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.

Homebrew goes pro

Returning once again to a beer shelf near you – Sam Adam’s Longshot mixpack. This annual homebrew contest nets the beer geeks out there 3 tasty brews. This year around we get the long awaited Double IPA from home brewer Mike Mcdole – Left out of last years mix due to hop availability issues. Along with the Double IPA, we get a cranberry wit and a traditional bock. Lets see how this mixpack tastes:

Brewery: Boston Beer Company(Sam Adam’s)
Beer: Double IPA
Style: Double IPA
ABV: 9.6%
Rating out of 5: 3.6
Reviewed on: 06-14-2009

Appearance: Hazy copper color. Short bone white head. Falls to a ring. Leaves some patchy lacing down the glass.

Smell: A metric boatload of hops. Loads of juicy citrus – orange and grapefruit dominate, and sweet fruit hop notes.The hop aroma is backed by some caramel notes. This is a rock solid DIPA aroma.

Taste: Loads of hops with a drying quality wash over my tongue. Orange and grapefruit notes dominate. Thats followed by some tropical fruitiness, and some herbal/pine notes. The hop flavor is somewhat rough around the edges. Behind all the hops is a nice caramel/biscuit backbone. The finish is long lingering, with more drying bitter hops.

Mouthfeel: Medium light body and creamy

This is quite the DIPA. The alcohol is well hidden. The rough hop quality does lower the drinkability quite a bit. I was hoping for a much smoother hop character. Nonetheless this a tasty DIPA.

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Brewery: Boston Beer Company(Sam Adam’s)
Beer: Cranberry Wit
Style: Fruit flavored wit
ABV: 5%
Rating out of 5: 3.7
Reviewed on: 06-14-2009

Appearance:Dull cloudy gold. Short off white head. Head has a bit of staying power. Eventually drops to a ring. Leaves lacing down the glass.

Smell:Wheat malt, cranberries, and spice notes – Coriander and cinnamon. There’s also some orange peel notes as well.

Taste: Follows the nose. Plenty of wheaty malt notes. Thats followed by tart cranberries and spice – coriander and cinnamon. There’s also solid notes of orange peel throughout. The finish is drying with more spice notes.

Mouthfeel: Light bodied with a crisp carbonation.

This a nice wit. I was hoping/expecting a more dominate cranberry flavor. The cranberry flavor did balance nicely with the cinnamon. I Generally prefer a more traditional spicing with my wits, but this was a nicely different take on it.

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Brewery: Boston Beer Company(Sam Adam’s)
Beer: Traditional bock
Style: Bock
ABV: 6.8%
Rating out of 5: 4.15
Reviewed on: 06-14-2009

Appearance: Crystal clear mahogany. Short bone white head. Falls to a ring and leaves lacing.

Smell: Malt dominated. Plenty of toasted and fresh baked bread notes. There’s a bit of a red grape quality. Theres also a hint of chocolate and roast.

Taste: Malt centric like the nose.Baked bread notes give way to a touch of roast. Plenty of malt sweetness throughout. The sweetness never becomes cloying. The finish is semi-dry with a light chocolate note.

Mouthfeel: Full-bodied with a good carbonation.

This is one heck of a bock. Complex and very easy drinking. This is one of the better brews I have had the pleasure of drinking in my life. Jim Koch, I beg of you, please make this brew a regular offering.

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All and all this a tasty mixed pack. The judging for the current longshot competition is winding down. Lets hope for another tasty mixed pack in the future.

Efficient summer brewing…

The hot days of summer can reek havoc on home brewing. If you don’t have an easy way to control your fermentation temps, the heat can turn a tasty brew into a buttery mess…or worse. When the temps rise, you can use them to your advantage. Summer is the ideal time for going Belgian. To start things off right I plan to brew a nice hibiscus flavored saison:

Tropical Farmhouse

7# Pilsner malt
2# Wheat malt
1# Caravienne
2# Cane sugar

.5oz Magnum @ 60min.
.5oz Saaz @15
.5oz Saaz @ FO
5oz Dried hibiscus flowers @ FO

Saison strain of your choice

Mash grains at 147F until conversion is complete
Boil for 90 minutes
Ferment at 85F+ until done – if the temp is too cool, use a heating pad on low to raise the temp.
Rack to secondary for 2+ weeks to finish fermentation
Check Hibiscus flavor at bottling/kegging time. Adjust the flavor, if desired, with a strongly brewed hibiscus tea.

Drinking away the oppressive heat.

