Witbier Cookies

Based on a similar theme to the Oatmeal Stout cookies:  Witbier cookies.  I'm using ingredients that might go into an actual witbier (Wheat malt extract, bitter orange peel, coriander seeds).    They're even pale in color, due to the lack of brown sugar (I didn't think the molasses-y flavor would be appropriate).  

I'm very pleased with the flavor of these.   The citrus really shines, and the coriander backs it up nicely.
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1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup Wheat Dry Malt Extract
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt 

2t bitter orange peel

2t whole coriander seeds

1.5 cups flaked barley
1.5 cups flaked wheat


preparation 

1. Grind Bitter Orange Peel and Coriander in a coffee grinder
1. Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat margarine and sugar until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, wheat malt extract, salt, and baking soda; mix well. Add wheat and barley; mix well.
2. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto parchment-lined cookie sheets.
3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

Oatmeal Stout Cookies

I just realized that I forgot the salt.

Anyway, I've been wanting to make these for a while, and Christmas is the perfect time to pawn some cookies off on other people, so we don't have to eat them all.   Not that I mind piles of cookies around the house, but I just can only eat so many cookies.

The basic idea behind these is to use some of the same ingredients that would go into an oatmeal stout.   I get the maltiness from the malt extract, and the roasted flavors from the chocolate malt and roasted barley.   It just seems fitting to use flaked barley alongside the oats for some chew.  All of these ingredients should be available from your friendly-neighborhood brewer's supply shop.

Unfortunately, my nose is a bit stuffed up, so I can't give a great review of them, but I think this works quite nicely.   The roasted malts really give these a nice dark-chocolate/coffee flavor. 

I've got plans for a batch of Witbier cookies, too, and hopefully this experiment will give me enough data to learn some stuff for the next batch. 

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1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2  cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup Dark Dry Malt Extract
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda

2T Roasted Barley

2T Chocolate Malt

1.5 cups flaked barley
1.5 cups Oats (whole rolled, uncooked)


preparation 

1. Grind Chocolate Malt and Roasted Barley in a coffee grinder
1. Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat margarine and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour and baking soda; mix well. Add oats and barley; mix well.
2. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto parchment-lined cookie sheets.
3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

Grain Cleaner (Indian Tumbler)

Post-boil wort sample.

At least half of the brown ales that I brew wind up being a way to get rid of a bunch of the grain scraps I have left over from various other brews.   Inventory is a whole lot easier to do when you have nothing to count.  This one wound up being that way as well.   I do like them, though, partly because it's a nice canvas on which I can really get creative, and partly because they tend to pair well with a variety of food.  

Two of my absolute favorite brown ales are Sierra Nevada's Tumbler and Dogfish Head's Indian Brown Ale.   Initially, I was going to make a Tumbler clone and in looking up clone recipes found that the "secret" ingredient is smoked malt. So I started looking around at smoked malt, and then thought, "Hey, I've got all this old French Pils and a stovetop smoker, why don't I try smoking my own?"   I couldn't think of a good reason not to, so I got out the smoker and the Alderwood chips and did it.   The smoker's tray held a little over 6oz. of malt, so that's all that I did.   I started off by spraying the malt lightly with water and stirred it while putting it into the tray.   Then I ran the smoker per its directions, but kept it on medium heat, and stirred every few minutes so I wouldn't burn the grain.   It seemed to work out nicely, and the grain came out with a scent reminiscent of smoked almonds, or toast and bacon.  

What I love about the DFH Indian Brown is the hoppiness of it.   The hops and the other flavors just work really well together in that beer.  It's also no slouch in the alcohol department.

After thinking about the brew for a while, I came to the conclusion that I should try to meld these and see what happens.   Unfortunately, I haven't taken inventory in so long, that I really don't know what grain I have, so the grain bill wound up going off of my mark a bit.   The LHBS didn't have any Crystal 60, so I went with Crystal 90 instead, and it turned out that I barely had any Crystal 40.   I was also close to the end on the Marris Otter, so figured I would just add that and have a nice gravity bump, and add slightly to the toasty flavors.   The Warrior, Columbus, and Cascade were all left over from the Pliny the Toddler Variants.   That's fine, though, as I think a bit less emphasis on the fruity side of things will do this beer well, considering the yeast and grain bill.

Grain Cleaner (Indian Tumbler)

Batch Size (Gal): 6
Total Grain (Lbs): 16.12
Anticipated OG: 1.067
Anticipated SRM: 27.5
Anticipated IBU (Tinseth): 65.8
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70%
Wort Boil Time (min): 90

Grain:
74.3% -- 11.98 lbs. Canada Malting 2-row Pale Malt
10.1% -- 1.63 lbs. Marris Otter 2-row Pale Malt
6.2% -- 0.99 lbs. Crystal 90L
4.7% -- 0.75 lbs. Pale Chocolate Malt
2.4% -- 0.39 lbs. Alderwood Smoked French Pils
1.8% -- 0.29 lbs. Crystal 120L
0.6% -- 0.09 lbs. Crystal 40L

Hops:
0.74 oz. Warrior (Pellet, 13.7% AA) 60 min.
0.82 oz. Columbus (Pellet, 13.9% AA) 20 min.
0.98 oz. Cascade (Pellet, 5.4% AA) 10 min.
1.00 oz. US Saaz (Pellet, 5.8% AA) 10 min.
1.00 oz. US Saaz (Pellet, 5.8% AA) 0 min.

Yeast:
WLP007 Slurry from 1/2 of my Pliny the Toddler Variant

Water Profile:
Clearview, degassed ~23h
Calcium Chloride: 1/8t

Mash Schedule:
90m @ 153F

Extras:
1 Whirlfloc tablet at 10m left in the boil.

Notes:

• Actual efficiency appears to be ~71%
• The first runnings came out delicious.   Rich toffee/caramel/raisin flavors with a pleasing slightly smoky finish.  22.25 Brix
• Pitched entire slurry at 8PM.   Wort stayed in the refrigerator a bit too long, so the temperature was 57F.

Pliny the Toddler Variants

Abby and I finished off both the Saison Sombre and the Wedding Stout this week, so it was a good thing that I had planned on brewing this weekend. When I finally managed to remind myself to get ingredients, my latest edition of Zymurgy had come that day, so when I asked Abby what she wanted to drink for a standard swiller, she pointed to a variation on Pliny the Toddler from a section on going from mash tun to good beer in 6 days.   I don't think I'm going to rush it that way, but it seemed like a decent recipe for a session IPA.   This will also be my first 10 gallon batch.  Now that I have a kettle that will handle that, I figured I should take advantage of the way things scale.

Unfortunately, Rebel Brewer didn't have WLP001 or WY1056 in stock, so I decided on WLP007 Dry English Ale and WLP575 Belgian Style Ale Yeast Blend.   I'll be splitting the batch and trying some different things.   I also accidentally only got one pound of Carapils, so I made up the gravity difference with some Wheat Malt and the last of my Caramel 20L.   The wheat should add some additional protein and help out with head retention, and the Caramel Malt should just add a little sweetness.   My current plan is to ferment with the belgian yeast in my brettanomyces fermentor and add some oak cubes that spent several months in the Old Funkulator (Bretted Old Ale).


Pliny The Toddler Variants

Batch Size (Gal): 10
Total Grain (Lbs): 16.26
Adjunct Sugar (Lbs): 1.00
Anticipated OG: 1.046
Anticipated SRM: 4.1
Anticipated IBU: 56.4
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70%
Wort Boil Time (min): 90

Grain
42.0% -- 7.25 lbs. Maris Otter Pale Ale Malt
42.0% -- 7.25 lbs. Canada Malting 2-row Pale Ale Malt
5.8% -- 1.00 lbs. Carapils (Dextrine) Malt
2.7% -- 0.47 lbs. Wheat Malt
1.7% -- 0.29 lbs. Caramel 20L Malt

Sugar
5.8% -- 1.00 lbs. Turbinado Sugar

Hops
1.25 oz Warrior (Pellet, 13.7% AA) 60 min.
1.25 oz Columbus (Pellet, 13.9% AA) 10 min.
1.38 oz Centennial (Pellet, 8.8% AA) 10 min.
1.38 oz Cascade (Pellet, 5.4% AA) 0 min.

