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.
FEED THE RESISTANCE: WATERGATE SALAD WITH COFFEE STOUT!
Feed The Resistance: Watergate Salad is paired with Coffee Stout from New Glarus Brewing Company!
In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I decided to make something GREEN - so of course, my mind naturally went to that green salad that was on the table at every picnic in Wisconsin, all summer long, every summer, back in the day. I just found out recently that the salad (I don't know why it's considered a "salad") is called "Watergate Salad." If you don't remember it from your childhood - it's the stuff with Cool Whip, Pistachio Instant Pudding mix, Crushed Pineapples, Mini Marshmallows and Chopped Pecans. That's it - just mix that stuff up, and you've got a real taste sensation! (you know, if you're a 10 year-old).
Making it as an adult, I had to laugh, when I went to open the can of crushed pineapples - there were instructions on the top of the can, telling me HOW to open the can...
After I got the can open, the rest is pretty simple...
Just mix them all together, and this is what you get...
FEED THE RESISTANCE: KEDGEREE & MANGO CHUTNEY PAIRED WITH BREW FREE OR DIE'S BLOOD ORANGE IPA!
Feed The Resistance: Kedgeree w/Mango Chutney is paired with a Blood Orange IPA from Brew Free or Die!
Daylight Saving Time starts this weekend...so the sun will stay up a little later in the day. This recipe just feels like SUNSHINE to me, so I had to do my take on it as we approach Daylight Saving Time. My take is that I'm too lazy to do the soft-boiled eggs, so I skipped that part, and I switched out the rice for quinoa and served it at room temperature. A couple of easy cheats for this dish - you can use store-bought Mango Chutney instead of making your own, or if you want to make your own, but not deal with cutting up a mango - do like I did and buy frozen mango.
FEED THE RESISTANCE: JERK JACKFRUIT SLIDERS WITH SWEET WATER 420 IMPERIAL IPA
Feed The Resistance: Jerk Jackfruit Sliders are paired with 420 Imperial IPA from Sweet Water!
I'm not sure exactly when it happened, but Jackfruit has become a big thing lately, especially in vegetarian cooking. My wife and I have been trying to eat more vegetarian lately, not completely taking the plunge, but at least dipping our toes in the water. With that in mind, both of us had the idea of trying out some Jackfruit recipes - she found one for BBQ Jackfruit Sliders, and I found one for Jerk Jackfruit Sliders.
Both turned out amazing!
The Jerk Jackfruit is what I brought in today, and Dee paired it with the 420 Imperial IPA from SweetWater Brewing Company. She chose this particular beer because of the expected heat from the Jerk Jackfruit...and she was not wrong. It was a spicy little sandwich, and the beer paired quite nicely with it!
FEED THE RESISTANCE: SHRIMP JAMBALAYA WITH G.O.A.T. MAIBOCK
Feed The Resistance: Shrimp Jambalaya is paired with G.O.A.T. Maibock from Wisconsin Brewing Co.
I'm actually a little disappointed in this one. Don't get me wrong, I was super-excited to cook this Shrimp Jambalaya from the Dooky Chase Cookbook...but it just didn't turn out right. I can't blame the book - Leah Chase was the Queen of Creole Cooking...so I gotta blame the cook. And that would be me.
While my game was off a little today - Dee's was not! I picked this particular recipe and this particular cookbook, because Tuesday is Mardi Gras, so I wanted to do something with a bit of a New Orleans flavor. The beer that Dee paired with it doesn't have that New Orleans flavor, but just like Mardi Gras is a great springtime tradition in NOLA, Bock season is a great Wisconsin springtime tradition, and this year's Maibock from Wisconsin Brewing Company is out! It's called G.O.A.T., and it paired perfectly with the Jambalaya (or it would have, if I had made the Jambalaya perfectly).
FEED THE RESISTANCE: COCONUT DREAM FISH WITH CITY LIGHTS' COCONUT PORTER!
Feed The Resistance: Ziggy Marley's "Coconut Dream Fish" is paired with "Coconut Porter" from City Lights!
Continuing with our Black History Month feature, this week we turn our attention to another musician with a great cookbook. Ziggy Marley released the "Ziggy Marley and Family Cookbook" back in 2016. If you are into Jamaican food, there are lots of great dishes in here, including recipes for Jerk Chicken, Jamaican Rice & Peas, Fish Soup, and the recipe that I made today... Coconut Dream Fish! The recipe calls for wild sea bass, but I used cod, because that's what I had on hand. The coconut flavor comes from plenty of coconut oil that's massaged into the fish, and then more coconut oil is used to cook up the veggies - onion, peppers, and garlic. Then finally the fish is thrown back into the pan to be cooked in that coconut oil with all the veggies. Oh, and in the end...a little coconut milk is added to the dish.
Dee was really excited for this particular pairing, because she's been wanting to pair something with one of her all-time favorite beers - a coconut porter from City Lights! And that pairing worked. Both the beer and the dish are rich and creamy. The dish has a little bit of spice from allspice berries, and that spice was cut nicely by that creamy beer.
