I just spent a spectacular weekend in New York. Did some pretty awesome food touring. I did bring my good camera down with me, but unfortunately there were some technical issues with the camera and I wasn't able to get high resolution images. I did have my iphone with me though. Sadly it's first generation and it just doesn't do any of these places justice. But we will get through it as best as we can.
A quick flight from Boston to NY and we took a tour of Union Beer Distributors as our first stop. One of the largest warehouses for craft beer. Then we were whisked off to grab a quick lunch at this amazing taco joint near the warehouse. Los Hermanos. A tortilla factory in Bushwick where they have begun to include making some tacos, quesadillas, and tortas.
A little carnitas and pollo tacos. These were delicious.
Then we went to the Astor Center for a quick class on cocktail infusions with oils and hydrosols and some distillation demonstrations. Taught by Dave Arnold, Director of Technology, FCI and Audrey Saunders, Mixologist and owner of Pegu Club.
This was a fun class to taste how you can distill flavors into alcohols like peanut flavored bourbon, and assam tea flavors with chocolate, and blue cheese flavors infused. To the instructions of how oils are to be used in cocktails and what exactly are hydrosols. Johnny Iuzzini, the Executive Pastry Chef of Jean Georges and from Top Chef: Just Desserts came and sat in on the class as well.
I thought Audrey Saunders was extremely knowledgeable and gave a great presentation. Dave Arnold was a crack up. Trying to focus on talking to the class while maintaining his distilling device. Shows how much I learned I can't remember the devices proper name.
We skipped the mingler after the class and went straight to Momofuku Noodle bar. All I am going to say is that we were treated very well here. The food is amazing. It's a ramen noodle bar with some off centered offerings that don't exactly fit with a noodle bar theme but still rock non the less.
Jars of pickled veg and kimchi.
Hamachi and Arctic Char plates.
Amazing beat salad with bacon and a yuzu yougurt and chicken wings.
The greatest thing on planet Earth. Pork Buns Momofuku style. Two pieces of pork belly with pickles and sauce wrapped up like a taco with a steamed bun. Un-fucking-believable. Trust me.
Spicy sausage and cashew ramen and Momofuku house ramen with pork, nori, fishcake, and poached egg.
The aftermath. We decimated our food. Great hospitality at Momofuku and amazing food. For some reason I didn't take pictures of dessert, but yes we did have some. Apple pie cake truffles, and pecan pie ice cream with spiced pecans at the bottom. Salty pecan pie ice cream was amazing, and the apple pie truffles were pieced of pie, battered and deep fried. Once again, simply amazing food.
Katz's Deli.
Saturday afternoon at Katz's Deli in the Lower East Side is a fucking mad house. It must said. It's organized chaos of rude, fat, pushy assholes all cramming in for a sandwich and a knish. But it's a classic iconic place and once you get a bite of that hot pastrami on rye, you would soon rather kick a kid in the eye just to get back inside and grab a sandwich. The place is legendary.
And yes it's the place where Meg Ryan had her orgasm scene in When Harry Met Sally.
Psssht. You betta ax somebody. Hot pastrami on rye with mustard. Matzo ball soup and a sweet potato knish.
Sunday Morning we took an awesome tour of an underground train system found in Brooklyn to be the oldest in the world. Amazing tour and a great way to say you know Brooklyn inside and out. This was us going into the tunnel by the Trader Joes on Atlantic Ave.
After this we went to Prime Meats in Brooklyn for a late brunch.
Punch of the day and house made warm pretzels with butter.
Poached egg on mushrooms with bratwurst and toast, spaetzel and mushrooms.
Steak and frites and grilled German Leberkäse with eggs an frites. Note the orange yolk color of these beautiful farm fresh eggs.
Thick cut bacon.
Red cabbage and celery salad.
Prime Meats Manhattan. Probably the best Manhattan I have had in a while. Even Sara Hougaboom would approve.
A little Underberg never hurt anyone.
And some chocolate cake and creme brulee. And despite all this food, we didn't feel gross or weighed down after the meal. That's how you roll in Brooklyn. Full bellies full of fine food and amazing drinks. And then you are ready to rock it for the night.
Monday comes along and it's time for a radio interview on Cathy Erway's show Let's Eat In. Shane and Todd took the reigns for this one.
And since the radio station is at Roberta's, we stayed for some banging pizza.
And that is a fine way to eat through New York. One thing that is missing from this post is a special trip to Manhattan to Sushi Yasuda for some of the best sushi in America. That deserves it's own post though as there are so many pictures of the most delectable sushi I have ever had in my life.
A few weeks ago, I managed to get word at the very last second about Island Creek Oyster Bar opening up in he Commonwealth Hotel in Kenmore Sq. The new venture from Garrett Harker of Eastern Standard.
ICOB is nice new oyster bar with fresh daily seafood offerings that will change everyday. I do not envy waiters with an ever changing menu. If they ever fumble, give them a break! However, the waitstaff at ICOB had fantastic attitudes and were all very nice and super chill for a brand new opening and for just having learned the whole menu 2 hours before hand.
This restaurant of course with it's name sake features the fantastic Island Creek Oysters along with many other fresh and local oyster farm offerings.
Please bear with my first generation iPhone pics. I will be upgrading soon. Low quality images, but enough to get the gist of this great new restaurant.
Appetizers
BBQ shrimp and grits, small fried fish sandwich, and a smoked salmon plate. Not pictured were a few Island Creek Oysters. Have to get them whenever hey are offered even if it's just two oysters.
