Upcoming Beer Events

Pan-toasted & ground grains of paradise 
added to rhubarb & vanilla!!

Hi everybody! How's tricks? Enjoying the sunshine? Well then that means it's time for a beer then doesn't it?

Tonight (March 28) my lovely fellow beer writer Pete Brown (@petebrownbeer) will be launching his Ilkley Brewery (@ilkleybrewery) collaboration Medina, which is a Moroccan inspired saison with some yummy spices in it.

Then on Monday April 2, I shall be hosting a Spring beer and foodextravaganza at Meantime Old Brewery with head brewer Rod Jones, which I'm really looking forward to - details here of full menu.

UPDATE: There are only a few tickets left to my Meantime Brewery event next week, get 'em whilst they are hot! :)

Then, on Tuesday April 3, if you have nothing better to do you can come and laugh and point at me through the windows of the Tap East brewery, as new head brewer Jim Wilson as we knock together a pale ale, launch date of which is currently TBC.

Finally, on Wednesday April 4, I shall be launching my collab beer with Ilkley Brewery, which is also a saison called Siberia, which has been made with Yorkshire forced rhubarb, vanilla, grains of paradise and orange peel - yep, another mental one from me! I am getting to try it for the first time tonight, so I'll give you an update after that, but the boys from the north assure me it's tasting mighty fine! 

UPDATE: The Siberia is fab, I'm really pleased, it was spicy peach on the nose, a tiny bit sour, pleasingly spicy and orangey on the palate and absolutely bone dry, it's lush! :)

Here's the agenda for the pub crawl we're embarking on, which could be dangerous as this beer has rocked out at 5.9%, eek!

5.30pm: The Bull, Highgate

6.45pm Southampton Arms

8.15pm Draft House Tower Bridge

9.30-close The Rake

P.S. In case you're wondering why it's called Siberia, it's because rhubarb originates from Siberia, something I only found out when researching it - every day is, indeed, a school day! :)

Pie - that is all!

I don't know about you, but anything with the word pie in the title is enough to catch my attention, so I thought I'd save my terrible punning headlines for another day!

In case you didn't know, it's National Pie Week...WHOOP!

And as I recently created a pie I was pretty proud of (and that my mate @cityjohn went back for seconds of) I thought I'd pop it on the blog!

It's my take on a chicken and ham pie and my reason for making it was that I always find chicken and ham pie disappointing - it's generally claggy and bland and just, well, meh! So I wanted to make an updated version that had a little more to it - I think I've succeeded.

I will hold my hands up that, on the occasion I made it, I used shop-bought shortcrust pastry for the base, but I was pushed for time and would normally make it myself, so I've included the recipe but you really don't have to use it but do follow blind baking instructions.

Another cheat I used was some frozen leftover chicken gravy from a roast that I let down with a little bit of brown chicken stock, but if you buy a good-quality chicken gravy (Duchy's from Waitrose is not too shabby) or reduce some good chicken stock with a few unpeeled cloves of garlic, a bit of arrowroot/corn flour, a bay leaf and a few peppercorns (strain before using!) then you'll get pretty similar results I'm sure.

As for puff pastry? Life's too damn short! Now you can get all-butter puff in the shops it's just not worth your while making it in my opinion - but if you're masochist enough then please feel free to go the whole hog!

And whilst I'm here, I'm immensely excited that Carl Smith of the Windmill in Mayfair, one of my oldest contacts in the trade, is giving away the secrets of his award-winning pies on YouTube - most especially my absolute favourite the English Breakfast Pie, it's awesome and I'm going to be making my own version of it next weekend with a few little beery (and possibly black pudding) tweaks for a bit of fun!

So, without further ado, here it is...

Summer Lightning Chicken, Leek, Ham & Cornish Brie Pie

Serves 4 very hungry people, you don't need much more to accompany it than some samphire/greens/peas & carrots (the potatoes were a little much when I had mine!)

Equipment
Sharp, decent sized knife
Chopping board
Mixing bowl
Rolling pin
Tongs
Cooking spoon
Rubber spatula
Pastry brush
Large heavy-based saucepan
Large dish (I used an oval one that is 24cm long x 16cm wide x 5cm deep, but a false bottom/spring form would have been better to see the pie in all its glory!)

Sundry Ingredients
375g All-butter puff pastry
Egg

Make your shortcrust pastry:
500g/1lb plain flour (plus some extra for rolling)
125g/4oz unsalted butter (plus extra for greasing dish)
125g/4oz lard
pinch salt
1 tsp cider vinegar
1 egg, beaten
Cold water

1. Sift flour & salt into a large mixing bowl
2. Rub the butter & lard into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs
3. Add vinegar & enough cold water to bring mixture together into a smooth dough
4. Wrap in cling film, chill in the fridge for 30 minutes

Filling
500g skinless, boneless chicken thighs (free range)
100g Jamon Iberico lardons (Waitrose) or smoked bacon lardons
White onion, very finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or smushed
Two good size leeks (trimmed, washed, cut into 3cm disks)
200ml chicken gravy
1 bottle of Summer Lightning (and more to drink with it!)
1tbsp dried Tarragon
100g Cornish brie (I used Llawnroc)
Seasoning
Groundnut oil

1. Get a pan on a medium high heat
2. Chop your chicken thighs into bite-size chunks
3. Put oil in pan and add chicken
4. When it’s golden brown on one side, turn over and then throw in onion & lardons
5. When chicken is golden brown all over, onions should be softened and almost disappearing, lardons should be golden & crispy too
6. Throw in your chicken gravy to deglaze pan then turn heat right down
7. Add garlic and leeks, cook for a minute
8. Add half your bottle of beer (other half is for the cook!), reduce at a gentle pace, it will take about 20-30 mins to reduce to a thickish sauce
9. Put in fridge to cool

Assemble Your Pie
1. Roll out shortcrust pastry and put in a suitable, lightly buttered, dish and leave some hanging over sides
2. Fill with baking parchment (quick tip, scrunch up your baking parchment before trying to fit it in, makes it easier – as well as a satisfying noise!!), and fill with baking beans, or rice and blind bake for 15 minutes in 180 oven or until it’s just beginning to colour
3. Once it’s set, remove baking beans and parchment, allow to cool for 10-15 minutes then trim the excess off the sides
4. Put half your cooled filling in the pie, stud with torn off chunks of half your brie, repeat process with the rest of your filling & brie
5. Roll out your puff pastry and put it over the top, crimping it to the shortcrust pastry base as you go, poke a hole in the middle to let the steam out & egg wash (tip: put remaining egg wash in a small plastic tub in freezer, very handy!)
6. Bake in a 200 degree fan oven for about 25 mins or until the top is golden and the insides bubbling!

