Beer And Science: A Match Made In Frozen Heaven

Its that miserable time of year again. Mother nature has decided to go into ass kicking mode across our country. From coast to coast we are being crushed by an unbearable heat wave. With the hottest month still ahead, why not cool down with a frozen treat.

Ice cream is the perfect hot weather treat. Beer and ice cream can be the perfect heavenly match. With any culinary creation, there’s science to be had! The science of ice cream is fairly straightforward. When making ice cream your goal is to create the smallest ice crystals possible. Smaller the crystals, the smoother/creamier your scoop. Ice crystal size is proportionate to freeze time. The longer it takes water to freeze, the larger the ice crystals will be. To make the creamiest ice cream possible, you want to freeze your base as quickly as possible. A standard ice cream maker does an adequate job. Most models can freeze your ice cream in around 30 minutes. With the help of cold science though, you can cut your freeze time to under 5 minutes, or even less!

With your basic salt addition you can realistically lower your ice temps to about 15F. That’s good, yet we can do better. The salt lowers the melting point of ice considerably, but we have colder items we can freeze stuff with! With these significantly colder temps the need for an ice cream maker goes out the window. A new piece of kitchen machinery though does come into play, the glorious stand mixer! The most commonly seen alternate freezing method involves liquid nitrogen. At a frosty -321F it can freeze your ice cream in well under a minute. Just hook your mixer up with the paddle attachment. Add your ice cream base to the mixing bowl. Turn on the mixer at a moderate speed. Add some liquid nitrogen to the mix and watch it freeze. That is definitely your quickest way to make ice cream. Liquid nitrogen has its problems though. The first problem is transporting and storing your liquid nitrogen. You can’t just use any old container for the job. You’ll need a container designed for the job, and those can be pricey. The second problem is with safety. With the extreme temps comes a greater safety risk. This stuff can and will cause insta-frostbite if it directly contacts your body. With those problems in mind, you may want to try a different sub zero coolant.

Instead of liquid nitrogen we can use dry ice. With its solid form and warm, by comparison, -109.3F its a safer alternative. Probably its best quality is its relatively easy to buy. Many grocery stores sell it next to the bags of ice as a freezing/cooling alternative. To freeze the quantity of ice cream in these recipes, you will need about 2# per recipe. To use the dry ice, first bash the hell out of it. You want the ice as close to a powder as you can get it. A hammer works great for this. Follow the same directions as with the liquid nitrogen. Slowly add, in additions, the dry ice. Add a bit and let it evaporate, then add more. Repeat until your ice cream is about the consistency of soft serve. Transfer to a storage container. Place some plastic wrap directly on top of the ice cream, making sure no air is contacting the ice cream. Air would allow the formation ice crystal on top which we don’t want. The plastic wrap protects the ice cream while still allowing the excess co2 to evaporate. Leave the ice cream in the freezer to properly set up.

So now that you have been bored to death with science, we can move onto the recipes:

Vanilla Ice Cream With Belgian Marshmallow And Butterscotch Ripple

Vanilla Ice Cream:

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1 cup sugar
5 egg yolks
1 vanilla bean
1.5 tsp salt

In a sauce pan bring the cream to a boil and shut off the heat. Take your vanilla bean and split it in half. Scrape out the seeds and add to the cream along with the vanilla bean itself. Cover and let steep for one hour. To that add your milk, sugar, and salt. Bring the liquid up to a simmer. In a separate bowl whisk your egg yolks together. Temper the yolks by whisking in a bit of the hot cream mixture. Add the tempered yolks into the cream. Stir the mixture until its thickened into a custard consistency Remove from heat. Pass the liquid through a fine mesh strainer to remove the bean and any coagulated solids and into a container. Chill the ice cream base thoroughly. When properly chilled, freeze according to above directions. When the ice cream reaches soft serve consistency, pour in a steady stream the marshmallow cream and butterscotch sauce. Once properly swirled in, transfer the ice cream mix into a storage container and let it set up in the freezer.

Belgian Marshmallow Creme:

3 egg whites
2 cups light corn syrup
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups powdered sugar
12oz Belgian Dubbel or Strong Dark Ale, reduced to a 1/4 cup

Combine the egg whites, syrup, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Whip for 10 minutes until thickened. Slowly add the powdered sugar. To that add the beer reduction. Whip until combined. This marshmallow creme can be used for any recipe that calls for it.

