My First Seder: A Pictorial

Last night I hosted my first Passover Seder, a tradition I've really only experienced at my parent's or grandparent's. As J pointed out to me last night, we hosted our very first married couple holiday--a feat we're both proud of and wiped by. I have a few phenomenal recipes to share with you, but today, as I scavenge my way through whole wheat matzoh and left over haroset, "Passover" brownies and brisket, I leave you with the pictures of our meal.

Passover Brownies

Dark Chocolate and Sea-Salt Caramel Matzoh (one with pecans)

Local Grass Fed Brisket

Fennel, Chestnut, Cranberry Matzoh Stuffing

Israeli Salad

J's Grandmother's Silver (WHICH HE POLISHED!!)

Our Table

How I Lost My Favorite Pizza Place

Last night, we ordered pizza from our favorite, local, pizza joint, Big Daddy's. The one where the guy knows us so well, he knows our voices. He knows exactly how J likes each and every pizza we order, be it BBQ chicken or Pepperoni. He catered our rehearsal dinner. Almost every Sunday for the last 2 years, we've ordered a pie from there.

Sadly, last night was Big Daddy's last night. He is closing the doors of the pizza joint. Located in the small town of Three Oaks, MI (where my shop is) he is just losing money. Too much to stay open any longer.

This is really sad, not only for John (aka Big Daddy) but for our town. It's just another sad sight of businesses closing due to this economy. But what really gets me, what really has made me mad enough to sit down in the middle of prepping the dinner for tomorrow's seder and write, is the fact that a lot of this has to do with people saving $2 and buying from a large, national, chain (one I won't mention but let's say it rhymes with mutt.) In talking with people around the town, I've found out that a lot of locals just bought into their $10 pizza deal, and stopped buying our local pizza. John's pizzas are not expensive, mind you. But yes, they are $2 more. But they are also delicious, made by hand, and do I need to mention again that he knows me by my VOICE? 

Without ranting like a crazy person, let me please just ask you to try and spend the extra $2 to buy local. I'm not asking you to always do this. I understand how the recession has affected US ALL, but when it comes to something like buying food from a local owned grocery store, or (obviously) shopping at farmer's markets, or trying to just support your local business owners. It's worth the extra few dollars to keep these businesses going. Otherwise, we'll end up in a world where the only place to shop is Walmart.

And I for one don't want to live in that world.

A Beer-y Pork au Poivre

With all the beer guest blogging around here, I had to fill you in. When I had Joe guest blog, it was a fair and square trade, much like our beer trading every other month or so. I would write, cook, and blog a recipe involving beer, and he would produce a great beer entry for me. It was such an exciting task--having an end goal is often helpful for me. J and I, in the car, started throwing ideas out, and after much deliberation we came up with doing a play on Steak au Poivre with a beer reduction. And then some.

I wanted to use Mexican flavors, and thus, a Mexican beer. Instead of going basic, I decided to use Mexico's answer to craft beer, the newly released (in the last year or so) Cucapa. They have a great honey-infused beer, and while it's not always my favorite to drink (in the label, anyway) I knew it would pair beautifully with pork, heavy spicing, and other such niceties. Given that it was still a bit on the chilly side--after all, spring has only JUST sprung, I paired it with plantain "frites" and a celery root and parsnip mash with arugula and scallion. I reduced down a bottle of the Cucapa about 2/3, and added it to the pan drippings after cooking the pork tenderloin "steaks." In a word? Unbelievable. At the last minute, I decided to mix up a dip for the frites...greek yogurt, the beer, some hot sauce, salt and pepper. And that was even more incredible. Perfect beer notes, paired with that creamy BITE that greek yogurt has? Oh my...

I did double fry the plantain frites, I can't lie to you. But other than that, this dish is rather healthy and would impress the pants off of anyone that happened to drop by for dinner.

And seriously? Freaking fantastically insanely good.

So as to not overwhelm this particular entry, let me know in the comments if you want the recipes for the plantains and the celery root mash, and I'll add them!

Pork au Poivre with Cucapa Beer Reduction
1 pkg pork tenderloin (there are 2 pieces) trimmed and cut into 3 inch "steaks"
2 bottles Cucapa Honey (or Mexican style beer that you particularly enjoy)
1 tsp chipotle chili powder (or cayenne)
2 tsp pasilla chili pepper (or ancho, or whatever you have)
2 TBSP whole cumin seeds
2 TBSP whole coriander seeds
3 TBSP multi-colored peppercorns
2 TBSP kosher salt
2 TBSP olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
Chopped cilantro

Preheat oven to 350

In a morter and pestle, grind all spices and salt until chunky--not too smooth, but with some whole ground pieces. This could be done much quicker in a spice grinder--I was feeling particularly anti-equipment this day.

