I found this amazing recipe for "Texas Gravy" from an user on FoodBuzz called Don't Burn The Garlic. It called for beer, duck fat, and bacon in this recipe. I was completely down for trying this recipe.
My interpretation of this came out more like a Cincinnati-Style chili. I tweaked this recipe a lot by the spices. It calls for some heat to this chili and I toned it down quite a bit because I am a wuss. I didn't use cocoa chili powder like the recipe called for. I added actual cocoa powder, a touch more chili powder, and I added regular paprika to make a substitution.
I used different a beer for the chili than Dos Equis. I used Dark Horse Fore Smoked Stout. I wanted a richer and more in-depth flavor for my chili. Using the recommended Mexican lager is not a bad call, but again I preferred a much richer sauce. Black lagers would work really good with this recipe as well. I toyed with the idea of using Chatoe Dirtoir from Rogue. A huge Black lager that pours and drinks like a nice big stout.
Feel free to
play around with the beer for this recipe. I ended up going with the smoked stout over the black lager, but a
smoked porter would have worked just as well. You can also use things
like coffee stouts or porters, and chocolate stouts would be great for this
recipe too. The recipe called for 10 strips of bacon, but I don't think this recipe will be altered enough if you used an entire 12oz package. I used what the recipe called for but wished I ended up using the whole thing.
The recipe calls for using Garam Masala as a secret spice ingredient. I found out that using the recommended 4 tsp was way too much. I would recommend starting with 1 to 2 tsp. of it to start. You can always add more if you think it needs it.
Finding rendered duck fat wasn't easy either. Whole Foods did not carry it nor did the local Harvest Co-op market. Star Market didn't carry anything like it either. I had to get it from a local restaurant that I knew was using it for some of their menu items. If you are lucky enough to get your hands on it, it's highly recommeded. It's rich, aromatic, and flavorful.
Look how glorious it looks in the above pic. All I needed was 1 tbls. and I got a take out size soup bowl amount of it. I will have to come up with some other way to use the rest of it before it goes bad.
***Asterisk indicates where I tweaked the original recipe.
Ingredients:
2 lbs. lean ground beef
*1 12oz. package of hickory smoked bacon cut in 1/4's
4 sweet bell peppers - mixed colors chopped
2 Vidalia onions chopped
4 cloves of fresh garlic
4 cloves of roasted garlic mashed
1 tbls. rendered duck fat
2 tbls. soy sauce
4 tbls. Worcestershire sauce
2 tbls. Liquid Smoke
1 12oz bottle of Dark Horse Brewing Co. Fore Smoked Stout
1 28oz can diced tomatoes
*1 15oz can of red kidney beans, drained
*2 15 oz cans of cannellini beans, drained
Spices:
*2 tbls.
dried Greek oregano
*2 tbls. chopped Fresh Sage
2 tsp. Kosher Salt
1 tsp. crushed
black pepper
4 tbls. Chili Powder
3 tbls. Smoked Paprika
*1 tbls. Paprika
*2 tsp. Ancho Chili Powder
*2 tsp. Garam Masala
*2 to 4 tbls. Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
*2 tbls. Garlic Powder
*2 tbls. Onion Powder
*2 tbls. Chipotle Powder
*2 to 4 tbls. Cumin
*4 to 5 small Bay Leaves
*2 tbls. Dried Basil
*2 tbls. sugar (optional)
Prepare 4 cloves of Garlic in foil with olive oil and place in preheated oven set at 350°. Takes about 20 minutes give or take to roast garlic. Check on it often and don't start to cook the onions until the garlic is done roasting.
Chop up peppers and onions ahead of time and place in two separate bowls and set aside.
Heat skillet on medium to medium high with 1 tbls. duck fat. Add ground beef and brown. Do not over cook it. Set aside and leave it in the duck fat.
In a large pot, cook the bacon until crispy . Remove the bacon and leave a few tbls. of the bacon grease. Add the chopped onions to the grease and cook for 5 minutes, until tender or soft.
Add fresh chopped garlic and roasted garlic to the onions.
Next add the bell peppers, cut up fresh sage, and bacon to the onions.
Add the beer and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add ground beef, beans, tomatoes, the spices, as well as the soy sauce, liquid smoke and Worcestershire sauce. Mix well and cover. Reduce heat to medium or medium-low and simmer for 1 hour. Add pinch of cinnamon and sugar while simmering. Remove bay leaves before serving.
*My tomatoes are clearly stewed tomatoes. I accidentally told my husband to pick those up at the store instead of diced tomatoes. Use the diced like the recipe calls for, though the stewed were just fine.
This recipe
makes for a very spicy and rich chili.
To truly serve this Cincinnati-Style, serve over cooked spaghetti noodles, top with cheddar cheese, chopped white onions, and a side of sweet buttered corn bread.