Main
Monk Fish Schnitzel with Spaetzel and Day Boat Scallops.
Sides
Steamed broccoli with a cheese cream, and a large buttermilk biscuit.
House made Baileys.
Me and Tom of Boston Tweets comparing drinks. Mine was pure gasoline so I win. I kid, I kid. I asked for a different cocktail and I usually let the trusted bartenders at Eastern Standard experiment on me. This was a Jackson Cannon creation at ICOB of a gin martini with olive juice and no olives. It wasn't a typical dirty martini I can tell you that. A special floral gin that made it oddly fruity, and savory with the olive juice.
And then we finished our night off with a habenero cocktail with cucumbers at Eastern Standard which is conveniently right next door. Again, let the bartenders their do magic and you cannot go wrong.
So, with a fantastically fresh menu, good cocktails, good wine, knowledgeable and relaxed servers, ICOB is another winner for Harker. The food was a good mix of comfort food and seafood. Also offered were steaks and chicken as well as some daily specials aside from what was brought in fresh for the day. The vibe of the restaurant is modern and cool with oyster crates lining the walls and movable wood panel walls to change the scenery.
The only negative about the place.... They could use a better beer list. Their offerings were pretty weak compared to Eastern Standard. But I have no doubt that they will fall in line and keep a better maintained list.
I was sick and tired of beer dinners. Sick and tired of trying to come up with concepts for beer dinners. I had hosted a series of cool beer dinners in the past like the Aztec Beer Dinner, or Soul Food Brunch pairings, chocolate beer dinners, Russian beer dinners, even the now infamous Gallia Belgica.
All of those events were cool. No scratch that, they were amazing. But I now I am done with concepts or themes. I am done working with one sole brewer and only their line up of beers for beer dinners, and I am done with beer dinners that serve amazing food, but all anyone walks away with is, did they get enough of the geekiest beer being served that night.
I am through with coming up with beer dinners for beer geeks. A lot of them will never be satisfied and only want dinners that include full pours of Allagash Gargamel or something equally rare, they want the finest food to be served with it, and only want to pay $45 dollars max to be served like and eat like kings.
Sorry beer geeks, it's simply not about you anymore.
It's also not about the uber foodie either. I am frankly sick of them too. They don't have any idea about good craft beer (some of them anyway, not all of them), and they still turn their noses up at the idea that beer can be and is amazing with food.
Of course I am completely generalizing here, but you get the idea.
No Mas! No more creating dinners to suit other peoples needs. I wanted to create a series of dinners that highlight the things we love. From the restaurants, the chefs, the waitstaff, the style of food, and various beers. It may also include a wine versus beer tasting, a beer cocktail or spirit served with the meal, or even a beer battle itself!
The idea is to elevate the foodie to beer, and bring the beer geeks back down to reality with good solid beer and food offerings.
We had been discussing a possible beer dinner with Hungry Mother in Cambridge. A favorite restaurant who hadn't hosted a beer dinner before but was really contemplating the idea of working with us. I decided this was the right place to launch such an idea. Anyone who is local around here already knows Hungry Mother and how awesome they are. If you don't, drop whatever it is you are doing, shut your mouth, and go over there and have dinner immediately.
Their style is Appalachian-style southern food with local ingredients, and French techniques.
** When I say Appalachian, I mean App-il-lay-chin. The fine folks at HM will disagree with me until we are all blue in the face, but actually being from Virginia, and more the Appalachian Mountain chain extending way up into New England, I am right! Only in the deep corners of the south and the Blue Ridge Mountains do you call it "App-a-Latch-chan."
This is the kind of place that will serve you cheesy grits and bacon that will make your mama cry. They will serve it with a Hickory Dickel (Gingerale, George Dickel, a tiny hint of liquid smoke, and a bacon lardoon garnish. They will serve you a gorgeous country-style gnocchi with peas, mushrooms, and bacon, but serve you a Genesee Cream Ale with it. This is exactly our kind of place.
Together with Todd and Jason, myself, Alon and Rachel Munzer, Barry Maiden, John Kessen, and the various waitstaff and barkeeps, we created a fun menu to showcase the fun stuff Hungry Mother likes to create, and we all had a hand in picking our favorite beers for this menu. Beers that WE loved and it didn't have anything to do with whether they were super rare or super generic. It's all about what we love and what we wanted to share with our friends and patrons.
I want to highlight that at the very bottom of the menu listed all the things Hungry Mother loves.
Things We Love: BeerAdvocate, Deep Ellum, The Gallows, Carolina Chocolate Drops, East by Northeast, pizza, opera, Dylan & Mira, our lawyer, Jamison Farm, Tetris, Anson Mills, Eastern Standard, Muddy Pond sorghum, bourbon, hot dogs, Ridgeway Blue, rainbows and puppydogs, Kanye, days off, snood, golf, ukuleles, drinking, Strangeways Here We Come, (ex) data synapse, Joe-Joe's, Brazil, Hulu, bonfires on Wiborgs Beach, boo ya later.
We welcomed everyone to dinner with southern specialties of house made dilly beans, boiled peanuts, and homemade chips.
*Click to enlarge any image.
Great social foods to pick at and get introduced to your table. We sat a lot of people together in groups. The Dilly beans were spicy and tangy, the chips were crisp and addicting. I will take the word from everyone at the table that said the boiled peanuts were fantastic. They ate them all! I am a southerner who who doesn't care for boiled peanuts. I know, it's pure blasphemy. But it's a classic none the less and perfect for the table.
We also opened up with a beer cocktail of Campari, sorghum syrup, and Smuttynose Star Island single.
