookie.




Place the cookies 2 inches apart, and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or just as the cookies begin to color.


 



While still warm, use the spoon to redifine the circle, and then carefully spoon a little jam into each cookie.




Let sit at room temperature until the jam is set. Store in an airtight container.

Captains Meeting / BBQ At The Fishers

We had a post festival captains meeting at our good friends house the Fishers last Thursday. Post beer festival meeting with the captains who graciously help me run the show. We just had the BeerAdvocate American Craft Beer Festival at the Seaport and World Trade center in Boston in June. We normally host them at the BCA in the South End but to a much smaller gathering. This festival at the Seaport was nearly ten thousand people.

This was a hard fest to pull off, but we made it and now my captains and I needed to unwind and talk it out. But not without beers and a little BBQ first!

 

 

We started out with some spreads and dips which sadly I didn't get a picture of. Then Matt McGrath, who had been quietly working on the grill, presented us with some homebrews. It was a 2005 Belgian style triple. He paired it with grilled stuffed apricots wrapped in prosciutto.It was stuffed with blue cheese and walnuts. This pairing was delicious although a tad messy as the apricots were super soft. The beer had aged nicely as it was well rounded on the edges. No sharp steel-y malt tastes but a light and crisp tripel with subtle notes of citrus. It was very soft and delicate but again delicious. Keeping all the sample glasses from past festivals serves it's purpose well.



While Matt was grilling the apricots her also had been roasting fresh garlic in Schlenkerla Urbock on the grill. Then he mashed/pureed it for a dip. It wound up being great on the burgers.

 

Other foods being served were onion burgers with cheese, teriyaki marinated chicken strips, and hot dogs made by Adam Fisher and Abby Williamson. My Baked Beans with Maple Bacon. Sauteed Kale with a spicy butternut squash puree made by Alana Rivera. And an onion, tomato, and basil tart made by Tyler Hougaboom.

   

 

Then we enjoyed homebrews from Adam along with my Dried Tart Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies with pecans and almond extract.

Adam served us with:

10W40 - approx. 17% Abv. - Its loosely based off of a Foriegn Extra Stout. Brewed on 11/24/02 and bottled on 5/8/03.

10W40 Take 2 - 15% Abv. - Don't remember exactly but this one had some weird sugars in it like Molasses, Honey, etc. Brew on 11/23/03 and bottled on 4/21/04.

Really good stuff!

So that's how we roll. A mellow low-key BBQ with some awesome homebrews, good food, and great friends around.

Dried Tart Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies

I had some dried tart cherries to get rid of. I was looking for a decent recipe for chocolate chip cookies when I found this little gem of a recipe tucked away. It was hiding under recipes with dried cranberries. No big deal switching the cranberries for the cherries, but what really piqued my interest was the call for almond extract and not vanilla.

These cookies are the effing bomb.


Dried Tart *Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies




Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon almond extract (Recipe called for 1/2 tsp. but 1 tsp. is better.)
• 1 cup dried cherries*
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped nuts (Pecans)

Directions

Preheat to 375 degrees

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well dispersed.

2. Cream the sugars and butter together. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat the mixture until light and creamy. Add the extract.

3. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed ingredients, mixing until combined. Add the cranberries, chips, and nuts.

4. Drop heaping teaspoons two inches apart on an ungreased sheet. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Dark Chocolate Toblerone and Pecan Cookies

 

I am supposed to be on a diet, but every time I go visit family, I have to bring something sweet. My sister-in-law is pregnant with baby number 2 and she expressed love for Toblerone. I was going to make the Toblerone block into cookies a few weeks ago but opted to use dark chocolate Kit Kat bars instead. Good thing I waited.

Again I used the simple Ghirardelli Chocolate chip cookie recipe. It really is the best recipe out there. And as proven twice now you can substitute the chocolate and play around with some of the ingredients. In this case I replaced the chocolate chips with large chunks of chopped up Toblerone


(Noticeably absent from the picture is flour. I bought a giant 25 pound bag from Costco and it sits on the floor not on the counter tops.)

The Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie

• 1 400g block/bar Dark Chocolate Toblerone coarsely chopped
  
• 2 1/4 cup(s) unsifted flour
• 1 teaspoon(s) baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) teaspoon salt
• 1 cup(s) (2 sticks) butter
• 3/4 cup(s) sugar
• 3/4 cup(s) packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoon(s) vanilla
• 1 cup(s) chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Stir flour with baking soda and salt; set aside. In large mixer bowl, cream butter with sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla.

Gradually blend dry mixture into creamed mixture.

Stir in nuts and chocolate bits.

Drop 1 tablespoon of dough per cookie onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake at 375ºF for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.

    

Dark Chocolate Kit Kat Cookies With Heath Toffee Bits

I had some serious chocolate to get off of my hands.



I went to London ages ago and bought like a dummy those giant Toblerone Dark chocolate bars. I also bought a freaking 8 pack of dark chocolate Kit Kat bars.

For the record, I am extremely jealous of ANYWHERE that isn't the U.S. when it comes to Kit Kat bars. They can have all the variety they want. They have freaking 70% Dark Chocolate Kit Kat bars. WTF!! Kit Kat Senses with Hazelnut filling. I mean come on. Why can't we have that?

Now granted these are all made by Nestle. We do have Nestle in the states, but our Kit Kat bars are made from Hershey's. They released flavors for a limited edition. But in Australia when I was visiting, they had Cookie Dough Kit Kat. For Real! All we have is crappy Caramel and White Chocolate plus the classic milk. Big Whoop. Can I get an Amen for them to bring the Cookies'N'Cream, and Cookie Dough versions here? Mint Chocolate Kit Kat anyone?