This chili was great the next day as left overs for chili dogs!
I went to Las Vegas for my 30th birthday last October. While visiting and imbibing on food, gambling, and copious amounts of booze, I had an ultimate Las Vegas experience that ended with me seeing Alice Cooper playing live for a packed bar called Aces & Ales.
I must preface this and say it was an epic day, but it certainly didn't end up like The Hangover. And it didn't up like the last time I was in Las Vegas and got married completely shit faced. Yes, that is a true story. I was married in Las Vegas 5 years ago. I am living proof that if you get married the way you want to, doing it for fun and happiness and not doing it for all the bullshit, other people, and all the planning, it will last much longer than the $20k to 100K weddings.
It went down like this. My birthday was on a Friday and I got the fuck out of dodge (Boston), to celebrate such a landmark birthday and headed to Las Vegas. I had fun, I ate filet mignon and drank wine for breakfast in bed on my actual birthday, drank a lot of booze and beer, won $400 bucks gambling, and went to Hubert Keller's restaurant for a fabulous, but bank breaking dinner at Fleur de Lys in Mandalay Bay.
The Saturday after my birthday, we decided to hold a pub crawl with the local BeerAdvocates. Before we headed out to Vegas, the bar owner of Aces & Ales Keri Kelli, sent us a beermail (email via BeerAdvocate) telling us he owned this great new craft beer bar off the Vegas strip and that we had to come visit. He said he loved BeerAdvocate and would love it if we came and saw his place. He added that he was the guitar player for Alice Cooper, and that Alice was playing in Las Vegas while we were visiting. He mentioned that Alice Cooper might come in and visit the bar. It turns out that rockers are big fans of craft beer. The hangers on and the groupies still latch on to the PBR and Bud Light, but Alice Cooper and his band drink good craft beer.
Only after I got back from Las Vegas, did local brewer Will Meyers of Cambridge Brewing Co., tell me that Alice Cooper had been into CBC and sat down and had his beers. He said they were great. The whole crew came in and sat down and asked a lot of questions and drank good local American craft beer.
I don't care if you like Alice Cooper or not, the fact that he is a craft beer drinker and that one of his band mates owns a craft beer bar is unbelievable.
So we started on the Las Vegas strip because there is really fuck all for craft beer on the Vegas strip. A few places and then we went outside of the strip. We wanted to get it over with.
We started at The Pub in the Monte Carlo where we were staying. I started knocking back cocktails because I am not a full day beer drinker. I can't or I will get too bloated to continue on. It's unpleasant to talk about but it's the truth of the matter. Mixing it up can be a bad thing, but in my case it keeps me on the same page as every one else and allows me to continue on all day.
The Pub was cool because we met a few BeerAdvocates from the area and one of our long time friends named Uncle Jimbo from Boston, whom happens to love Las Vegas, randomly flew out just to party with us.
We then made our way over to Mandalay Bay where The Burger Bar is located. That is one of the only places on the Vegas strip where craft beer can be located. Lots of the casinos have one or two imports like Duvel, but the strip is a craft beer wasteland.
Not only did The Burger Bar have Stone Ruination and DFH 90 Minute IPA, which despite being able to get almost anywhere, was truly a godsend on the Strip, but they also had a collection of the Firestone Walker series. Only true beer geeks can appreciate how rare and awesome tasting 10, 11, and 12 at the same time really is. They also offered an array of beer floats with different beers. I appreciated this because beer floats are great.
After treating ourselves right to a good base of grease and meat, we then headed off the strip over to the Freakin' Frog. This is a total craft beer oasis in the middle of the barren dessert.
And before I
forget, there was a pit stop before the Freakin' Frog at the Crown and Anchor
British pub. Interesting place. Crappy beers, football (soccer) scores, and video
poker machines. I kind of enjoyed it because I took time out to drink a
glass of red wine to settle my stomach after those burgers and play
some rounds on the video poker which it turns out I am pretty good at.
The Freakin' Frog also has a special room upstairs of the owners Adam Carmer's, private collection of tequila's, scotch whiskeys, bourbons, and other rare offerings which Adam generously offered us tastings of. I think my taste of the Rey Sol tequila, 100% pure blue agave, was like a $50 taster. Very generous indeed!
This part of the post will be a little bit tedious, but I urge you to click and enlarge each picture to see this rare collection.
The Monk.
The Tequila's. Some of the images came out a bit blurry, but you get the idea just by looking at them.
The Scotches.
The Bourbons and Rye's.
At this point it's fair to say we were all pretty well lit. Now we make our move to Aces & Ales.
We knew we were in the right place with a huge Deschutes barrel sitting outside.
