FEED THE RESISTANCE: BRAT & SAUERKRAUT SOUP WITH...ALE ASYLUM'S F-COVID BEER

Feed The Resistance: Brat & Sauerkraut Soup is paired with F-Covid Beer!

This weekend is Brat Fest weekend here in Madison, so I wanted to cook up something a little different with Brats.  I found this recipe several years ago and have been wanting to try it ever since, but never got around to it - until now!  To pair with the Brat & Sauerkraut Soup, Dee brought in Ale Asylum's F-Covid, which worked perfectly with the soup!


FEED THE RESISTANCE: GRILLED CHEESE W/FIG PRESERVES, HONEY & BASIL IS PAIRD W/VOODOO RANGER IPA

Feed The Resistance: Grilled Cheese with Fig Preserves, Honey & Basil is paired with New Belgium's "Voodoo Ranger IPA!"

The Month of May is American Cheese Month, and today is World Bee Day - so I combined the two and made a sandwich with CHEESE...and...HONEY!  I found the recipe for "Grilled Cheese with Fig Preserves, Honey & Basil" in Vegetarian Times Magazine.  It's super simple.  And it's super good!

Basically, mix a little honey in with some goat cheese - spread that on cinnamon-raisin bread, add some fig preserves and fresh basil leaves on top of that, and grill it all up!

Jessie Nim joined us from New Belgium Brewing Company, and paired their Voodoo Ranger IPA with the sandwich.  She explained that an IPA works great as a palate cleanser - and pairs nicely with the creaminess of the cheese.

 

 


IPA BEER CHEESE SOUP WITH KLEINSTADT KOLSCH FROM HUBBLETON BREWING CO.

IPA Beer Cheese Soup is paired with Hubbleton Brewing Company's "Kleinstadt Kolsch"

This week is American Craft Beer week - so to celebrate, I went looking for recipes at Craftbeer.com and found this recipe for IPA Beer Cheese Soup!  Although it's not really "Hearty Soup" weather - this one still works, because it's so "Wisconsin" - I mean, what's more Wisconsin than BEER and CHEESE?

Happy Craft Beer Week!


FEED THE RESISTANCE: FANCY TUNA SALAD WITH HOP GARDEN'S "NIGHT WALK" BLACK IPA.

Feed The Resistance: A Fancy Tuna Salad is paired with "Night Walk" Black IPA from HOP Garden!

This coming Sunday is Mothers' Day, which got me thinking about what Mom used to serve to us when we were kids.  Things like Tomato Soup, Mac & Cheese, and of course...Tuna Salad Sandwiches!  The Tuna Salad was pretty basic, but it was delicious.  Well, a few years ago, my wife and I made a really nice dinner with Pan-Seared Tuna Steaks with Ginger Vinaigrette.  When we were done with that meal, we turned the leftovers into Tuna Salad...and loved it!  From there, we started making Tuna Salad with inexpensive canned tuna and that vinaigrette from the tuna steak recipe.  And that's what I made today!

Dee paired it with a Black IPA from HOP Garden in Paoli.  We both agreed that the beer was great!  And the tuna salad was great!  But they did not go well together.  So - go out and enjoy a Night Walk Black IPA from HOP Garden...and this fancy tuna salad...but enjoy them SEPERATELY!


FEED THE RESISTANCE: ICY-COLD KIMCHI RAMEN WITH SHINER "SEA SALT & LIME"

Feed The Resistance: Icy-Cold Kimchi Ramen is paired with Shiner's "Sea Salt & Lime"

I'm getting just a little tired of the Spring with no warm weather, so I thought maybe some warm-weather food would be the kick in the pants that Mother Nature needs to get things right!  I discovered this recipe for Icy-Cold Kimchi Ramen several years ago in Food & Wine Magazine.  Ironically, it was the "Summer Lovin'" issue of Food & Wine!

It worked out really nice that this week's Tap That beer of the week is the "Sea Salt & Lime" beer from Shiner - which pairs perfectly with the spiciness of the kimchee!


FEED THE RESISTANCE: 420 CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKES WITH KARBEN 4's "NEW ZEALAND PALE ALE"

Feed The Resistance: 420 Chocolate Chip Cookies are paired with "New Zealand Pale Ale" from Karbon 4!

Originally, the plan was for a little 4/20 celebration today, but then I changed the focus of this one to the war in Ukraine.  Several local breweries have gotten together to recreate recipes from a brewery in Ukraine, and on Sunday (noon - 5pm), they're all coming together at Wisconsin Brewing Company in Verona for the Ukraine Beer Festival, with money being raised for organizations helping the people of Ukraine.  So, I was inspired by that festival to change the focus this morning...and a song from Ziggy Marley ("Marijuana Man") made me realize that we could change the focus, but still serve the "special" Chocolate Chip Cookies that I had intended to serve from the very beginning.