Butterscotch Sauce:

1.5 cups light brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup Scotch ale
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a pot over low heat, add the sugar. While stirring, melt the sugar. Once melted, slowly add the butter. Once the butter is combined slowly whisk in the the cream. Once the cream is incorporated add the Scotch ale and vanilla extracted. stir to combine. Bring this mixture to a boil. Remove from heat and let cool. Sauce will keep for about a month.

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Chocolate Stout And Chile Ice Cream

2 cups heavy cream
4 ancho chiles, seeds and veins removed
8oz chocolate, chopped
12oz of your favorite stout(avoid the hoppier brews)
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
5 egg yolks
1/2tsp vanilla extract

Bring the cream to a boil then remove from the heat. Add the ancho chiles. Let them steep for 30 minutes. Discard the chiles from the cream. Bring the cream up to a simmer. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate. Whisk the mixture until the chocolate is completely melted. Add the milk, stout, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Return the mix to a simmer. In a separate bowl whisk the egg yolks together. Temper the yolks with a bit of the warm chocolate/cream mix. Add the tempered yolks back into the mix. Stir the mix while its simmering until its thickened and coats the back of a spoon. Pass the liquid through a strainer into a bowl. Chill the mix thoroughly. Freeze according to the method above. Transfer to a container, and let it properly set up in the freezer.

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Mango And Guava Sorbet

3 large mangoes chunked up
4 ripe guava, flesh removed from the skin.
12oz Harpoon Crystal Wheat, or other citrusy wheat or wit style ale.
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt

In a blender combine the mangoes, guava, salt, and sugar. In a saucepan bring the beer to a boil, reduce the heat to simmer. Reduce the beer to 1 cup. Basically you just want to cook off the alcohol. Add the beer to the puree. Blend to combine. Pass this mixture through a fine mesh strainer. Chill this mixture in the fridge. Once chilled freeze as per above. Transfer to a storage container and allow sorbet to properly set up.

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These ice creams are perfect for a hot summers day. When ice cream alone simply will not do you can make an adult version of a childhood favorite: A float.

Classic Stout Float

12 oz of your favorite stout
2-3 scoops of your favorite vanilla ice cream

Drop the ice cream in a glass. Top with the stout. Enjoy.

Cherry Covered Chocolate Float

12oz of your favorite cherry ale
2-3 scoops chocolate ice cream.

Add the ice cream to a glass. Top with the beer. Enjoy.

America, Fuck Yeah!!!!

With the 4th of July just a day away, the testosterone driven American pride reaches its yearly peak. Its the one time of the year when its acceptable for Americans to say fuck you and good riddance to the British. Come on you know you really want to. Also in this moment pro-American songs take on more epic meaning, for example:

Thank you Trey Parker and Matt Stone for writing the greatest pro American song ever!!

Anyways time to drag this post back into the realm of beer relevance. During this “Screw the British” holiday of ours we should embrace that American style that is a big fat middle finger to British beer tradition: The American IPA and its bastardized sub styles! One of the quintessential English beers, the IPA, has been gloriously bastardized* by brewers from around this great country. The subtlety that has become the English IPA just doesn’t live up to the America’s over-the-topness. This 4th of July enjoy the American IPA and its various sub styles:

Victory Brewing Company
Hop Devil
6.7% ABV
American IPA
Rating out of 5: 3.85

Hopdevil pours a nice dark copper color. Things are topped off by a finger or so of light khaki head. The head settles to a ¼ ring. Head leaves plenty of sticky lace in its wake.

Onto the aroma. Lightly pungent grapefruit hits the nose first. A bit of herbal mint backs things up. Juicy orange notes are present as well. A touch of sweet caramel and very light baked bread notes make an appearance. An overall fruitiness is present as well. Some stone fruit notes,mainly peaches, as well as a hint of apple/pear round out the nose.

The hops are bit more dominate on the palate. Grapefruit notes are more pungent. Stronger mint notes have a drying quality. Some orange peel notes round out the hops. More peach notes show up near the finish. Some light apple notes are present as well. The finish is lightly drying, with a lingering herbal bitterness.

Hopdevil sits near the lightish end of medium bodied. The carbonation is effervescent.

Hopdevil doesn’t wreck the palate with aggressive hops like a typical American IPA. Its a more balanced take on things. If you are hoping for a hop bomb, this ain’t it. For those seeking a lighter, easy drinking IPA, Hopdevil is the perfect choice. In the end this is a well crafted and balanced brew.

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Bear Republic Brewing Company
Hop Rod Rye
8.0% ABV
Rye IPA
rating out of 5: 4.65

Color – Murky deep red/mahogany. Off white/Tan head. Thick and creamy head falls to a 1/4 inch. Leaves some beautiful lacing down the glass.

