All things Beer

As part of my mentor group at Trader Joe’s, I have chosen to learn more about the beer section (and the wine section – that’ll come later). A comprehensive list of styles and descriptions can be found at Beer Advocate and at Beertown.

Over at Beertown.org, the principles of matching are outlined. 7 main points are highlighted:

1. Match strength with strength
2. Find harmonies
3. Consider sweetness, bitterness, carbonation, heat (spice), and richness
4. Look to classic cuisines
5. Practice makes perfect
6. Consider seasonality
7. Contrast and complement

A more direct listing of parings of beer with food and cheese can be found here.

Some health benefits of beer (taken from http://beertown.org/education/facts.html):

1. Lower rates of heart disease. Consuming alcohol in moderation (defined by the U.S. government as no more than two drinks per day for men or one drink per day for women) may lower coronary heart disease risk for some people by 30 to 60 percent, even those at high risk because of diabetes, hypertension or a previous heart attack.
2. Aid in bone formation. Beer contains silicon, a mineral that helps build bone mass. Dietary silicon has been shown in one study to improve bone density in the hips of men and premenopausal women.
3. Prevent cell damage that can lead to cancer and heart disease. Hops and malt used to make beer are rich sources of disease-fighting antioxidants. Beer also contains polyphenols, the same antioxidants found in wine, fruits, vegetables, and green and black tea. Ales and lagers generally contain more antioxidants than light and nonalcoholic beers.
4. Lower rates of diabetes. In one 12-year study, regular light to moderate alcohol intake was associated with a 36-percent lower risk of diabetes. Moderate consumption has been associated with reduced insulin resistance and reduced diabetes (conversely, heavy drinking and alcohol dependence is associated with increased insulin resistance and increased diabetes).
5. Protect against ischemic stroke (responsible for 80 percent of all strokes), Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Moderate consumption has been linked to improved cognition and memory.
6. To drink moderately is to drink within the limits set by your health, the society in which you live and your obligations towards your family and friends.
7. Moderate consumption of alcoholic drinks can be good for your heart. Numerous studies throughout the world have shown that there is strong evidence that people who are moderate drinkers of beers, wines and spirits have a substantially reduced risk of coronary heart disease, heart attack, when compared to teetotalers and heavy drinkers.
8. Per drink (of equivalent alcohol content), beer contains more than twice as many antioxidants as white wine, although only half the amount of red wine. However, many of the antioxidants in red wine are large molecules and may be less readily absorbed by the body than smaller molecules found in beer.
9. Beer does not contain fat or cholesterol and is low in free sugars. The calories in beer come largely from the alcohol content.

Since this is for Trader Joe’s, it seems that a listing of the beers we carry would be pertinent. An exhaustive listing will be added later this week.

Bizarre Foods

I absolutely love Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern for many of the same reasons that I love No Reservations as well.  Traveling to far off locales, totally immersing oneself in the culture (well, as much immersion that is possible with a camera crew), and eating what the locals eat – this is an ideal vacation for me.  Mind you, I would not be crazy to visit the all penis restaurant that was showcased on Bizarre Foods on Monday night, but I would eat there if the opportunity arose.  What I enjoy most about these two shows is the respect shown to the cultures that are being invaded.  I think invaded is the right word, too, but not in the George Bush sense of the word, rather these close to primitive cultures allow these television crews to come in and  film their lives for an extended period of time.  Both Zimmern and Bourdain appear to be totally open to any and all new cultural and food experiences.  They may not enjoy what they are being fed, but they respect all that is given to them.  I don’t know if I could be a totally good sport when served warthog anus or fermented whale blubber.  I do know that I would love to be offered just a fraction of what Bourdain and Zimmern have been able to try.  Traveling and eating for a living – yeah, that sounds pretty cool.