To Drink
The Summer Lightning goes gloriously with this, of course, and really any spritzy, citrusy blonde ale will go well. I also thought that the Saison Dupont I had was also a good accompaniment too, take your pick!

Ice, Ice Baby!

Hello troops! How you all doing? Hungry?

Well, for those of you who follow me on Twitter I have recently been tormenting you with pictures of a rather jolly ice cream I made, so I thought I ought to post the recipe here so you can give it a whirl.

The recipe was born of one of my new year's resolutions to cut down on food waste in my house, as I will hold my hands up that I can be pretty shocking with wasting food - particularly fresh fruit and veg. 

I've always been happy to blame my bonkers schedule, the unpredictability of self-employment or the fact that it's too cold and I want to dodge a salad - but I had to be honest with myself and say that, invariably, it was just because I'd not thought hard enough about the appalling ease with which I just chucked stuff in the bin (I also like very much what these guys are doing, @foodcycle, very worthwhile).

And there is something else good that comes from this as well, thinking about what you've got kicking around forces you to be creative, which is where this recipe came from.

Now, I'm not going to pretend that this is anything other than an utterly indulgent recipe made from some quasi-posh ingredients - I'm pretty sure that having leftover Amaretti biscuits & 85% cocoa solids chocolate falls firmly under the Twitter hashtag #firstworldproblems - but my point is if I hadn't been thinking about limiting waste, I might not have come up with this recipe and just chucked the biccies in the bin when they got stale.

As a slight side point, one the things I've been doing for a number of years now is to freeze any (very occasional) bits of leftover beer. Generally I have a couple of tubs on the go that fall broadly under the churches of stout/porter/mild and bitter/barley wine/ESB - this keeps them around for chucking in stews and gravies and such like for a bit of added richness - it's very handy.

Anyway, back to the ice cream, I've chucked in a few variation suggestions at the end, as a result of some people on Twitter expressing a dislike for nuts/amaretti etc. but I haven't tried them, so if you give them a whirl please feed back how they worked out!

I have got an ice cream maker but you don't need one according to David Lebovitz, a food writer I have a lot of time for, however I can't recommend my Cuisinart one highly enough, the bowl freezes in six hours and makes the ice cream in about 25 mins, which is extremely exciting (WARNING: it is bloody noisy though!).

Imperiously Nuts Ice Cream

Just some quick parish notes, it might look like the Jersey milk & extra thick cream are difficult ingredients to get but I bought them in Sainsbury's, so they shouldn't be too tough for you to source, alternatively use whole milk & double cream.

This recipe is a bit like brewing, it's all hurry up and wait! You will need five hours or so overall to make it from start to finish, but most of the time is taken up by cooling, so don't panic...

Equipment:

Ice cream machine

Flexible spatula

Mixing bowl

Heatproof bowl

3 x saucepans

Whisk (electric or balloon)

Ladle 

Sharp knife

Chopping board

Electronic scales

Tubs for ice cream (makes just over a litre)

Ingredients for Ice Cream:

280g extra thick cream

300g Jersey milk 

85g golden sugar

4 large eggs

5 Amaretti biscuits, frozen for 15 minutes then chopped roughly

50g Pisa or Disarrano liqueur

15g vanilla extract (not flavouring, they are vastly different)

1 vanilla pod

Ingredients for Choc & Imperial Stout Swirl/Topping:

330g Imperial Stout (I used Dark Star)

100g 85% cocoa solids chocolate

1/2 gelatine leaf

Method:

1. Mix together milk and cream in a saucepan, split your vanilla pod down the middle and scrape out seeds and chuck it all (pod included) in pan with the milk-mix, add vanilla extract in and very gently warm
2. Meanwhile, cream together your eggs and sugar, it's mixed properly when it goes very pale
3. When bubbles start to form around the edge of the milk & cream, take a ladle full and add it to the eggs whisking vigorously to prevent curdling, don't stop whisking until it's all incorporated
4. Tip your egg mixture back into the saucepan, stir until it's all incorporated and then add your liqueur
5. Keep heating slowly until it starts to thicken, a little patience may be required for this but I reckon once it's thick enough that you can leave a trail through the back of the spoon/spatula with your finger you're done!
6. Put in the fridge for three hours to cool
7. Once it's cooled, fish out the vanilla pod and sprinkle in the chopped up Amaretti biscuits,      then pop in your ice cream maker (or use above method for making without machine)
8. Once this is churning, put your stout into a pan and slowly reduce by half, this takes about 20 mins on a very low heat, be patient or it'll go bitter
9. When the stout is nearly reduced, put your heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and break up the chocolate, allow to melt
10. Soak your half leaf of gelatine in some cold water
11. By this time your ice cream should be ready, put into tub/tubs and then take pop in freezer for 10 minutes 
12. When chocolate is melted whisk it into the stout and, when it's fully amalgamated, whisk in your gelatine
13. Put in the fridge to cool slightly so it thickens but doesn't set, about 10 minutes
14. Take ice cream out of freezer and make some channels in the ice cream, pour your chocolate stout mixture into channels and then pop back in freezer for 10 minutes or until ready to serve!
15. There may be some choc mix left over, if you're feeling very poncey you can serve it as a small quenelle on the side! (ok, mine isn't the best quenelle in the world but my mate @cityjohn was sitting on the sofa salivating at the time and I needed to get it to him before he started shouting!)