Smell – Hops and lots of em. Very citrusy/orange hops with a bit of light piny-ness. A bit of caramel/toasted and rye malt struggle to make it past the hops.

Taste – Initial taste of toasty caramel malts, with a touch of a biscuity quality. Malt is immediately beaten into submission by the hops. Hops match the nose. Fruity/citrusy/orange hops dominate the palette. The finish is dry and spicy with a long lingering hop bitterness.

Mouthfeel – Chewy with a prickly carbonation.

Overall this is one impressive beer. The rye helps give this beer a defining edge over other DIPA’s. Is it balanced? Screw balance. This beer is a hopheads dream come true. Yet another wonderful brew from the folks at Bear Republic.

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Stone Brewing Company
Ruination
7.7% ABV
Double IPA
Rating out of 5: 4.2

Appearance: Hazy Copper. Nice frothy/creamy head. Head falls to a ring. Leaves plenty of lacing down the glass.

Smell: Initial aroma is of hops…loads of hops. Initial burst of floral and piny notes. That’s followed by some earthy citrus/grapefruit. There’s some bready and toasty malt notes in the background.

Taste: Much like the aroma. Initial burst of hops – floral upfront, followed pineapple and grapefruit notes. Earthy and minty notes in the middle. A very smooth hop character. There’s also a constant bready/toasty malt backbone throughout. The finish is dry with a lingering bitterness.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with a crisp carbonation.

This is one hell of a beer. This beer truly lives up to its name. My taste buds have been wonderfully decimated by loads of delicious hop flavor. It has truly ruined my palate for the evening…and that’s a good thing!

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Deschutes Brewing Company
Hop In The Dark
6.5% ABV
Cascadian Dark Ale
Rating out of 5: 4.1

This brew pours a slight shade above pitch black. Things are topped off by a couple of fingers worth of light khaki head. Some lacing is left down the glass.

The aroma is classic American IPA with a bit of a porter/stout layer underneath. Bright citrusy hops hit the nose first. Grapefruit dominates upfront. A bit of juicy orange is present as well. A nice floral hop quality rounds out the hops. Behind the hops is a definite roast quality. Some light coffee and chocolate notes are present. The dark roasty malts never overtake the hops in the nose.

The taste follows the nose closely. Grapefruit and light orange notes hit first. Behind the citrus is a bit of herbal hop quality. Hops waft over the tongue with a drying quality. Each sip encourages you to take another. Behind the onslaught of hops, a bit of roasty dark malt shows up. Light bittersweet chocolate comes into play. Backing things up is some light roasted coffee notes. The finish offers a nice balance between the citrusy hops and the roasted malts. Overall the finish is dry, with some lingering herbal bitterness.

Mouthfeel sits squarely in the range of medium bodied. The carbonation offers an effervescent quality.

Hop In The Dark is a tasty brew. While definitely a hop heads brew, this shouldn’t deter the rest. The brass hop-centric citrus quality makes a porter-esque beer into a very bright, refreshing brew. Its rare that a brew the color of used motor oil manages to be this refreshing. The Cascadian dark ale/Black IPA/Whatever seems to be here to stay. With brews like this I am glad its here to stay.

*In all historical honesty its the British IPA that has become bastardized. The brash over the top American version is much more likely to resemble the original brews being drunk and enjoyed in India a century ago or more.

Culinary Arts 101 or: How You Need To Stop Worrying And Embrace Real Cooking

The current state of home cooking is, in rather quick fashion, becoming abysmal. Gone are grandma’s tried and true recipes. Instead folks are tuning into the Semi-Homemade channel for culinary inspiration. In the past 5- 6 years a proper home cooked meal has been replaced in many homes by 30 minutes to an hour of short cuts to a meal. Taking ques from folks who are, at their peak, best suited as a line cook at your local Chile’s has dealt a blow to the quality of the food people are eating at home. While more folks are headed toward the semi-homemade meals, Dylan Thomas comes to mind:

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Goodnight

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rage at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,

Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

So folks lets rage against the semi-homemade, and once again strive to revive the light that is true cooking.

Ok that’s enough quasi-political ranting for now, onto the food. I offer up a simple meal to help get folks back on the path to proper cooking:

Perfect Roast Chicken

Brine

1 small sweet onion, quartered
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1/2 bunch of fresh thyme
2-3 stalks lemongrass – pale green and white parts only(1 small lemon quartered may be subbed)
1/2C kosher salt
1/4C white table sugar
3 cups – 2 bottles – dark malty beer – Bocks, Brown Ales, or dark Belgians work great
5 cups ice cold water

Combine everything except the water in a pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Simmer until salt and sugar are dissolved. Remove from heat and add ice water.