Anyhoo...

These chocolate bars have got to go. So I made cookies. Sans the Toblerone this time, but next batch will be made with it unless I come up with something more creative.

I used the Ghirardelli chocolate chip cookie recipe for the base. It's simple and it makes well perfect cookies. Don't go by the picture in the recipe. I don't know why they used those, because when I use this recipe I get the perfect cookies every time. Those pictured in the link look busted.




2 cups Dark Chocolate Kit Kat bars chopped (4 packages)
2 1/4 cup Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 cup Butter
3/4 cup Sugar
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
2 tsp Vanilla
Heath Toffee bits optional

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Stir flour with baking soda and salt; set aside.

Side Note: I don't usually do this step. It would be easier, but for me I put in each ingredient one by one.



In large mixer bowl, cream butter with sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla.

Side Note: When my butter is too cold to blend, I nuke it for a few seconds to soften it up.



Gradually blend dry mixture into creamed mixture.



Stir in and Kit Kat and Heath bits.



Side Note: I added Heath bits at the last minute so I didn't get a picture of it going into the mix but I added about half a cup to 1 cup.



Drop 1 tablespoon of dough per cookie onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Side Note: Notice the round pan in the second pic. LOL! I had to use my nonstick pizza pans because I realized at the last second all of my cookie sheets were dirty. Same thing just round.

Bake at 375ºF for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.

 

Serve with ice cold, tall glass of milk.

Peanut Butter Cookies And Mayflower Porter

 

This ain't yo mama's plate of cookies and milk!

If you are a lover of fine beers, then you probably already know how awesome peanut butter cookies and porters are.

If you don't know how good it is, please allow me to break it all down for you.


So last week on Twitter, Logochannel posted a recipe for their favorite peanut butter cookies. I decided to give them a day in court. I also had some delicious Mayflower Porter on hand.

Side Note: I meant to post this recipe and pairing last week as well, but haven't been able to get around to until now. Also sadly I didn't realize that the quality of my images this time around are very poor. I snapped my pics quickly and they looked okay on my image screen, but low and behold they came out in poor quality.

Whole Jar Peanut Butter Cookies 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 (18 ounce) jar peanut butter (or 2 1/4 cups)
  
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chopped peanuts (optional)
  

Directions:

 

In a large bowl, cream butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth.



Add the eggs, yolks, and vanilla; mix until fluffy.



Stir in peanut butter.

 

Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the peanut butter mixture.

Finally, stir in the peanuts. Refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours.

Side Note: I didn't use peanuts. For some reason I do not like chunky peanut butter or peanuts in peanut butter cookies. Plus I only had walnuts and pecans, but no peanuts anyway.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a cookie sheet.

Roll dough into walnut sized balls. (Mine were a little bit bigger than walnut size.)

Place on the prepared cookie sheet and flatten slightly with a fork.

Side Note: I always sprinkle sugar on the tops of my peanut butter cookies. I also use a wet fork to press my cookies with a fork. After the cookies are done baking. I add a touch more sugar to the tops for a nice appearance. I do it while they are still hot and cooling so the sugar sets on top.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Cookies should look dry on top. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet before removing to cool completely on a rack. These cookies taste great when slightly undercooked.

 

[These two should have been my money shots and they ended up blurry. I am super pissed about it.]

Mayflower Porter

This a wonderful porter brewed by my friend Matt Steinberg at Mayflower Brewing Company. He was the brewer for Offshore Ales for quite some time, but then he left to come back to the mainland in 2007 to start up Mayflower Brewing Company.

Since then, one of my favorite session beers has been Mayflower Porter.




This porter is a rich brew and chock full of flavor. Rich coffee and chocolate notes. To me  however, it is not very English like the style suggests, but is very much a robust American style porter. What that means is, the roasted malts are much more apparent in American style porters. They are much more rich and flavorful. They tend to be thicker and slightly heavier. It's not always the case with American versions of English porters, but in some of the best porters and brown ales coming out America right now, nearly all of them have these characteristics. English Porters tend to be a little thinner, and a tad lower in ABV.

I personally love it. So when you think of roasted coffee and chocolate flavors with a just a hint of bitterness, paired with a sweet and warm peanut butter cookie, it's absolutely to die for. This is how pairings should be. Each flavor stands up and marries each other without being trounced by one and other. This allows for the richness in the beer to come out even more, and the cookies help tame it to be a smooth drinking beer.

What I mean is, it's all flavor with this pairing, but not over bearing. The peanut butter allows the roasted malts and chocolate notes to stand out without being too much, and in fact makes it much easier to drink. If that's even possible on an already smooth and drinkable porter that's only 5.5% ABV.

I prefer the beer very cold. It will open up even more as it warms to room temp. I prefer it to be cold like a nice glass of milk with cookies, and then I want the beer to warm up by my own hands. I dislike cellar temp. beers. I need them to warm in my hands so that I can taste the progression and taste the beer open up. It's a quite an experience and you can learn a lot about a beers flavors this way. If they start out already opened up, a lot of times the beers become cloying and hard to choke down as they get warm and flat. The only time I find cellar temp. beer acceptable is with Real Ale/English Cask Ale. They are meant to be drunk and not sipped on. They are some true session beers. Have a couple of pints, they are not too strong and quite delicious.

The temperature issue is my own personal thoughts. You should enjoy beer however you want and at whatever temp. you prefer. I am sure many will disagree with me about what temp to serve a beer at, but this is how I like it, and this is how I learn about it.