Suggested alternatives:

If you have a nut allergy, or just don't like them, then I reckon you could substitute the nut liqueur for some orange liqueur and use Jaffa Cakes instead of Amaretti or possibly some creme de mur and blackberries or, mega retro, some creme de menthe (maybe using a little less so you don't end up with mouthwash ice cream) and mint matchmakers!!

Beer Match:

I was lucky enough to have some Southern Tier Crème Brûlée stout in the house which was utterly decadent and wonderful with this. However, I reckon the Dark Star Imperial, Fuller's Past Master's Double Stout or even Bristol Beer Factory's Milk Stout would go equally well. If you were feeling a little more adventurous then perhaps something barrel-aged would work like Goose Island Bourbon County or even Ola Dubh - effectively surrender to the dark side and see where it takes you!

Hummust Try This!

Sorry, I just can't help myself sometimes, cheesy headlines make me happy!

Anyway, I popped a picture of this home-made hummus on Twitter last night and there was a very positive response, so I thought I'd pop it on the blog for you.

Here we go!

Harissa-Spiked Hummus
Equipment needed:
Small frying pan
Pestle & mortar
Food processor
Flexible spatula
Measuring spoons
Micro whisk/fork
Chopstick
Serving bowl
Large plate

Ingredients:
One can of chickpeas
Good, grassy olive oil
Tahini (sesame paste)
2 tbsp Cider vinegar (or you could use pomegranate molasses and dispense with sugar/nectar below)
2tbsp cumin seeds, freshly toasted & ground
Juice of a lime
Garlic (preferably roasted but not necessary)
1tsp Sugar/agave nectar
Salt & & freshly-ground pepper

For topping:
A few reserved chickpeas
Harissa paste let down with some olive oil
Toasted sesame seeds
Bit of green herb or some micro herbs or something pretty!

To serve:
A large, thin flatbread
Crudités

Method:

1. Drain and rinse your chickpeas
2. Pop in food processor with the garlic clove and a splash of water
3. Start blitzing for 30 seconds or so
4. Then add cumin, lime juice, sugar/nectar and tahini - blitz a bit more
5. Start adding olive oil very slowly so it emulsifies & becomes smooth
6. Taste for seasoning & acidity, add vinegar and salt as needed, it generally takes quite a bit of salt
7. Once you've blitzed in your balancing flavours, use your flexible spatula to scrape hummus out into serving bowl and smooth the top
8. Using your chopstick, drag a quite deep swirl pattern in the top of the the hummus
9. Whisk together your harissa with a splash of olive oil and carefully pour into the swirl pattern
10. Place chickpeas on top, garnish with whatever you're using and then sprinkle from a height with the sesame seeds
11. Crumple your flat bread and place on a plate then pop hummus in the middle of it and serve crudités on the side or sprinkled on the bread

Suggested beer match:

I actually was drinking a lovely NZ Villa Maria Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2010 to toast the Kiwi team's world cup win. With its huge gooseberry and elderflower notes it really reminded me of Oakham Citra, so that's my recommendation! Cheers and enjoy.

Home Sweet Home!

Finally! My blog has been dequarantined by Google, thank god, and I've got a lot to catch up on, not least my adventures in the US at the ever-awesome GABF, on which I'll be doing a separate post in the next few days.

But, before that, I just wanted to share something I made for dinner this evening that was not only healthy but like a hug in a bowl.

You see I really needed something comforting and cuddly, I've had jetlag like hell today but after a week and a bit of serious overindulgence, I needed something that would nurture my body a bit as well as lift my spirits and soothe my travel-weary soul - which this most certainly did.

The beer match I would suggest for the below would be something like a Vienna-style lager or even a crystal wheat or Belgian-style but nothing too dark and heavy or, conversely, very bitter as there is some very subtle and pretty spice notes in the dish that I feel would be overwhelmed

So, here goes my Oxymoronic One Pot Wonder (or slightly bastardised tagine recipe if you like!)

Serves 4 (with quite a good bit of bulgur wheat and veg left over for salads)

Sorry picture isn't great, I was hungry!

Toasted spice mix:
Half a cinnamon stick

3 tbsp Ras-el-Hanout (Moroccan spice mix)

2tbsp cumin seeds

1tbsp coriander seeds

1/2tsp chilli flakes

Dressing & Sprinkly Bits!

Finely chopped mint leaves

Two garlic cloves

Salt

Lime - juice & rind (juice of two if it's not very juicy)

Half an inch ginger very finely grated

Small pot of natural yoghurt

Pomegranate seeds

Pomegranate molasses
Toasted sesame seeds & chopped pistachios

Main ingredients:
8 x chicken thighs
1 x medium butternut squash chopped into inch cubes

1 x large aubergine chopped into inch cubes

4 x large garlic cloves smashed

1 x onion finely chopped

1tsp harissa

600gms bulgur wheat

Ready-to-eat prunes & dried apricots

Chai tea bags (optional to replace with a spiced Winter Ale, porter or mild)
1 x tin of chickpeas

1tbsp Harissa (or a slightly smokey not super-hot chilli paste)

1x bottle spicy ginger beer (I used Wychwood Ginger Beard, see brief review at end)

Small splash of groundnut oil
Seasoning

1. Soak your dried fruit *childish snigger* in the chai tea or one of the mentioned beers
2. Pop a dry pan on the hob to heat up
3. Whilst it's doing that, pop salt & garlic in a pestle & mortar and pulp
4. Add lime rind & juice + mint leaves & ginger - leave to macerate
5. By now pan should be nice and hot, add spices from spice mix list, turn heat down and toast spices carefully, don't burn and then set aside
6. Heat a large pot or hob-friendly tagine (I can't recommend Emile Henry highly enough)
7. Add oil and quickly brown chicken thighs, add half the toasted spices, then add onions and cook until they go translucent then add aubergines & butternut squash for four or five minutes, then the chickpeas and then add garlic, some seasoning & harissa, then add rest of spices
8. A minute after the garlic is added deglaze with a bit of water before adding any beer you're using
9. Add the bulgur wheat and stir everything together carefully, keep an eye on the liquid levels every five minutes, it's not an exact science
10. Whilst it's cooking add your mushed garlic, mint, lime etc. into your natural yoghurt
11. Then just give your spice pan a wipe & toast the sesame seeds & pistachios in that
12. To serve: test for seasoning then pile into bowls, drizzle over yoghurt and a bit of pomegranate molasses and sprinkle with some more chopped mint, sesame seeds, pistachios and pomegranate seeds - serve!
13. Drink beer with it! 