Roast Chicken

1 Roasting Chicken
2 quarts brine, cooled
1/2 TBSP cracked pepper
1/2 TBSP kosher salt
1/2 TBSP Smoked salt – optional
Butchers twine, or string

Submerge the chicken, in the vessel of your choosing, in the brine. Brine chicken for 6-8 hours. Preheat oven to 450F. Remove the chicken from the brine, and pat dry. Combine the salts and pepper in a bowl. Sprinkle the chicken liberally inside and out with salt/pepper mix. Truss* the chicken. Place the chicken in a roasting pan or oven safe skillet. Place the chicken in the oven. Shut the door and forget about the bird for 45 minutes – 1 hour. To pass the time you can do any number of things. You can read a few chapters from a book, watch five minutes of stand-up from Larry the Cable Guy, or you can even go to the wonderfully illogical extremes and pick something from the wonderfully ludicrous Ruth Bourdain culinary kama sutra. Pull the bird out of the oven when the thigh registers 160f w/ a thermometer. Let the bird rest for 15 minutes, then carve and enjoy.

This is the beautiful bird your minimal effort will grant you:

*How to truss a bird:

Take a two foot section of twine. Starting with the center of the string under the chicken’s keister, pull the twine up over the chicken legs and pull tight in the opposite direction under the legs. Take the string on either side and pull up over the thighs and wings. With the string taught, flip the bird over. Keeping it taught, tie the string off near the chickens neck. Flip the bird back over and tuck the wingtips underneath. By trussing your bird, you help promote even cooking. The legs get pulled towards the thinnest part of the breasts, protecting them from drying out. Wing tips are also prone to drying out, and tucking under the wings helps prevent that as well.

Green Beans tossed with bacon and garlic

1# fresh green beans, ends snapped off
1 cup kosher salt
1 gallon water
3 slices bacon sliced into small strips
2 cloves garlic, minced

Bring water and salt to a boil. Add the green beans, working in batches to avoid over crowding in the pot. Cook for 5-6 minutes. Remove from water and let dry. In a saute pan render the bacon. Add the garlic and green beans. Cook for an additional one to two minutes, then serve.

Gruyère Potato and turnip Gratin

1# baking potatoes – peeled and thinly sliced
1# turnips – peeled and thinly sliced
2.5 cups cream
1/2 cups whole milk
1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg – the pregrated stuff in a bottle should be avoided at all cost.
1 cups shredded gruyère cheese

Preheat oven to 450f. In a pot bring the cream and milk to a boil and remove from the heat. Add the nutmeg. Arrange a layer of potatoes and turnips in the bottom of a 1.5 quart baking dish. Cover with some of the cream and shredded cheese. Repeat the process till all the potatoes and turnips are used up. Top off with remaining cream and cheese. Bake covered for an hour. Uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes or until top is bubbling and golden brown.

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This whole meal takes a little bit of prep and about an hour or so of cooking. When all is said and done you can have a tasty meal that is simple to make, and devoid of shortcuts. I hope these recipes help inspire you to once again embrace real cooking.

Adopting a can do attitude

Jeez I need to work on making less cheesy titles. Any who, it would appear as if the hot summer months have arrived. With the official summer holiday kickoff coming up, the potential need to change ones drinking habits arises. Now I am not advocating one down a case of Busch Lite to beat the heat. Instead one may need to reevaluate their beer containment device. Whether hanging out at the beach, floating down the river, or simply having a cookout at the local park that lovely frosty glass bottle can become an issue. In the past this may have been pause for concern, but the times they are a changing. So now when glass bottles won’t do, reach for a can of craft beer:

Brewery: Southern Star Beer: Bombshell Blonde Style: Blonde ale ABV: 5.0% Rating out of 5: 3.7 Appearance: Deep hazy copper. Off white head. The head is short lived and leaves adequate lacing down the glass. Smell: Toasty malt sweetness. Thats followed by a bity of yeastiness and some floral hop notes. Taste: There’s a nice malt/hop balance at work here. Light Citrusy/floral hops are followed by a bit of yeastiness and biscuity malt backing. The finish is grainy with more pronounced biscuit notes. Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with adequate carbonation. Another craft brew in a can – always a welcome sight. This is a nice session brew here. Its easy drinking and perfect for the hot summer months. Keep up the good work Southern Star.

