Tag Archives: cooking

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Chop and Brew Launches Online Superstore

Former news guy, former Northern Brewer guy, current Summit Brewing guy Chip Walton’s latest project, Chop and Brew, is picking up steam. For almost a year Chip has been taking the format he pioneered at Brewing TV and expanding it, making it better.

The Chop and Brew web show is focused on cooking and home brewing. With a rotating cast of friends Chip has covered some great topics, from makin’ bacon to washing yeast. The show is only going to get better, too. In an upcoming episode Chip travels to Austin, TX to film home brewing die-hard, P. Berry, brew his 1000th batch.

As a way to include fans of the show, and help fund further adventures like the P. Berry saga, Chip is launching the Chop and Brew Superstore. Ok, it only has t-shirts so far, but he has plans to expand it in the future with stickers, and possibly some brewing and chopping swag.

Below: A video we shot a while back when Chop and Brew was just getting off the ground.

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EAT A BEER: The Goods, the Beer, and the Ugly

With spring fever consuming our every waking minute, I could only think of one thing….BLTs!!!

What a scrumptious way to satisfy the hunger for spring. It didn’t take long for me to figure out that beer bread would be the perfect recipe to carry this out for Eat A Beer.

I usually use a bread machine. It’s pretty fool proof. But after searching my trusty beer recipes I found one that was hand mixed & baked in the oven. It’s been a few years since I have baked bread this way. It seemed pretty simple. Simple ingredients, simple steps.

And just for fun, the BLT turned into a smoked trout club. You see, I am a big trout fishing junkie. I will sit in the rain, snow, you have it, just to catch those tasty little morsels. And lucky for me, my fella knows how to smoke some meat. So voilà! Smoked Trout Club Sandwich! Lets see how this bad boy goes down.

The Good

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Smoking brook trout ala Weber grill.

So that’s pretty self explanatory. Catch fish. Clean fish. Smoke fish. Eat fish.

The Beer

Eat A Beer - BLT
Simple Ingredients. I used one of my favorite local beers to cook with, the Great Northern Porter from Summit Brewing Company.

The Recipe:
4 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
12 oz beer (not light!)
2 tbsps baking powder
2 tsps salt
2 eggs, slightly beaten

Mix all dry ingredients together. Add beer and eggs at the same time. You may need to add a bit  more flour when kneading. Mix into a consistent dough- not too sticky.
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Place in a 9×5 greased loaf pan. Bake at 375 for 1 hour 10 mins. Remove immediately from pan to cool.

Recipe Source :http://homecooking.about.com/od/breadrecipes/r/blbread1.htm

The Ugly

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It’s not pretty, but it turned out pretty tasty! Very dense, but sliced thin & toasted? Yum.

The GOODS

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Yes. This is the goods

3 layers of beer bread. Avocado, cucumber, herbed goat cheese, BACON!, fresh & oven roasted tomatoes. This is my tribute to spring. Fishing, baking and fresh foods? Bring it! And let’s eat it!

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EAT A BEER: Irie-ish Edition

Irish I was Irish. I’m about a pinch. But that doesn’t mean I can’t share in some of the grand traditions of this beloved holiday. I mean, I love the color green! I like gold! Shaleighleigh is fun to say! And of course- I love beer!

This started as just a recipe for corned beef. But then I had to go crazy and put my own spin on things.

It started with the corned beef. I just got a small tip roast and decided to go with an easy traditional recipe. And then I remembered…I had a couple pounds of Simpson barley in my brewing stash. What could I do? I had to make a quick version of malt vinegar for my brine. And I was just too lazy to go to the store for some!

Malt vinegar:
1 cup crushed barley malts
1cup white vinegar
1-2 cups beer

I crushed the barley in the food processor, releasing as much sugars as possible. I added the vinegar & beer and reduced to about half. I gradually added the other cup of beer to thin out.

I placed the beef tip into a sealable container, poured the vinegar over & added traditional pickling spices & one more beer to cover. It sat overnight. It could be done days in advance to tenderize further.

Corned Beef:
I followed the recipe below from the Internet.

I placed the 3lb. beef into a Dutch oven with the brine. I added enough water to just cover the beef. I added the packet of spices included with the beef & an extra bay leaf. Bring to a simmer.

It’s 50 mins per pound of meat. I added carrots & red potatoes on top of meat in the 2nd 50 minutes. They turned out perfect! (I opted for no cabbage.)

After the time was up, I removed the meat & let rest on a cutting board. I sliced after about 15 mins. Tender & juicy! Serve with a spicy mustard & cooked veggies.
Recipe Source

But that’s not all….
The best part of making corned beef is having leftovers for hash!!!

Eat a Beer - corned beef

Corned beef hash:
I cut up the beef, potatoes & carrots into small bite size chunks. Added onion & jalapeño for some kick. I seasoned with season salt, crushed caraway & dill seed, and Kansas City steak seasoning. Oh- don’t forget the chopped bacon! Yum!

Cook in a skillet med-high until a nice crust forms. Keep turning until all has been fried. About 15 mins.