First course:
Miss Lewis' Tomato Aspic with Deviled Quail Egg and Bacon.
Beer: Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project American Darling, 7% abv
I think this was my favorite course. The aspic was soft and extremely flavorful with tomatoes. The deviled quails egg was cute and packed just the right amount of pop of creamy texture and flavor contrast for the beer. The bacon was just an awesome hint for the plate that tied every thing together. Really, who can deny a lovely piece of bacon? They should have had a piece of bacon on every course served for this dinner.
The beer was perfectly fresh, crisp, and delicious. Just a tad too hoppy for the aspic though. Not enough to clash, but while pilsners and lagers are excellent for tomatoes, the added hop bite of American darling, almost proved to be to much. But as a hop head, I never mind big hops.
HM always offers a pork plate of some sort. This was the perfect portion size for wonder flavors and two different variations of pork. Paired with the most classic beer for pork, Schlenkerla Marzen larger. Smoked beers are made for pork dishes. It's a simple pairing but packed full of flavor and proved during this dinner why we love it.
Third Course:
Catfish Caveach picholines, capers, poblanos.
Beer: Allagash White, 5.2% abv
Caveach is basically a method of pickling fish. It was fantastic catfish too. It had a lovely earthy rustic taste to it and the Allagash White really went perfectly with it. The tangy capers and vinegars tastes were smoothed out by the lovely and soft flavors of the wit bier. The soft texture and hearty flavors of the catfish were fantastic.
Fourth Course:
Shrimp and Grits with HM tasso, cornbread croutons, and rosemary.
Beer: Cape Ann Fishermans IPA, 5.5% abv
You can't have a real southern meal with out grits. HM always has a grit offering in some way. Shrimp and grits are a classic southern, soul food offering. These grits were slow cooked, creamy and deliciously buttery. The shrimp and sauce was extremely flavorful and worked well with the malty IPA. Malty and hops are good for rich sauces like this. I really didn't want this course to end.
Fifth Course:
Fried chicken picnic with "kohlslaw", compressed watermelon, and Texas Pete.
Beer: Narragansett vs. Genny Cream Ale
Yes! Yes, we did go there with fried chicken and cheap beer at a fancy beer dinner. Genny Cream Ale is a favorite of the HM staff, and Narragansett is a Todd favorite. We thought, why not battle them out and see which cheap beer is the favorite among crowd?
The best part of this was serving the chicken in paper baskets and the beer served in cans with paper cups on the tables. As soon as the beers were delivered, the cracking noises in sync around the room from the cans was amazing. It was super fun and had everyone engaged. I have never seen that many smiles for cheap beer in a long time. It goes to show you that there is a time and a lace for every beer. Only one person wasn't really thrilled with the cheap beer choices because he prefers Budweiser for his cheap beer of choice. I am a PBR girl myself, but I didn't let that stop me.
Before I announce the winner, lets talk about the food. Compressed watermelon? Yep vacuumed sealed so that all the juices compressed further into the melon. Sprinkled with salt to give it an awesome contrast to the insanely sweet and delicious melon. The "kohlslaw" was light and creamy and packed a delicate hit of flavors.
The fried chicken was perfectly southern. Juicy and that right bit of nearly burnt skin flavor. It tasted just like my mom's pan fried chicken and no one beats my mom's chicken! I was surprised to find out it was not pan fried. Close enough though. They deep fried it in a deep fryer but set the chicken high in the fryer like it was pan frying.
Winner: Narragansett!
But winner by a slim margin. The way it worked for me and a lot of people tended to agree was that the Genny Cream Ale was perfect right after the grits and worked extremely well with the "kohlslaw." But it was the 'Gansett that over took every thing by working perfectly with the watermelon and fried chicken.
Very fun course.
Sixth Course:
Pulled Jamison Lamb with hominy tortilla, corn and tomato chow chow.
Beer: Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye, 8% abv
Wonderfully tender lamb. Flavor explosion with the southwest-style flavors perfectly matched with the malty and bitter Hop Rod Rye. This was one of the best matched courses with the beer. Unfortunately this was also the course where we all realized that this we may have been in over our heads. We still had desserts and cheese coming!
Seventh Course:
Meadow Creek Grayson with green tomato and sour cherry jam, crystal malt, and house made beer bread.
Originally we had planned for the beer to be Cerise from Founders. The reason being is that that beer tastes exactly like cherry pie filling! Something so southern, and cherries were in perfect season. However, there was none available and I think it worked out for the better.
Cisco Cherry Woods was available. It too had a delicious cherry pie filling taste, but with a much more crisp and delightfully sour bite to it. Not too sour where it burns your throat going down. It was very enjoyable and delicious. I am not usually a fan of sour ales, but this is one I very much enjoyed and could drink more than one glass of.
The sour notes and carbonation cut right through the cow's milk cheese allowing for an excellent pairing.
The beer bread was homemade and soft and the sour cherry jam was actually pretty mild. I think most people were expecting more of a cherry pop to the jam, but it was soft and mild because of the green tomatoes. If if had been more sour, the beer and jam would have over powered the pairing. I really enjoyed the sweet little accent of the crystal malt sprinkled on the plate as well.
Eighth Course:
Chocolate cake, sorghum buttercream, Benne brittle.
Beer: Left Hand Milk Stout 5.2% abv
Yes!! Chocolate cake covered in chocolate. A sesame seed brittle on top and Left Hand Milk Stout served in coffee cups. I loved that detail. HM has such cool flare.