So here is how this all went down. We show up and the bar is packed yet closed for a private event. We called the owners of the bar and they met us outside and ushered us into the packed bar. They took us off to the side in the VIP area for the night. They said "have whatever you want we'll be running around all night."
The next think you know, we got Stone Ruination's slammed in front of us with some Valley Brewing Co. beers, and bombers of Stone Smoked Porters. The place is completely mad and jam packed. All rocker types and they are looking at us like "who the fuck are you and why you are so special to sit in the VIP area?" So many groupie hoes around too, it was hilarious. We did meet some cool rocker guys who knew who we were and told us about how they will be opening a brew pub in L.A. soon. Good news for the L.A. area.
Bands are playing, Keri is on stage rocking out with some other groups. Next thing you know we were all kicked out of the VIP area because Alice Cooper was coming and he was going to make his entrance through that area. So we moved off to the side to the less crowded side of the bar. Sure enough, in walks Alice Cooper and he plays a few of his hit songs. It was incredible. He sounded so good live. He truly is a legend. And how awesome is it to be seeing a rock god playing live with a Stone Ruination in your hand? Life was good at that moment.
We went back to the hotel after this quick performance. We were going to hang out for a bit because Alice Copper left and the VIP room was opened to us once again. But then we heard it would be emptied out again because The Steve Miller Band was heading over. I would have liked to have seen that too, but we were all smashed and exhausted from a long day of drinking. Not that many stops, but some serious drinking.
A great time with great BeerAdvocates in Las Vegas. And the generosity from the Adam at the Freakin' Frog and Keri from Aces & Ales was unbelievable.
The next day was Sunday, which meant huge Las Vegas buffets to look forward to. Nothing better than being hungover and having booze to wake up to and a huge buffet. I love Las Vegas!
My husband Todd, loves tacos. So much in fact he has invaded Green Street with very own special taco night which features beer he loves, maybe a new beer release, or a rare beer offering paired with a special taco of the evening.
Every Wednesday, Green Street features Taco night. $4 gourmet tacos of shredded duck, carnitas, and sometimes fried oyster tacos or braised oxtail tacos.
Last night our good friends Dann and Martha Paquette of Pretty Things released their newest beer, Fluffy White Rabbits. A spring offering of a hoppy Belgian-style tripel.
That last image was taken by Jim Kowalczyk (Uncle Jimbo).
This was paired with a braised rabbit taco with a carrot slaw and toasted pine nuts by Chef Greg Reeves.
Also on hand was the über sought after Feburary 27, 1832 Mild Ale. An historical recreation of a British recipe of an English Mild relived through Dann Paquette.
And this is what happens when good times are being had and good friends are together. Dann Paquette of Pretty Things, David Ciccolo of The Publick House & Monk's Cell and American Craft, and Todd Alström of BeerAdvocate.
That would be me that Todd is giving the stink eye to in the last picture.
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.
Just thought I would highlight my annual Winter Warmer Pub Crawl from last Dec. This was our third year hosting it, always held on the first Saturday of Dec. I realize it's now March, but I was scrolling through pictures and found these and decided to blog about it.
What we do is not technically a pub crawl, but more like a 3 stop journey in self destruction. Deep Ellum, Sunset Grill, and what as formerly called the Roadhouse and now called American Craft.
It's a hardcore crawl to drink big winter warming beers. Barleywine's, DIPA's, Imperial Stouts, and anything else that is not considered sessionable. We drink them in abundance and there is no crying about it. There is no wusses allowed either. Anyone who would make the day about themselves and whine that they need to take it easy if they are going to make it all day.
That's another thing, it is only 3 stops, but it goes on all day. Only the strong survive a day like this. Only the awesome show up from start to finish and don't meet us in between the crawl.
Marc Kadish of the Sunset Grill, printed the actual rules I posted on BA about the event.
I had to start my crawl off with some actual shots of liquor. Yes it's a day about big beers, but our dumb ass cab driver took us all the way to Newton, and then back all the way in to Boston and ignoring the exit for Cambridge on the way back like we told him. I nearly cut a bitches face open that's how stupid this fucking guy was. He made us a full hour late to my own pub crawl and I only live 10 minutes away from where we started.
So you see, a couple of shots of bourbon were more than necessary. Not to mention they tasted amazing with Pretty Thing Babayaga. Also a few tastes of some barleywine's I haven't had before.
After chilling for a bit and relaxing with some liquid love, we headed over to the Sunset Grill. Southern Tier's Chokolat Stout was on hand. So was some chocolate ice cream to drop into the beer!!
It was a stout kind of a day. Normally it's DIPA's for me and American-style bitter, super hoppy barleywine's. Not this day. I have to stick with what works, and that happened to be stouts.
Happy Sunset Grill staff being festive.
Mark, Todd and Marc Kadish.
These English gentlemen wanted me to snap a pic of the ginormous plate of nachos some of our crew ordered.