Yeast
1/2 White Labs 007
1/2 White Labs 575

Water Profile
Clearview, degassed overnight
3/8 teaspoon Calcium Sulfate

Mash Schedule
Sacch. Rest: 90 min. @ 152F

Extras:
26 drops Fermcap-S (to prevent boiling over)
2 Whirlfloc tablets

Notes

• Brewed on Saturday, October 29, 2011
• Actual efficiency: 67% (I'm starting to think my efficiency problems are ingredient related, rather than process)
• Pitched yeast into each fermentor at ~9PM.   The wort was down to 64F, and it's 62F in the cellar.
• 6:30AM Monday, both beers are fermenting happily.   the 007 has a bit more kraeusen, but the 575 is catching up to it. 
• Beers rose to about 70F, after I covered them with a blanket, and they are now holding there with the use of the heat mat.   The 007 is pretty much finished, and I'm giving it another day at the warmer temp before letting it chill back to cellar temp (61F, currently) for a few days.   I added the brettanomyces infected oak cubes from the wedding stout keg to the 575 fermentor on Tuesday (11/1), and it still has a nice layer of foam on top, so it will sit around in the fermentor at least until I have another empty keg. 
• The 007 beer is carbonated and is getting swilled down this weekend.  It's quite hoppy, but the malt flavor is still there, and there's a nice sweet fruitiness with the yeast, even though it finished out quite dry

Chevre and Jalapeno Jelly sandwich

Abby made some sourdough last night, so we wound up having bread, cheese, and just random pickings of fruit and such today.   

For a wedding gift, one of the band members gave us a jar of home made jalapeno jelly, which is absolutely delicious.  

We decided to participate in the "cheese lovers" share at Doe Run Farm CSA, so we got a big log of Belle Chevre, that we've been slowly working on this week. 

Abby came up with the idea of the sandwich, but I thought it sounded like a great idea.   Comfort food, but weird.   Weird in a really tasty way, though.

2 slices sourdough (home made is best, of course)
spread Chevre over 1 side of one slice
spread jalapeno over 1 side of the other slice

Slap the slices together and eat it.   Sweet, sour, smoky, spicy, creamy...   this hits an awesome chord in your mouth.

Fermentor tour

I've got several things sitting around in fermentors and in various stages of aging, and I'm in a mood to try a few things.

So, I got out my turkey baster (a poor-man's wine thief), glass of sanitizer, and tasting glass and got to "work".

Wedding Stout:  This tastes a bit thin, but it needs some more time on the gas to come together.   If I don't get enough Brett. character in time, i'll probably blend in a bit of the Old Ale, which is tasting great.   I had a little of both in a glass, which had an excellent flavor.   Brett. Lambicus and cherries just go well together.

Hard Cider Experiment:   I took a gallon of local cider that Abby picked up at the Murfreesboro farmer's market (~1.049 SG), added 1/4tsp of pectic enzyme, and a packet of rehydrated Lalvin EC-1118 Champagne yeast, and let it sit in the cellar for a couple of weeks (the cellar was right at 70F for most of that time).   It fermented down to 0.994 SG and has a really pleasant flavor.   I think it'll taste great chilled and naturally carbonated.

Strawberry Melomel:   Most of the strawberry flavor and aroma have dissipated at this point.   It's something more than just the mead, but the strawberries are definitely better represented within a jar of jam.  This one also still tastes a bit "young".

Blackberry-base Meads:
Back at the beginning of March 2011, Abby and I mixed up some water and a gallon of Oregon Blackberry Honey.    At some point this summer (shortly after gooseberry season, I suppose), we split the batch into 5 1-gallon jugs, to try out a few different flavors in it.   1 was plain, and was a partial jug, which I bottled a couple of weeks ago, so the cider would have a place to go.   All of these batches got an additional dose of winemaker's acid blend, which really livens up the mead.

Cinnamon Metheglin: This had a single stick of ceylon cinnamon broken in half and dropped in.   There is a hint of cinnamon in the nose, but I don't notice any in the flavor.   We either need to pulverize it or add more.  

Vanilla Metheglin:  This has a light vanilla nose, and a lovely vanilla flavor.  One bean split, scraped, and rough chopped per gallon of mead is pretty much perfect for me.  Neither the mead nor the spice overwhelms the other.

Rosehip Metheglin:  This was 2oz of dried rosehips in a gallon.  The mead extracted a beautiful color from the rosehips, and has a really unique flavor and aroma.  I have no words for this, but I really like it.   There is something slightly citrusy to it, but something else, too.   "Rose", I suppose.

Gooseberry Melomel:  Quite quite sour.  It has a nice crisp and clean flavor otherwise, though.  This may really need to be blended with something to be generally palatable, if I were going to send it to a competition or something.   It does have a nice fruity flavor to it.


Milksick Stout: Tremetol B: Cherry Stout:   The roasted malt flavor and aroma are still the predominant features of this one.   There is a sourness on the tongue with this, but it isn't overwhelming, and doesn't quite stand out as much as I would like.   The oak character in this one is starting to assert itself, as well.   It should be quite tasty whenever I manage to get it ready for serving.

Sour Thing:   Wow, last time I tasted this, I was on the verge of dumping it, and it has since come around nicely.   It's still not a great beer, but I could sit and drink half a 12oz bottle of it, now, and I wouldn't have attempted that before.   This was my first attempt at a wild brew, and I wound up just throwing the kitchen sink at it (not to mention the dregs of a few sour beers).   I have a plan for another, and meant to get some cheesecloth when i was at the store tonight, but forgot that.   oh well, I have some time before i'll need a live starter to maintain.


...  and I've probably had enough, tonight.

Wedding Small Stout

So, Abby and I are getting married, and I thought that a batch of homebrew would be great for the reception.    I wanted to do something more on the malty end, because I know several of the attendees are not big fans of hops.   So I arrived at a dry stout, because it's a fairly accessible style, and I could put in some extra stuff that would complement those flavors nicely.   I got the base recipe from Brewing Classic Styles, and then slightly modified the grain bill, because too much of the black barley will make a beer taste like an ashtray, and I added a little Victory malt to my recipe, to add some toasty, biscuity flavors that the extract wouldn't have.

Originally, I was thinking that I could do an extract  batch and save myself a couple of hours.  This seemed like a good idea, because we've got so much going on with moving and combining households and such.   I looked into cold steeping the roasted grain the night before brewing, which seemed like it would work nicely.  Then I realized that the flaked barley really needed to be mashed to extract all the good stuff from it, so I would have to at least do a partial mash.   At that point, I decided that I may as well do a full-on all-grain batch.

I found a bucket of Maris Otter pale malt in the basement, which I hadn't realised that I had, so that was settled.   I removed the Victory malt from the recipe, because this base malt has some nice flavors to it (aside from it probably getting lost in the other flavors).    I spotted the cherry syrup that was left over from a couple of other brews, and decided to add that, to make mine a little more unique, and get rid of the bottle.

Friday rolled around and I skipped out of work a little early and got going.   There were a few problems along the way.   I overheated both the strike water and the sparge water.  I also forgot which direction I needed to hook things up with the pump, so I spent a good ten minutes trying to figure out why the sweet liquor wouldn't flow when the pump was on, but would when it was off.   Other than those relatively small things, and a swarm of mosquitoes, things went pretty smoothly, though.

My current plan is to rack this into a keg in a couple of weeks, and add the oak cubes from Old Funkulator (an old ale with a bunch of Brett. Lambicus added, which has been warm aging for 7 months).   I'll let it sit warm after that, and hopefully the brett will have just enough time to add some interestingness to the stout before it's time to drink it.


Wedding Small Stout

Batch Size (Gal): 5.5
Total Grain (Lbs): 9.00
Adjunct Sugar (Lbs): 1.00
Anticipated OG: 1.047
Anticipated SRM: 36.9
Anticipated IBU: 29.1
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70%
Wort Boil Time (min): 70

Grain
60.0% -- 6.00 lbs. Maris Otter
20.0% -- 2.00 lbs. Flaked Barley
5.0% -- 0.50 lbs. Roasted Barley
5.0% -- 0.50 lbs. Black Barley

Sugar
10.0% -- 1.00 lbs. Fruit Fast Montmorency Tart Cherry Concentrate

Hops
1.25 oz Styrian Goldings (Pellet, 5.20% AA) 60 min.

Yeast
Lallemand (Danstar) Nottingham (rehydrated in 90F distilled water)

Water Profile
Clearview, degassed overnight
1/8 teaspoon Calcium Carbonate
1/4 teaspoon Calcium Chloride 

Mash Schedule
Sacch. Rest: 60 min. @ 156F
Batch Sparge:  15 min. @ 166F

Notes

• Brewed on Friday, September 2, 2011
• Added Roasted Barley and Black Barley before adding the sparge water, to hopefully prevent getting too much astringency from the dark malts.
• Actual OG: 1.048:  volume was a little low.
• Pitched yeast slurry at ~11AM Saturday, September 3, 2011, wort was at 56F.   Capped with foil.
• Monday, September 5, 2011 @8AM, still no activity.   Wort is now at 58F.  I'm guessing that the cold shocked the yeast, at this point.   I'll probably stir the wort up a little bit if I don't see any activity by this afternoon.
• Monday, September 5, 2011 @11AM, finally some kraeusen starting to form.  59F.
• Tuesday, September 6, 2011 @8AM, 54F:   should have backed off on the ice additions to the cooler.
• Wednesday, September 7, 2011 @7AM, 60F: perfect.   Added less ice back, to counter the temperature rise that the yeast are trying to make happen.
• Wednesday, September 7, 2011 @4:30PM, 62F.   Replaced ice.
• Thursday, September 8, 2011 @8AM, 61F.   Replaced ice.
• Thursday, September 8, 2011 @7PM, 62F.  Measured 1.020, so I decided to stop switching out the ice packs and just let it slowly rise.
• Saturday, September 10, 2011 @2PM, 64F, most activity appears to have stopped.