This cake was rich and balanced by a lovely sorghum buttercream filling. It was very reminiscent of a New England whoopie pie. Rich chocolate flavors, butter sesame brittle, and rich, bitter, chocolate-y beer.
When we realized we were in trouble with the lamb course, this surely sent us all over the edge. And we still had one more to go.
Taza is a local favorite of HM as it is with many local shops and restaurants. It's a natural fit for those shops and restaurants who keep it local and source ingredient from their area and local producers. I am personally not a huge fan of Taza Chocolate, but just for this once I didn't mind it. The cookies were soft, buttery, and had that perfect balance of salt by being topped with sea salt. Sweet and salty always works. The cookie dough covered up the flaws I normally find in Taza Chocolate.
The cocktail was a nice way to end the night. We were all so full and in full on food coma mode. The cocktail was soothing and settled our full bellies.
And there you have it. Hungry Mother's first beer dinner showcasing their favorite things with a combination of our favorite beers. From the details of the paper in the fired chicken course, to the mini mason jars filled with gorgeous tomato aspic, to the coffee cups filled with milk stout, they really knocked this one out of the park. For their first ever beer dinner, they really seemed to get it. Look for more events with BeerAdvocae and Hungry Mother in the future. I know I certainly can't wait to work with them again.
The idea that having a fun and a well received beer dinner without serving the most rare and geekiest of beers was made abundantly clear with the super fun fried chicken course. A successful event that proves we need to listen to ourselves more. Trust our own ideas and go with what we know works and what we love. It's up to you to come with us or not. As you can see, if you don't, you might be missing out on some really amazing food and some real good times.
Red, juicy, delicious, sweet cherries. Just playing around with my camera and taking pictures of cherries for when I made Chocolate Cherry Ice Cream. I love the colors and I love my new camera.
Lord Hobo is offering brunch now and doing it well. Kegs & Eggs every Saturday and Sunday starting May, 29 at Lord Hobo. 10 am to 3pm for Brunch. Then bar service only until 5pm, when they normally open for dinner service.
They offer tons of entrees featuring eggs like skirt steak and eggs, egg benedict with smoked speck, frittatas, mushroom sautees with eggs... Oh and did I mention beer? 40 taps ready to go with your eggs. Also sangria red and white, mimosas, bloody mary's and breakfast beer cocktails.
Fried oysters with pickled cabbage.
Duck liver pate in the left corner, Vietnamese spiced pork pate right corner, smoked chicken liver in the top center, mustards, cornichons, and a cherry reduction.
Pork Belly Hash with sunnyside up eggs.
My husband Todd got an omelette with home fries and sausage. There was a side of an english muffin, and a few Bloody Mary's and Green Flash West Coast IPA's not pictured either.
Yeah, that's a whole skillet of pork belly with peppers and onions and two eggs on top. This is exactly the right thing after a long night of drinking on a Saturday night. Fatty and meaty pork chunks with runny yolk eggs. A side of sausage and english muffins. Fantastic!
Our friend Tyler, who joined us for breakfast thought that maybe the skillet should have had some potatoes in it. I agreed. It could have handled a starch, but there was enough meat on the pork belly hunks that it was fine as just the way it was.
The oysters were fat bellies and nicely fried, but kind of small. However, they were packed full of flavor and the pickled cabbage strands were excellent.
The charcuterie plate was excellent as well with the cherry reduction, smoked chicken liver pate, and duck liver pate. But I thought the best was the Vietnamese pork. It was so tasty, I could have honestly had a whole plate of just that with the cherry reduction.
I saw lot's of egg's benedict plates being served and I did see the frittata both of which looked excellent.
Kegs & Eggs was great and this kind of brunch is needed for a place that has 40 taps of craft beer.
I attended American Craft's very first beer dinner last night featuring rare beers from Rob Tod of Allagash Brewing Co. and American-style comfort food.
American Craft has been off to a really great start. Their focus is on local foods and ingredients, with American craft wines and beers. The food is really good and comforting, the beers are great, and this first beer dinner was spectacular.
You can see a couple of their menu items here. This was from their opening night.
I don't want to waste anytime here, so let's get right into it.
We were first welcomed with a glass of Interlude. An American-style wild ale with about 9.5% abv.
Allagash Interlude
(via Allagash's website)
The first release in our new experimental series, Allagash Interlude
pushes the limits of beer. An innovative brewing process, special
fermentations, and French oak barrel aging all contribute to a beer that
has remarkable wine-like qualities.
Two yeast strains were used to create this unique 9.5% ABV Belgian style
ale. The first, a Belgian farmhouse yeast, establishes the flavor
foundations of a classic Belgian-style ale. The second, a house strain
of Brettanomyces yeast, brings it to the next level contributing an
intriguing myriad of flavors including pear, apricot, graham cracker,
and bread crust. Finally, a portion of the Interlude is aged in French
Merlot and Sirah oak barrels, which impart a distinctive vinous plum
character and a drying, almost tannic finish. Try complementing its
audacious character with food pairings such as sausages, salami, smoked
meats, and bold cheeses.
True to traditional Belgian-style brewing, we bottle condition the
Interlude. Just prior to bottling, a fresh dose of sugar and yeast is
added to the ‘still beer’ (at this stage there is no carbonation
present). After bottling, the beer is aged in a warm room, where the
fresh dose of yeast ferments the sugar and naturally carbonates the
beer.
Available in: 750 ml bottles
Original Gravity: 1080
Recommended Serving Temp: 40-50°F
Recommended Cellaring Temp: 50-54°F
I am not a Brettanomyces fan in general, but I have been coming around to Interlude for a while now. It's a delicious beer. A little fruity and bread-y, and a hint of tartness.