BA fanboys. LOL!
I don't know who these people were. They were part of the pub crawl but not really apart of the crawl. This cool guy on the left with the tattoos was adamant that he got his picture taken while sipping his beer.
Max Toste of Deep Ellum pictured on the right, joined us for one more at Sunset.
The raffle tickets for some Allagash Gear that Marc Kadish was nice enough to hand out to my pub crawl loving heroes.
I didn't end up getting pictures at the Roadhouse, but huge plates of nachos, wings, and other goodies were set up for us. Chris Sheridan had his line up of beers all sorted out for us. They have always taken good care of us.
Good times. Deep Ellum, Sunset Grill, and The Roadhouse, now American Craft, always take good care of us. They always have special beers on for our crawl. Something to think about for the Dec. 2010 crawl.
I went to the new opening for American Craft last night in Brookline, Ma. David Ciccolo who owns the Publick House and Monks Cell as well as the Publick House Provisions, decided to revamp and go in a whole different direction with his former restaurant the Roadhouse.
David suffered set back after set back when it came to the Roadhouse. There was no luck for that place at all. From the bad chef who opened the restaurant (admittedly that was David's mistake), to the typical Brookline residents who couldn't be bothered to go to the planning meetings when David planned on installing a 4600 pound smoker, only to have the same residents complain and have it shut down 6 months later because was spring time. Who cares that it had been going for 6 months and that they ignored the planning meetings. It's spring time and they wanted their windows open.
Then there was the issue of the smoker being set up with a Jewish Center for Asthmatics right behind his pork-filled, smoke monster (true story). Next it was the Boston Globe writing an unethical review of the Roadhouse highlighting the good food from the new chef but making no mention of phasing out the old chefs bad food and writing about it without any mention of the change over. A terrible review without telling the whole truth or painting an accurate picture. Kind of like the typical Yelp review. And lastly being forced to change his menu due to a lack of a smoker from Texas-Style BBQ to a Tex-Mex style menu. I think the fans were as exhausted as Mr. Ciccolo was.
Finally David has come up with a realistic change to his restaurant. A concept that I think hits all the right marks at the right time. American Craft featuring only American craft beer, wines, and spirits. The menu has been kicked up 20 notches and simplified. The restaurant itself has been tweaked to feel worlds more comfortable.
My husband Todd, wrote a good write up from his point of view for a BeerAdvocate review. You can read that here.
I mostly wanted to highlight some of the food we had last night. It was so good. The duck hash was awesome, and not pictured, was the buffalo mozzarella cheese bites in marinara sauce. Delicious! The Stout Braised short rib was massive and so soft and tender. The potatoes were soft and creamy. I usually don't like mashed potatoes at all, but these were great.
Pulled Duck Hash: duck confit, root vegetables, and Yukon potatoes.
Burger: On a Challah roll with bacon, fried egg, spinach, and cheddar with hand-cut fries.
Stout Braised Short Rib: short rib with wilted spinach and whipped potatoes.
The beer selection is good. Let's face it, whether you liked the food at the Roadhouse or not, finding good beer in one of David's places has never been an issue. Now there is good wine too.
As many bumps in the road as there have been for David in finally getting this restaurant situated, I think it's finally safe to say that he has found his niche. This is the right concept at the right time.
I don't expect to see glowing reviews on Yelp with all the back and forth changes the Roadhouse has been through. I don't expect much out of Yelp in general. Or those who are on average hard to please. But you should see it for yourselves. American Craft is a much more comfortable place to hang out at, much more laid back atmosphere, and the food has kicked up, simplified, and fantastic. I liked it and frankly I am all that matters around here. It is my blog after all.
Thanks to my friend Caitlin, for allowing me to borrow her camera for these pics.
Clown Shoes Black IPA Hoppy Feet 7% abv from Mercury Brewing Co. in Ipswich, Ma.
A second chance with this beer. I tried it for the first time on NYE at Cambridge Common for their 30 taps, 30 IPA's night. I dismissed it because my palate was shot from drinking heavier hopped beers like Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA. I thought it was light and not note worthy at all. Boy, was I wrong.
Gregg Berman, the creator of this beer, found my quick and rather dismissive blurb about the beer. He sent me an email asking if I would try it again with a fresh palate. Within a few hours that beer was sitting on my door step. Talk about customer service!
I was given two bottles. I tried it that night with my famous meat loaf. The beer and meat loaf were amazing together. It will probably be my go-to beer for my meat loaf in the future. The beer is rich and roasted with big malts, but very hoppy and clean as well. It drinks well, has a nice hop bite, and not cloying from the malts.
This is the style of beer I have been digging a lot lately. It has everything I want in a beer. Rich roasted malts and big hops.