With the oppressive summer heat on the horizon, my taste in beers turn to the lighter side. This summer Texas is blessed with a couple of new summer offerings:

Brewery: Brooklyn Brewery
Beer: Brooklyn Summer Ale
Style: English Summer Ale
ABV: 4.5%
Rating out of 5: 3.7
Reviewed on: 05-11-2009

Appearance: Beer pours a deep crystal clear gold. Short white head, falls to a ring. Leaves some lacing down the glass.

Smell: Initial aroma of fresh cut grass and hay. That’s followed by a bit of bready/toasted malt. Theres also a bit of citrus present as well.

Taste: Follows the aroma. Grassy/herbal hops up front. Followed by a bit of citrus twang. Hops backed up by a bready/toasty malt backbone. The finish is dry and a bit earthy.

Mouthfeel: Light Bodied and crisp.

This is another nice summer quaffer. I will undoubtedly be keeping this stocked in the fridge during these upcoming months.

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Brewery: Harpoon Brewery
Beer: Harpoon Summer beer
Style: Kolsch
ABV: 5.5%
Rating out of 5: 3.75
Reviewed on: 05-7-2009

Appearance: Pours a bright gold. Has a short white head. Falls to a ring, and leaves some lacing.

Smell: Grainy malt upfront. Followed by some lemon and noble hop aroma.

Taste: Its much like the nose. Citrusy lemons upfront. Thats followed by some malty graininess. Plenty of spicy noble hops. The finish is dry and grainy.

Mouthfeel – Medium bodied.

This is one fine kolsch. Another top notch brew for the hot summer months

Belgian perfection

Many wonderful and flavorful dishes herald from the beer mecca of Belgium. The best may very well be their national dish – Moules Frites(mussels and fries). Here’s my recipe for this tasty shellfish dish

Moules Frites

2# mussels
3 Shallots minced
2 Stalks of celery diced
Garlic cloves 1-3 depending on preference – I like my mussels garlicky – minced
2 Tablespoons butter
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 cup dry white wine or beer*
1/4 chopped parsley
Salt and Pepper
Frites – recipe follows
Slices of crusty bread

Pick through and clean your mussels – debeard – remove the fuzzy thing they use to hold onto the rocks/rope/etc, and scrub your mussels with a vegetable brush. Throw away any with cracked shells. In a large pan melt the butter and sweat the shallots, celery, and garlic. Once softened and translucent – try not to get them caramelized – throw in your mussels, thyme, and add your wine/beer. Cover the pan and cook until the mussels open – about 5-7 minutes, stirring a couple of times. Strain the mussels from the pot reserving the broth. Divide the mussels evenly among your serving bowls, throwing out any mussels that didn’t open. Check the broth for seasoning, add salt and pepper if needed. Stir the parsley into the broth. Pour the broth evenly among the bowls. Set bowl on a plate with fries and a few slices of crusty bread. Serve immediately.

*For the wine any dry white will do – I prefer a nice dry Portuguese Vino Verde. For a beer option a nice Belgian strong pale like Duvels works well. A trippel or even a saison would also work well.

Perfect Frites

Large Russet potatoes
2 quarts Fat for frying*
Salt and Pepper
Mayonnaise for dipping

Cut your potatoes into 1/4 by 1/4 batons – sticks. Place your sliced potatoes into a bowl with cold running water. Rinse the potatoes until the water clears. In a 5 quart pan or deep fryer heat your fat to 325 degrees. Remove the potatoes from the water and pat thoroughly dry with a towel. Working in small batches fry the potatoes until they are soft and have gained some slight color – about 7 minutes. Remove the fries and drain on paper towels. At this point the fries are cooked. You can bag them and freeze them for later use if you want. Let the fries rest for at least 10 minutes. Meanwhile crank the heat up to 350 degrees. Again working in small batches cook the fries until puffed and golden brown – about 1 minute. Remove and drain on paper towels. Season Immediately with salt and pepper. Serve with mayonnaise for dipping and/or along side perfectly cooked mussels.

*For the fat you have several option available:

The simplest option is Peanut oil or Canola Oil.
For a more Roman take on things use Extra Virgin Olive Oil
For the ultimate in decadence do what they do at Hot Doug’s in Chicago and use duck fat!!

Brewing up for summer

Ah April is starting to wind down. Before we know it those blazing hot days of summer will be upon us. This summer I plan on getting into a brew schedule…..maybe it will happen…Well first up on the block: Brett beer vs. 2.0

- Insert witty take on brett lambicus -

4.5# Belgian pale malt
4.5# Belgian pils
1# caravienne
.3oz magnum @ 60 minutes
.5oz strissespalt @ 15 minutes
.5oz strissespalt @ 1 minutes
ferment w/ Wyeast B. Lambicus

Mash @ 149f until conversion is complete.