First course: Confit Beef tongue with Foie Gras Mousse
Vagabond is the second offering in our limited 375 ml series. With only
500 bottles made, this beer is from one of the only barrels to move with
us into our new brewery three years ago. Aged four years in American
oak barrels, it boasts a complex aroma of maple syrup and port, with
background notes of marzipan, plum and dill. Flavors of tart, unripened
plum and caramel give way to a warming, toasted almond finish. As
always...an adventure.
Topped with micro greens and a hit of a sea salt. This course was decadently rich. The beef tongue was thin and rich. Sadly for me, I was only able to eat the beef tongue and greens and one or two small bites of the foie gras. It was so rich and fatty and I could feel my arteries clogging on the spot. This sort of indulgence shouldn't exist.
However, this pairing worked amazing with the beer. Vagabond has a deep rich dark fruit aroma and toasted almonds, a light carbonation, a bit of tartness with a nice oak flavor and a deep dried fruit taste like figs or dates.
The flavors just worked so well with the fatty foie gras. This pairing also worked with the Interlude. I still had my welcoming beer in front of me and the tartness helped cut through through the fats and allowed some of the grape-y flavors to present itself on the beer.
This is some of the last offerings of Vagabond. This super indulgent pairing was the right way to go with this beer.
Second Course: Braised pork belly with bacon vinaigrette.
Our interpretation of a traditional Belgian wheat beer, Allagash White
is unique and truly refreshing. Brewed with a generous portion of wheat
and our own special blend of spices, this beer is light and slightly
cloudy in appearance, with a spicy aroma. Overall, it is a beer that is
very drinkable and smooth any time of the year.
The menu description was a little deceptive here. It was braised pork belly, but breaded and deep fried and it had a dab of apple puree on top.
The transition of beers was a bit awkward at first. A sip of Vagabond and then a sip of a refreshingly light witbier flooded the palate with yeasty banana flavors. I wasn't sure at first how this pairing would work out.
But when the pork belly arrived, this pairing was fantastic together. Bright carbonation and spices from the beer helped cut through the fat, and add a delicious pop to the pork flavor. The apple puree added a nice balance of sweet to this course.
The pork belly was rich, meaty and fatty at the same time. Delicious and well executed. The Allagash White was a surprisingly good pairing for this course. Sometimes you are just not sure if a lighter beer will hold up to a heavier course, but the effervescent carbonation and spicy character held up well and took on the fatty pork to make a nice contrasting paring.
Third Course: Tuna with parsnip puree and black truffles.
Beer: Coolship Cerise
Cooled in a traditional Coolship and fermented in oak barrels w/ tart local cherries; 5.5%" I was at the inaugural brewday for this beer ... around 3 years ago.
The stainless steel coolship is in a shed off of the brewery w/ stainglass windows that open to allow wild bacteria and yeast to infect the beer.
Todd Alström
January 2008
Always an adventure… Allagash is taking experimentation to the next
level by brewing a 100% spontaneously fermented beer in the tradition of
the Belgian Lambics.
Last month we brewed the first two of our spontaneously fermented beers
at Allagash. In brewing these beers we are using an authentic,
traditional process honoring the classic Belgian Lambic tradition,
including the use of a cool ship, which we built specifically for these
spontaneous beers.
The process begins with a specialized decoction mash, which utilizes the
addition of both two row barley and raw, unmalted wheat. After the mash
and sparge, we add aged hops during the boil, which are
traditionally used because they impart many of the beer stabilizing
benefits of hops without contributing bitterness. The use of aged hops
(aged a minimum of three years) necessitates an unusually long boil of
over four hours.
After boiling, rather than cooling the beer in a sterile environment and
adding a brewer’s yeast culture, the hot wort is pumped to a cool ship
in a special room designed specifically to make these beers. The cool
ship is a commonly used tool in Belgium, but is rarely seen beyond
Belgium’s borders, if at all. It is a large, open tray that is 12 feet
long, 8 feet wide and 1 foot deep. Once in the cool ship the hot wort
spends the night cooling from near boiling temperatures to about 60
degrees Fahrenheit. To facilitate the cooling process, windows in the
cool ship room are left open overnight. The cool Maine air, containing
natural bacteria and wild yeast, drifts in and cools the wort. As soon
as the wort is cool enough, the natural airborne yeasts and bacteria are
able to survive in what will eventually be the spontaneously fermented
beer (it is these natural yeasts and bacteria which will ferment the
beer, rather than a yeast added by the brewer). Next, the wort is pumped
back into a brewery tank, where it will spend one further day before it
is pumped into special French oak barrels. Within one to three weeks,
spontaneous fermentation begins in the oak and will continue for over
one year. After the yearlong fermentation this traditional beer will age
in French oak for at least one more year, sometimes with the addition
of fruits, before it is finally bottled.
This was my favorite course. The tuna was cooked perfectly and the sweet parsnips added an unbelievably good balance to this dish. Everyone else was savoring this course, while I foolishly ate all of mine in about two minutes.
The beer was quite amazing. It had a very, very funky and robust nose. All the hallmarks of a dank and nasty sour beer. For sours heads, they will understand what all of this means. It doesn't sound very appetizing, but it the nature of sour beers. It smelled like a stank-ass barnyard, small hints of mint and medicinal notes, baby diapers, but underneath all of that, was a quite peculiar aroma of cinnamon.
