FEED THE RESISTANCE: BEET TARTARE WITH ONE BARREL'S COMMUTER KOLSCH!
Feed The Resistance: Beet Tartare is paired with Commuter Kolsch from One Barrel Brewing!
In Celebration of International Vegetarian Day (tomorrow) and Vegetarian Month (October), we're going veggie today! The vegetarian recipe that I've been wanting to make for a long time now is actually a bit of a take on a meat dish - Steak Tartare. It's BEET Tartare! The recipe is simple enough - roasted beets (chopped up to mimic the chopped steak in steak tartare), mixed with toasted buckwheat groats (or chopped hazelnuts), some fresh mint and a little salt and pepper.
I was especially looking forward to making this recipe because I know that Dee LOVES beets! When she saw the recipe, she thought that a good "earthy" beer would make a nice pairing...and the earthy beer she chose was this week's Tap That beer of the week - "Commuter Kolsch" from One Barrel Brewing Company.
FEED THE RESISTANCE: ROASTED CARROT SOUP WITH WHOLE HOG'S PUMPKIN ALE!
Feed The Resistance: Roasted Carrot Soup paired with Whole Hog's Pumpkin Ale!
Well, summer is officially over...and autumn is here! Along with football, fall colors, and cooler temperatures, we also get good hearty food in the fall! With that in mind, I wanted to cook up a good hearty soup today. What first came to mind was a Lentil Soup that I haven't made in a few years, but then I got side-tracked when I saw a big bunch of carrots in the fridge. So, I switched gears to this Roasted Carrot Soup!
I made the recipe even simpler, by roasting the carrots, onions and garlic all together in the oven. While they were roasting, I simmered the veggie stock with the ginger and thyme. When the carrots, onion & garlic was ready, I added them to the stock and blended it all up with an immersion blender. And with that...SOUPS ON!
When I served it at home, I added just a little crème fraîche to each bowl, and topped it off with a little more fresh thyme. I think croutons would also be good on top of this one!
To go with the sweetness of the Carrot Soup, Dee chose a beer from Whole Hog Next Level Brews in Stevens Point. The Pumpkin Ale worked perfectly with the soup, and would probably work well with a whole lot of fall dishes - soups & stews or big hearty casseroles.
FEED THE RESISTANCE: GUERRILLA COOKIES WITH MOB CRAFT'S BOSTON CREAM DREAM!
Feed The Resistance: Guerrilla Cookies paired with Boston Cream Dream from MOB Craft!
The Willy Street Fair is this weekend, so I wanted to take a look back at Madison's "Hippy" past. The Guerrilla Cookie goes back to the days when there were almost daily anti-war protests on campus and in downtown Madison. The cookies were sold at the Mifflin Street Coop - a small grocery coop that stood on the corner of Mifflin and North Bassett Streets. Over the years, the cookie has become legendary, with the creator taking the recipe to his grave. Since the coop closed, people have been trying to figure out the recipe, and articles about the cookie have appeared in the Chicago Tribune, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The Wisconsin Alumni Association's website, among others. I used mostly this recipe, with a little bit of what I found in the Chicago Tribune recipe.
For the pairing, Dee chose "Boston Cream Dream" from MOB Craft.
FEED THE RESISTANCE: TATER-TOT WAFFLES WITH SMOKED SALMON & CAVIAR!
Feed The Resistance: Tater-Tot Waffles with Smoked Salmon & Caviar!
This week, we celebrate National "Waffle" Week, with a little bit of a different take on Waffles. The Tater-Tot Waffle is quite possibly the easiest dish you'll ever make, and it's YUMMY!!! Thaw out some basic frozen tater-tots and spread a bunch of them out on a heated waffle iron. Close the waffle iron and let the tots cook for about 5 minutes. Open the iron and fill in any holes in your waffle with a few more tots, and then cook again for a few more minutes. When the waffle is done, remove it from the iron and top it with whatever topping you would like, one of the recommendations from Food & Wine magazine is smoked salmon, crème fraîche, a little dill, a little caviar (I use really cheap stuff here) and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
For Dee's pairing, she chose the Lake Loop Cream Ale from Starkweather Brewing Company. She was thinking that the creaminess of the beer would go well with the creaminess of the crème fraîche...and she was right!
FEED THE RESISTANCE: ROMAN-STYLE TRIPE WITH FOUR PHANTOMS' AMERICAN BLONDE ALE
Feed The Resistance: Roman-style Tripe is paired with Four Phantoms' American Blonde Ale!