Tacos and Ice Cream

Nothing like the weekend to break out the new Christmas gadgetry.  Today we made beef tacos with homemade tortillas on the new cast iron griddle with refried beans and rice.  For dessert I made banana ice cream.  I love tacos and there is something so good about making the tortillas from scratch.  We use Robert Rodriguez’s recipe from the Sin City DVD.  I’m not a huge fan of the industrialized trash that is sold in the stores, so the work involved in making tortillas is definitely worth it.  The filling is organic ground beef, cumin, chipotle chili powder, garlic, onion, sea salt, pepper, a bit of mole, and a little Roja sauce – something I had in the pantry.  The refried beans recipe can be found over at Simply Recipes.  I used lard (for the beans and the tortillas).  I think lard lends a richness that is lost when other fats or fat substitutes are used.  Aside from the 2 1/2 hour cooking time, refried beans are a simple dish to make – no reason to buy the canned stuff any more.

The banana ice cream was my first frozen treat experiment.  I used an Alton Brown recipe since I tend to think his recipes are usually right on the money.  This particular one, though, called for corn syrup, which I thought was suspect.  It turned out fine, but was too airy and syrupy.   Next time I think I’ll use a more traditional recipe with egg yolks to see if I can get better density.

Tonight’s beer was an Italian Belgian pale ale called Super Baladin.  Super, indeed – this beer is easily the best Italian beer I’ve had and is quite good as a Belgian pale ale.  Sweet, fruity, spicy – all things a Belgian should be.   I received a bottle for Christmas and hope to find more somewhere.  There is also a Super Baladin Sour edition.  I enjoy sours, so finding the sour edition would be nice.  I have a bottle of Rodenbach Grand Cru in the fridge for New Years.  I can’t wait to crack that baby open.

Dogfish Head Punkin Ale

I finished off my annual 4 pack of Dogfish Head Punkin Ale this evening.  I purchased it back in October and have allowed time to savor each bottle.  Sadly, pumpkin beers are rarely ever made well.  Blue Moon’s pathetic Harvest Moon Ale – an insult to Neil Young and your taste buds – and Kennebunkport’s Pumpkin Beer are two examples of beers that claim to be pumpkin, but are nothing more than soda masquerading as beer with mediocre artificial pumpkin flavor added.  I look forward to Punkin Ale, just like I look forward to many of the Dogfish offerings – Olde School Barleywine, Immort  Ale,  and Raison D’Extra.  Dogfish brews great beer and they do it with style.

What makes this pumpkin beer different is the attention to detail.  If I see pumpkin, I’m thinking clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, and maybe even some butter/flour from the crust.  All of these tastes are here and are well done.  Many of the wanna-bes have cloying sweet flavors with faint spiciness.  Dogfish celebrates the spices.

I drink this beer and I can’t help but think of all of the other beers (and foods for that matter) that I think I could do better.  I’ve had an interest in brewing, but haven’t put aside the money to start.  My interest in food and cooking grows each day and may soon culminate with culinary school.  I’m passionate about food and never realized how much until recently.  I went through high school, college, and graduate school without ever giving the culinary arts a thought, but now it is all I think about.  It’s a shame that culinary arts is not a viable option for many students.  I’m not sure if Wayne State is odd, but there is no culinary program there.  I’m not sure I would have entered into the program if it had been there, but for those who are interested, community colleges or culinary schools seem to be the only option.

Making Pizza

Last Saturday I tried making pizza for the first time. I used this dough recipe and was pleasantly surprised at how easy the whole dough making process was, especially with a good stand mixer. My main problem with the dough was the consistency. Upon its initial mixing, I had to add a lot more flour than was in the recipe. This is minor issue, of course, because once the proper amount of flour was added all was fine. I am not keen on following directions/recipes, but in this instance I think it is necessary at least for the first few times making dough. Another slight problem I had was partitioning the dough into equal pieces (I should have used my scale – hind sight). The recipe calls for 6 pieces – I ended up with 8. I imagine a dough cutter would’ve been useful, too.