Triple Berry Soda

For my next trick, I'm going to try making a soda using a commercial frozen fruit medley.   I was quite happy with the ginger ale, and will probably try making another of those sometime soon, but I'm out of ginger and don't feel like going anywhere today.

1 - 1lbs bag of triple berry frozen fruit medley (blackberry, blueberry, raspberry) partially thawed and crushed
1L - water
200g - turbinado sugar
2t - lime juice
1- 2 inch stick of canela soft cinnamon
1/2 - vanilla bean, split, scraped, and cut into pieces

I'll boil all of this for 15 minutes.  after chilling in an ice water bath for 10 or 15 minutes, I'll add 1/8 teaspoon of pectic enzyme, which will hopefully keep the syrup from turning into jelly.    after I let that sit for an hour or so, I'll pop the syrup into the refrigerator and let it chill through the day.

Once the syrup is cold, I'll transfer to the 2L plastic bottle, carbonate, and shake.

first attempt at a ginger "ale"

1L water
99g grated fresh ginger
300g turbinado sugar
10 crushed allspice pods
1T lime juice

combine everything, bring to a boil...   boil for 10 minutes, strain into a canning jar for cooling. 

tomorrow, i'll transfer it to a 2L bottle and force carbonate with some of my beer equipment.   the syrup is pretty tasty, though.

Edit:   this particular mix has the "bite" that i'm looking for, but is a little too sweet for my taste.   also, it's a bit cloudy, so I may need to get some pectic enzyme to clear up the pectin that formed from boiling the ginger.

Nothing special

Supper tonight:   leftover green beans & potatoes, and an omelette with kalamata olives, homegrown tomato, and feta cheese.

Basic 3 egg omelette with dried thyme, basil, tarragon, sage, and garlic powder.  Plus the ubiquitous salt and pepper to "taste" (I just eyeball it with the raw eggs)

I had something similar last night, but the egg fell apart, so it was cheesy scrambled eggs instead of an omelette.   

I've been trying to make beans at least once a week here lately.   I've got a bunch of old dried beans that need to be eaten, so more mice aren't attracted to my pantry.

I took the Belgian IPA Mk II to a get together, and it seemed like a hit.   There for a while it tasted just like that old pink bubblegum flavored medicine.   To the point that I was considering dumping it.   That fell out over the course of a couple of weeks, though, and it wound up turning into a nice dry, fruity IPA.   Everyone at the party seemed to enjoy it, and I saw several people coming back for more.

Finally finished the Berliner Weisse, too, and I was really enjoying drinking it those last few days.  The crisp flavor and mouthfeel really complemented sitting outside on a hot day.   The 3.5% ABV didn't hurt any, either.

Time to go eat.

Fried Green Tomatoes

I finally did it.

After over 3 decades of living in the south, I finally made and tried fried green tomatoes.  

The CSA gave us some leftover green tomatoes last week.   Maybe some people prefer them, and maybe they just had some heavy wind knock a few off the vines.   Either way, I wound up with a couple of large green tomatoes, and since I have more stuff on the way tomorrow, I figured I should try doing something with these.  Frying them seemed like the obvious choice, and it was not a bad one.

I had some green beans as a side, which got my normal crab-boil, liquid smoke, liquid aminos, and butter treatment.   It works well for greens and black eyed peas, so I didn't see any reason that green beans should be any different.

• Oil to coat the bottom of a pan to an eighth to a quarter of an inch
• 1/2 cup AP flour
• 1/2 cup corn meal
• 1t Old Bay Seasoning
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 large green tomato, cut into 3/8 inch slices
• Additional Old Bay to taste

Get the oil heated to at least 250F, and 300F would probably be a bit better (you'll really want a fry or candy thermometer to test that).    While that heats, get a container that will hold at least one (and preferably more) tomato slice, and put the flour, cornmeal, and first bit of Old Bay into it and mix thoroughly.   Put the buttermilk into another, similar container.

When the oil is almost up to temperature, dredge the tomato slices in the cornmeal/flour mixture to coat, then dip them in the buttermilk to coat, and then back into the cornmeal/flour mixture, before carefully placing them into the hot oil (try to lay them so any oil that splashes will splash away from you).   Cook for 3-4 minutes per side, flipping carefully.   When they're finished, and have a nice golden-brown color, remove them to a plate covered in paper towels, and lightly season with the additional Old Bay.

Veggie Bowties (florentine?)

This is basically yesterday's pasta, but with more tomato and some spinach-like greens, rather than a kohlrabi.   I'm really not certain what these greens are...  they're like a cross between what I generally think of as spinach and chard.   Too "ruffled" for most spinach, and without the "earthiness" of chard.

• Olive oil for sauteeing & drizzling
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 medium/large red onion, sliced into sticks
• 6-8 little carrots (probably 1.5 large grocery carrots), chopped
• 1 small yellow squash, chopped into disks
• 1/2 medium zucchini, chopped into disk
• 1 bunch spinach or other leafy green vegetable...  1/2 lbs, minus stalks. and torn up
• 3 medium tomatoes, diced
• 4 fresh basil leaves
• 3 sprigs fresh oregano
• 1/4 cup malty beer (I used My Biere De Garde, this time)
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• Salt & Black pepper to taste
• 6oz bowtie pasta
• (non-vegan -> grated parmesan cheese to taste)

Pretty much the same process as last night, too.   The biggest difference is that the greens went into the sauce immediately after the pasta went into the boiling water.   This gave them just enough time to wilt nicely, without overcooking.  If anything this one tasted a little better than last night's, probably due to the extra tomatoes. 

Veggie Bowties

The Thursday before last, I picked up some tomatoes at the roadside farmer's market on my way home.   I love cooking with fresh tomatoes, and I'll be glad when I'm harvesting mine, but until then, I won't mind getting them from the CSA and farmer's market.   Those are usually much more ripe and ready than the ones from the grocery.

The CSA this week included a good bit of squash and zucchini, as well as a couple of kohlrabi and a big red onion.   They also had some little carrots, with tops.   Those still have the "carrot" nature, but they have a bit different flavor and texture from most of the carrots that you get at the store.

I'm just sort of rambling at this point, I think.   Quick Primavera pastas are pretty much a weekly staple for me during the summer.   Especially since I started participating in the CSA, since I wind up getting a big pile of fresh vegetables that I don't necessarily normally buy, and the pasta makes a really good "glue".   I'll hopefully post a few recipes from these things, though they will mostly be variations on the same theme that this one uses.

Enough talk...   This makes 2 servings.

• Olive oil for sauteeing & drizzling
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 medium/large red onion, sliced into sticks
• 5-6 little carrots (probably 1 large grocery carrot), chopped
• 1 small yellow squash, chopped into disks
• 1/2 medium zucchini, chopped into disks
• 1 kohlrabi, sliced into chunks
• 1 medium tomato, diced
• 6-8 fresh basil leaves
• 3-4 sprigs fresh oregano
• 1/4 cup malty beer (I used my Saison Sombre, since it just went into the keg)
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• Salt & Black pepper to taste
• 6oz bowtie pasta
• (non-vegan -> grated parmesan cheese to taste)

I chopped all of the vegetables but the tomato, to try and make sure all the water that came out of the tomato would go into the sauce.  Next, I got the fry pan heating on medium high heat.   When water flicked onto the pan sizzled, I added enough oil to lightly coat the pan and added the garlic, onion, and carrots.  At approximately the same time, I got the water for the pasta heating on high.   Next, I got the tomato chopped up, and tore up about half of the basil leaves and set aside half of the oregano leaves.

Once the onion had mostly lost the purple color and started turning translucent, I added the rest of the vegetables, the prepared half of the herbs, the red pepper flakes, and some black pepper and a little salt. 

After the water came to a boil, I added the pasta, brought the water back to a boil, put the lid on the pan and turned the heat off.   I cooked the pasta for about ten minutes.   Meanwhile, I got the rest of the basil ready to tear, and stirred the sauce every minute or two.   It was just starting to stick to the pan with about 2 minutes left on the pasta, and with about 1 minute left, I added the beer to deglaze.

When the pasta was finished, I dumped it and the water into a sieve and shook it somewhat dry, and then dumped it into the pan with the sauce.  I added the last of the herbs and drizzled a final bit of olive oil over the pasta as I stirred it up.   I finished with stirring in some fresh parm.

