FEED THE RESISTANCE: HIPPIE PIE WITH SPATEN OKTOBERFEST
Feed The Resistance: Hippie Pie is paired with Spaten Oktoberfest Beer!
The Willy Street Fair is this weekend, so this seemed like a good time for a little tribute to Madison's hippies! Hippie Pie is a take on a recipe from a cookbook that we've talked about before - "The Moosewood Cookbook" by Mollie Katzen. This version has a few tweaks, but it's pretty true to the original. What's not true to the original - as you'll see from the pictures, is that I burnt the crust. Even with the burnt crust, this is a great savory vegetarian pie.
Dee decided to pair this with Spaten's Oktoberfest - matching the flavors of the cheese and caramelized onions with the caramel flavors of the beer.
FEED THE RESISTANCE: MEDITERRANEAN SALMON SALAD PAIRED WITH "SON OF JUICE"
Feed The Resistance: A Mediterranean Salmon Salad is paired with "Son of Juice" IPA from Maplewood Brewery!
Ironman Wisconsin is on Sunday...so in honor of that, we did a little "Carbo-Loading" to get ready for the big race! It's traditional to eat pasta before a big race, although the research that I have seen says that it's actually more effective to do that carbo-loading two days before the race, not one day like most people do. I don't think it actually hurts to do it the night before, and that's the tradition, so I say stick with tradition! In addition to those carbs, you need some good protein to get race-ready. Salmon is a really good protein - it's processed very efficiently by your body, and it's a "brain" food - so it might even help with the mental part of your race.
With those two things in mind, I looked for a recipe using both pasta and salmon...and found the Mediterranean Salmon Salad!
This is a great recipe that comes together very simply - basically you just cook up the salmon and then mix it in with the rest of the ingredients...spinach, red bell pepper, green onions, olives, feta cheese, and a little lemon juice. My wife suggested topping the salad with capers and pine nuts, so we did.
It's also a great recipe because it travels well. Often when you're racing, you're travelling, and not spending the night before race-day at home, so it's nice to have something like this in the fridge so you can grab a quick bite before your race.
A quick warning, before you make this up for your pre-race meal. DON'T TRY ANYTHIG NEW on race weekend. Go with what you know works for you. If you have been training for the past year for Ironman Wisconsin, you know what works for you. What's in this salad is what has worked for me when I race. I think it's fairly common that pasta and salmon are both good pre-race meals, but if you have another pre-race meal that's been working for you, don't switch it up now.
Dee picked out "Son of Juice" IPA from Maplewood Brewing to go with the salad...and it worked PERFECTLY!
Warning #2: Alcohol DE-hydrates, and you need to be well hydrated on race-day. Yes, a beer is fine the night before your race, it might even calm your nerves a bit, but don't overdo it. Make sure you go into race-day well hydrated, well fed and well-rested.
FEED THE RESISTANCE: SEASONAL VEGGIE GRAIN BOWL WITH BIERE DE MIEL
Feed The Resistance: Seasonal Veggie Grain Bowl is paired with Bier De Miel from Giant Jones!
This was supposed to be the weekend for the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Tennessee, but unfortunately it's been cancelled for this year due to the remnants of Hurricane Ida. I actually discovered this recipe at Bonnaroo a few years ago. I was wandering the grounds and came upon a tent-full of people, so I wandered in to find out what was going on. What I had stumbled upon was a cooking demonstration from Chef Hugh Acheson - there was one seat left...in the front row - so I took it. As he finished making the dish, Chef Acheson stepped off the stage and handing me a plate of what he had just prepared.
The reason Hugh Acheson was at Bonnaroo that year was to promote his non-profit organization, Seed Life Skills. Seed Life Skills helps teach young people to be sustainable stewards of food and financial resources.
FEED THE RESISTANCE: EASY MOROCCAN CHICKPEA STEW WITH CHAI BLOSSOM MOCKTAIL
Feed The Resistance: Easy Moroccan Chickpea Stew is paired with a Chai Blossom Mocktail
Jenna is a Madison area high school student, who recently created a cookbook for The River Food Pantry, as a project for her Girl Scout Gold Award. The book is a collection of recipes that can all be made using ingredients found at The River. We invited Jenna to talk a little about the project, and I cooked a recipe from the book - Easy Moroccan Chickpea Stew, which originally came from the Taste of Home website. Because Jenna is a high school student (and not of legal drinking age), Dee paired the stew with a very tasty Chai Blossom mocktail.
Learn more about the River Food Pantry, their mission, services offered, and how you can help!
FEED THE RESISTANCE: HOT HONEY-CARROT FLATBREAD WITH HONEY KOLSCH!
Feed The Resistance: Hot Honey-Carrot Flatbread is paired with Honey Kolsch from Rogue!
