Pineapple Ginger Blonde Shandy

Do you know what a shandy is?

No, not a shanty. A shandy.

A shandy is a beer cocktail, often made with a fizzy soda or a juice of some sort. It's lighter in alcohol, since it's generally only half beer, and it offers a whole lot of different flavor options.

The nice folks at Guinness challenged me to make a shandy with their Guinness Blonde beer, so I figured I'd give it a whirl. I wanted something that was a little sweet, but not to much. Maybe a little spice. Maybe not orange juice, because that's a pretty common ingredient.

I wanted something refreshing rather than heavy, but not so lightweight that it was watery. Something that would work over ice or not. Something easy to make by the glass.

They sent me (along with some Guinness Blonde) a pretty pitcher and some glasses. But I didn't really want to make a whole pitcher of shandy. I mean, it's just me here. I'm not that thirsty.

One glass at a time was my goal, because I didn't want to lose the fizz.

So I started fiddling around. What could I make?

In the end, I decided that pineapple juice concentrate would add nice flavor. Since I didn't dilute it to drinking consistency, the pineapple held its own against the other ingredients.

Then I wanted something fizzy and chose ginger beer. The non-alcoholic stuff. It has a stronger ginger bite than you'll find in ginger ale. But hey, if you can't find ginger beer, then ginger ale would work, too.

See, I'm making it easy.

Pineapple Ginger Blonde Shandy

Generous spoon of pineapple juice concentrate (about 2 tablespoons)
1/2 bottle Guinness Blonde
1/2 can ginger beer

Put the pineapple juice concentrate into a glass and add the beer and ginger ale. Eyeball it - it's not that critical. Stir and serve. With a straw, if you like.

On a hot day, I'd suggest starting this with a glass full of ice, which means you'll probably be using 1/3 or even 1/4 of the bottle of beer and the can of ginger beer.

See, it's a nice light cocktail. Did I mention refreshing? Yes, I think I did.

Cheers!

Thanks to the nice folks at Guinness for sponsoring this post and providing products as well.

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Beer Cheese and Beer-Cheese Burgers for the #BlondeBBQChallenge

Cheese! Cheese! CHEESE!!!

I grew up in the Chicago suburbs, under the shadow of O'Hare airport's many flights, and just a few blocks from the entrance to the tollway that led to the Mecca of cheese - otherwise known as Wisconsin.

While there were a great many Wisconsin cheese products for sale at grocery stores in my suburb, a trip across the border gave me access to small cheese shops and giant purveyors of mountains of cheese.

It was wonderful.

I always brought a cooler with me, and I did a pretty good job filling it. And of course the nonperishable jarred and bottle products didn't take any cooler space, right?

One thing that often followed me home was a tub of beer cheese, often sold in a little crock.

I never really thought about what beer cheese was - I guess I assumed that it was cheese that tasted good with beer. Because that's another thing you can find a lot of in Wisconsin.

But no, beer cheese isn't just something that tastes good with a glass of beer - it has beer in it!

I decided that it was about time I made my own beer cheese, and then I went a step further and melted it on top of a burger. With a side of beer.

I was beery happy with the results.

My good friends at Guinness supplied me with some of their new Guinness® Blonde™ American Lager, along with a few other goodies (mmm ... beer) for my participation in creating a recipe that goes with beer. But once I had that beer cheese idea in my head, I had to go with it. And then I used it in a recipe that goes with beer.

Snickers is skeptical about the big metal tub. She thinks it's a doggy bathtub!

Guinness Blonde, if you haven't tried it, is hoppier than Guinness, but with a nice maltiness as well. I don't usually care for highly-hopped beers like IPAs, but I really liked the Blonde.

Besides being lovely on top of a burger, this cheese is great on crackers. Probably also good spread inside a celery stick, but around here we went for the burgers and crackers.

Beer Cheese Burgers

Mmmmm ... melted cheese!

For the beer cheese:
1/2 pound sharp (or extra-sharp) cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 pound mild cheddar or colby cheese, shredded
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce
6 ounces (1/2 bottle) Guinness Blonde

For the burgers:
(do you really need this?)
Ground meat, formed into patties
Beer cheese
Buns, to match the number of patties
Condiments and toppings, as needed

To make the beer cheese:

Cheers!

Pulse the cheeses along with the paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, and cayenne in your food processor until you have small bits.