Oddly, the impetus for my pizza making was Rachael Ray. I was watching an episode of 30 Minute Meals and was intrigued by her “Mega Meatball Pizza” but I had also been wanting to make my own dough. I’m usually not inspired by Mrs. Ray, but there’s a first time for everything. I did make the meatball pizza (right) and it was pretty decent. The problem with this pizza, though, was the number of ingredients in the ground beef mixture. I made this pizza first and was not prepared for the heaviness of the toppings, which tore through the first pie. Sure, it was my fault, but nonetheless the meatball topping was heavy.

My second pizza (left) was a classic American style pie with tomato sauce, aged Margherita pepperoni, and shredded mozzarella cheese. I was much happier with this one. The sauce is crushed tomatoes, dried oregano and basil, sugar, & cracked pepper. The lighter ingredients really allowed the crust to form. The crispness of the crust, the sweet acidity of the sauce, and the melted cheese were a perfect match along with the spiciness of the pepperoni, which I sliced by hand.

I made a third pizza: bacon, blue cheese, and fresh sage. This was extremely rich and did not look as appetizing as it tasted. Also, I used way too much sage, which worked to overpower the already strong blue cheese flavor.

Finally, I tried my hand at a piadina. Tomatoes Apizza, a local pizza joint, used to make this dessert pizza, but they no longer do. It is quite simply pizza dough and Nutella. I used two pieces of dough. Spread a good amount of Nutella on the bottom piece and used another piece to cover – making sure to seal the pieces properly avoiding any melted chocolate in the oven. I baked it at 500 degrees for about 8 minutes (same as the pizzas). I cannot describe adequately how wonderful this concoction is. The chocolate/hazelnut couple with the crusty, chewy dough is tremendous.

With this experiment an all out success, I plan on making pizza again in the near future – next time with more guests and beer pairings! The only beer I had this time around was a Michigan wheat beer called Zoomer from New Holland Brewing. A decent wheat, I guess, but nothing worth seeking out and not something that added any depth to the pizza.

Jamaican Jerk Steak

An unseasonably warm today in Michigan (63 degrees!) gave me an opportunity (maybe the last of the year) to grill. I had a piece of chuck roast left over from my pot roast experiment last month. Our last trip to the Mt. Clemens Farmer’s market on Saturday is yet another sign that fall is soon giving way to winter, but we did come out with quite a bounty. Tonight’s dinner: Jamaican Jerk steak, oven baked seasoned steak fries, and steamed romanesco.

I purchased a bunch of hot sauces and spice mixtures from Jamaica last year. Prior to grilling, I liberally sprinkled the jerk seasoning on both sides of the steaks. The potatoes (locally grown) were cut into thick steak fry pieces then drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with lots of cumin, Holiday Market seasoned pepper, Trader Joe’s Red Hawaiian sea salt, chipotle chili powder, and dried garlic. They took about 30 minutes in a 400 degree oven flipping after 20 minutes of baking. They went well with a side of Cabot Farms Sour Cream. Romanesco is an Italian broccoli also known as fractal broccoli (great for those who love geometry!). Its flavor is very similar to cauliflower or broccoli – Heather pointed out that it has a distinctly sweet flavor as well. It paired well with the steak and potatoes.

I drank a Sam Adams Hallertau Imperial Pilsner with dinner tonight. An incredibly hoppy beer, maybe even overly hoppy, the intense flavors actually paired well with the other intense flavors in the steak and potatoes. By itself, the Hallertau Pilsner is not easy to drink, but with food it becomes much tastier.

Russian River Temptation

As I was drinking a bottle of Kennebunkport IPA, a beer that is no different from Shipyard IPA since it is brewed by the same company only with different labels. I don’t understand this. A mediocre IPA at best why not tweak the recipe before calling it something else? Especially when Trader Joe’s is advertising Kennebunkport as something new and exciting. But really how exciting can it be for $4.99/6 pack? The carbonation is decent, but there is very little in the way of hops and way too much malt. Not what I’m looking for in an IPA, even for less than $1 per bottle.