Tomorrow is "World Honeybee Day" - so in honor of the Honeybees, I wanted to make something with good local, Wisconsin honey! A couple of weeks ago, Dee challenged me do make a vegetarian dish, and on that same day the August issue of Food & Wine Magazine arrived in my mailbox. Coincidentally, that was "The Plant Issue," and it's full of really good vegetarian dishes, including this one! As Dee has told me again and again, with beer pairing, you can either look for similar flavors, or contrasting flavors. For this dish, she went with the similar flavors and paired it with a Honey Kolsch from Rogue - which they call their "liquid ode to bees." The flavors worked great together - not only did the beer compliment the honey-roasted carrots, but it also cut the spice of the chile flakes that were added to the honey.
FEED THE RESISTANCE: BRANDY OLD FASHIONED JAM
Feed The Resistance: Brandy Old Fashioned Jam in honor of Taste of Madison!
Dee was out this week, so I invited Sara, from Madison Festivals to join me and talk about the upcoming Taste of Madison! I thought that since we were talking about Taste of Madison, I should prepare a very "Madison/Wisconsin" dish to serve. I found the recipe for "Brandy Old Fashioned Jam" on a blog called "Wisconsin From Scratch," the brainchild of another Sarah, who lives here in Madison!
Since Dee is the beer expert, I had no idea what to pair this with, so I just grabbed a beer from the fridge - it was sorta like a Brandy Old Fashioned, with a beer chaser, 'cause you know, there's not enough alcohol in a Brandy Old Fashioned. My wife had the wonderful idea of serving the jam with a little Blue Cheese, and that worked beautifully!
FEED THE RESISTANCE: VEGAN SUMMER SUCCOTASH WITH PUNK AF BEER!
Feed The Resistance: Vegan Summer Succotash is paired with "Punk AF" from Brewdog Brewery!
We gave ourselves a bit of a challenge this week...No Alcohol...and No Meat! For the meat-free dish, I went with one of my favorite summertime recipes - Vegan Summer Succotash. As Dee pointed out, this recipe uses all kinds of good things from the garden...tomatoes, corn, zucchini, onion and more! It's also really simple to make - sauté the onions for a bit in some coconut oil, then add the zucchini...and then the corn, tomatoes and the lima beans...then season it all and you're pretty much done! Dee paired the succotash with a great NA beer from the Brewdog Brewery in Ohio - "Punk AF."
...and I wanted to add this picture, from the Resistance studio wall - just because it goes with that vegetarian theme...
(look at the helmets)
FEED THE RESISTANCE: ANTHONY BOURDAIN'S "ROASTED BEET, RED ONION & ORANGE SALAD"
Feed The Resistance: Roasted Beet, Red Onion & Orange Salad is paired with Genesee Specialty Cream Ale!
The new movie about the life of Anthony Bourdain, "Roadrunner" recently opened in theaters, so I wanted to cook from one of his books. While I have almost all of his books, both fiction and non-fiction, I only have one cookbook from Anthony Bourdain - it's called "Appetites" and that is where I found this recipe. Preparing the salad is very simple - roast your beets in the oven for about 45 minutes, and then when they are cool enough - peel the outer layer off the roasted beets. Slice the beets and then mix them with about 1/2 of a red onion (thinly sliced), 1 orange (thinly sliced), a little grapeseed oil, a little cider vinegar, a few mint leaves and salt & pepper. That's it. Simple!
Dee paired the salad with a Cream Ale from Genesee Brewing Company out of Rochester, New York.
FEED THE RESISTANCE: GARLIC SCAPE PESTO WITH "DAY DRINKER" FROM BREWFINITY!
Feed The Resistance: Garlic Scape Pesto is paired with "Day Drinker" from Oconomowoc's Brewfinity!
There is a VERY SHORT season for Garlic Scapes around here, so when you find them at the Farmers Market...BUY THEM... and make some Garlic Scape Pesto! Prior to this, I had never made Garlic Scape Pesto, but I had heard of it, and wanted to try it - so when I found scapes at the Dane County Farmers Market, I bought up a bunch of them and kinda/sorta followed this recipe. I was so happy with the results that the next week, I bought up a bunch more and made it again - this time freezing the pesto to use later, when I can't find scapes. Freezing was pretty simple - fill an ice cube tray with the pesto, freeze it, and then grab a cube whenever your in the mood for a really garlicky pesto.
FEED THE RESISTANCE: BASIN BBQ RESTAURANT!
Feed The Resistance: BBQ from the Basin BBQ Restaurant at Tyrol Basin!
Dee & I took the day off from Beer & Food duties...and left it all up to Nate from Tyrol Basin! Nate brought in some of the delicious BBQ that they serve up at The Basin BBQ Restaurant at Tyrol Basin all summer long...and paired it with their own beer, brewed by the fine folks at Capital Brewery! To get the full effect, you need to head out to Tyrol Basin any Wednesday - Friday and take it the great views while you enjoy a little BBQ on Thursday or Friday night...or Pizza on Wednesday night!