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Brewery: Oskar Blues Grill and Brewery Beer: Mamma’s Little Yella Pils Style: Czech Pilsner ABV: 5.30% Rating out of 5: 3.6 Mama’s Little Yella Pils pours a crystal clear bright gold. The folks at Stone would say this is “fizzy yellow beer”, but you know in a good way. Things are topped off by a fingers worth of white head. The head quickly fades, but leaves adequate lacing down the glass. Onto the aroma. Light in the hops department – not a great sign for a supposed Czech pils. The aroma is pretty light all the way around. A bit of cut grass mixed with with sweet corn is the dominating aroma. A light lemon note rounds things out. The flavor follows suit in the lightness department. More corn and herbal/grassy notes. A bit of a malt graininess comes into play as well. There is some tangy lemon notes throughout. The finish is lightly hoppy with a bit of lingering bitterness mixed with more sweet corn. The mouthfeel is on the fuller side of light, almost verging on medium bodied. The carbonation is lively and lends a bit of crispness to the beer. Is Mama’s Little Yella Pils a good Czech pilsner? The short answer is a resounding no. Does that mean this a bad beer? Oh hell no. Reality is this tastes like an American style lager. Its a great easy drinking lawnmower kinda brew. It definitely outclasses its rivals like PBR. All in all this a great warm weather quaff.

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Those are just a couple of tasty canned offerings. Both breweries exclusively use cans, so they have more to offer. Other breweries have gotten in on the canning bandwagon as well. For those in their distribution area, 21st Amendment Brewery in San Francisco also cans. Their Brew Free or Die IPA is probably a good choice for those hop heads needing a fix. For fans of New Belgium’s Fat Tire, It can be had in cans now. From Big Sky Brewing Company, their Montana Trout Slayer Ale has become available in cans as well. More canned Colorado goodness comes care of Ska Brewing Company. Their Modus Hoperandi, a tasty IPA, has recently hit the shelves around here in cans. I am sure there are other canned offerings I have missed. With the growing canning trend there will undoubtedly be more good beer in a can in the future.

With all this canned goodness available these days, I would be remiss if I didn’t discuss the elephant in the room: British beers. There have been, for longer than craft beer in cans, canned British beer. British beer is great. Beer carbonated with a nitrogen mix; far from great. Nitrogen, while great for many things, does nothing but rob beers of their flavor. While I would love to offer some recommendations on canned British beers, the whole nitrogen widget contained in most brews prevents me from doing so. I just cannot in good conscious recommend a beer that has been stripped of its soul. If you can find the odd can of beer that’s widget free, feel free to drink up.

Life can’t always be peaches and cream

It’s so true. You can’t glide through life focusing only on the positives. As wonderful as peaches and cream can be, you’ll eventually have to deal with the other side – Peaches and Herb - http://bit.ly/cce6zR I think that picture sums it up nicely. Seriously the next time I have to suffer through some godawful rendition of “Reunited” I might have to off myself…..Okay…Okay my feelings towards bad 70s music should be left for a different blog and a different time…..Point being is that for all the great beer I have had the joy of consuming, there have been some less then pleasant quaffs. Here are a couple of those missteps from the beer world:

Brewery: Tommyknocker Brewery
Beer: Coco Porter
Style: Porter
ABV: 5.70%
Rating out of 5: 2.65
Reviewed on: 12-12-2007

Appearance – Deep dark mahogany brown, with a tan head that quickly dissipates.

Smell – Very light aroma. Cocoa dominates, with a bit roast in the background.

Taste – Where to begin. There is a dominate artificial chocolate flavor with hints of roast. Also strong lactic and metallic flavors abound. Very little discernible malt flavor.

Mouthfeel – Thin and watery.

Overall this is a big fat disappointment. I have generally liked Tommyknockers offerings, but this was a dud. The lactic and metallic flavors don’t work with the chocolate flavor at all. This was the first drain pour in a while for me.

*Edit 2009*

Looking over some notes from a retasting – the initial bottle I bought must have been from a bad batch. The last bottle didn’t have the lactic/metalic taste. Artificial faux chocolate flavors still abound. This is still a dud, just not as bad as initially thought.

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Brewery: Guinness Ltd
Beer: Guinness 250th Anniversary Stout
Style: Irish Stout
ABV: 5.00%
Rating out of 5: 2.9
Reviewed on: 06-25-2009

Appearance: Dark brown almost black. Light for a stout. Tan head eventually settles to a ring. Leaves some lacing.

Smell: Roast and dark chocolate. Bit of coffee and fruit.