Add the worcestershire sauce. turn the processor on, and with it running, add the beer. Continue processing until you have a smooth paste. If you think you need a little more beer, feel free to add it. Otherwise, I'm sure you'll find a really good use for that other half-bottle of beer!

Transfer the beer cheese to an appropriate container and refrigerate until needed. It will be soft right after it's processed, but it will firm up as it chills. If you need it softer for spreading - like on crackers - let it come to room temperature, and it will soften.

To make the burgers:
Grill the burgers as you usually do, adding the cheese to the top just before they're fully cooked. Close the grill and allow the cheese to melt - it doesn't take long, maybe 30 seconds.

Put the burgers on buns and add your favorite condiments. This time, I topped the burger with a large slice of tomato and a few pickled jalapenos.

Serve with a refreshing glass of Guinness Blonde, for adults only.

This post was sponsored by Guinness. 

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Chili Beer Braised Goat Stew

On a whim, I bought some goat stew meat at the farmer's market, but I didn't have a good plan for using it. So it sat in the freezer for a couple weeks until I had an idea. And of course I used my slow cooker. Hey, it's summer. There's no way I'm going to leave something on the stove or in the oven if I have a better choice.

So that goat stew in the freezer was on my mind when I found out that one of the teeny breweries nearby, Bootstrap Brewing, is bow bottling their chili beer. I picked up a bottle  - a 22-ounce bomber - and decided to use that for my braising liquid.

The great thing about using something like chili beer for a braising liquid is that you don't really need anything else for flavoring. You can add more if you like, but for a quick weeknight meal, the beer adds plenty of flavor.

The first night, I served this over rice, and the second night, I reduced the liquid a lot, cut the meat into smaller pieces and used it as taco filling.

Chili Beer Braised Goat Stew

1 pound goat stew meat
1 onion, large dice
3 ribs celery, sliced
1 teaspoon salt
1 22-ounce bottle chili beer

Toss everything into the slow cooker and cook on low until the meat is tender. It took about three hours for the stew meat I had.

And really, that's it. You can thicken the gravy if you like, or reduce it.

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Beef with Ginger-Peanut Gravy

Have you ever had sauerbraten?

The first time I tried it, I fell in love with it. And then of course I wanted to make it myself. Much to my surprise, every recipe I found used gingersnap cookies for flavor and thickening. It seemed like a "cheat" to me and I looked for recipes that used individual ingredients rather than cookies.

Finally, I decided that the cookie made sense. It had the flavor needed, and it had the thickening quality from the flour.

And then I didn't think about it much any more.

Until recently.

If gingersnap cookies work for sauerbraten, why not have some fun with other flavors? Yeah, I went a little cookie-mad. The interesting thing about my little experiment was that even though I used a decent number of cookies, the resulting gravy wasn't sweet. But it was really, really tasty.

Beef with Ginger-Peanut Gravy

1 beef pot roast or other cut of beef for braising (about 3 pounds)
1 quart water
1 tablespoon salt
1 Thai chili
8 Ginger Snaps
8 Nutter Butter cookies
2 onions, quartered and sliced about 1/4 inch thick
Pasta, cooked, for serving (8 ounces dry)

Put the beef in your slow cooker with 1 quart of water. Cook on low until the beef is just fork-tender, but not falling apart. How long this takes depends a lot on the cut of beef you chose and how your crockpot cooks - you need to go by the meat rather than the time. This time, it took 7 hours. I've done similar cuts in 4-5 hours.

When the beef is fork tender, transfer it to a storage container along with all of the liquid and refrigerate until well chilled. I usually do this sort of recipe over two days, so the meat stays refrigerated until the next day.

When you're ready to continue cooking, skim any excess fat off the top of the beef and place the beef and the liquid into the slow cooker.

Add the salt, Thai chili, Ginger Snaps, Nutter Butter cookies, and onions. The cookies will dissolve completely; after about 20 minutes into the cooking time, stir the mixture, and stir a few more times during cooking. If the gravy gets too thick, thin it with a bit of water during cooking.

Continue cooking on low until the beef is very tender and the onions are soft. Again, this depends a lot on your particular slow cooker (and how tender you want the beef). It took about three hours in mine.

Taste for seasoning and add more salt, if necessary. Remove the chili. If the gravy is too thick, add more water. If you want it thicker, turn up the heat on the slow cooker and remove the lid to reduce the gravy.