Belgian IPA MII

The first beer I brewed using my new setup was also my first attempt at creating something similar to Stone's Cali-Belgique.   Though, instead of doing an IPA with Belgian yeast, I basically did a Tripel that was hopped like an IPA.   I did use all European-style hops (Mt. Hood, US Fuggles, US Saaz), to try and keep it in that less-aggressively-hopped realm.   It turned out to be really tasty, and something about that particular combination of hops produced an Orange-Juice-like flavor, which was pretty neat.

Today's brew is going in a little different direction.     I've got the T-58/3787 left over from the Cherry Stout, and I'm going to go with American hops this time around, to get more fruit flavors.   I'm using a few pounds of honey to dry it out and maybe provide some floral flavors, and I'm going to give it about an ounce of oak chips for it to sit on during primary fermentation.   I did the honey and oak thing in my first beer of the year, and it wound up making a really tasty, drinkable beverage.

So, yet again, my efficiency was horribly low.    All I know to do at this point is to either adjust the copper manifold somehow or to go back to the stainless mesh.   Luckily, I had some malt extract on hand, so I wound up adding a good bit of that to the boil kettle.   I even did a 90 minute mash.   I really don't have any obvious culprit for what the problem is, though, so I may just try going back to the mesh on the next beer and see if that fixes things.   Then I'll at least know whether it's an equipment problem or a technique problem.   Another culprit may be the gap on my grain mill...   I should check that.

Belgian IPA MII

Batch Size (Gal): 6
Total Grain (Lbs): 11.83
Adjunct Sugar (Lbs): 3
Anticipated OG: 1.081
Anticipated SRM: 7.1
Anticipated IBU: 76.8
Brewhouse Efficiency: 40%
Wort Boil Time (min): 90

Grain
53.9% -- 8 lbs. French Pilsen Malt
3.4% -- 0.50 lbs. Aromatic Malt
3.4% -- 0.50 lbs. Crystal 40L
19.1% -- 2.83 lbs  Munton's Extra Light DME (Due to efficiency problems)

Sugar
20.2% -- 3.00 lbs. Tennessee Mountain Wildflower Honey

Hops
0.50 oz. Centennial (Pellet, 8.80% AA) First Wort
0.50 oz. Amarillo VGXP01 (Pellet, 6.90% AA) First Wort
0.75 oz. Magnum (Pellet, 12.10% AA) @ 60 min.
1.00 oz. Amarillo VGXP01 (Pellet, 6.90% AA) @ 15 min.
1.00 oz Centennial (Pellet, 8.80% AA) @ 10 min.
1.00 oz Amarillo VGXP01 (Pellet, 6.90% AA) @ 5 min.
1.00 oz Centennial (Pellet, 8.80% AA) @ 0 min.
1.50 oz Amarillo VGXP01 (Pellet, 6.90% AA) Dry
1.50 oz Centennial (Pellet, 8.80% AA) Dry

Yeast
Wyeast 3787 - Trappist High Gravity
Fermentis Safbrew T-58
(repitched slurry)

Water Profile
Clearview, degassed overnight
1.5 teaspoons gypsum

Mash Schedule
Sacch. Rest: 90 min. @ 151F
Batch Sparge:  15 min. @ 166F

Notes

• Brewed on Monday, May 30, 2011
• Actual OG was 1.070 after everything was said and done.   A good reason to keep DME around.   That was around the gravity that I was originally aiming for.
• Added 1oz oak chips soaked in 1 cup of water for a couple of hours and then heated to boiling in a microwave to fermentor immediately prior to racking from the kettle.
• Chilled to 64F and pitched.
• ~48 hour lag time.  I'm not sure if that was because of the temperature, the honey, or both.
• Temperature rose by itself up to 70F, and after a day and a half, I covered it and set the temperature controller to 70F.
• Temperature then levelled off at 72F, and it was held there for 7 days.
• Flavor is currently "Tropical fruit bubblegum"   which isn't a bad thing in my opinion.
• The bubblegum has diminished significantly.   Racked to secondary and dry hopped with 1.5oz Amarillo and 1.5oz Centennial on June 20, 2011

Pasta Salad

They decided to hold a baby shower for a woman at work, and I offered to make a pasta salad.   It seemed to be a hit, and I had a couple of people ask for the recipe.   This is actually a variation on one that some friends gave me several years ago, but it's simple, and pasta salad is a pretty good glue for all kinds of things.

Pasta:
1 pound of rotini

Salt & boil water, add rotini, and cook for 8 minutes.   Drain and rinse with cold water.

Veggies & such:
1 jar of halved kalamata olives, chopped 
1 jar of roasted red peppers, chopped
1 container of Feta cheese
3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 green onions, halved and chopped
1t black pepper (to taste)
1t dry thyme
Fresh Oregano: the leaves from 3 4-inch sprigs, rough chopped
Fresh Rosemary: 2-inch sprig, rough chopped

Dressing:
1t dry mustard powder
1 part balsamic vinegar
2 parts extra virgin olive oil

Mix and shake in some sort of container.

Mix pasta and vegetables & herbs, add dressing to taste.   I used some green onions from my CSA, so if you get scallions from the store, you should probably use 4-5 of them.

Purple Drink

From July 11, 2010.   This was a bit thick, and I probably should have run the blackberries through a ricer, as it was a bit seedy, too.   A banana would be good in it, too.
-------------------

2 peaches
1/2 cup blueberries
1/4 cup blackberries
1T lemon juice
1T honey
1 cup orange juice
ginger ale

Put everything but the ginger ale into the blender and once it's chopped up good, switch it over to liquefy for about 30 seconds. Mix 1 part fruit to 3-4 parts ginger ale and stir well.

Clover Mead For Strawberry Melomel

Abby and I made another mead on Sunday morning.   This time around was 4 quarts of Clover Honey from a somewhat local source.   I wanted to go with about 4 gallons this time, to get the Original Gravity somewhere in the 1.100 range, and we were successful with that, though we had to add a little extra from a honey bear that I bought when I bought the rest of that.    2 gallons of the water were leftover Milksick water from the Cherry Stout.

The whole thing pretty much went right as planned.   We've been doing the "no heat" method, and have had a decent amount of success with it (no failures so far, anyway).   I'm also doing the stepped feeding & stirring, as outlined by Ken Schramm in The Jamil Show on Mead.  That basically involves stirring in nutrients every day or two, to provide additional oxygen for yeast growth, and to give them the nutrients they need as they deplete their reserves.    Essentially, you keep them from getting too stressed, since honey is a nutrient wasteland.

We did soak the jars in a hot water bath this time, which made the honey pour very easily, and made stirring it into the water pretty much a breeze.   

This coming weekend, we're planning to run down to a Local Farm that does "pick your own" strawberries, and I'll be getting several pounds of them to put into this.    I'll top, clean, and freeze the berries, then thaw them and get them near room temperature before adding them to the must, once it's up near the 10% alcohol mark.

Clover Mead for Strawberry Melomel

Batch Size (Gal): 4
Honey (Gal): 1
Anticipated OG: 1.100

Sugar
4 1-quart jars of Weber Farms Clover Honey

Water
2 gallons Milksick water
1 gallon Clearview water

Yeast
Lalvin 71B-1122 2 5g packets, rehydrated in 1 cup of 100F distilled water

Extras
1/2 teaspoon Yeast Energizer
1/2 teaspoon Yeast Nutrient

Notes

• Mixed on Sunday, May 14 2011, around 9AM  
• 24.75 Brix, ~4 gallons
• Airlock activity by 8:40PM
• Temperature in the house has been in the low 60's
• 9PM Tuesday night, added 1/4t Yeast Energizer and 1/2t Yeast Nutrient and stirred pretty vigorously.   A lot of gas came out of suspension, but the gravity hasn't changed much yet.   Maybe 1/2-degree Brix.  pH around 3.8
• 9PM Thursday night, added 1/4t Yeast Energizer and 1/4t Yeast Nutrient and stirred vigorously.   pH still 3.8, gravity 23.5 Brix
• 10AM Saturday Morning, added 1/4t Yeast Energizer and 1/4t Yeast Nutrient and stirred.  pH 3.6, gravity 20.5 Brix

Pilaf-Stuffed Delicata Squash

This is from October 31, 2010.   Toward the end of the Winter CSA, I have a bunch of squash and sweet potatoes that need to be dealt with, but I've let them sit, since they can for a while, without going bad.   I was somewhat winging it with this, with the gorgonzola and cranberries, but the sweet, sour, and sharp really worked well together.   The beer is spiced, so that added some additional character, but truly you'd be unlikely to pick out its contribution, what with everything else going on in the dish.   It did make a nice pairing to the food, though.
--------------------------

Roasted Delicata:

• 2 Delicata Squash
• 4 cloves of garlic
• Olive oil

Preheat oven to 425F.  Cut each squash in half lengthwise and cut the seeds and stringy stuff out with a spoon.  Set them on a roasting pan  Peel the garlic cloves and cut the hard bit off, and cut them in half lengthwise.   Smear garlic over the exposed parts of the squash and then leave a clove's worth of garlic in the bowl of each squash-half.  Brush the squash liberally with olive oil, and then season with some salt and pepper.    Put in the oven and roast at 425F for 40 minutes.