I am glad I got a second chance with this beer. It very tasty and I was wrong to dismiss it that easily.
[Kate Baker, Suzanne Schalow, and Sebbie Buhler. Good image that isn't one of my bad images via Sebbie.]
It wasn't a total loss, but I really screwed this one up. This beer dinner however, was just too good to not to write about despite my shoddy pictures. So I am going to blog it anyway and hope that you all don't mind.
A good friend of mine, Sebbie Buhler of Rogue, came up to Boston to do a beer dinner at Cambridge Common. The ladies of Cambridge Common, Kate Baker and Suzanne Schalow, also great friends, just keep cranking them out. Beer dinner after beer dinner. And this happened to be a spectacular dinner I was lucky enough to catch.
My whack pictures of Kate Baker and Suzanne Schalow. Sebbie Buhler and Suzanne Schalow.
A beer brewed in honor Captain Sig from the Discovery Channel show Deadliest Catch. This is a nice and bitter beer. Spicy, malty, big hops, and it's plenty bitter. Very tasty and easy to drink. I liked it a lot. It was my first time having this beer before. I had been wanting to try it ever since I heard about it because I am big fan of Rogue and the show.
My picture is so pathetic. It's painfully obvious I am not a photographer or possess zero photography skills, but I am not sure why I snapped a blurry pic and then moved on.
First Course: Garlic, cheddar, and andouille sausage soup.
What a wonderful soup! Man this thing was creamy, chock full of garlic and sausage. The Dead Guy ale was perfect. Not too hoppy or bitter, very balanced with the malts. They were made for each other. The soup was very filling and delicious. Perfect for the winter months. I really need to get the recipe.
Look at that beer shot. Same thing again, blurry. Does that delicious beer no justice. Let's forget about that bad shot with another good pic of the soup.
Second Course: Baby spinach toasted hazelnuts, cranberries, and crumbled blue cheese.
It's as though I really hate the beer with the kinds of pictures I took.
Actually, this was the best pairing of the night. Rogue Hazelnut is a delicious brown ale, but if you have ever had it before, then you know how delicate the hazelnuts are. It happens to be more robust on bottle than it is on draft. But again it's not a dominating feature of the beer.
Once I took a sip of the beer and tasted mostly the roasted malts, I figured nothing different because this is the kind of beer it is. But once I had a bite of the spinach, this beer opened up in huge ways. The hazelnuts completely popped out. Not just a little bit either. It was like drinking an actual hazelnut nectar. I believe it was the earthiness of the spinach. Yes the salad had hazelnuts on it, but if you notice the picture, there wasn't enough on that plate to do dominate the palate.
I used this beer once before for a chocolate and beer dinner. And sitting around with the chefs of this restaurant, we tasted the beer and decided that the best way to make the hazelnuts pop out was to just do a simple butternut squash puree with only vanilla added. Served with it was a piece of Selles sur Cher goat cheese rolled in cocoa nibs. The premise was to have beer, cheese, and chocolate in every course. Well this worked for pronouncing the hazelnuts and it was delicious. But this salad pairing far exceeded the butternut squash as far as making the hazelnuts pop.
Third Course: Pork chop with black lager mushroom jus, scalloped potatoes, and haricot vert.
So naturally when I finally manage to get a clear shot of the beer, it's so black you can't even tell. And the clear shot of the beer meant, bad shot of the food. You can't see the delicious pork chop smothered in amazing mushrooms.
Luckily, Sebbie managed to capture a much better picture.
There was a choice for entrees and naturally I had to go with the pork chop. I did it solely because of the name of my blog. That and it just sounded awesome. Of course it was awesome. The gravy was amazing, the au gratin was creamy and fantastic. This was straight up comfort food and I ate every bit of it.
The beer was unbelievable too. Another Rogue beer I haven't had before. This is a black lager that drinks like a big old stout. You wouldn't know it was a lager at all. The brown head, the very black body, and big robust flavor and nose. No this thing couldn't possibly be a lager. But it sure was.
Chatoe Dirtoir purposely misspelled, and proudly labeled GYO (Grow Your Own). From their press release:
Available on draft and in serigraphed 22oz bottles, Wet Hop Ale is
brewed using two First-Growth hops, Independence and Revolution, from
Rogue's Micro Hop Yard in the Wigrich Appellation. Each hop will be
brewed the day they are harvested by John Maier, Rogue Brewmaster.
After brewing, they will be blended, bottled and kegged.
2010
Chatoe Rogue products will use Rogue Micro Farms' Independence,
Revolution, Liberty, Freedom, Newport, Rebel and Alluvial hops from the
Wigrich Appellation and Dare, Risk and Dream malts from the Tygh Valley
Appellation. Chatoe products will include Pinot Envy Ale, Dirtoir Ale,
Single Malt Ale, and OREgasmic Ale.