Remove the meat from the gravy and let it rest for 10 minutes before slicing. You can slice this, chop it, or shred it - whichever you like.

Serve over noodles with the gravy.

This post was written for a little competition for SnackWorks, which represents the brands mentioned. I did not receive any compensation or products from them.

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Rootin' Beer Chili

Since I didn't grow up where chili was like a religion, I don't feel compelled to make my chili any particular way. This one is an homage to mom's chili (which, let's face it, was really close to being spaghetti sauce with beans) but with a couple of oddball additions.

Pretty sure this one doesn't mesh with ANYONE's traditional chili. But it's pretty darned good. It's a teeny bit sweet, but not terribly so. There's a little bit of heat from the seasonings, but it's not nearly what I'd call hot.

The sweetness in this chili is going to vary depending on the root beer you use. Some brands are less sweet and more peppery, while others are nearly syrupy, so keep that in mind. If you're scared, use less and make up the difference with water. Or use actual beer.

If you want a really spicy chili, you probably already have the means to make that happen. Feel free to add your favorite fire. And, as always, salt to taste.

Rootin' Beer Chili

1 pound ground beef
1 clove garlic, small dice
1 onion, medium dice
1 green pepper, cored, seeded, diced
1 tablespoon salt (plus more, if desired)
2 tablespoons tomato powder (Savory Spice)
2 tablespoons Chili con Carne seasoning (Penzeys)
1 15-ounce can pinto beans
1 15-ounce can navy beans
2 tablespoons cornmeal
1 8-ounce can root beer (or measure 1 cup from a regular can)
Chili powder or chile powder (yes, there is a difference) as desired. Or cayenne or your favorite hot pepper.

Begin browning the ground beef in your slow cooker (or a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven on your stove.) When it's about half-done, add the garlic, onion, green pepper, salt, tomato powder, and chili con carne seasoning.

Continue cooking, stirring as needed, until the meat is cooked and the vegetables are starting to get tender.

Add the tomato powder, chili con carne seasoning, beans, and cornmeal. If you want your chili spicy, add your firepowder of choice. Stir to combine. Add the root beer and stir again.

Put the lid on the slow cooker, turn it to a low slow-cook, and let it cook for as long as you have time. And hour is good, four is better.

Taste for seasoning and add salt and/or more spice, as desired. Stir and let it cook another 10 minutes or so, if you've added more heat.

Serve hot.

Avocado chunks, lime wedges, and sour cream make a nice garnish. My mother would have served this with oyster crackers. I won't judge.

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Whole Foods Friday - Mussels 3 Ways

Mussels are so incredibly fast and easy to cook, they're the perfect thing to pick up at the store when you need to get dinner on the table right after you get home. All you need is some crusty bread to dip into the broth.

Speaking of the broth, for some people that's the whole point of making mussels - having that broth to dip the bread into.

Buttered or not, toasted or not, that's up to you. Of all the possible sides to serve with those mussels, bread seems to be the must-have item. So pick up a baguette at the store, and you're good to go.

You could serve a green salad with the mussels, or perhaps a bowl of olives or something else from the salad bar. But really, the mussels and the bread is plenty. Figure about a pound of mussels per person.

Depending on where you get them, you might need to scrub the mussels really well before cooking, to remove any sand and grit. Or they might just need a little rinse.

If the mussels still have the "beard" attached, you need to remove that as well - just grab and pull. I have a pair of kitchen-only pliers that make the job a little easier, but it can be done by hand.

I bought my mussels at Whole Foods and they weren't gritty at all. Maybe one mussel from each 2-pound batch had a bit of the beard poking out of the shell. Not a big deal at all.

Any mussels that aren't firmly closed when you get them - or that don't close when you tap them - should be discarded. If any have broken shells, toss those as well.

When you're done cooking, any mussels that haven't opened should be discarded as well. It's not unusual to have a dead mussel or two in a batch, and it's also not unusual for the fishmonger to throw in a few extra mussels after weighing out what you pay for, just to cover this contingency. But you shouldn't end up with a LOT of dead mussels.

I always cook mussels on the day I buy them, but if you need to buy them ahead, ask the fish guy how you should store them. You need to keep them chilled, and you shouldn't store them in a closed container - they need to breathe. The plastic bag they came in from the store had holes poked in it, just for this purpose.