Place 1 bottle of beer in sauce pan and reduce by about 2/3. Should be over medium-high heat. Stir as foam starts to get too overwhelming. When reduced, turn heat off. Reserve.
Pour spices onto plate.

Take pork "steaks" and season each side with salt and pepper.
Crust one side of each piece by placing down on plate of spices--crust heavily with spice mixture.

In a large, oven-safe skillet (large enough to hold all the pork steaks) heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Place pork in skillet, spiced side down, and sear--approximately 2-3 minutes.
Flip pork, sear another 2-3 minutes.
Place skillet in hot oven for approximately 12 minutes--until an instant read thermometer reads 140 degrees.

Remove pork from skillet, place on board or plate to rest at least 10 minutes.

Return skillet to heat (medium) and add reduced beer to pork drippings. Deglaze pan, scraping up all bits on bottom of pan. 
Allow to reduce until sauce seems dark in color and thick enough to pour over meat.

Plate pork and pour sauce over.

Use 1/4 C other bottle of beer for greek yogurt sauce, and/or drink with dinner!

Beer, Bacon, and Chocolate: What's the fourth food group again?

In the spirit of the awesome guest blogger I had last week, I had to share this amazing post from my great friends, Nick and Rebekah of Kitchen Lab and Design in a Bag . They are two of my favorite people to eat, drink, and talk with, and they know exactly what they're talking about. It's scary sometimes--the conversations I can have with Nick about beer...love having an ally in the world of craft beer (other than J of course!) Check out this post and you'll know EXACTLY what I'm talking about.


Great Beer, Bacon and Chocolate?

One of the great joys of cooking is combining flavors; bringing things that may seem disparate together to create something new, something which might seem at first blush to be a lousy idea can, sometimes, become a new "go-to" staple. The idea of beer and chocolate is basically mainstream at this point, no doubt someone who had enjoyed the wonders of drinking port with dark chocolate, or a fabulous creme brulee with a Sauternes,  brought out some fine chocolate with one of the myriad of fine craft beers created in this country and Voila!! --a star is born. This past weekend we had just such an experience with great friends, following another great, simple meal. The combination was a great American craft beer, Founder's "Nemesis" Wheat Wine , with Vosges Chocolate with Bacon (Mo's Bacon Bar.) 

This really was a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup moment, the beer, for me was really screaming for food, because of the high alcohol and cloying sweetness (which is a problem I have with many "high gravity" beers), too strong and over the top for sipping without food. In this case we took the beer and let it warm to a cellar temperature and had it after dinner, with chocolate.  The first chocolate was fine (it generally is), but didn't really seem to like the beer, or visa-versa. Our friends had brought along a bar of one of the genius Vosges "Bacon-Milk Chocolate" bars. Wham!! a star pairing was born. I can't say enough about the chocolate concoctions created by the team at Vosges (a great Chicago company), that girl Katrina (and her team) are amazing!! Check it out. We love to have a square or two of nice chocolate after dinner, often with wine, but on this night (and more to come) it was the fantastic Founder's Brewing's Nemesis Wheat Wine and Vosges Bacon-Chocolate--oh man give it a try!

Goldilocks and the Three Wooden Spoons

(Source)

Kitchen utensils are extremely personal things for people who spend a lot of time in the kitchen. When J and I got married, it was absolutely apparent that I much preferred my things to his. (His plastic cutting board that makes no sense to me is still hiding in a cabinet somewhere.) As I buy new things, I tend to give or throw away the old, but there are things that just stick. Knives, spoons, graters. My small, citrus, microplane.

Never was this more apparent than yesterday, when our friend Rebekah asked me to pick up wooden spoons for her. J and I were making a trek to the outlets and she texted me, asking for new wooden spoons to use for salads. When I said yes, she texted back not to worry about it--clearly she lacked a bit of faith in my ability to pick out the right spoons. I called her bluff, and asked for the required information in order to please her with this purchase. "Not too heavy, not too big. Not fussy. Salad set is fine, but more spoon than fork."  Now, Rebekah is a kitchen designer, and she and her husband are fabulous cooks and food people. So, understandably, this was a task to be reckoned with, and one I was damn sure we were going to ace!