To pair with those cookies, Dee chose a beer from one of the breweries that will be a part of Sunday's festivities - Karben 4.  With the cookies, we drank a little "New Zealand Pale Ale" from Karben 4.


FEED THE RESISTANCE: SMOKED TROUT + AVOCADO SALAD TOAST WITH WARSTEINER DUNKEL

Feed The Resistance: Smoked Trout + Avocado Salad Toast is paired with Warsteiner Dunkel!

I used Good Friday as an excuse to make something with fish.  Definitely not the traditional Wisconsin Friday Fish Fry - but fish none-the-less.  This Smoked Trout and Avocado Salad would be perfect at your next summer picnic.  Dee took her cue from the smokiness of the fish, and chose a traditional Dunkel beer from Warsteiner.  The creaminess of the beer worked great with the creaminess of the avocado, and complimented the smoked trout perfectly!

 


FEED THE RESISTANCE: KILT-LIFTER MAC & CHEESE WITH ALE ASYLUM'S STICKY McDOOGLE SCOTCH ALE!

Feed The Resistance: Kilt-Lifter Mac & Cheese paired with Sticky McDoogle from Ale Asylum!

This week is National Library Week, and yesterday was National BEER Day - so I went to the library and got a book about beer!  The American Craft Beer Cookbook features recipes from Brewpubs and Breweries across the country!  From Wisconsin you'll find recipes from Hinterland Brewery in Green Bay, Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee, and Sprecher Brewing Company in Glendale.  I ventured just a little outside of our great state, and grabbed a recipe from Pike Brewing Company in Seattle, Washington.  Kilt-Lifter Mac & Cheese is a pretty straight-forward Mac & Cheese...with a little Scotch Ale thrown in for good measure!  To pair with the Mac & Cheese, Dee also grabbed a Scotch Ale, but she stayed a little closer to home, with Sticky McDoogle from Ale Asylum.

 


FEED THE RESISTANCE: HARD KOMBUCHA-BRINED CHICKEN

Feed The Resistance: Hard Kombucha-Brined Chicken paired with...Luna Bay Hard Kombucha!

This week's "Tap That" beverage of the week comes to us from Luna Bay Booch...it's the Prickly Pear Punch Hard Kombucha!  Last time we talked with the folks at Luna Bay, I got the idea that their Kombucha would be good to use as a brine when I made chicken.  I gave it a try with the Palo Santo Blueberry Booch...and it turned out great!  So, when I heard that Tap That for this week was Prickly Pear Punch from Luna Bay, I had to do it again...this time with the Prickly Pear.  It turned out even better!

As we've learned from Dee over the past year or so, in pairing you go for either similar or contrasting flavors.  So, she didn't have to work to hard to find a similar flavor.  Dee paired this one with, you guessed it...Luna Bay Prickly Pear Punch Hard Kombucha!

I can't really link to the original recipe for this one - as I just made it up as I went along.  Here's basically how it goes...

2 cans of Luna Bay Hard Kombucha
1/2 cup of sugar
1 Tablespoon of salt
Juice from 1 lemon (and then I just tossed the rest of the lemon into the brine)

WARNING: It's kind of like a science experiment when you mix all of that together - everything starts foaming wildly...but it eventually calms down.

Place the chicken in the brine overnight in the fridge.
Remove the chicken from the brine and pat dry a couple hours before you cook it - after you pat it dry, put it back in the fridge, uncovered. Discard the brine.

Heat up a little olive oil in a big sauté pan.
Add the chicken, skin side down - cook for 5 minutes.
Turn the chicken over - cook for another 3 minutes.
Move the pan & chicken to a preheated (350 degree) oven...cook until internal temp reaches 165 degrees (about 20-25 minutes).


FEED THE RESISTANCE: SMOKY PAELLA WITH SHRIMP & SQUID!

Feed The Resistance: Smoky Paella w/Shrimp & Squid...paired with Bell's "Bright White"

Several years ago, Chef Jose Andres started World Central Kitchen.  The mission of World Central Kitchen is to feed people in areas that are in crises...humanitarian, climate and community crises.  The organization was started after the earthquake in Haiti, back in 2010 - members of World Central Kitchen actually show up in those disaster-struck areas and feed the people.  Currently WCK is working hard to feed the people in Ukraine.

There have been several local efforts to support the organization - hats off to Culvers, last week, several locations donated profits to WCK.  Local cartoonist John Kovolic has designed a t-shirt and poster to raise money for the cause as well, and I'm sure more people and organizations will be joining the efforts to help.

For my little tribute to the work of World Central Kitchen, I found a recipe for Smoky Paella with Shrimp and Squid, from Chef Jose Andres.  To pair with the Paella, Dee chose a Belgian-inspired Wheat Ale from Bell's, called Bright White.