As far as cooking, the flavoring options are endless - wine is a typical flavoring, but beer is also becoming popular. Then you can start thinking about adding other flavors and spices to complement the wine or to make its own statement.

Belgian Beer Mussels
Recipe © by www.cookistry.com. Do not republish without permission.

You'll be left with 1/2 bottle of Belgian Ale, but I think you'll figure out something to do with it. Look for a Belgian ale that's got citrus and spice flavors, if you can. If your beer selections are limited, you could opt for a lighter beer and rely on the added citrus to bring the flavor.

2 pound mussels, scrubbed
1/2 bottle Belgian Ale
1/2 cup orange juice
Pinch ground cardamom

Put the ale, orange juice, and cardamom into a deep pot, wok, or Dutch oven that will accommodate the mussels. Bring to a boil.

Add the mussels, stir them around a bit, and slam on the lid. Cook, until the mussels open - it's just a few minutes, and you don't want to overcook.

If the mussels are in layers in the pot, it's fine to give them a quick stir after a minute or two when you check how they're cooking, but you really do want to leave that lid on to allow them to steam.

Serve immediately, with all of the broth.

Southwestern Mussels
Recipe © by www.cookistry.com. Do not republish without permission.

Jalapeno adds a spicy punch to these mussels, but they aren't crazy hot. If you're skittish about heat, use less pepper, and make sure you avoid using the seeds and ribs. You could also add the jalapeno whole, with a few holes poked into it with a knife before cooking. You'll get some heat, but not as much, and you can remove the pepper before serving.

2 pound mussels, scrubbed
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup dry white wine
1 jalapeno, sliced thinly
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 scallions, thinly sliced

Put the tomatoes, wine, jalapeno, lime juice, and scallions into a deep pot, wok, or Dutch oven that will accommodate the mussels. Bring to a boil.

Add the mussels, stir them around a bit, and slam on the lid. Cook, until the mussels open - it's just a few minutes, and you don't want to overcook.

If the mussels are in layers in the pot, it's fine to give them a quick stir after a minute or two when you check how they're cooking, but you really do want to leave that lid on to allow them to steam.

Serve immediately, with all of the broth.

Mediterranean Mussels
Recipe © by www.cookistry.com. Do not republish without permission.

Italian-inspired mussels, these would be my choice to serve over pasta, but the sauce would need a bit of thickening. A spoon of tomato paste stirred into the sauce (after removing the mussels) and a dab of butter or splash of olive oil would give some extra body to the sauce. Of course, this is also great served with hunks  of crusty bread to dip into the broth.

2 pound mussels, scrubbed
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup dry white wine
1 large clove garlic, diced
1 large shallot, thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon ground fennel
Small hand full basil leaves

Put the tomatoes, white wine, garlic, shallot, and fennel into a deep pot, wok, or Dutch oven that will accommodate the mussels. Bring to a boil.

Add the mussels, stir them around a bit, and slam on the lid. Cook, until the mussels open - it's just a few minutes, and you don't want to overcook.

If the mussels are in layers in the pot, it's fine to give them a quick stir after a minute or two when you check how they're cooking, but you really do want to leave that lid on to allow them to steam.

Just before serving, toss in the basil leaves (you can keep them whole, or slice into ribbons, whichever you prefer) Stir.

Serve immediately, with all of the broth. If you like, you can reserve a few small basil leaves for garnish when serving.

So ... which one are you going to try first?

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Beer-Braised Pork

I've become pretty dependent on my slow cooker. It's so nice to throw ingredients into it, set the timer, and have dinner done when I get home. It's also nice that my slow cooker switches to a "warm" setting when it's done cooking, so I don't have to worry about overcooking.

Country style pork ribs are one of my favorite cuts of pork. I also like pork shoulder roasts a lot, but most of those are too big for just me. So I buy the country ribs in smaller packages.

The chile con limon is a spicy mix of salt, chiles, and lemon. There are a lot of brands, so use what you can find. Sometimes it's sold in the spice section of the grocery store, sometimes it's in the ethnic section, and ;sometimes it's in the produce section. If you can't find it, you can use salt, chili powder, ground chiles, or cayenne; and some additional lime or lemon juice.

Beer-Braised Pork

1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon Chile con Limon
2 pounds country style pork ribs
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
5 cloves garlic, peeled
1 bottle Alaskan Amber Ale*

Heat the oil in your slow cooker (if it has a browning function. If not, you can brown the meat in a separate pan and transfer it to the slow cooker after you have browned it.) and sprinkle the pork with the Chile con Limon. Brown the meat on all sides.