The first time I ate Tripe was at Pig In A Fur Coat, and amazing restaurant on Willy Street, and the dish was AMAZING! So then I tried to make tripe myself...and it was completely inedible. It had the texture of shoe leather...and it tasted like shoe leather (not that I've ever eaten shoe leather). So I thought I'd give it one more try, this time I made a Roman-style Tripe. This could be a really nice meal to welcome Dee back from her globe-trotting adventures...or it could be payback to Dee for leaving us for three weeks! It turned out somewhere in-between. We all agreed that the flavor was good, but Dee really couldn't deal with the texture of the dish.
Like I said, the flavor was good...and paired quite nicely with the Four Phantoms American Blonde Ale that Dee brought in.
FEED THE RESISTANCE: ANDOUILLE BREAD PUDDING WITH FRUH KOLSCH!
Feed The Resistance: Andouille Bread Pudding paired with Fruh Kolsch!
This week's "Tap That" beer of the week is a Kolsch beer from Fruh, so I challenged myself to cook something that would pair nicely with that. A little internet research told me that a Kolsch would pair nicely with a fruit salad, fish and seafood dishes...and "bread-based" dishes. The bread-based dishes is what caught my attention. For Christmas every year, my wife and I serve Andouille Bread Pudding. I know that Christmas is a long way off, but this recipe is good any time of the year - especially as we head into fall and winter - it's a good hearty dish. The recipe comes from chef Marcus Samuelsson's Red Rooster restaurant in Harlem - where it is a Thanksgiving tradition.
FEED THE RESISTANCE: PASTA & SAVORY PUMPKIN SAUCE WITH O'FALLON PUMPKIN BEER!
Feed The Resistance: Pasta & Savory Pumpkin Sauce w/ O'Fallon Pumpkin Beer!
Summer is too quickly coming to an end...but there's good news that comes with that! With the coming of fall, we get Badger & Packer Football, good hearty food, and great fall beers to wash down that food!
When I was told that this week's Tap That beer of the week is a pumpkin beer from O'Fallon, I started looking for some of those good, hearty fall recipes. What I found was a recipe for "Pumpkin Butter" in an old issue of Food & Wine Magazine. Along with the recipe for the pumpkin butter, there were suggestions on how to serve it. One of those suggestions was to mix it with brown butter, sage and crushed pepper to make a savory pumpkin pasta sauce. Unfortunately, it didn't say how much sage, brown butter or crushed pepper to use - so I just winged it. And it turned out GREAT...and paired very nicely with the O'Fallon Pumpkin Beer!
FEED THE RESISTANCE: BELL'S TWO HEARTED ALE WITH TANDOORI CHICKEN WINGS!
Feed The Resistance: Bell's Two Hearted Ale with Tandoori Chicken Wings!
Dee's on vacation this week, so instead of challenging her to find a beer to pair with the dish I made, I challenged myself to make a dish to pair with this week's "Tap That" Beer of the Week! It was actually pretty easy, I just went to the Bell's website and found the recipe for Tandoori Two Hearted Chicken Wings! And as you might guess, chicken wings made with beer, pair perfectly with that beer!
I made the wings last night for dinner, and then wasn't sure what would be the best way to serve them leftover. I put some back in the marinade and heated them up in the marinade, and the others I just served cold. Both ways worked out just fine!
FEED THE RESISTANCE: SPICY BEER SHRIMP & RICE AND PEAS WITH O'SO BREWING COMPANY'S HOP DEBAUCHERY!
Feed The Resistance: Spicy Beer Shrimp with Rice & Peas is paired with HOP Debauchery from O'SO Brewing Company!
This week's dish is in honor of International BEER Day! I wanted to do a little cooking with beer, and I wanted to try something new. I was thinking about beer braised chicken and pork, and wondered if the same type of thing could be done with fish or seafood. As I was searching for my answer, I stumbled across this recipe for Spicy Beer Shrimp! Looking at that recipe, I thought it would go good with Rice & Peas - and there was an AMAZING rice & peas recipe in bon appetit magazine this past January, so that's what I went with.
To compliment the spiciness of the dish, Dee wanted to pair it with an IPA. The IPA that she picked comes from O'SO Brewing Company - it's called HOP Debauchery.
FEED THE RESISTANCE: WISCONSIN STATE FAIR CREAM PUFFS WITH MIDNIGHT TOFFEE STOUT!
Feed The Resistance: Wisconsin State Fair Cream Puffs with Midnight Toffee Stout from Angry Chair Brewing & Untitled Art!
The Wisconsin State Fair opens in West Alice on Thursday, August 4 and runs through Sunday, August 14. To celebrate fair season, I invited Jen Puente from the Wisconsin State Fair to join us, and to bring with her, one of the most iconic State Fair food ever - The Cream Puff!
I wasn't sure if Dee would be able to come up with a good beer to pair with the cream puff, but she knocked it out of the park. The Midnight Toffee Stout that she chose is a collaboration between Untitled Art and Angry Chair Brewing, and it worked perfectly with the sweetness of the Cream Puffs!