Dedicated to Independence, a
200 barrel brew of Wet Hop Ale is made using 3,000 pounds of wet hops!
To view the Hop Yard web cam, and get more information on Rogue, Rogue
Micro Farms and additional pictures of the harvest visit www.rogue.com
or call 541-867-3660.
It was delicious, creamy, drank like a big stout, and worked wonderfully with the pork chop and potatoes au gratin. Total comfort food with an amazing new beer. You would not recognize this beer to be a black lager.
Sebbie's beer! That is Sebbie on the bottle. A delicious and very bitter chocolate stout. My first time with this beer I thought it was too bitter. Now that's all I want in beer is nothing but bitterness. Bitter like my soul.
[image via Sebbie]
Normally when I host pairings, I try not to pile the same flavors on top of the same flavors. I like to push the envelope and explore different ranges. But sometimes you got to go with what works. This is one of those cases, chocolate on chocolate. A no-brainer. The beer is made is imported dutch chocolate, and was paired with a big sweet chocolate cake. Unbelievably good yet again with this pairing.
What happens to the beer with a big sweet cake is that it tones down the beer in such a way it becomes more drinkable. Sometimes stouts are so big, you can only have little bits at a time. There is such a thing as very filling beers. But there is a reason big, decadent, rich chocolate cakes work with big rich stouts. They balance each other out. Not to mention the rich chocolate enhances the roasted malts on the beer allowing it to be roasted, chocolatel-y, coffee, bitter, and fantastic!
Well done Kate and Suzanne. Another successful beer dinner in the bag even if my pictures didn't do it justice. And hanging out with Sebbie late after the dinner until the bartenders kicked us out, was the highlight of the evening.
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.
Back from a five day trip to Anchorage, Alaska. We were invited up for The Great Alaska Beer & Barley Wine Festival. Todd and Jason Alström were asked to be judges for the Barleywine competition. They were also invited to speak at The Great Northern Brewers Club. A massive group of homebrewers from the great state of Alaska.
There is a lot to say about Alaska. I really enjoyed visiting Anchorage even in January. It was pretty chilly outside but we missed the worst of it before we arrived and after we left.
Alaskans love their beer. They love big, bold flavors in their beers and they are not scared one bit of experimentation with their beers or styles be it professionally brewed, or concocted in their kitchens. Alaska has an an amazing beer culture. Everyone knows each other, everyone homebrews, and everyone supports their local beer scene with a protected pride in their home grown offerings.
They should be proud of what they have going on up there. I have never seen such a tight knit community of beer lovers. The people of Alaska are also some of the most generous, friendly, welcoming group of people I have ever met in my life. We were welcomed into their fold and treated like family members. I will forever be grateful for the way we were looked after and treated by the good people of Alaska.
The first thing we did when we landed in Alaska was attend a beer dinner at Sub Zero owned by Billy Opinsky. I am holding off on posting about that here in this post because it deserves it's own post.
The next morning we woke up refreshed and I, myself was finally free from a terrible jet lag induced headache, we decided we need a big hearty breakfast to set the mood right for our beer trek through Anchorage. I heard about this place down the road from where were staying called Snow City Cafe. I saw their menu online before we came up to visit. I had completely forgotten that Alaska is all about halibut, king crab, and salmon. When I saw that they have king crab cake eggs benedict, I would not stop until I tried them.
I had an excellent Almond Joy Mocha to wake myself up. And then I ordered the King Crab Cake Eggs Benedict. Picture came out a little dark, but it gets the message across.
These were awesome except for one thing. The poached eggs were hard boiled. I hate that. I want runny yolks with poached eggs. The king crab cakes made up for it. They were meaty with real king crab. That might sound strange to an Alaskan to say real bits of crab. Everywhere else you go it's faux crab meat. Or real crab meat that's mostly filled with more breading than actual crab meat.
Jason ordered an omelet and got a side of reindeer sausage. This is a very popular side dish for most breakfast joints in Anchorage. It tasted like smoked sausage but spicier and more rich in flavor. I haven't had reindeer meat before, but this was tasty.
We left this place very full and happy. It was snowing and the sun light doesn't come out until 10 or 11 am. It begins to set again around 2 or 3 pm. The best thing you can do for yourself if you are used to sunny situations is eat and drink yourself silly. It's a lot like Las Vegas. You never know what time it is, but who cares as long as there is beer?
We walked back to our hotel to get some last minute BA Magazine work done. While Todd and Jason were sorting that stuff out, I noticed that the hotel we were staying in was mentioned in some articles that it's haunted. Oh goody! Historic Anchorage Hotel.