Wychwood Ginger Beard

A name I've seen before in a Firkin pub but a very different beer Ginger Beard is initially a little sweet but ends off with a decent fiery Ginger Kick. Personally, I find this kind of ginger beer a little one-dimensional but that's probably because I came to ginger as a flavour a little later in life, the OH who loves Old Jamaica in the summer declared it would be 'really nice ice cold in summer as a thirst quencher' - so what do I know?! : )

Hello Again!

If you like these then you can buy them here
I just wanted the picture!

Well, I managed to survive another collaboration beer tour and it seems your thirst for interesting beer hasn't abated.

And talking of interesting beer... I tried the St Austell Trelawney the other evening and it's a very suppable brew. It's interesting to see that in the craft beer world still making a very drinkable, low ABV beer, still has it's place.

Light citrus notes and a spritzy body make this a real BBQ winner, in fact this leads me on to what I reckon is a great way to cook chicken on the BBQ, I did it last night (not on BBQ sadly, just under grill, fifth floor flat and all that!!) and it was jolly yummy indeed!

Firstly, spatchcocking the chicken (a phrase that, I'll admit, always elicits a childish snigger from me). If you've never done this before then trust me, it really is insanely easy. I'll be honest, I've known the technique for about a decade but never done it, more fool me!

If you want a really easy 'how to' video, then this is the one to watch

So, here we go, this will serve four greedy people and six not so greedy people!

Equipment
Stove-top-proof tagine or other large cooking vessel with lid
Large cooks tongs
Skewers soaked in water for at least 30 minutes (use these to spatchcock bird)
Hot grill/BBQ
Baking tray
Sieve
Small-medium saucepan

Ingredients for chicken
Groundnut or rapeseed oil
2.4kg chicken (free range) - spatchcock and remove wing-tips (freeze off-cuts to make stock later)
1/2 litre chicken stock
1 bottle of barley wine/old ale, not too bitter, suggest UK one like Golden Pride/Old Tom etc.
8tbsp pomegranate molasses
4tbsp harissa (I like Belazu rose harissa)
1tbsp Ras-el-Hanout or Sumac
1 cinnamon stick broken up
4 crushed cardamom pods
Thumb-sized piece of ginger
Bulb of garlic chopped in half horizontally
Whole large green chill, with a small slit made in it
Seasoning

Additional Ingredients for Sauce/finishing:
2tbsp pomegranate molasses
1tbsp agave nectar
Seasoning
1 lime (zest finely grated off and flesh reserved)
Handful of mint/coriander/parsley

Method:

1. Heat pan/tagine
2. Make deep slashes in flesh of chicken, season liberally
3. Add some oil to pan, and put bird breast-side down in pan to brown
4. Meanwhile, mix together the wet ingredients and chop, crush, slit etc. dry ingredients, keep separate
5. When wet ingredients are mixed and dry prepped, the bird should be browned
6. Turn bird over, and add dry ingredients to pan to fry for about 30 secs then add wet ingredients
7. Cover bird and turn down to a medium simmer for about 40 minutes
8. After 30 minutes, pre-heat grill to maximum and pre-heat baking tray
9. After 40 minutes, check the bird is done (meat thermometer favoured method but checking for any blood in crease of thigh also good)
10. Take out of pan and place on baking tray, put under grill (or you can do this stage on the BBQ)
11. Sieve remaining cooking liquid into a pan, mushing the garlic and ginger with a fork, and reduce until consistency of runny honey
12. Once it's browned, take out from under grill, turn off grill, place bird at bottom of oven on tray to rest (if on BBQ, clear an area free of coals as your 'cool' area and put chicken there to rest)
13. Test your sauce for the balance of sweet, sour, salty, bitter - add a little of the pomegranate molasses for sour, some agave for sweet, some lime peel for bitter and some salt where needed - keep warm
14. Carve the chicken and then, whilst it's still on the chopping board, pour over some of the sauce
15. Then, add more sauce as serving - this goes really well with a simple bulgur wheat-based tabbouleh or, if you're like me, I prefer something with a bit more snap like cucumber, radish, spring onion and uncooked sugar snap peas
16. Put rest of sauce in a jug, arrange chicken on a big plate, put salad in a big bowl, put on table, dig in!

Eat Your Greens

As St Patrick's Day is impending, I thought something green would be a good idea! And as I'm sure you're all sick of being told where to drink proper stout, or even crappy mass-produced freezing cold nitrogenated rubbish, I thought I'd go a different route.

This was inspired by a column by the lovely Oliver Thring in the Guardian's Word of Mouth column, I adore Oliver's stuff, it always makes me think about creating a dish with his subject of the week.

There was further inspiration from a recipe of Nigel Slater's I saw not so long ago combined with a conversation with my mum about chorizo the other day.

Phew! So many muses, so little time!

Anyway, this requires a little bit of wheat beer, I'm thinking more along the lines of a German Kristall or Belgian rather than a Hefeweizen, I think the latter would be too much, and I've made some suggestions below anyway.

This is very obviously not a complicated dish, and you can vary it with the seasons, maybe substitute the kale for asparagus and cook the dish with a saison a bit later in the year, or use Jerusalem artichokes and a a mild when they are in season, use Tolouse sausage, savoy cabbage (which is very similar to the French chou vert frisé) and a biere de garde for a twist.

It's a one-pan dish so washing-up is kept to a minimum and I'm pretty sure I don't need to advise you what to do with the rest of the beer that doesn't go into the cooking process - cheers!