Pilaf:

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into small cubes
• 1 large portabella mushroom cap, cut into small cubes
• 1T unsalted butter
• 1 cup Rice Select Royal Blend rice blend (texmati, brown, wild, & red rices)
• 3/4 cup Terrapin Pumpkinfest ale
• 7/8 cup water
• 1T fresh sage
• 1T Bragg's liquid aminos
• 1/4t fresh-ground nutmeg
• 1/3 cup dry cranberries
• 1/2 cup toasted walnuts  (toast in a dry skillet over medium heat just until aromatic, and remove from heat)
• 1/3 cup gorgonzola cheese
• salt & pepper

Melt butter in a large sautee pan, and add the onion, sweet potato, and mushroom.   Add a little salt to help pull moisture out of the vegetables.  Cook on medium heat until the sweet potato is just softening, 10-15 minutes.   Add the rice and stir around and make sure it's all covered with a slight sheen of butter.   Deglaze with the beer.   Add the water, sage, nutmeg, Bragg's, and any additional salt and pepper to taste.  Bring to a boil, toss in the cranberries, Cover and simmer for 15 minutes (or slightly less time than the rice package recommends).    Remove from heat and stir in the walnuts and cheese until the cheese has mostly melted.

Pile the Pilaf into the roasted squash until it's mounded over the top of the squash.   Bake at 450 for 20 minutes, or until the pilaf has slightly crusted on top.

Butternut Squash Soup

November 8, 2009.   I made this for Abby the first time she came up to the house.   I'd had some squash from the CSA sitting around, and wanted to make something good for a cool day.    Looks like today is another of those, though the butternut are no longer in season.   Nutmeg and Sage go amazingly well with winter squash.
-------------------------------------
2 small/medium butternut squash, halved & seeded
4 cloves of garlic, crushed & peeled
olive oil

Rub each squash half with a garlic clove, drop the clove into the seed cavity, then brush with olive oil.  Roast at 425F for 30 minutes, and then rotate the pan and roast an additional 20 minutes at 350F. Set out to cool.

1/2 large onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, bias cut
3 medium/small carrots, quartered & diced
2 cloves garlic
olive oil to coat bottom of soup pot
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon powdered thyme
1/2 teaspoon tarragon
1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground nutmeg
10-15 small-medium fresh sage leaves, chopped
2oz heavy cream
4 cups water
sea salt & pepper to taste

Put onion, celery, carrots, and garlic into a pot with olive oil to sweat, with just a little salt. While the vegetables cook, rough-chop the garlic that was roasted with the squash, and then use a spoon and the back of a knife to scrape the meat from the skin of the squash. When the onions were nice and translucent, add the squash and the water. Then added the herbs & spices, and the cream last. Simmer slowly for an hour or so.

Serve with grated parmessean and toasted ciabatta bread, with a little bit of butter.

Honey Beer Bread

 December 4, 2010.   I pretty much just threw this together and it worked.   I was trying to make a decent "rustic" loaf of bread.   In my experience that basically means a big lump of dough that's cooked on a flat surface.   Having a pizza stone makes this particularly easy.
 -----------------------------

1/4 cup warm water
1 pack active dry yeast

Rehydrate yeast in water

1/4 cup wheat bran
1/4 cup oat flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup bread flour
2 cups AP flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix dry ingredients

1/2 cup malty beer (yazoo fall fest in this case)
1/4 cup clover honey
1 cup warm water

Mix everything together and turn out and knead for 10 minutes let rise for 90 minutes, and then punch down and fold into a loaf and let it bench proof for another 80 minutes. Cut slits in the top & bake at 350F for 45 minutes.

Chili Seasoning

December 23, 2010.   I gave a jar of this to my dad to use in the bag of posole that I gave him for christmas.

-------------------------------
flake of whole cinnamon
1t cumin seed
1t hot mex. chili powder
1t regular chili powder
2t new mexican red chili powder
1t garlic powder
1t onion powder
1t hungarian paprika
1/4t (mounded) dry mustard powder
1/4t (mounded) thyme
1/2t (mounded) mexican oregano

Mix in a coffee grinder and add to chili or use as a taco seasoning.

Broccoli Pasta

I should have gotten some pictures, but I was too busy cooking and eating...

1 shallot, chopped fine
4 cloves garlic, minced
4oz mushrooms, sliced
2 broccoli crowns, cut into bite-sized pieces
Olive Oil
Salt to taste
Black Pepper to taste
1T fresh oregano, chopped (1/3-1/2 of that dry)
1t fresh basil, chopped
1/4t crushed red pepper
6oz rotini

Fresh grated parmesan to taste

Make sure the rack is in the center of the oven, and turn it to 500F.   Sautee the shallot, garlic, and mushrooms in some olive oil in a large, oven safe sautee pan for 3-4 minutes before turning the pasta water to high in a covered pot (I use a 4-quart saucepan, you may need to just time or sautee temperature according to your equipment).  The mushrooms should  be taking on some nice color just as the water comes to a boil.   Add the broccoli and herbs and some additional oil and stir thoroughly, so everything is mixed well, and then put the entire pan into the oven, uncovered.   Add the pasta to the water.   Cook the pasta for the time specified on its container.   Drain the pasta, remove the sauce from the oven, and combine (careful of that handle, it'll be hot) everything in the sautee pan.   Add parmesan and stir until it has melted into the dish, and serve.

Quick Steamed Corn on the Cob

 From July 16, 2009.   I think I was explaining this one to someone who'd never heard of steaming corn.    I may be confused, though.
-------------------------------
Some ears of corn

Shuck the corn and remove the silk. Take a microwave safe dish (I prefer pyrex or some sort of ceramic) that's large enough to put your corn in. Put about 1/4" of water in the dish, and put the corn in. Cover the dish with plastic wrap (i wind up using 2 pieces: one vertical, one horizontal). Microwave for 2.5 minutes per cob, turning the dish midway through if your microwave doesn't have a turntable.

Milksick Stout: Tremetol B

I have been brewing variations on stout pretty much since my first solo brews.   It's still one of my favorite styles of beer.   There's nothing quite like a nice thick, rich chocolatey stout to warm you up on a cool winter night.  Not to mention the flavor combinations of  a roasty, coffeeish stout with a rich dessert (especially one with dark fruit, caramel, or chocolate).

If you look around on just about any homebrewing forum online, and just about any of the good brewing books, you'll eventually run across assorted discussions on water.   Water is the primary ingredient in beer, and has all sorts of impacts on just about every aspect of brewing, from mash chemistry to off flavors.    The water at my parents' house is really tasty and really hard.   I've still yet to get it tested, though I am tempted to do that now, since I have some extra around today.   I do know that it's from a deep well on a mountain where the majority of the rock is limestone.   I also know that it makes excellent stouts.   I try to use their water for as many of my dark beers as possible.

Milk sickness is caused by cows eating White Snakeroot, and then nursing their young, who then get sick and sometimes die from the milk.  The active chemical that causes milksickness is Tremetol.  White County, TN was apparently pretty rough on cattle back in the day, between Milksick Mountain and the Calfkiller River.   So, as a sort of tribute to the place where the water is coming from, I'm working on a series of stouts brewed with water from Milksick Mountain.   I brewed the first one earlier this year, and it's currently cold-conditioning in the keg.   My goal was to use the same grain bill with each of them and vary the yeast, adjunct sugars, and aging process.

Unfortunately, for this one, I forgot to check on my flaked (i.e. old fashioned) oat supply, so I've replaced half of the oats with flaked barley, as that should help with the thick/slick mouthfeel.   I found sour cherry concentrate at Kroger a few weeks ago, so I thought I would alter this recipe somewhat and go for a cherry stout.   The amount of cherry concentrate that I'm using should work out to the equivalent of a little more than 3lbs/gallon of cherries.  The cherry may be overpowering...  I'm also decreasing the hops a bit, to make up for the fact that I'm adding sour cherries, as the sour and bitter may not go very well together.   I'm using the Wyeast 3787 Belgian Trappist yeast (Westmalle, Westvleteren, etc.), which I've done in a stout-like beer before and it turned out really tasty, hopefully the flavors from it don't conflict with the cherry.  I'm also pitching a little bit of Fermentis Safbrew T-58, because I forgot to make a starter for the 3787 last night, and I only need half a pack for the Berliner Weisse from Saturday.