The bottom picture are actual accounts that some of the guests have made about encounters with so-called spirits. One story reports that a couple came back to their room on the second floor and their door was blocked by a little kid sitting in the doorway. It turns out that there were no kids registered in the hotel at the time. Other stories say that the guests reported kids playing in the hotel when there were no kids registered. Apparently a little girl was shot in the hotel way back in the day and later died of a mysterious illness. Another little boy had drowned in a bathtub in the hotel.
Guest reports of seeing a man in a police uniform walking the hallways. The first police chief of Anchorage was murdered near the hotel in the 20's with his own gun and he refused to say who shot him in the back before he died.
The best story comes from the ghost hunters who came to the hotel armed with a tape recorder. The two ladies were talking in the recording, when you could hear loud breathing in the background. Then
a creepy voice said "don't move that." Then it said "chocolate"
and you could hear a chocolate bar wrapper being opened. Then the voice
said "do her!"
Yeah, I am not quite sure what "do her!" meant either but it's pretty damn hilarious. Hilarious in the sense that it happened to them and not me. I did have a sheer moment of panic however, leaving my room when I saw two little boys in their pj's just staring me from the other end of the hallway. I found their parents down stairs in their pj's too eating a quiet breakfast. The boys came and joined them. I relaxed after that.
This is from the hotel's website:
Our Haunted Hotel – Where Ghosts Are More than Just Stories
Curtains rumbling, shower curtains swaying, pictures flying . . . it’s
all par for the course at the Historic Anchorage Hotel. Stories of
ghostly happenings have been circulating at the hotel for many years,
all thought to be related to the death of the first Chief of Police,
Jack Sturgus. On February 20, 1921 at 9:15 p.m., Anchorage's first
Police Chief John J. "Black Jack" Sturgus was found shot in the back
with a bullet from his own gun, steps away from the Historic Anchorage
Hotel. It is rumored that his ghost returns to the scene of the crime
each year, haunting the location of his untimely death, seeking justice
for a crime still unsolved to this day.
Sightings
are so frequent that we keep a ghost log in which a number of our
guests have shared their encounters. In addition to the ghost of Jack
Sturgus, there are several different specters that past guests have
seen make their way through our halls and facilities. A more detailed
account of some of these ghosts were featured on Today MSNBC.com.
While
an abundance of paranormal activity may scare some, we can assure you
that the rich and interesting history of the Historic Anchorage Hotel
will make for an unforgettable stay.
Awesome, but kind of not. Good thing the people who were working in the hotel were once again some of the kindest and friendliest people. If I had seen a ghost, I don't think they would have minded if I sat in their laps curled up in a ball, sucking my thumb and crying for my mommy.
We tried a ton of good beers here. I found and fell in love with Specialty XXX. A Black Double IPA brewed for their distributors 30th anniversary. It was so hoppy and good. Dry finish, roasted malts still fighting to hang on amidst the onslaught of big hops. The perfect beer for me. I took a couple of the bottles home with me, but the bottles are barrel-aged.
We also tried Gluttony, a triple IPA and theoretical 200 IBU beer. Theoretical in the fact that the human palate can't really taste more than 100 IBU's. But supposedly this beer is about 200 IBU's. I tried the Kodiak Brown Ale as well and many other beers that afternoon.
*For the Midnight Sun crew: Hot Peach Cobbler is the winner for a food pairing with this beer. Peaches braised in tons of butter and brown sugar, a nice crumble on top of the peaches.... Pure vanilla ice cream with it. There is more that can be done. We came up with a few combinations, but I thought I would elaborate on the "I am thinking peaches" comment. I had it in the bottle after we got back and roasted malts were more apparent. Much bigger flavors than when I tasted Kodiak with a shot palate after drinking Specialty XXX.
Visit Midnight Sun's website and scroll through their profile of beers. It's a pretty stunning line up and some of the most creative beers from any brewery I have seen in a long time. Their beers are not just a couple of one off's that don't fit a certain mold. Their whole profile is off the chains.
One of the highlights was Bathtub Gin. A gruit style ale with juniper berries, grains of paradise, and other herbs. This beer was made by lead brewer Ben Johnson in honor of the Phish song Bathtub GIn.
Ben, I didn't know you were such a dirty hippy! That changes everything about our friendship.
If you haven't guessed, that's Ben on the label. Bathtub Gin was very cool. Crisp, dry finish, and big spicy nose and flavor. Again, very Alaskan with big, full flavor and a complete distortion of what is considered to be classic styles. I love it. They do what they want, make whatever beer they want, they don't give a shit about traditionalism because they don't have too.
Alaskans are living in their own quiet little world up there... Only it's not so quiet. They are making some noise up there and when you come into town, you either get on board or get out of town. It isn't hard to get on board with the delicious beers being produced up there. I love that kind of mentality. Who says you have to play by the same old boring rules? Midnight Sun is a perfect example of do what you want. Make the beer you intended to make no matter how big, or obscure, or undefined and the masses will follow you. It's so American, and I love it.