Chorizo, Curly Kale & Potatoes
Cooking chorizo (I do like the ease and availability of the Unearthed ones in Waitrose 1 pack = two people for this recipe, but any spicy sausage would be good)
4-6 decent-sized new potatoes, boiled, cooled & sliced (you could also always use some of those lovely jarred white Spanish beans instead, just don't brown them!)
Curly kale (or any dark green cabbage like Savoy or Cavolo Nero)
Pine nuts
1-2 clovs of garlic - finely chopped
1 medium-large red onion - finely diced
Knob of butter
Wheat beer (Blanche de Bruxelles, Okell's MacLir, St Austell Clouded Yellow, Schneider Kristall)
Olive oil
Lemon
Seasoning

Heat pan (with a lid for later) until just beginning to smoke, add splash of olive oil wait a few seconds for that to heat up then add chorizo, turn down to medium heat, cook for two-three minutes.

Add potato slices and sprinkle a little black pepper over top, leave slices alone, do not turn until they've gone golden brown on bottom - wash your kale even if it says pre-washed! It never is properly!

Carefully flip all your potato slices and introduce finely diced onion, cook for a minute then add finely chopped garlic.

Immediately after garlic sprinkle pine nuts in, then after 30 seconds add your knob of butter and then add the kale and a small splash of wheat beer to the pan.

Turn heat down low, pop the lid on and leave to wilt kale for 5-7 minutes.

Check for seasoning (I think liberal amounts of black pepper always needed, salt depends on your sausage's salt levels), squeeze lemon juice over top - serve with some crusty bread to mop up those beery/buttery/paprika-y juices!

Yum!

Yummy Night Ahead in Winchester

I'm really looking forward to my tasting at the Wykeham Arms in Winchester this evening, there are still a few tickets left if you live in the vicinity.

The matches are below, it's all bite-size offerings to go with the beer so please don't be intimidated by the length of the menu!

Cream of Jerusalem artichoke soup, truffle oil,

Matched with HSB

-----------

Sauté of Shetland scallops, crisp pork belly, spiced apple compote

Matched with organic Honey Dew

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Roast saddle of Hursley estate venison, seared liver, goose fat potato and red cabbage

Matched with 1845 ale

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Pan-fried south coast turbot, crisp oxtail, curly kale

Matched with Bengal lancer ale

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Madagascan vanilla bean pannacotta, compote of plums

Matched with Golden Pride

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Selection of British cheeses

Lincolnshire poacher vintage cheddar, Exmoor blue, Tovey goats cheese, May hill green Brie

Matched with Brewer's Reserve No. 2

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Coffee and London porter truffles

*this is a commercial event for which I'm being paid

The Wanderer Returns Pt. 2

Okay, so last post I promised to tell you a bit more about my recent meanderings across the globe so here's a bit more from my trip to the States.

As someone who firmly believes that beer & food are fantastic natural partners (in fact I'm currently making French onion soup with Fuller's Golden Pride, which will be served with Cantillon-washed cheese croutons & Sharp's Single Brew Reserve), so when beers & wings at Rock Bottom (which are very good) were upstaged by an invite to Mizuna, a fine dining establishment from the lovely Matt Stinchfield for a beer & food-matched dinner I couldn't resist.

The at-times whimsical menu was matched with beers from various breweries, including Stone, Great Divide, The Bruery and Moylan's, sometimes to good effect and sometimes not but the collaboration and effort that went into the evening is definitely something to build on and there were stand-out matches that were certainly a winner (see below).

It also gave me the opportunity to spend time chatting with the delightful Denise Jones from Moylan's, (whom I consequently had some good fun drinking with later in the week) and who makes great beer including an awesome Scotch Ale in the form of Kilt Lifter, very dry for the style but (in my humble opinion) fantastic for it – I also have her to thank for a very cool new t-shirt declaring my undying devotion to Humulus lupulus!

But anyway, there is a bit more of a point to this post than just taunting you with pictures of delicious food and it's about the UK restaurant scene and its failure to capitalise on beer, despite some bright spots!

I was mortified to hear about the recent experience of two high-end restaurant figures to whom I recommended a trip to Le Gavroche, because they want to give beer some serious thought and, given all the shouting about the beer & food matching that's gone on around the restaurant over the past few years, I couldn't think of a finer place.

Oh dear, according to my sources, the waiter, when asked about beer on the menu, repeatedly told them that there was a big brand lager and that was it, even when prodded that there was supposed to be a more extensive beer list - which says to me there's one of two problems here:
a) said beer list has been taken out
b) staff are insufficiently trained on beer because there isn't a real commitment to it

To bring it back to my experience at Mizuna, and the reason why I'm mentioning it, is because I'm just so over places that talk the talk but don't walk the walk and why I would like to sing the praises of the two young chefs in the kitchen who have a love for craft beer were given their head - which is the only way for beer & food matching to be given the creative attention it needs.

And whilst they freely admitted some things didn't work, by god they were going to be polishing their beer & food-matching skills until they were right - you could see that burning out of them as they talked.

So, I guess, what I'm trying to say to anyone who is thinking about beer & food matching is this: don't do it unless you're going to commit - beer & food matching is not a gimmick, it's not a passing fad and it's not something you just play with because it deserves more respect than that, and so do your diners.

Anyway, that rant over, I hope to have some new restaurant news for you this week about where to go to get great grub & good brews and I'll also be posting some further musings from my wanderings, and keep an eye on Twitter for my Amsterdam adventures at the end of the week - I promise all pictures will be suitable for workplace viewing!

But before I go, here's the menu as I promised, I've put in bold the beers I think worked with the dish:
 

First

Spanish Mackerel

w/macerated raisin, candied citrus, fregola

Collette Farmhouse Ale, Great Divide Brewing Company (CO)

Hottenroth Berliner Weisse, The Bruery (CA)

 

Second

Wagyu Beef Cheesesteak

w/Ale gougere, Gruyere fondue, caramelised onions

Moylan's IPA, Moylan's (CA)

Stone IPA, Stone Brewery (CA)

 

Third

Hudson Valley Duck Breast

w/squash flan, toasted barley & glazed onion

Autumn Maple Ale, The Bruery (CA)

Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale, Stone Brewery (CA)

(sorry but neither beer was subtle enough for this dish & just dominated)

 

Fourth

Corned Beef & Cabbage

(house-cured short rib w/butter melted cabbage)
I can't find the pic for this, it's possible I ate it before I could take a snap - it was AMAZING! (thanks to Matt for having more restraint than greedy me!)