Way on the other side of the spectrum is Russian River. Wednesday evening I was lucky enough to crack open a bottle of Temptation. Not readily available in Michigan, I traded a bottle of 3 Floyds Dark Lord 2007 to a dude from BeerAdvocate.com to get my hands on this. Oddly, when I requested this in the trade, I had no idea what it was – it just sounded interesting. A blonde aged in chardonnay barrels? Sign me up! Russian River also has some damn fine beer names: Supplication, Compunction, Depuration, and Beatification are their barrel aged offerings. Clever names and even better bottles make the experience of the beers all the more memorable.

Temptation is an American Wild Ale, or a beer that is introduced to “wild” yeast or bacteria (http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style/171 ). The introduction of this wild character leads to extreme funkiness (as many reviewers note) in both the smell and taste. I happen to think that the funkiness is not funky at all. Very sour, yes, but this is a delightful change of pace from anything else being produced. The differentness of this beer is what draws me to it. I wonder if the draw would be lessened if the beer wasn’t so exotic? There is not much balancing Temptation – it is basically sour all the way through. Aside from the head, it even looks like lemonade or some other kind of citrus juice. Definitely a style I’d like to try more of, maybe a road trip to Russian River is in my future???

Poblano Pepper Scramble

I bought some poblano peppers from the farmer’s market a few weeks back. I was planning on making chiles rellenos but just haven’t had the time. Not wanting to waste the peppers, I decided to use one this morning in my eggs. I took one poblano (seeded & coarsely chopped) and quickly fried it in some organic butter. I added a couple pinches of sea salt right before I was ready to add the eggs. Scrambled 3 eggs in a bowl with some cracked pepper and cumin & a little milk. Poured the egg mixture over the peppers and scrambled away. Once I was happy with the consistency (5-7 minutes over medium/high heat), I added a bit of feta cheese and shredded cheddar to taste. The scramble is ready once the cheese is sufficiently melted. I served the eggs with sour cream, salsa, and couple warm flour tortillas.

In addition to the food, I had a bottle of Founders Breakfast Stout that complemented this meal perfectly. Creamy milk chocolate, coffee, and roasted oats are the dominant flavors in this beer. It is like breakfast in bottle – a truly wonderful Michigan brew that is worth seeking out if you haven’t had the chance to try it.

Potatoes and Eggs (and Beer)

I love the versatility of potatoes and eggs. This past week we were at a loss at what would be severed for dinner. I knew we had a couple potatoes and a new dozen of free range eggs. Those two things with a few additional things will always lead to a money meal. This time I picked up some bacon from the butcher. I fried the bacon (http://flickr.com/photos/montage_man/1414299121/), diced the potatoes (http://flickr.com/photos/montage_man/1415179850/), and commenced to cooking. The key to this dish is cooking the potatoes and onions in the fat rendered from the bacon. The recipe looks like:

1/2 pound of bacon (thick sliced)
2 medium to large potatoes diced
1/3 medium onion diced
some shredded cheese
3-4 eggs done to your liking (we chose scrambled)
Sour cream or yogurt
Beer (this dish goes well with beer – a nice simple lager or a good coffee stout. I had a Foster’s Special Bitter. I wish I hadn’t.)

Cook the bacon to your liking. I used a cast iron skillet. Leave the fat. Once the bacon is done, cook the potatoes and onions in the bacon fat. Season the potatoes with salt, pepper, and anything else your heart desires. The potatoes will take around 20-30 minutes to cook depending on the size of your dice. The cooked bacon should be added to the potatoes with about five minutes left. Cook the eggs in a separate skillet when the potatoes are nearly finished. Add the cheese to the potatoes near the end of the cooking to ensure proper melting. Plate the potatoes first place the eggs on top and finish it with a dollop of sour cream or yogurt. Garnish the plate with a hot pepper ( I used a habanero). Enjoy for breakfast or dinner.

Laila Loves Oberon

Instilling a love of Michigan beer in my 5 week old daughter – who needs breast milk when you have Bells?