Taste: Coffee upfront. Followed by some light roast and light chocolate notes. There’s a definite fruitiness throughout. The finish is roasty and dry.

Mouthfeel: Light bodied with a watery quality.

This is a step up from the draught Guinness. I like the fact that they didn’t let nitro muck things up. All in all, I’m glad I tried it, but wasn’t that impressed.

Carbonnade A La Flamande

Some of the best food I have had has been Belgian, or Belgian inspired. With that in mind I offer up this hearty beef stew. Carbonnade is a classic Belgian dish. A mix of sweet and sour. This is the perfect hearty dish for a cold fall/winters night.

Carbonnade A La Flamande
4 TBL butter
3# Chuck roast cut into 1 inch or so cubes
3 medium onions diced
4-5 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
Salt and Pepper
1 TBL brown sugar
12 oz Belgian beer*
Beef stock – enough to cover beef and onions
2 slices rustic bread – IE not wonderbread
1 Heaping TBl Whole grain mustard

Preheat oven to 350f. Melt 2 TBL butter in a dutch oven. Brown, in batches, the beef. Remove the beef from pan and add the rest of the butter. Add the onions. Brown the onions. Add back the beef, thyme, bay leaves, Salt & pepper, sugar, beer, and beef stock. Cover pot and place in the oven. Cook in the oven for one hour. While stew is cooking, smear 2 pieces of bread with the mustard. Remove the stew from the oven. Place the bread on top. Return to oven and cook for another hour, or until tender and thickened. Remove from oven and adjust seasonings. Serve stew atop mashed potatoes, Fries, or buttered noodles.

*for the beer – A nice dubbel or strong dark/quad will work great. For a more classic approach use a Belgian sour such as a lambic, flanders red ale, or oud bruin.

Porkliscious ecstasy

It may be hard to find a tastier animal than the ordinary pig. Around the globe every great food culture has at least one incredible pork dish. Whether you are talking about the spit roasted pig from the Philippines, pork carnitas from Mexico, or classic southern pulled pork bbq, its a wonderful world to live in for fans of pork. As seems to be the case with four legged animals, one of my favorite cuts is the shank. Shanks are tough cuts of meat. With that toughness comes the need for low and slow cooking, but more importantly a ton of rich delicious meaty goodness. So with that in mind I offer up my recipe for Schweinshaxe – German braised pork shanks:

Schweinshaxe with German style Potato Pancakes

3-4 fresh(not smoked/cured) ham hocks
2 TBS Butter or Lard
1 onion diced
1 stalk celery diced
3 carrots diced
5 sprigs of fresh thyme
1/2 TBL Juniper berries crushed
1/2 TBS Mustard Seed
2 TSP Caraway seed
Salt and Pepper
Water
12oz Beer*
Cornstarch
Potato Pancakes(recipe follows)

Heat oven to 325°F. Melt the butter or lard in a dutch oven. Season the shanks with salt and pepper. Brown shanks on all sides. Remove from the pan. Add the onions, carrots, and celery. Sweat the vegetables. Add the shanks back along with the thyme, Juniper, Mustard, and Caraway. Add enough water to cover the shanks by half. Add beer. Braise uncovered in the oven for about 2 hours or until tender, occasionally basting with the liquid. Remove the shanks and set aside, cover with foil to keep warm. Strain the liquid. Bring braising liquid to simmer on the stove. Thicken with a cornstarch slurry. Serve sauce over the shanks along side potato pancakes.

German Potato Pancakes

Shortening
3 cups shredded potatoes
1/2 onion shredded
Salt and Pepper
1 large egg
1/4 cup flour

Mix egg and flour in a large bowl. Add the potatoes and onion. Mix well and season with salt and pepper. Scoop out and form pancakes. Cook the pancakes in shortening. Serve with sour cream or applesauce.

When fall temps make you yearn for fall meals.

The last week and a half has covered North Texas, mostly, with nice early fall temps. As the temps drop my food cravings change. Heartier, oft slow cooked, meals replace the light and refreshing fair of summer. With fall in mind I created this wonderful slow cooked short rib dish. Unlike a traditional braised short rib, I opted to cook this dish utilizing the Sous Vide method. Essentially the ribs, beer, stock, and seasonings are vacuum sealed in plastic and cooked in a 190º F. water bath. Unlike in a traditional braise, the juices have no where to go. Sous vide cooking doesn’t always yield juicier results. It does however seem to yield more flavor rich results. If you have a Foodsaver handy, and a thermometer, I highly encourage you to try this recipe:

Beef Short Ribs on a bed of Salsify and Potato Mash

Short Ribs:

4 boneless short ribs
Salt and Pepper
1/2 cup dunkel beer*
1/2 cup beef stock
5-6 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 garlic clove smashed
1 TBLS butter
1/2# wild mushrooms sliced

Season the ribs with salt and pepper. Give the ribs a quick sear on each side in a hot saute` pan. Transfer the ribs to a plastic vacuum bag. Add the thyme, beer, and stock to the bag. Vacuum and seal according to manufacturers instructions. In a large pot heat heat your water bath to 190º F and hold. Drop your vacuum sealed bag into the water. Leave in the water bath for 5 hours, or until the ribs are cooked and tender. Remove the bag from the water. Open the bag. Drain and reserve the liquid.

In a another pan melt the butter. Saute` the mushrooms until golden brown. Add the reserved liquid. Cook on medium heat until reduced by half and a sauce consistency(you may need to thicken with a slurry of water and cornstarch). Take sauce off the heat and keep warm.

Potato and Salsify Mash:

1# potatoes, peeled and chopped
1# Salsify root, peeled and chopped
2 TBLS butter
1/2 cup cream
Salt and Pepper

One advantage to sous vide is in the cooking of produce. Sous Vide allows you to cook the potatoes and salsify, with out the loss of nutrients or flavor associated with other cooking methods. As a result you end up with cooked potatoes that taste much more potato-y.

Put the potatoes in a vacuum bag. Vacuum and seal. Put the salsify in another bag and repeat the process. Drop the potatoes in a water bath heated to 190ºF. Cook for 1.5 hours or until the potatoes are tender. Drop the salsify into the water bath and cook for 45 minutes or until tender. Remove the bags from the water. Put the potatoes and salsify through a food mill, ricer, or just mash with a masher. Add the butter and cream and whip until combined and smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

To assemble the dish:

Spoon a heaping mound of the potato salsify mash onto the center of the plate. Place one short rib on the mash off to the side. Pour the beef/mushroom sauce over the top and serve.

*Any dark malty beer will work with this dish. Bocks, double bocks, dark Belgians, or brown ales will work with the short ribs.

Is the hype machine at work ?

This thread about Victory’s Storm King Stout got the geek to thinking. Is this beers lower geek status the result of better beers or purely hype mixed with availability?

The hype some brews get is undeniable. Looking at Beeradvocate’s current top 100, several hyped up brews are on the list. Currently at the top we have Trappist Westvleteren 12. This may be the most hyped and hard to obtain brew on earth these days. Having been heralded by geeks the world over as THE best beer on Earth, a guy like me cannot help but wonder if its true. Considering the length one must go to legitimately obtain a bottle, it may be a while before I get to taste test this beer. First, before heading to Belgium, one must contact the Saint Sixtus Abbey. You must make a reservation via their beer line in order to be able to purchase a case. On top of that its only sold certain dates during the year. Once you have your case reserved, you gotta go to Belgium to pick it up. Sure I could go against the Monks wishes and purchase said brew on the gray market…. I do enough to incur the lords wrath, I probably don’t need to do anything else. So do these extreme hurdles impact peoples view on this beer? I would not want to travel to Belgium only to come home with sub par beer.

On the American front we have Darklord. Again looking at the list, we have three versions of this Imperial Stout on the list. This has become the most talked about brew in the country amongst beer geeks. The release day for this brew, Darklord Day, has become the Mecca for beer geeks across the country. This brew has a very limited release period, and a heftier price tag than most beer.

There are plenty of other hyped up and hard to obtain brews around the globe. Do these brews really live up to their hype? More importantly has the hype machine forced former greats into the realm of mediocrity? Storm King used to be the top ranked brew on beeradvocate. Recently it fell off the top 100 altogether. Are the Imperial stouts on the list now better than Storm King, or just more hyped? I will admit that Storm King is not my favorite Impy stout. It has been long since replaced by Ten Fidy, Yeti, Divine Reserve #5, and recently Buried Hatchet. I still hold Storm King in high regard. I know for me, my tastes have changed. Storm King is undeniably hoppy, I have developed a slight dislike for hoppy stouts. Even so, I still wonder if I have fallen a victim to the hype as well.

One could argue that this beer is not a victim to hype. Rather this beers status is the result of better beer. This is what I hold to be true. Every brewery, new or old, has some sort of “Big Beer” series in their line up. With a lot of craft breweries creating Imperial stouts, its inevitable someone will brew a better stout. In a year, or two, or more someone will create a brew that even surpasses Dark Lord. At present I hold Ten Fidy to be the pinnacle of Imperial Stouts. Even i know that brew will get replaced someday.