Add the oregano, lime juice, garlic, and beer.

Set the slow cooker to low and cook, covered, for 3 hours, or until the pork is fork tender.

Serve hot.

*I created this recipe for a contest sponsored by Alaskan Beer. You can use your favorite ale or lager.

    

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Food ... and BEER!

Do you know what these are?

I've had a lot of people comment on how strong I've been during my husband's hospitalization. Maybe that's because I only post when I'm sane. Trust me, there have been times when I've been a babbling idiot or a lump of nothingness curled up in a chair.

But to keep myself at least a little bit sane, I've been trying to do at least one normal thing each day. Some days, that means a couple loads of laundry. Some days I cook something interesting. Some days I do more, and some days loading the dishwasher is about all I can manage.

I've also been trying to do at least one "social" thing each week. I get a teeny bit guilty that I'm out in the real world, but the next day I feel a little more energized. A few hours of "me" time is a good thing.

My life isn't going to be completely normal for a long time, but I think it's good to have pieces of it that are somewhat normal.

So this week's social interlude was a blogger event sponsored by Steve and Leslie Kaczeus of Bootstrap Brewing along with a bunch of Niwot restaurants. We sampled seven beers made by Bootstrap, paired with food from five restaurants - or, technically, four restaurants and Niwot Market.

Here's how it all went:

First up was the 1956 Golden Ale paired with two different appetizers. First we had French Vietnamese stuffed chicken wings. Nicely spiced, with lettuce and juliennned vegetables for crunch.

That was followed by linguini with clams. It's hard to argue with that. Both appetizers were from Trepedda's Italian Ristorante. The beer is a pilsner-like beer (but still an ale, very light and smooth. Easy to drink.

Next was the Oktoberfestbier, a German-style Marzen. This was paired with roasted pumpkin spaetzle from Niwot Market. There were bits of pumpkin in the sauce along with toasted pumpkin seeds. Nice toasty malt flavor in the beer. I'm used to spaetzle being rather plain - just buttered - so having it sauced was a nice touch.

The Merlot Aged Boomer Brown Ale is aged in ... you guessed it ... Merlot barrels - for two months. The wine flavor was there, but not overpowering. The beer itself has a malty flavor that I really liked. That was paired with port-poached pears with prosciutto on toasted ciabatta bread with blackberry balsamic reduction. The wine in the food highlighted the wine flavor in the beer very nicely. Presentation of the food was lovely, courtesy of Niwot Tavern.

The next beer was the Insane Rush IPA. I'll have to admit that IPAs are not my favorite beer. I prefer malty over hoppy beers, but this one was interesting and not as bitter as some. The hops used had a piney flavor. Not like chewing on trees. Think of pine nuts. This was paired with Kobe beef sliders on brioche buns with horseradish havarti cheese and a tomato slice, courtesy of the Garden Gate Cafe. Mighty fine little burger.

Backfire Chili Beer was next, and this actually the 1956 Golden Ale infused with spicy Fresno chilis. The first sip of this beer packed some heat, but then I went back for more sips. Paired with food, it was good, but this isn't a beer I'd sit back and drink. I do think I'll be cooking with it, though. This beer has a lot of potential as a marinade or a braising liquid. The beer was paired with chicken flautas and shredded beef flautas from Ajuaa! The guacamole that came with the flautas tamed the beer nicely.

The next beer was a palate cleanser - Flagstaff Amber. It was a nicely balanced beer with neither malt nor hops overpowering. Good flavor. Slurp, slurp.

Last beer of the evening was Mo-Mentus Fresh Hopped Imperial Amber. A sweet, malty beer named after the brewmaster Dave Mentus, this was a perfect dessert beer. He explained that fresh-hopped beers have hops added within 24 hours of the time they are picked. Since the hops were very local, they arrived at the brewery within 6 hours of picking - plenty of time to spare.

Cascade Hops. Pretty little things, aren't they?

With an ABV of 10.1 percent, the Mo-Mentus not something you'd want to drink too much of, but it was a good beer to end the night. This came with some coconut macaroons, but I don't do coconut, so I passed on that opportunity. I did sneak an extra flauta, though.

For a little more about Bootstrap Brewing, check this out.

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