Moylan's Kilt Lifter Scotch Ale, Moylan's (CA)

Rugbrod Ale, The Bruery (CA)

 

Fifth

Beer Battered Cherries

w/espresso Chocolate Ganache

Moylan's Old Blarney Barleywine-style Ale, Moylan's (CA)

Oak-Aged Yeti Imperial Stout, Great Divide Breweing Company (CO)
(the cherries were less than stellar but the coulis & ganache were superb)

O What a Beautiful Pint

I'm sorry to have been missing so much recently, Taste of London (which was a fantastic success) absorbed all my time over the past couple of weeks and then I've been playing catch-up.

Okay, I also went fly fishing for the first time on Tuesday with my lovely dad, and I even caught two 1.5lb beauties! Dinner last night was fabulous!

But anyway, my main reasons for this post are on a Welsh theme, which is O, so delicious - I think you probably know where I'm going with this.

Yes, my Otley beer was sampled and I'm thrilled to say that it was everything I'd hoped it would be - full of aromatic lime and lemon notes from the botanicals of kaffir lime, lime skins and lemon grass - as well as the glorious Sorachi Ace hops - and with just the right spicy undercurrent to offset the sweetness provided by galangal.

I was so pleased with it I must have hugged everyone at the brewery nearly to death at least twice when I tasted it!

For those of you who have been guessing it's called thai-bO and I'm delighted to say that Otley is coming to lovebeer@borough* on Saturday July 10 and you will be able to sample at the Meet the Brewer event then!

Usual deal, £15 a ticket and the sessions are at 1pm & 3.30pm, tickets available from the Rake or by calling 020 7378 9461 from 3pm today.

*lovebeer@borough is my tasting business in Borough Market, therefore this post represents something in which I have a financial interest

This Rulles

Despite taking on board recent comments on other blogs about not just saying 'I drank this, I drank that', I don't do straight beer reviews that often so I'm going to share this one anyway!

Paul from www.AlesbyMail.com very kindly gave me a bottle of Jean Chris Numero 1 from Brasserie Artisanale de Rulles and it is utterly delicious!

It's almost a saison/biere des gardes/Belgian blonde hybrid with an American hop influence but, unless you know what those are, I'd better elaborate because there's nothing more annoying than style comparison, up-your-own-bum beer writer know-it-all nonsense like that!

So, to put it in real world terms; the gorgeous cloudy amber colour is backed up by a nose full of orange blossom honey, with a hint of an earthy spice. The beer then develops a BIG orange & candied tangerine peel on the palate with a very pleasing hint of dill that arrives just before the serious citrus bitter kicks in, it's not an unpleasantly strong bitter but it's pretty prevalent nonetheless.

My attempts to pair it with last night's curry went by the wayside, not because it didn't go, but because we'd drunk the bottle before the beef had sufficiently softened, but a Gouden Carolus stood us in good stead in its place! Oops!

But I will say I think this would be magnificent with dark chocolate or perhaps even a classic poached salmon with dill & lemon butter or something rich like pork belly, perhaps in the Szechuan style with some jasmine rice & steamed bok choi with garlic.

Savour the Spears

God I love Spring in the UK - the trees are bent low with blossom, the cricket season starts and there's an air of expectation and optimism that is almost tangible.

I'm sure, partly, it's because it's such a great time for fresh produce that, when you eat it, you can almost feel it doing you good.

Some of my most longed-for treats finally come to fruition in April and May and there is nothing, and I mean nothing, that compares to English green asparagus - sorry, but I'm not brooking any argument here.

That Peruvian nonsense you get in Winter is pallid & flavourless, I don't know why it bothers to make the journey, and don't even get me started on that weird white stuff - shudder!

But a beer match can be tough, because with British asparagus's inherent bitterness you have to drink something with a little residual sweetness in it, which is a point well made by Zak Avery's tripel suggestions, but I thought I'd throw my penn'th worth in as his excellent v-blog nudged my memory about a sublime combination of prosciutto crudo-wrapped asparagus with the frothiest, lemoniest Hollandaise sauce, served up with a well-chilled Gouden Carolus.

First, I lightly steamed the asparagus before wrapping each stem in the prosciutto and pan frying it until the crudo was crispy. For the Hollandaise sauce I used Delia's recipe here but very carefully added some extra lemon juice and a little water and, using one of those otherwise useless milk foam thingies, gave it a right good frothing.

When paired with the asparagus and fruity prosciutto the Gouden Carolus becomes almost as herbal as Colomba, the Corsican unpasteurised wit beer made with herb de maquis, in fact it almost develops gin-like botanicals and then somehow combines with the hollandaise to develop an almost preserved lemon middle, with the bitterness of both the beer & the asparagus providing a long, but not aggressive, end to this symphonic oral episode.

Oh, and you must get in there with your fingers - asparagus should NOT be eaten with a knife & fork - it's a tactile, sensuous food that should flood your being with an overwhelming sense of naughty, indulgent enjoyment.

Chicago Blew Me Away!

I'm sorry about the cheesey headline, but if you've followed this blog long enough you'll know that I live for them - I'm kinda like people who collect sad things like china miniature poodles or commemorative spoons, in cabinets - one is just never enough!

Anyway, onto the point of this post and it's Chicago baby! What an awesome place! I had time to do exactly zero, nada, bupkiss research before I jumped on a plane with Fantastic Mr (Dan) Fox to this Illinois city that I'd never really given much thought to before, for which I feel I should apologise somehow (not that Chicago cares much either way I'd imagine).

Upon landing it was a pretty simple mission myself and Dan had in mind, get sorted and get out to try some Goose Island on its home turf, however, we ended up in Rock Bottom Brewpub, which I'd been to the Denver version of and really enjoyed, so no complaints there!

The food is pretty good, apart from the Titan Toothpicks (deep-fried full-size tortillas with mysterious meat and 'stuff' in them - truly awful and terrifying in one go) and the portions had us laughing like drains, particularly the onion rings as you can see from the picture!