Milksick Stout:  Tremetol B

Batch Size (Gal): 5.5
Total Grain (Lbs): 19.00
Anticipated OG: 1.086
Anticipated SRM: 61.5
Anticipated IBU: 50
Wort Boil Time (min): 60

Grain
68.4% -- 13.00 lbs. Canada Malting Pale Malt
5.3% -- 1.00 lbs. Flaked Barley
5.3% -- 1.00 lbs. Flaked Oats
5.3% -- 1.00 lbs. Roasted Barley
3.9% -- 0.75 lbs. Chocolate Malt
3.9% -- 0.75 lbs. Pale Chocolate Malt
7.9% -- 1.50 lbs. Fruit Fast Montmorency Tart Cherry Concentrate

Hops
1.50 oz. Centennial (Pellet, 8.80% AA) @ 60 min.

Yeast
Wyeast 3787 - Trappist High Gravity
Fermentis Safbrew T-58

Water Profile
Milksick

Extras
11 drops Fermcap-S

Notes

• Brewed on Saturday, May 2, 2011
• Actual OG: 1.074
• 6:00 PM, 68F pitched full pack of 3787 and ~6g of T-58
• Fermentor is wrapped in a blanket, and the temperature controller is attached, but the intention is o let it go to whatever temperature it wants to go to, and I'll just hold it at that final temperature for a few days after the fermentation is finished.
• May 3, 7:00 AM, still 68F, 1.5 inch kraeusen on top.  replaced airlock with blowoff tube, just in case
• May 3, 5:00PM, 72F.   Apparently Fermcap is no match for WY3787.    Blowoff tube was a good choice.
• May 4, 6:00AM, 80F.
• I never actually applied heat to this beer until it started cooling off.   The beer peaked at 81F on May 4.   Since then, I have held it steady at 80F, so that the yeast can finish out.   This is a similar temperature to where Westvleteren ferments with this yeast, and around where I did my Dubble-Weizen last year, so it should be just fine. 
• I killed the heat after the beer had been in the fermentor for 10 days or so.
• Thursday, May 26, I heated 1.5oz Medium toast Hungarian Oak cubes in 1/2 cup distilled water in the microwave for 3 minutes.   Then added them to a secondary fermentor and racked the beer onto them.   This will sit in the cellar for at least a month.

Berliner Weisse

I have wanted to try my hand at making this beer for the last couple of years:  basically, since I heard about it.   Now seemed like the perfect time, since summer is coming up and it is supposed to be a somewhat crisp and refreshing beer.

The style is a really light, low-alcohol ale with a good bit of wheat in it.   But it's also got a strong sourness due to the presence of Lactobacillus (The same genus of critters as the ones who make yogurt and pickles).   It has almost no hop bitterness, partly because lactobacillus is the primary critter that hops are antiseptic against.   The one that I've gotten to try (One that New Belgium brought to Brewgrass) tasted a bit like an unsweetened lemonade, really.  This should be an awesome lawnmower beer.

This was probably my easiest and shortest day brewing a beer.   It's 100% extract, so there was no grain to mash, or even steep.   I chose to do all extract because I see this beer as more of a fermentation experiment than as a full-on brew, and I don't mind spending a little extra money on the wort to not have to spend the time and effort for such a simple wort.   The boil is merely 15 minutes, which is essentially enough time to get things heat sanitized and a tiny bit of flavor, aroma, and bitterness out of the hops.   The bacteria like a warm environment (human body temperature is perfect for them), so the long tail of wort chilling time was non-existent.   No oxygenation/aeration, so I just dumped the bugs into the fermenter and started keeping them warm.  Though, I'm currently in a bit of a quandary, since I'm not entirely certain how long to let the bugs go before pitching the yeast.   I think I want to pitch the yeast relatively cool, so I may cut the heat and pull the blanket off of the fermentor tonight before I go to bed, and then pitch in the morning.    Hopefully the pH won't get too low for them before the beer is finished.


Berliner Weisse

Batch Size (Gal): 5
Total Grain (Lbs): 3.50
Anticipated OG: 1.032
Anticipated SRM: 3.4
Anticipated IBU: 3.4
Wort Boil Time (min): 15

Grain
85.7% -- 3.00 lbs. Munton's Wheat Dry Malt Extract
14.3% -- 0.50 lbs. Munton's Extra Light Dry Malt Extract

Hops
0.50 oz. Styrian Goldings (Pellet, 5.20% AA) @ 15 min.

Yeast
White Labs WLP677 - Lactobacillus Delbrueckii
Fermentis Safbrew T-58 

Water Profile
Clearview, degassed overnight

Notes

• Brewed on Saturday, April 30, 2011
• Actual OG: 1.032
• Lactobacillus likes it warm and doesn't like oxygen, so after racking the beer to the fermenter, I pitched the vial of bacteria and brought it in to sit on the heat mat set to 94F, without aerating or adding oxygen. 
• May 1, 7:00AM no activity
• May 1, 8:00PM airlock bubbling merrily
• May 1, 10:00PM cut off heat mat
• May 2, 7:00AM airlock still bubbling, temperature: 87F, removed blanket
• May 2, 6:00PM 76F, pitched 6g Fermentis T-58
• May 3, 7:00AM 70F, still bubbling

Roasted Beets and Leeks with Spicy Couscous

From June 9, 2009.   Once the CSA started coming in, I had to think of things to do with various vegetables that I don't normally buy in the grocery.  Roasting almost always works well.   If you eat a lot of beets, remember that you ate a lot of beets in visits to the toilet over the next day or so.  Well, you'll probably remember it either way, but if you go in thinking, "I ate a lot of beets recently," you're more likely to just let things go, rather than immediately coming to the conclusion that you've got cancer and need to call a doctor.
--------------------------------------------
2 bunches small beets
4 leeks
1 carrot
2T olive oil
salt and black pepper to taste
1/2t - 1t garlic powder or 2-3 cloves of garlic

Wash and cut stems and taproots from the beets, then quarter or half them, depending on the size of each individual beet. Half, clean, and then chop the leeks into 1-2" lengths, and cut the carrot into pieces of a similar size to the beets. Put the vegetables in a 9x13 casserole and drizzle heavily with olive oil, then sprinkle with kosher salt and 15-20 grinds of black pepper. Sprinkled garlic powder over it all, or peel and cut the ends off of 2-3 cloves of garlic and toss them in whole. Toss to get everything coated. Baked at 400 for 25 minutes, stir the mixture, and let go for another 25 minutes.

1/2 cup water
2-3 T bragg's liquid aminos
1 1/2T watered down miso paste
1T chili paste
1/2t chipotle powder
1t garlic powder
1/2t thyme
1T olive oil
1/2 cup dry couscous

Put everything but the couscous into a pot and brought it to a boil. Added couscous. Stir to mix the "broth" evenly, and then take it off the eye and let it sit for 5-10 minutes.

Dish couscous onto plate, spoon vegetables on top of couscous.   If I have it, I'll add gorgonzola, as the sharpness of the cheese matches well with the sweetness of the roasted vegetables and the spiciness of the couscous.   It will be just dandy without the cheese, though.

Tofu Curry

 From March 1, 2009...  This is another one I really need to revisit.  It's sort of in the spirit of a thai curry, but uses almonds, rather than peanuts.   The sweet and spicy combination with the almonds and coconut milk really made this dish.
-----------------------------------------------
1T butter
2t olive oil
2t walnut oil
1t sesame oil

1.8oz ginger, peeled & minced

1/2t black mustard seeds

whole spices:
1/8t anise seed
1t coriander
1t fenugreek
1t cumin
1t black pepper
3 cardamom pods
2 dried thai chilis

other spices:
1/4t cinnamon
1/4t allspice
1t turmeric
10 grinds nutmeg

1/3 cup ground almonds
1 can coconut milk
1 can water
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1.5T soy sauce

1/2t salt (to taste)

1 package nasoya fresh (not silken) tofu, cut into little cubish bits (1/2" x 1/2" x 1-1/2" bits or so)

Heat a pan on medium heat until it's hot. Add oil and butter. When butter has melted, and oils have mostly mixed, add onion, garlic, mustard seeds, and mushrooms. Stir occasionally until the onions are starting to carmelize (10 or 15 minutes). Add ginger and mix in and cook for about 1 minute. Meanwhile gather up the whole spices and grind them up. Mix in with the ground spices, and add the spice mixture to the hot stuff, and mix that in and cook for about 30 seconds. Add tho coconut milk, water, soy sauce, brown sugar, and ground almonds. Stir to mix up and bring to a simmer. Add tofu. Make sure tofu is covered with sauce, and return to simmer. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, then uncover and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve over rice.