Armed with the information, and a fire in our bellies, J and I hit all of the kitchen outlets--three to be exact. After visiting the first two (right next door to each other) we found two spoons (really four, but they are single spoons) that we liked--very similar in size and weight, but slightly different in length. One was 10 inches, one 12...both seemed very usable. We decided we'd keep the ones she didn't like, and move on. The final stop was to the chef store, and there we (ahem, J) found a Calphalon set that he liked. It was cool, modern looking--and I was fairly certain she wouldn't like it. But the glee on J's face assured me that HE would, so we purchased that and left.

*J liked the ones on the right*

We showed up for drinks with Rebekah and Nick that evening, and unveiled our three choices. Immediately, she discarded J's favorite--yay for him! But the two similar, yet differently sized choices put a spark in her eye that is generally only apparent for a great Cotes du Rhone or talk of skiing and dogs. She and Nick decided on both (meaning I have to go back to the store and buy myself the shorter pair!)

Things like this are important in friendships, I feel. Especially food "intense" friendships. The knowledge that you UNDERSTAND and GET the importance of such things as wooden salad spoons, or a great grater. It's why I love that my husband doesn't mind that every single time we're in a kitchen store I find 1,000,000 things to buy, and always whine about not having the perfect cutting board.

In S.A.T terms, kitchen stores are to Jill as Guitar Center/Woodwind Brasswind is to J.

I Promise, I'm not a Genius

(Source)

I get the feeling many people think I only have wild successes in the kitchen. Reading over posts I've written, it is true that I write about recipes that I pulled out of thin air and rocked, recipes I've written and kicked ass on the first try, yada yada. But often, there are meals that don't just pull together as well. The thing is, usually those are things I try on my own--not even for J--and if they don't work, I keep trying until they do!

This happened on Friday. Strangely, via twitter. Super Rockstar Chef Rick Moonen gave me a recipe for a non-soy (aka no Monsanto) veggie burger. Clearly, if you read this, you know I am NOT a vegetarian. Far from it. But I love a good veggie burger. I specifically love an easy to throw on a stove and add to a salad veggie burger, like Morningstar Farms. But ever since viewing Food, Inc., I've been hugely struggling with the purchase and consumption of genetically-modified soy products.  Seriously. I grapple with this issue weekly. And 50% of the time, I remain strong. And 50%, well...I cave. So when I asked Chef Moonen for a recipe (and he got back to me within hours) I was super excited to try it!

His recipe called for 1 C almonds, 1 C sunflower seeds, 8 stalks of celery, scallions, onions, parsley, cilantro, lemon, garlic, and tahini. I threw all of this into the food processor (with a can of chickpeas, to add some more protein) and whirled it around until it came to what I considered a decent consistency. I added salt and pepper, and some Sriracha (yum!) and heated up a skillet with some olive oil. The taste of the mixture was downright overwhelmingly delicious--so I was super excited!

When I threw two patties into the oil, I had really high hopes. But when I (ahem) "flipped' the patties, one fell apart pretty smoothly, and the other managed to flip decently. After another few minutes, I pulled both burgers off the heat. Neither of them managed to stay together very well--sad, but true. So I took the best of the two patties, broke it apart and chucked it in my salad. Like I said, the flavor was awesome!

I saved the rest of the mixture in a container and plan to address it tomorrow. I'm thinking of a binder--perhaps some quinoa? Bulgur? Something that seems as healthy as the rest of the recipe?

Anyone with any major ideas, please--don't be shy! This is a challenge I really hope to conquer. Not just for myself, no...but for earth-conscious vegetarians around the globe. Or at least in SW Michigan.

"High Fidelity" for Beer

I couldn't be MORE excited about this post! Class, meet my first guest-blogger, Joe Hinman! Joe is a long-time customer of my shop, and someone I've grown to respect as a go-to beer guy for a very long time! His opinions are studied and smart, and he is one of the smartest beer fans I've ever met in my life. We do beer trades all the time, and I love any time he and his lovely fiance, Jayme, come visit me in the shop. When I started this blog, Joe pointed me toward his beer blog: A Lexicon of Common Sense, and  we decided we had to do a blog trade!