Later that day we made our way back to Humpy's Great Alaskan Alehouse. Owned by Billy Opinsky and shares the same kitchen with Sub Zero. Billy O had taken such good care of us during the whole time we were there. Taxiing us around, piling good food unto us to try. Like the amazing halibut fish and chips appetizer at Humpy's, and later treating us to sushi where we experienced White King salmon for the first time.
When we got to Humpy's we were in the mood for some beers we have never tried before and appetizers. Smoked Salmon spread, Alaskan oysters, and King Crab bites.
All of these choices were great choices for an afternoon snack. I will say that the salmon spread needed more salmon chunks in it to balance out the cream cheese, but it was very smokey and tasty. And Hallelujah they give you a good amount of bread to go with it. I can't stand places that give you dips or pate and only two pieces of bread or toast points.
The crab bites had good pieces of crab in it. Served piping hot and great with some squeezed lemon. Perfect Alaskan bar food.
Upon further inspection of their menu, we saw this little note on it.
I would like to see someone take this challenge on up close. You can see the challenge on Man v. Food here.
Later that night we went over to the Sleeping Lady Brewery for the Great Northern Homebrewers meeting. Todd and Jason were invited to be guest speakers at their meeting. Todd thought it would be around 40 people. More like 120 people were there. Armed with their homebrews, and fresh imperial stouts pouring from Sleeping lady Brewery, we had a good old drunken night.
Getting a little Double Wit Bier from the tanks at Sleeping Lady. Dennis Sessler, President of the Great Northern Homebrewers Club kicking things off with Dr. Fermento ("Dr. Fermento is the alter ego of Anchorage Press and The Celebrator Beer News beer columnist James Roberts.")
What are those two weirdos doing? Jason and Todd Alström.
That was our downfall right there. Jason and his multiple trips to get the Sleeping Lady Imperial Stout and Smoked Porter from Alaskan Brewing Co. The homemade meads certainly contributed a fair amount to our downfall as well.
Jamie Floyd from Ninkasi Brewing Co. in Eugene, Oregon with his geek tattoo of a D&D dice. You had to be there and hear Jason's reaction when Jamie mentioned his geek passion for D&D.
Uh oh. Here comes trouble. I am just kidding that is Barb Miller of Midnight Sun. She is the main reason we came to Alaska in the first place.
People were getting down to Tom Dalldorf's band the Rolling Boil Blues Band. The older gentleman in the picture was having himself a good old time. He was fun to watch.
There were a lot of homemade meads being tasted out and many homebrews being passed around. All I can say is that it is probably good for everyone including myself that I didn't take anymore pictures after this point. Alaskans throw down. We'll just leave it at that.
Here are a few pictures of the judging for the first round of the Barleywine Competition and the Winter Seasonal category.
Day one, first round Barleywines and Winter Seasonals.
Second day, round two, two tables one for Winter Seasonals and one for Barleywines.
The winner for Winter Seasonals: Glacier Brewhouse, Eisbock
The Winners for the Barleywine: 1st Place Lagunitas, Gnarleywine
2nd Place Midnight Sun, Arctic Devil
3rd Place Pizza Port, Blonde Bombshell Barleywine.
I did not take pictures of the festival itself for the two sessions I attended. It was quite a good time. A bit too crowded (much more room in the connoisseur session) and a bit too much puke on the sidewalks after the fact. But still a good a time. As I said, Alaskans like big, full beers. These people like to get crunked. It's my kind of town.
I also didn't get pictures of the incredible sushi we had at Sushi & Sushi or the tasting of all 18 beers at Moose's Tooth Pizza. That was certainly a good moment. Enjoying 18 different beers with Thai pizza, BBQ chicken pizza, and a McKinley meat pizza. That was heaven.
We ended our 5 day excursion back at Midnight Sun for a relaxing afternoon that spanned into the evening. We drank Good Mojo, Specialty XXX, more Gluttony, and Earth. We drank awesome beers, had good food, and said good-bye to our new found friends of Alaska.
I didn't get pictures with some of my new good friends in Alaska. Julie and Tim McDonald, Billy Opinsky (Humpy's, Sub Zero), Dena and Dennis Sessler, Ken and Shauna Pajak (Cafe Amsterdam), Barb, Mark, Ben, Gabe, Jeremiah, Gary, and Seth (Midnight Sun). All of these people made our trip to Alaska fantastic. The Generosity, the laid back and cool attitudes, the welcoming nature into their worlds. I have said it over and over again, I will forever be grateful for their tremendous hospitality.
Edit: I don't want to forget what a gem Tom Dalldorf is and what a terrific sense of humor he has. I knew we would get along good when he brought up the idea of prank calling Lisa Morrison!
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