Spent Grain Granola, Mark II

This is my second attempt at making a granola out of some leftover spent grain from a beer.     It seems like sort of a waste to just turn all of that grain into compost, and this is an interesting method of turning it into something edible.  I tried some other nuts before, and left out the peanut butter and wheat germ, and it was a bit loose, and a pain to eat, but it tasted really good.   I figured that the new ingredients would help bind it.   If that doesn't work, I may use some whole wheat flour or oat flour to help it stick together.

4 cups spent grain
2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup raw sunflower seeds
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 cup wheat germ
1/3 cup flaxseed meal
8oz honey (spring blossom, in this case) + 2-4 oz hot water to rinse honey bear
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Mix thoroughly and scoop into a 9x13 baking dish.   Bake at 350F for 40 minutes, stirring halfway through.   Let cool in the oven.

Roasted Root Stew

This was for a get-together with the Nashville Smial (Tolkien fan group) around January 24, 2009.   The idea was to make something that hobbits would eat, and I was trying to aim for something sort of seasonal, too, so I decided to go with some perennial herbs (rosemary & thyme can handle pretty chilly weather) as well as some that are easily dried, and root vegetables. I don't know if hobbits would have sea salt, black pepper, and olive oil, but that's OK. It turned out delicious, though. This makes 3-4 servings.


4oz onion quartered
.1oz garlic, crushed, mostly whole
3.3oz parsnip, peeled and cut into 2-3 inch lengths, 1/2 inch wide or so.
5.3oz turnips, peeled and cut into 1-2 inch cubes
4.7oz carrots, peeled and cut pretty much like the parsnip
11oz small red potatoes, quartered
.18oz rosemary
.18oz thyme
3 small bay leaves
1T dry parsley (fresh would be better, but i don't have a lot of that, so i'll use it for the real one)
3T olive oil
1t sea salt
20 grinds black pepper

Combine in dutch oven. stir so everything has some herbs and oil on it. Bake at 400F without lid for 40 minutes. Stir at least twice.  Be sure to remove the thyme and rosemary from their stems, since it's a bit of a pain to do that once everything is cooked.

Remove from oven and add:

1 large pinch dry basil
1T (mounded) tomato paste
1 cup red wine
1/4-1/2 cup water


Bring to a boil and let it simmer back down for 20-30 minutes, until the sauce is nice and thick.  Serve with some good crusty bread.

Black Eyed Peas

 I also made these for New Years, 2009.   This would also work well for the various cow peas and Lentils.   Again, the soy, butter, and smoke really help bring out the flavors of the peas.   Great with cornbread.
--------------------------------
8oz dry black-eyed peas
1/2 capful liquid smoke
1/2T butter
1 capful soy sauce
1 capful apple cider vinegar
kosher salt to taste
water to cover peas by 1-2 inches

bring to boil and simmer 50 minutes, or until soft, stirring occasionally

Greens

This is what I did for New Years 2009.   The combination of flavors and the butter gives them a good full flavor, without going overboard on any one thing.   This will work with kale, turnip greens, and mustard greens as well.  
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9oz collard greens (after cleaning and stemming), chopped into rough 2 inch squares
4 cups water
1/2 capful liquid smoke
2 capfulls soy sauce
1/2t sugar
1/2t red pepper flakes
1/2T butter
kosher salt to taste

bring to boil, cover and simmer 45 minutes, stirring every 15

Potato Soup

From December 21, 2008.   Potatoes and cream in soup.   It's a good soup that will "stick with you".

For some additional interesting flavor and texture, 5-10 minutes before serving, add ~8oz of imitation (or real) crab meat, or a few chopped-up stalks of broccoli (or both).  
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1T butter
2T olive oil

1 medium onion, diced
2 stalks of celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced

~2lbs of golden potatoes, diced
1/2 cup heavy cream
4.5 cups water

2-3T fresh parsley, chopped
black pepper to taste
1 vegetable bullion cube.

2oz cheddar cheese, grated
2oz monterey jack cheese, grated

In a large pot, got the oil & butter just up to the smoke point, and then added the onion, garlic, celery, carrots, and a dash of kosher salt, to help extract water. Sauteed all of those for a bit, and then added the potatoes, water, and cream (in that order). Ten I added the seasonings, and sprinkled the cheese into the pot while stirring. Brought it back to a low simmer and cooked on medium low for about 45 minutes.

Oatmeal Apple Cookies

From December 20, 2008.   This is my take on quaker's vanishing oatmeal cookies.  I mix the dry ingredients with a wire whisk in a steel bowl, and then everything else with a wooden spoon in a huge ceramic bowl that my grandmother gave me that probably has lead in the glaze. It never gets hot, though. I think most people would prefer a mixer, though, since getting the butter and sugar to a smooth consistency is a pain.

I'll also sometimes switch the apples out for other dried fruit and nuts.   just a cup of those combined.  (cherry & almond would be good in this).
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1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)
2 cups Oats (quick, uncooked)
1 cups Oats (whole rolled, uncooked)
1 cup chopped sour apple


preparation
1. Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat margarine and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and apples; mix well.
2. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

Saison Sombre

I've been wanting to brew a Saison for about a year or so, so when I saw that the yeast I've been experimenting with is good for Saisons as well as Biere De Garde, I decided that now's the time to make one.   As I tend to do, though, I wanted to put my own little spin on it.   Saison is considered a "Farmhouse Ale", which is historically just a beer that was brewed in a farmhouse, for farm hands to drink for refreshment and energy.   The more modern versions are a little more "special", and are often quite a bit more alcoholic than the original beers would have been.   Mine is definitely on the modern side.  

After getting bitten a bit by a shortage of Candi Syrup earlier in the year, I wound up buying a whole lot of it when I was able to find some. So I thought I'd use some of that in it, since simple sugars are used to help dry these beers out. I was a big fan of Yazoo's Rye Saison, so I thought the rye character would be nice in it, and had a bit of rye malt left over after brewing the Rye Thing.  After plugging those things into ProMash, I decided that I wanted it more like the color of a Porter, so I added the last of the Carafa I had left over from something I did a while back, and some Caramunich 60 that I bought last year, thinking I would be making a Dubbel last year (I did, but it wound up being part of a partigyle).   So, based on all of that, I should wind up with a wort with some toffee, raisin, caramel, and some spiciness.   I have noticed some black peppery kind of spiciness in the two beers that I have fermented with this yeast, so that should add some interesting characteristics, as well.   I should also get some "earthiness" from the Styrian Goldings, and some more floral spiciness from the Saaz hops. 

For this fermentation, I'll be laying the spurs to the yeast during the later parts of fermentation.   The last two brews I have made with this, I have kept the temperature restrained, and only allowed it to rise to 70F during the last bit of primary fermentation, just to give it a diacetyl rest and keep it fermenting to the end, to dry them out.   Saisons are often fermented above 80F, and the Saison Dupont strain is known to get "stuck" even when fermented as high as 85F.  These temperatures encourage the various esters and phenols that the yeast produces to really come to the fore, and give it the interesting, complex fruity and spicy flavors that saison is known for.    

Saison Sombre

Batch Size (Gal): 6
Total Grain (Lbs): 14.69
Adjunct Sugar (Lbs): 1
Anticipated OG: 1.072
Anticipated SRM: 23.3
Anticipated IBU: 24.0
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70%
Wort Boil Time (min): 90

Grain
74.1% -- 12 lbs. French Pilsen Malt
9.3% -- 1.50 lbs. Fawcett Malted Rye
6.2% -- 1.00 lbs. Franco Belges Caramel Munich 60
1.2% -- 0.19 lbs. Weyermann De-Husked Carafa II
6.2% -- 1.0 lbs. Belgian Candi Syrup D2
3.1% -- 0.5 lbs Fruit Fast Montmorency Tart Cherry Syrup

Hops
1.25 oz. Styrian Goldings (Pellet, 5.20% AA) @ 60 min.
1.00 oz. US Saaz (Pellet, 5.80% AA) @ 0 min.

Extras
Whirlfloc - 1 tablet @ 10 min.

Yeast
Wyeast 3725 - PC Bier De Garde Yeast (repitched slurry)

Water Profile
Clearview, degassed overnight
~1/5 of the water was distilled, to soften the profile some.