The cherries presented themselves after it had warmed a bit. They added a lovely kick without being overpowering and did not make this a typical fruit beer. A tart beer but not overly sour. One thing I can't deal with when it comes to sour beers are the ones that are so acidic and sour they burn your throat. Some people love, that but I prefer to enjoy my beers without psychical pain. This funky beast was good for that. The nose is disarming as it is so funky on it's aroma, but almost delicate in it's taste.
This pairing was interesting. The parsnips added the sweet balance while the sour tartness on the beer mixed with the tuna giving the tuna an almost creamy texture. Sounds strange, but man oh man was it good!
This beer is not for sale any where and will be very different with each batch brewed. It's meant for special occasions at the breweries discretion.
Fourth Course: Duck breast with cider and peppercorns. Beer: Victoria, Belgian strong pale ale with 9% abv.
To create our unique, Belgian-style Victoria Ale, the brewers drew on
references to Bacchus, the Thracian god of wine, in the history and
artwork of the Victoria Mansion as inspiration for this new beer. One
hundred and fifty pounds of Chardonnay grapes were brought in, crushed
on site and added directly to the mash.
Victoria Ale's aroma is of fruity spice with a hint of the Chardonnay,
and the taste presents subtle notes of green banana, black pepper, and
fresh-crushed mint. With a focus on the subtle, wine-like character of
the grapes, the 9.0% ABV brew boasts a pale copper color, Belgian yeast
influence, and a medium body with a long candied fruit finish with hints
of honeydew melon, and, of course, Chardonnay.
Allagash Victoria Ale is a tribute to the historic Victoria Mansion here
in Portland, Maine. Also known as the Morse-Libby House, it is one of
the greatest 19th century houses in the United States. Designed by
architect Henry Austin, the mansion was built between 1858 and 1860 and
survives as a unique example of the princely palaces created for
America’s wealthiest citizens in the pre-Civil War era. With superb
architecture and well-preserved original interiors, the Victoria Mansion
is an unparalleled document of America’s highest aspirations in
architecture, interior design, and the decorative arts.
Perfectly cooked duck breast served nearly rare and incredibly juicy. This was one of those pairings where I wasn't sure how the beer would hold up to the rich gaminess of the duck. The sweet Belgian yeast profile worked well with the steel-y game taste of the duck.
The peppercorns added a nice spicy kick and flavor that played with the sweet beer. The cider added a nice sweet and tart balance while the puree gave it another added layer of depth with it's creaminess.
I wasn't a huge fan of the beer. Chardonnay's are not my style of wine and having the grapes in the beer didn't do anything for me. I also found the beer to be a little too sweet. But this is all personal preference because my palate only wants dry, bitter, and hoppy beers these days. Technically this is a very cool beer which did work wonderfully with the duck.
I was wrapped up in conversation, and managed to forget to take a picture of the beer for this course.
Fifth Course: Braised short rib with pickled ginger.
Gargamel, a Belgian Style sour ale, is the
first offering in our limited release 375 ml series. Our brewers used a
blend of American 2-row barley Malt, Raw and Malted wheat and selected
caramel malt to brew this beer. After primary fermentation the beer was
inoculated with our house Brettanomyces aged in French Oak wine barrels
with a generous amount of local raspberries for over 18 months.
Gargamel's aroma is full of un-ripened raspberry, vanilla and citrus
notes. This medium bodied beer has hints of biscuit and graham cracker
with a clean, fruity and refreshingly tart finish.
Gargamel is the first in the hand-filled, 375 ml series that Allagash
will release throughout the years. More exciting barrel-aged beer to
come!
This was one of the first entrees I had when American Craft first opened. They serve you a huge slab of short rib that is so tender it's a miracle it keeps it's shape.
This was served a bit differently with the pickled ginger on top. The pickled ginger really brought this pairing together. Again all the textures were present with a beautiful fatty and super tender short rib, creamy mashed potatoes and sweet and tart kick of the pickled ginger coupled with the tart beer. Slight fruity hints on the aroma with some fruity hint in the flavor. The slight fruit notes on the beer really worked with the rich beef flavor while the sourness on the beer helped cut right through those fats.
Once again I managed to not get a picture of the beer. But the short rib picture was enough for me. That thing was so tender and delicious.
Rob Tod discussing Gargamel. What's your buzz level Rob? On a scale of 1-10?
Allagash Confluence Ale is created with a mixed fermentation; utilizing
our house primary Belgian style yeast in combination with our
proprietary Brettanomyces strain. The two yeast strains work in tandem
creating a marriage between spice and fruit flavors that ultimately
leave a lingering silky mouth feel.
Confluence is brewed with a blend of both imported pilsner and domestic
pale malts as well as a portion of caramel malt, resulting in a complex
malty profile. Tettnang and East Kent Golding hops are added in the
brew process to balance the intricate malty profile while adding a sweet
and spicy citrus aroma.
After fermentation, Confluence undergoes a lengthy aging process in
stainless steel tanks to enhance the flavors. Prior to bottling, it is
dry hopped with a Glacier hops, providing a pleasant balance of aromas.
Confluence is then bottle conditioned and aged in our cellar prior to
release.
This seems like an odd choice to have served scallops last or after the braised short rib. But, these scallops were so fresh, soft, and flavorful. They really held their own after the deeply rich and fatty courses before it. And without a dessert course it was a nice softer way to end the meal.
The quintessential contrast pairing for the night. Sour, lightly fruity beer with big sweet scallops and a gorgeous creamy artichoke puree. The beers mild carbonation allowed for more of the sweet creamy texture of the scallops to come through. Just a fantastic and lovely way to end the dinner.