I'll be writing on his blog this upcoming week and will link to it here, too. In the meantime, please note that my favorite Imperial Stout's are listed on here--I love #1, 2 and 4. And Left Hand's Milk Stout is a great "session" stout--love speaking the speak.

With another St. Patty’s Day here and gone, and the desire to guzzle Guinness by the gallon in remission for a year, here are ten ways to enjoy and respect one of the most popular styles of beer. 

There’s not a thing wrong with Guinness, it has its place and is an excellent gateway into the wide, wide world of stouts.  Here is a list of my top five stouts and top five imperial stouts. The former category includes milk and sweet stouts; the latter includes American and Russian imperials.

Top 5 Stouts

1. Kalamazoo Stout – Bell’s Brewing Co. 6% ABV - A good standard stout, brewed with licorice to give an extra bite. Roasty, sweet and smooth drinking and available year round.
2. Tres Blueberry Stout – Dark Horse Brewing Co. 4.5% ABV – Third in a five part holiday stout series from one of the finest breweries in Michigan. Normally I’m not wild about fruit beers, but this one has it right. The blueberry flavor is more earthy than it is sweet and plays beautifully with the natural malt flavors of a stout. I wasn’t totally sold at first, but after a couple experiences I was won over.
3. Shakespeare Stout – Rogue Ales 6% - Another solid beer, encompassing all aspects of a good stout: Malty, a little sweet with hints of coffee and chocolate, very slightly creamy making for an easy drink and this one comes with a nice hop presence, adding a bit of an edge. Also a year round offering.
4. Left Hand Milk Stout – Left Hand Brewing Co. 5.2% ABV – This is a new one for me. As with the blueberry stout, I wasn’t sold at first. This brew is way sweet. It’s not so much a dessert beer as it is a beer that is dessert. Super creamy, goes nicely with chocolate cake. It’s a full-bodied, thick drink but doesn’t knock you out after one or two.
5. Special Double Cream Stout - Bell’s Brewing Co. 6.1% ABV – Yes, another beer from Bell’s. Bell’s gets a lot of credit and lot of criticism. It’s a pretty large brewery so a lot of people view it as trendy and overrated. But those people who have been drinking it for awhile understand it got to be so big because they make good beer. Especially stouts. They have a larger stout lineup than the average breweries and all but one are exceptional drinks. This one is similar to the Milk Stout, but more balanced. Maltier, more flavorful and far less sweet with the perfect amount of cream. It’s the best example of a sweet stout I’ve had thus far.

Top 5 Imperial Stouts

1. Plead the 5^th RIS – Dark Horse Brewing Co. 12% ABV – The finale of Dark Horse’s five part holiday stout series, the alcohol content of this monster really sneaks up on you. It almost drinks like a regular stout, only tastier. That trademark roasty flavor is more pronounced backed by mocha and dark, bittersweet chocolate. So black light cannot escape. Be careful with this one, it’s dangerously smooth.
2. Kentucky Breakfast Stout – Founders Brewing Co. 11.2% ABV – Aging beer in bourbon barrels is common practice and yields nice results. Founder’s has some killer bourbon barrels, and they use them very effectively. KBS is a bourbon barrel aged stout, perfectly sweet with great bourbon flavor and notes of vanilla, chocolate and coffee. Everything balanced, every flavor has its time in the sun and the overall mouthfeel/aftertaste is pleasant and relatively smooth. The alcohol is apparent in this one, but it doesn’t get in the way.
3. Old Rasputin RIS – North Coast Brewing Co. 9% ABV – A classic RIS. The standard by which all other Russian imperials produced in America are judged. It’s a great example of this style and it’s available all over the place all the time. There’s no reason not to drink it.
4. Yeti  – Great Divide Brewing Co. – 9.5% ABV – There are four Yetis: Regular, oak-aged, espresso oak-aged and chocolate oak-aged. I’ve had the latter two and my favorite is the espresso, so I’ll talk about that one. It’s full of great coffee flavor, is obviously oak aged and has a nice hop presence. It’s a pretty intense drink but totally worth it.
5. Samuel Smith’s Imperial Stout – 7% ABV – What Old Rasputin is to the American-produced RIS, Samuel Smith’s Imperial Stout is to the Imperial Stout worldwide. It’s a benchmark for all other imperial stouts. It’s very drinkable at this low of an alcohol content. Not that 7% is low by any means, but it is the lowest for a stout to be considered imperial. This is really everything an imperial stout should be.