In addition to quality does availability play role? Storm King is readily available year round, in plenty of markets around the country. Has its wide spread availability evened out its score? As an imperial Stout fan I try to seek any all available to me. I know what to expect and what to look for in an Imperial stout. A newcomer to the beer geek world maybe doesn’t. There thoughts and opinions have to have an impact on the brews ranking. If there first experience isn’t a positive one they may give the brew a lower score than it deserves. Also with a wider spread availability more knowledgeable drinkers can taste and weigh in. As with most polls, the larger the sample base the more accurate the results. I suppose availability does indeed play a role.

At the end of the the day we must try and look past these factors. Some brews will live up to their hype. Some brews will not. Those who make decisions based on rankings, hype, and/or availability will undoubtedly miss out on some tasty beer. This beer geek plans to drink what he like, ratings be damned!

Ocassionally America gets it

I have oft complained about the American attempts at Belgian beer styles. There are some Belgian centric
breweries that truly have an understanding of how to craft there brews. Then there are the others……They want to jump on the “Big Beer” bandwagon and see Belgian beers as a way to go. They can craft a fantastic Double IPA, or Bourbon Barrel Imperial stout. Then they seem to go and apply that same philosophy to their Belgian attempts….with usually underwhelming results. Then there are few breweries however that do get it. Boulevard seems to be one of those breweries. The have jumped on the big and specialty beer wagon with their Smokestack series. They have proven they can craft a rock solid Double IPA – See Double Wide IPA – as well as craft some excellent Belgian brews. Heres my thoughts on their three initial Belgian offerings:

Brewery: Boulevard Brewing Co. Beer: Saison Style: Saison ABV: 6.20% Rating out of 5: 4.1 Reviewed on: 07-6-2009 Appearance: Cloudy gold with a thick white head. The head falls to a ring, but leaves plenty of lacing down the glass. Smell: Wonderfully complex aroma. Plenty of spice – spiced apples, cloves -. Along with the spice is some lemon and bubblegum notes in the background. Taste: Peppery on the tongue, along with some clove. That’s followed by a bit of bubblegum and some grainy/lemon notes. The finish is dry and peppery. Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with a somewhat spritzy carbonation. This is one solid saison. Its always nice to see an American brewery nail a proper saison. This will definitely be a goto saison for me in the future.

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Brewery: Boulevard Brewing Co. Beer: Long Strange Tripel Style: Tripel ABV: 9% Rating out of 5: 4.45 Reviewed on: 07-6-2009 This beer pours a hazy gold. Three fingers of bone white head top things off. The head has some definite staying power. It eventually settles to a ring. It leaves plenty of lacing down the glass. All and all this is a nice looking tripel. The aroma is classically Belgian. It starts off with some spice notes. Clove and pepper Dominate. That’s followed by a bit of bubblegum. Plenty of apple/pear notes round out the nose. The taste is no less authentic – a seemingly rare occurrence from American breweries. Spicy clove and pepper notes hit the tongue first. Thats followed by a bit of powdery yeast. The middle is chalked full of tart pear/apple notes. The finish is dry with an herbal/bitter kick. This beer is quite the easy drinker. The 9% abv is masked quite well. The beer has a lightish body. The carbonation isn’t as boisterous as some Belgians. It gets the job done quite nicely though. This is a wonderfully authentic tripel. The folks at Boulevard seem to really get Belgian style brews. Its nice to see another authentic tripel brewed on this side of the pond.

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Brewery: Boulevard Brewing Co. Beer: Sixth Glass Style: Quadruple ABV: 10.5% Rating out of 5: 3.85 Reviewed on: 07-6-2009 The sixth Glass is the third beer from the smokestack series I have tried. The brew pours a lightish mahogany. It is topped off by a fluffy khaki colored head. The head settles to a ring leaving plenty of lace down the glass. All and all a nice looking quad. The aroma, while a bit light, doesn’t disappoint. The initial wiff hints of stone fruit. Thats followed by a bit of spiced rum. In the background is some dark fruit. The taste, like the nose, is a bit light, especially for a quad. Fruit – spiced apples – up front. Fruit is followed by some raisins and rum notes. The finish is dry and peppery with some warming alcohol notes. All and all another authentic Belgian beer. It doesn’t quite live up to the Belgian greats. Nonetheless Sixth Glass is a tasty brew. It’s a worthy addition to the Belgian beer landscape.