Sadly there wasn't a dessert for the dinner. The restaurant will be introducing them soon to the menu. This menu was so rich and to top it off with some more rich chocolate cake and some Allagash Odyssey could have pushed us all over the edge, but it was have been worth it. But I am not complaining about an amazing six course dinner. Those scallops were sweet and rich enough to have acted like a dessert. We had a conversation for a few hours after the fact about this dinner. Everyone was satisfied and everyone had good detailed thoughts about what they got out of the dinner.
Besides, we all took a walk down to the Publick House afterward to drink "Larry" from Wachusetts. Can't say there is anything wrong with ending the night with some DIPA's.
If you still think American Craft is like the former Roadhouse or possibly isn't any good after seeing this menu, you're a fool and the joke is on you if you avoid this place. Hears to many more wonderful beer dinners that are on the way from American Craft.
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!
Cambridge Brewing Co.'s Autumn Brewers dinner from November 2009.
This was a fabulous beer dinner I went to last minute at CBC back in November. I wasn't sure if we were going to end up going or not and then two friends called saying they really wanted to go too so off we went.
Amuse Bouche:
Double Happiness Cocktail. Tangerine twist with duck crackling and apple cider caviar.
Double Happiness- strong golden ale refermented in chardonnay barrels with Brettanomyces and lychee fruit. Bright with perfumed tropical fruit and a lightly tart finish. 10.4%
This was an awesome little opening. The caviar was solely made from apple cider. The duck crackling added an odd but oddly necessary hit of grease to the whole tasting. It seemed strange but it worked.
The brettanomyces was low and not dominating in this beer, and the fruit flavors were crisp and fresh, not cloying as it would seem with something sweet and sticky like lychees. Very refreshing and unique.
Apple cider caviar? At first I thought it was actual caviar in apple cider. But it was apple cider in small pearls like caviar. It even had that little bursting effect when you eat caviar. Very interesting and cool.
For those of you who haven't been to a CBC dinner before, the way they offer the courses is to have a few selections from each course to choose from. When the waiter comes to take your order you generally order the whole meal in one shot. I am going to post the menu and and then talk about the courses I myself had and some of the folks at our table had.
Local Celeriac Soup Beer Brown Bread Croutons, Crispy Carrot-Celery Salad, Raisin Jus Beer: Cambridge Amber
Cambridge Amber- Well balanced, medium-bodied, deep amber-red. Malty caramel notes, hints of chocolate, slightly roasty finish, complemented by a touch of fruity, spicy hops. 4.7%
This was an excellent pairing. The soup was creamy and rich. The amber was a perfect match. The soup actually brought out a lot more of the complex characters of the Amber like the roasted finish. The only negative to this course was that I finished it all the way through and it was more filling that it sounds. We had a whole evening to get through....
Sadly my shot of the amber was blurred, but I got a somewhat decent shot of Todd's beer. He had the Island Creek oyster bisque paired with the Black out Stout. I did not however, get a shot of his soup. Todd gets annoyed when I take foodie pictures while we're trying to eat. Boo Todd.
Third course:
Long Island Duck Rillette Cerise Cassee Cherry, Clear Flour Sourdough, Beer Mustard, Micro Green Salad Beer: Cerise Cassèe
Cerise Cassèe- sour ale spontaneously fermented along with 300 pounds of tart red cherries and aged in a Solera system of wine barrels. Aggressively tart with flavors of sour cherries, malt, vanilla and oak tannin, and a finish that defies description in its funky-yet-balanced uniqueness. 8.5%
Another great course. The Cerise cherries were so delicious and sweet. The duck was simple, flavorful and fatty. This batch of Cerise Cassèe was more acidic and tart than normal. Usually Cerise is a sour beer with a decent level of acidity that doesn't burn the throat when drinking. so people live for that burn I do not. Having said that, the fatty duck helped tone down the acid. The acid in turn helped cut the fats and oils and allowed the flavors of the mustard, sweet cherries, and duck to add their own pop. Lots of different tastes, but very tasty.
Sadly my pictures of the beer are not doing them any justice to get the full effects of their rich colors.
Warm New England Vegetable Timbale Spaghetti Squash, Glazed Root Vegetables, Aged Gouda,Braised Greens, Hazelnut Vinaigrette Beer: Red God
Red God- Featuring Simcoe, Amarillo, and Columbus hops at a rate of over three pounds per barrel, with American pale and Belgian caramel malts providing a malty but dry pedestal upon which this hop fest rides to its long, lingering, hop-bittered finish. Beware this vengeful god.8.5%
My
friend Courtney went with this course. She suffered the same fate I did
with the soup. It doesn't look like it from the picture, but this course was huge. And she weighs all of 90 pounds soaking wet. But from what I gathered it was hard to stop eating this course. And it was paired with Red God which is one of my all time favorite beers from CBC. Courtney is a hop head too. So this course was hard to not gorge on.
And Todd had the lobster pierogies.