The beer, which is brewed on site and all the RB beers are unique to each venue, was excellent. The pilsner they'd produced in association with the German Hop Growers was sensationally drinkable, and when we found ourselves unable to take another enormous-tasting beer, we reset ourselves with that and were off again! My personal favourite was Eric the Red, which was exactly as the beer list described it: "A dry-hopped American-style Red Ale brewed with dark crystal malt that lends a caramel and maple character to this deep ruby-colored brew. Copious amounts of Cascade and Centennial hops are addded into the fermenter to create an explosion of lemon and grapefruit flavors and aromas."

They were also kind enough to host a brunch as a judges' send-off the Sunday after the awards, which was really lovely of them and much needed by many, including the man previously believed to be indestructible - the gentle Cali giant Jeff Bagby of Pizza Port who spent a lot of his time staring at his pint with great suspicion! (I really hope this makes him laugh and not mad, seriously, he's huge!).

Also, the in-house brewmaster Chris Rafferty was still celebrating his win of a gold at the WBC for Dude, Where's My Vespa - his coffee beer - and as a result he was so high on life, it was utterly infectious.

Right, enough RB love, another must-visit when you're in town is Clark Street Ale House, it's a late-night venue so I'm not even going to venture a guess at what I was drinking other than it was all good and I'm pretty sure that Three Floyds beer was in there somewhere! I think it was Alpha King but I can't swear to it! And if you get to the point where a spirit seems like a plan then they've got an awesome whiskey selection, although my companions seemed to be avoiding the good stuff and drinking the eye-wateringly strong kind, why do I always end up with these kinds of dudes at four in the morning... in fact, don't answer that!

Moving swiftly on, at the opposite end of the scale is Publican which makes very pretty food, and really knows what to do with a pig! Their oysters were also absolutely magnificent but avoid the mussels, they were muddy and awful, and whilst it's not to my taste even Alex Barlow's weird pizza was good, squid & chorizo I believe it was, but very good nonetheless!

Having heard how good the food was I went with full intentions of creating myself a full beer & food fest that was to utterly die for but I got hooked on Lost Abbey's Framboise di Amarosa, a truly stunning and balanced sour raspberry beer that had me making all sorts of happy noises whilst drinking it, as far as I'm concerned that stuff goes with everything!!

And last, but not least, on my list of bars that should not be missed in Chicago is Piece. In fact, this was my favourite, it ticked all the boxes for me, friendly customers and staff, fantastic beers brewed on site and enormous thin-crust pizzas where you choose the toppings! Utter, utter perfection.

Owned by Bill Jacobs (below on the left of the pic), who is as deliciously entertaining as the bar itself, Piece has a great little multi-level thing going on, making the space feel much less sprawling than it could and also allowing for noise dissipation because I can attest you will need a set of lungs on you when it's busy!

It's also got a lot of pedigree in the industry's eyes as in 2006 it and its brewmaster Jonathan Cutler (who I sadly didn't get to meet) won the prestigious World Beer Cup Champion Small Brewpub and Brewmaster Award. I was, however, shown around the brewery, which is a miracle of mechanical ingenuity, an unwillingness to give up on a space and an awesome example of what you can do with some welding gear when you set your mind to it!

I spoke to Bill about how the whole thing came about, and I got a pretty neat story. After learning to bake from some New Jersey guys he decided to bring bagels to Chicago with his brothers, Andy & Pete, and built it up through openings and acquisitions to a chain of 17, which he sold to Big Apple Bagels in 1999.

The brewpub came about when he met the fabulous Matt Brynildson (now winning masses of awards with Firestone Walker and can be seen being tortured by me to eat weird stuff when he's in the UK) out in the park over, wait for it, ultimate frisbee! Yeah, I know, but given the shape both those boys are in I really am not going to mock how hilarious it sounds on paper! Besides, they didn't laugh at my tipsy cricket demonstration (in high heels) so I owe them that courtesy in return!

For the rest of the story, I'll let Bill tell you in his own words: "After a tournament Matt came up to me with beer, a wit beer, which he was carrying. He gave me some and said, 'we can make this'.

"At that point he set the wheels in motion as I'd always thought about bringing great thin-crust pizza to Chicago, the kind I grew up eating in New Haven. Great beer was the perfect compliment to great pizza and that's where it all started.

"Between 1997-1998 I worked with Matt (pictured above on the right) and several others constructing the business plan for Piece. Matt was going to be the brewer for Piece, but when the opportunity came in SLO Brewing Company in California, he seized it. Piece was still in its developmental stage, no lease secured at that point, and it was an opportunity Matt couldn't pass up.

"When it came to hiring a brewer for Piece in 2001, Matt encouraged me to hire Jonathan Cutler, our terrific brewer, who had brewed for him at Goose and was looking to move back to Chicago from Chico, CA, where he was brewing at Sierra. Matt worked with Jonathan initially creating a beer list based on the styles, but Jonathan has created the beers and the names for Piece."

Now, you might remember when I came back from Denver I was raving about how collegiate the beer scene is in the States and how it would be nice to see more of it over here? Well here's a great example of what I've been banging on about...

"Matt remains our closest friend and our reliable consultant/expert if Jonathan needs support. Reciprocally, Jonathan assisted Matt with his gold medal winning hefe, the same gold he won in 2006 when Piece won Champion Small Brewpub - which is great because Jonathan has won five medals for his Top Heavy Hefeweizen."

And, if all that doesn't convince you to get your butt over if you're ever in Chicago then maybe this will - one of the investors is Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen - if you can't place the band immediately you'll almost certainly know their anthem song, give it a listen and do what it says when it comes to Piece - Surrender!

This Could Have Big Ramifications...

I apologise in advance to Cooking Lager who may be waking up to this potential disaster story for cheap booze which reports a licensee could be successful in challenging the fitness of some supermarkets in his area to hold licences due to their pricing policies on commodity alcohol brands.

I will be keeping close tabs on this - and yes I know it's a different licensing system but it's still bound to have a knock-on effect to the rest of the UK if publican Jeff Ellis is successful.