We got kick ass homemade corn tortillas- fried them babies up into taco shells & viola!

Served with an Irish coffee stout? Oh yeah….it was a tasty morning!!

**I used Schell’s Firebrick for the brine. I would recommend using a stout, as directed on the recipe. It didn’t give deep enough notes. But a damn good beer to drink!!

**A beautiful pairing (and beer): fresh
Lift Bridge Irish Coffee Stout & corned beef hash with bacon on the side.
Need I say more?

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Beer Brined Turkey

Turkey can easily become dry and tasteless. I don’t care for that, so I decided to look for a new recipe. It wasn’t long before I found The Homebrew Chef– Sean Paxton had a beer brined turkey recipe. What could be better? Pick a beer and add it to my poultry? Hell yeah, sounds great! First I had to choose a beer to use for the brine. I chose the hometown Summit Winter Ale; it’s fresh on the shelves and has the perfect caramel, nut, and spicy hop flavors that should really perk up the bird.

This recipe basically called for the use of a 12 pack of beer. I couldn’t help myself; I used eleven of the beers and drank the last one while making this brine. Now, I’ve been known to put em back before, but this is the fastest I’ve ever gone through twelve beers.

Beer Brine Ingredients

Ingredients:
4 Quarts Beer*
4 Quarts Ice or Water
2 Cup Kosher Salt
1 Cup Sugar
4 Each Bay Leaves
3 Bunch Thyme, fresh
3 Each Yellow Onion, peeled and chopped
3 Stocks Celery, sliced
3 Each Carrots, peeled and sliced
2 Each Lemon, quartered
4 Each Garlic Cloves, peeled and sliced

I don’t know the best way to say this, but simmer this brine early in the morning before you leave to run errands and turn on the scentsy or plug in the glade before you leave. This part stinks, it will smell your whole house up. It is not pleasant, maybe making this before bed was a bad choice, my wife spent the night sleeping with the sheets over her nose.

Beer Brine

I know what I just wrote doesn’t sound appealing, but after it cooled down it became a lot better. A little bit of a spicy, earthy hop aroma and some great nutty notes really came out. I put the brine and turkey in a sanitized cooler for over 30 hours. When it was time to make the turkey, I pulled it out of the brine and dried it real well, so to help the skin crisp. Then I put the bird in the oven and roasted it for around 3 hours, keeping an eye on the meat thermometer. I never touched or basted the bird, I just let it cook. I then pulled the turkey out of the oven and let it rest on the counter for 30 minutes.

Roasted Beer Brined Turkey

This turkey was amazing, easily the best bird I’ve ever made. It was extremely moist, tender and delicious. It tasted pretty strongly of the Summit Winter Ale, which really did compliment the bird. I really couldn’t believe how much the beer flavor stayed in that wonderful turkey. Go find this recipe and use it, you won’t be disappointed.

Sliced Turkey Breast

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Eat a Beer: Thanksgiving

I see it only fitting that the first recipe I post is for America’s favorite day of food consumption – Thanksgiving!
We all have a coveted favorite dish.
Mine? Well, it’s stuffing. Complete with beer infusion, of course!

Crack a beer & let’s get this started!

Chicken Beer Stock:
Place stripped chicken carcass(es) in large stock pot (8qt or bigger).
Pour in 12-24 oz or more of your favorite beer. I used a Rye Stout homebrew. Add water or beer as needed. I cooked for 2 hours on high heat.
Boil down & reduce to half.
Remove carcasses & strain to be sure there is no bones or inedibles hanging around.
Set aside for later. You can make this days in advance.
You will need 2 cups and more.

Thanksgiving

 

The Bread:
I baked a loaf of rye beer bread used with the same Rye Stout homebrew. Malty beers would be choice for bread. I baked the loaf 2 days in advance. You will need enough bread for 8 cups of cubed bread.
Air dry sliced bread overnight.
Cube bread, toss with olive oil, sage, thyme, cracked pepper & a pinch of clove.
I toasted for 30 mins in oven @ 300 & turned every 10 mins for even toasting.

While toasting the bread, I prepped the fruit & veggies.
1cup chopped celery
1cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped water chestnuts
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled & chopped.
I soaked the chopped mix in 1/4cup beer, 2 tbsps of maple syrup while waiting for bread to finish.

The Meats:
I love sausage in my stuffing!
I cooked : (in electric skillet)
1/2lb Italian sausage
4 cinnamon apple breakfast links
4 strips of bacon
Cook, chop into smaller pieces.
Set aside.

While skillet is still hot, add veggie & fruit mix, including liquid. Cook down until onion is translucent, but not browned.
Add 1 stick of butter to pan & melt. Add 1.5 cups of chicken beer stock.
Add toasted bread a bit at a time & fold into mixture. When well coated, add meat.
You may need to add more stock if you like a moister stuffing. Denser bread will need more liquid.

Cook in electric skillet @ 300 for 40 mins.
Oven: cook covered @ 350 for 30-40 mins.
Serve and enjoy with your favorite beer!

Happy Thanksgiving!