Maine Lobster Pierogies Local Spinach, Porcini Cream, Amaretto Crumb Beer: Om
OM- Strong golden ale aged in French oak chardonnay barrels. Brettanomyces exresses with flavors and aromas of pineapple and peach fruit, creating a harmonious balance of honeyed malt and hop, yeast and flora, and oak character. 9.4%
Fourth Course:
Wild Mushroom Cannelloni Autumn Squash Bolognese, Toasted Pumpkin Seed, Parsnip Béchamel, Crispy Kale Beer: Great Pumpkin Ale
Great Pumpkin Ale- 150 pounds of fresh, locally grown, organic sugar pumpkins are hand-carved and added to each batch, along with a touch of cinnamon and allspice. An appropriately orange beer with subtle pumpkin flavor, enhanced by a touch of traditional autumn spices. 4.2%
I didn't get a shot of the beer because I jumped right into this course. This thing was fabulous. And it paired really well with the Great Pumpkin. GPA from CBC is one of my all time favorites. They have really mastered making a pumpkin ale that tastes like squash and not over-spiced. It's so tasty. It went amazingly well with the cream sauce and rich mushroom cannelloni. I loved this meal. And unusual for me is getting a vegetarian course when there are meat options. This sounded terrific and it was. Very rich and filling. Noticing a pattern here?
This was our other friend at the table Mark's course. Originally it was supposed to be be scallops, but he ended up with monk fish instead. I am not sure if they had run out of scallops, or if it was requested to be different. Mark was happy with his course.
Nantucket Bay Scallops (Monk Fish) Brown Butter Fried Cauliflower, Fingerling Potato, Candied Kumquats, Toasted Pinenuts Beer: St. Alphonso
St. Alphonso- Our American take on the Belgian single, or table beer, with our house Belgian yeast strain and bucketloads of American hops. Well-attenuated, super-dry, light-bodied beer with tons of fresh hop flavor. 4.5%
Olde Pumpkin Porter- After one year of age in bourbon oak with Brett., this porter was blended with fresh pumpkin, crystallized ginger, whole cinnamon, and new toasted oak. Very complex yet drinkable, with smooth blending of subtle spices and roasted malts. A great dessert porter! 6.5%
This was amazing but messy! This was by far the worst thing I could have done to myself ater having this insanely rich meal before and finish it off with a decadent and super rich dessert like this. The cookies were weird though. They tasted amazing and were soft, yet you couldn't just cut into the dessert. It smashed and squished all the insides out. So while it was delicious and awesome, it was incredibly messy.
This dessert paired awesomely with the pumpkin porter. Another brett beer that didn't overwhelm me with funk. Brett beers are an interesting thing for me. My body will either respond well to them or not. This was one of those days where the funk just added some flavor and didn't make me ill. It wasn't overwhelming to the beer either. Sometimes when working with brettanomyces it has a propensity to completely overtake a beer and all other flavors there may have been in the beer.
I had a hard time noticing the ginger in the beer with ginger cookies and crystallized ginger on the plate, but the pumpkin spices, and the rich notes of the porter were enough to come through and make this a flavorful and yet again, super rich course.
Todd got the cheese plate and flight of barleywines.
2009 Blunderbuss Barleywine, Port barrel finish- A delightful sneak preview of this year's unreleased expression of Blunderbuss. Aged in vintage port wine barrels, which provide a touch of fruit and oak to this massive, malty brew. 13.2% sherry glass
2008 Blunderbuss Barleywine, Bourbon barrel finish- Last year's expression spent time in barrels from the Buffalo Trace distillery, where it picked up notes of caramel, vanilla, hints of cotton candy, and toasty oak. Super smooth. 11% sherry glass
2007 Blunderbuss Barleywine, Dry Hop finish- heavily dry-hopped with Simcoe and Ahtanum hops before its annual release. This extraordinarily complex ale boasts flavors and aromas of caramel, dried fruits, toffee, lots of spicy, resiny, and floral hops, and a very warming alcohol finish. 11.5% sherry glass
This is generally how CBC rolls when they do a beer event. Their pairings are spot on and the food is always creative, good, and really filling.
*Beer course descriptions via CBC menu courtesy of Will Meyers, Brewmaster.
I realize this is my second post on dinner at Green Street, but I can't help it. It's my neighborhood bar and restaurant and I love this place. This is what a typical dinner at Green Street is like.
Braised short rib with citrus on a bed of creamed cabbage.
There was no
bone for the short rib which was fine with me since it only gets in the
way at presentation time anyway. The meat was so soft and rich. You
barely had to use your fork to cut a bit out of it. This should be an
entree portion. It tastes so amazing. And the creamed cabbage was so
soft and delicious. The orange added a good little pop to the dish.
House made franks and beans.
Oh man this was delicious! The beans were good and sweet. The franks were nice and soft and flavorful. The mustard added a nice tangy kick to balance the sweet from the beans. Not to mention mustard is classic with franks.
And now one of my favorites.
Chicken Schnitzel with brown butter, mashed potatoes and greens.
This is my absolute favorite. It's pan fried chicken schnitzel with brown butter perfectly fried and juicy. The potatoes are delicious and creamy underneath the chicken. And the greens with a light vinaigrette, cherry tomatoes and fennel add freshness to the dish. God I love the chicken schnitzel.
Macaroni and Cheese with bacon and tomatoes.
The mac'n'cheese is awesome. It's a bit pricey for mac'n'cheese, but its really creamy, rich and delicious. Plus it has bacon in it. Bacon makes the whole world go around, and makes something like this fantastic. It's so rich and delicious that it's hard to finish it all. But that's worth it to me. I want a meal that makes me satisfied and is filling. It's a great adult version of a kids classic.
After dinner, the owner Dylan Black surprised us with a rare beer offering.
A Russian Imperial Stout from Brouwerji De Molen in the Netherlands. 11% abv with a strong Belgian influence in nose and steel-y malty taste. Very big and rich but drinkable. Notes of toasted malts, vanilla, caramel, and chocolate. Nice little night cap from the dinner above.
Clearly you can seen why I keep writing about Green Street.
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