Next Time I Whinge About...

the overly macho marketing of beer in the UK, just remind me that at least I don't live in Brazil and didn't have to put up with Paris Hilton having some faux foreplay with a can of cold beer before the ad got banned.

As my mother always says, you can have all the money in the world but you can't buy class...

East Meets West - it's Grrrrreat!

As yesterday was Chinese New Year, which ushered in the year of the tiger, and tomorrow is Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake Day as it's known to many, I thought it was the ideal mid-way point to post this recipe.

Hope you enjoy!

Sticky Duck Pancakes

Serves 4 as a main with garlic & ginger pak choi & noodles or 8 as a starter

Rather than using shop-bought Chinese pancakes, why not try this? The batter, duck and garnish part of this dish can be prepared the day before so all you need to do is make the pancakes & re-heat the duck; it’s a great sharing dish for people to dig into.

If you want to serve this as you would get it in a Chinese restaurant, then prepare strips of cucumber & spring onion with hoi sin sauce. For a bit of difference though, why not try julienned French breakfast radish & finely shredded Chinese leaf with plum sauce or a mix of shredded wild garlic & watercress with a five spice cherry compote?

For the Duck:

Four large duck legs

3 tbsp Chinese five spice

1 whole star anise

4 tbsp soy sauce

2 onions, quartered

Half pint of milk stout or other dark, sweet beer like Mann's

Half pint of water

2tbsps Lyle’s Golden syrup

1. Heat your oven to 190degreesC 
2. Put the onions & star anise in the base of a baking tray which will fit all your duck legs
3. Rub the five spice powder into the duck legs, arrange on onions and place in oven for an hour
4. 50 minutes into cooking, put beer and Lyle’s Golden Syrup into a saucepan, whisk together and reduce until it coats back of a spoon
5.  After duck has been cooking for an hour drain off the fat and add reduced sauce to the bottom of the baking dish then turn the oven down to 160degreesC
6. Cook for another 20 minutes, basting the legs every five minutes for first 15 – skin should look varnished
7.  Leave to rest somewhere warm – don’t cover or the skin won't go crispy
8. Shred the duck just before serving

Pancakes (makes 16)

600ml Asian lager

4 medium eggs

250g plain flour

50g melted butter

2 tsp soy sauce

1.       Pour beer and eggs into a jug - beat well

2.       Place flour into a bowl and make hollow in centre

3.       Gradually pour the egg and beer mixture into the centre of the flour, whisking just in the centre as you pour

4.       As you pour more steadily, keep whisking so you pull in all of the flour from the outside of the bowl – this means you shouldn’t get any lumps

5.       Once all the flour is incorporated, whisk melted butter into the batter, cover with cling film and place in the fridge

6.       When you are ready to cook your pancakes take it from the fridge, add a tbsp of soy sauce and whisk into the mix before – cook as instructed in previous post

To Serve:

1.       Shred the meat from three of the legs and then only half shred the final leg before arranging on a warm sharing platter, the bone adds a little theatre to the dish. Put pancakes in a bamboo steamer separated by sheets of greaseproof paper and place in middle of table with the duck.

3.       Serve with sauce and garnishes

Flipping 'Eck! Beer Pancakes?!

People,
I don't want to panic you but Pancake Day (Shrove Tuesday) approaches and I for one don't want lemon & sugar on mine!

I recently did some recipe development for Lyle's Golden Syrup and came up with a fun beer pancake recipe, hope you enjoy!

Beer Pancakes with Cheese & Sweet Bacon

Pancakes (makes 4 in a 10”/25cm pan):

300ml standard bitter (e.g. London Pride or Black Sheep)

2 medium eggs

125g plain flour

25g melted butter

Filling (per pancake):

Handful of extra mature Cheddar, or other salty cheese

One rasher of good quality thick-cut smoked bacon

1tbsp Lyle’s Golden Syrup, warmed

Wholegrain mustard

Salad leaves for garnish

Method for Pancakes:

1. Pour ale and eggs into a jug - beat well
2. Place flour into a bowl and make hollow in centre
3. Gradually pour the egg and beer mixture into the centre of the flour, whisking just in the centre as you pour
4. As you pour more steadily, keep whisking so you pull in all of the flour from the outside of the bowl – this means you shouldn’t get any lumps
5. Once all the flour is incorporated, whisk melted butter into the batter, cover with cling film and place in the fridge
6. Use a non-stick frying pan for best results 
7. Heat frying pan on a medium heat until there’s a slight haze coming from it
8. Add a sliver of butter and let it melt, moving the pan around so it covers the base of the pan
9. Tip any excess butter from pan into a small bowl for the next pancake
10. Whisk the batter once more before using it
11. Ladle some batter into the pan – twisting the pan as you go so that it covers the bottom of the pan  – and put in enough batter to cover the bottom of the pan to about the thickness of a pound coin, these will need to be a tiny bit thicker than your average pancake 
12. Place the pan back onto the heat and leave to cook for 1-2 minutes
13. To check if pancake is ready to be turned, loosen the edges with a spatula then give it a little shake – it should come loose and move in the pan
14. The pancake should be opaque on top and a light golden brown colour underneath
15. If you’re feeling brave, grab the handle with both hands and move away from the hob slightly. Drop the pan down and quickly flip it back up again, using your wrists to flip the pan – the pancake should rise out of the pan and turn over
16. If you’re not feeling brave, use a fish slice to flip the pancake over, making sure the slice goes all the way under the pancake before you turn it 
17. Place back on heat, cook for another minute and slide onto warm plate 
18. Keep in a warm place, repeat until you have desired amount

Method for Filling:

1.       Brush one side of your bacon rashers with warmed Lyle’s Golden Syrup (tip: lightly grease your brush or knife with groundnut oil to stop it sticking to utensil), cook under grill, brushing other side upon turning (you can substitute with sweet-cure bacon if you have it)

2.       When bacon is cooked on both sides and nicely caramelised cut into chunks and place on a pancake that’s been smeared with mustard, cover with the cheese, place back under grill until cheese melted but not runny

3.       Roll pancake and cut in half

4.       Garnish with salad and serve