Mash Schedule
Sacch. Rest: 70 min. @ 151F
Batch Sparge:  15 min. @ 162F


Notes

• Brewed on Saturday, April 16, 2011
• Totally forgot to add the syrup to the wort.   I guess I'll add it to the fermentor in a couple of days.   On the upside, that should help keep the yeast going, as well as improve the flavor that it gives to the beer.
• I'm still amazed by the fact that with the new pump and chiller, it takes 10-12 minutes to go from a full, rolling boil, to 80F.
• Chilled to around 64F
• Oxygen:  wide open for 50 count
• Pitched at 4:30PM
• OG: 1.061 (minus the syrup)
• 71F and blowing off at 7:00AM, Sunday morning.
• Raised temperature to 73F at 7:00AM Monday morning.
• Added 1/2 lb. cherry concentrate and 1lb. belgian candi D2 syrup boiled with 2 cups of water and then chilled to around fermentation temp.  9:00PM monday.
• Tuesday 7:30AM:  temperature was 74F.  Raised to 75F.
• Wednesday 7:00AM:  raised temperature to 77F.
• Thursday 7:00AM: raised temperature to 79F. 
• Friday 7:00AM: raised temperature to 80F.
• After a week or so at 80F, the temp control was removed and the beer was allowed to return to room temperature (~65F).   It spent 2 or 3 weeks in the primary fermentor, and then was moved to a secondary to warm age for a few weeks.
• Kegged on June 19, 2011

Vegetable Casserole

 From Dec. 10, 2008.   This was an attempt to make something tasty and reasonably healthy, that was also relatively easy to throw together.   It wound up being a whole lot like a pot-pie filling.   I need to revisit this one and actually put this inside a pie crust sometime...
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1 large potato, diced
1 large stalk of broccoli, chopped
1/2 of a large onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/3 cup brown rice

Some random frozen vegetables to fill the casserole dish, I used peas, limas, and some corn.

1 can of cream of mushroom soup
Water to fill aforementioned can 1.5 times
12 grates of sharp cheddar (2 oz, maybe?)
20 grinds of black pepper
1t thyme
1/4t cayenne

Get everything mixed well and bake with a lid at 425 for an hour. Take it out of the oven, crumble 10 saltines over the top of it, and return it to the oven for 20 minutes.

Thai-Style Tempeh and Asparagus

I cooked this on September 22, 2008.   I've made something similar a couple of times since, but I should really revisit this one this spring.   My comment when I wrote down the recipe:  "Tastes like summer."

Tempeh is one of the more interesting meat substitute type things.   Mostly (to me) due to the fact that it has some texture that tofu really can't reproduce.  

Remember that this is stir-fry, so have everything chopped up on a board next to the stove, ready to shove into the wok at a moment's notice.
-------------

4oz tempeh

Marinade:
1/2t lime - juice
1/2t sesame oil
1T soy sauce
1T rice wine vinegar
1t hoisin sauce

Cut tempeh into sticks and marinate for at least 15 minutes, turning occasionally.

Sauce:
Outer part of the lower section of lemon grass stalk
1/4 veggie boullion cube
1/4 cup hot water
1T soy sauce
1T rice wine vinegar
1/2t sesame oil
1/2t lime -juice
1 1/2 t sugar
1/2 t ground white pepper

Flavor veggies:
1 thumb-sized knob of ginger, minced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small thai hot pepper, diced
The heart of one lemon grass stalk

Veggies:
1/2 onion, chopped into sticklike pieces
6oz asparagus, after breaking ends off, cut into ~2" pieces
3 stalks of bok choy, leaves cut into 3" squares, stalks cut into piece of a similar size to the asparagus

finishing:
1/3 cup unsalted dry roasted cashews
2t of cornstarch in 2T of cold water, stirred up.

Put 1T of walnut oil (I thought I was buying peanut) into a wok, and got it hot. Added the marinated tempeh to the hot oil, and let it sit while I shook the pan around some, to keep it from sticking. After a minute or two, I turned the tempeh over and let
it cook for another minute or two, so it would get a nice little crust on both sides. It absorbed almost all of the oil, and I let it cook mostly dry for another 30-45 seconds before dumping it out to a rack. I added another tablespoon of walnut oil and got it hot, and then added all of the flavoring vegetables and stirred them around in the oil for 10-15 seconds (until they were fragrant, i.e. until the pepper made me cough) before adding the onion and bock choy stalks. I stir-fried that until the onions turned translucent, maybe a minute and a half, and then added the asparagus and stir-fried that for another minute and a half before returning the tempeh and adding the bok choy leaves. I continued to cook everything just until the leaves started to wilt, and added the sauce and cashews and let it cook for another minute. Then I re-stirred and added the cornstarch mixture and cooked for another 30 seconds before pulling it off of the heat.

Serve over brown rice.

Minestrone

From October 26, 2008.   I cooked this for my father and grandmother when they came to visit.  It's a fantastic soup, and it reheats well.   You could probably cut the simmer-time back to 30-45 minutes and have it for a weeknight meal, but it really is better with that extra time.

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Sautee these in 2-3 T of olive oil, and 1/2T of butter, with 1/2t of salt
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
3 medium carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, chopped

Once the vegetables are bright and the onions are translucent, add:
28oz can diced tomatoes
1 15oz can garbonzo beans
water to rinse both cans out + some more to get it to soup consistency
1 vegetable boullion cube
the leaves from 3 basil plant tops
a large handful of fresh spinach (2-3 oz)
1T dry parsley
1/2 t thyme
1/2 t dry rosemary
1/4 powdered oregano
1t dry marjoram
30 grinds of black pepper
1/2 t liquid smoke
1/2 t apple cider vinegar

Bring it all to a boil, and simmer for a couple of hours, for the flavors to meld.   Serve with fresh grated parmesan cheese and fresh cornbread from the oven.

Vegetable Pilaf and Pan Fried Shrimp

I spent some time racking my brain on Sunday, trying to figure out what I wanted to eat.   I had seen something interesting in food network magazine, but it wasn't entirely what I was looking for.   I also needed something more than just rice with beans and mushrooms.   So I swung by the store for a couple of things and made something up.







Preheat the oven to 350F


Combine:
1/2 oz dried shiitake mushrooms
1.5 cups water

Lid and bring to a boil, then remove from heat and let them sit for 20-30 minutes, while you deal with some other stuff.

If you don't have the means to roast a pepper, then some canned ones will probably do, but your kitchen won't fill up with that wonderful roasted pepper smell.

1/2 red bell pepper, roasted and diced
1 medium yellow onion, diced

1 carrot, diced
1 celery stalk, chopped small
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 lb. (a handful) snow peas, cut into short strips

Once the mushrooms are thoroughly soaked, cut the stems off and cut them into thin strips.   Reserve the liquid from the mushrooms and top up with water to 1.5 cups of liquid.   Add a bullion cube to it and heat this liquid while you do the next bit (so you don't crack your dish, if it's not metal).

Heat an oven safe dish with a lid, and add
1T olive oil

Sautee the vegetables (minus the mushrooms and snow peas) until the onions are translucent, but preferably not yet browning.  

Add 3/4 cup medium grain rice, and stir until the rice starts taking on some color.  Add the heated liquid, the mushrooms, the peas, and:

1t thyme
1t turmeric
2t parsley
black pepper to taste

Stir to get everything combined, lid it, and put into the oven to bake at 350F for 25 minutes.

Make sure your shrimp are peeled and deveined (mine were pre-frozen), and in a small container, combine:
1/3 cup AP flour
1T Old Bay Seasoning

Get a heavy skillet hot, and heat 1T butter and 1T olive oil in it.   As the oil heats, dredge the shrimp in the flour-spice mixture, just so they're reasonably coated.   You're going for a light crust.

Arrange the shrimp evenly around the pan, and cook 3-4 minutes on each side (6-8 minutes total), but just until they have some nice browning on the outside. 

If you've timed everything just right, the shrimp will be ready just as you take the pilaf out of the oven.

Make your own...

Salt Rising Bread

If you're into spontaneously fermented products, this is a wonderful sourdough-type bread.   It's got many of the same sour and "barnyard" flavors (trust me, it's better than it sounds) and smells that you'll find in a good sour beer.   My dad makes it fairly regularly, and I benefit from his efforts from time to time.

Cornbread

The Joy of Cooking that I have has approximately this on page 777, so you know it's God's Own Recipe.

Preheat oven to 450, with a cast-iron skillet inside

In a large mixing bowl, mix :
2 cups cornmeal
1t baking powder
1t baking soda
1/2t salt

Stir in (all at room temperature, if possible):
2 cups of buttermilk
2 large eggs

Just stir to get them mixed, not beaten like crazy or anything.

Toss a little butter into the skillet and wait for it to melt, and then pull the skillet out and pour in the batter. toss it back into the oven and bake for 25 minutes. when it's done, turn it out onto a cutting board and cut and serve while it's hot.

Apple Crisp

From September 23, 2008.   The John Brown apples (probably Jonathons) work excellently for this. I also usually put a little bit of lemon juice into the pan with the apples. Just a couple of tablespoons, so that it will coat the apples and keep them from turning brown before they get cooked. It's not really necessary, though. 

Yes, all of these cobblers are variations on the same thing.
------------------------------
preheat oven: 400F

8x8 stainless baking pan, greased with butter wrapper.
1 stick butter, melted.
1t vanilla extract, add to butter when it is mostly melted

Mix these up together:
1/2 cup AP flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup quick oats
25 grinds of a nutmeg nut on my box grater (1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Add 1 large chicken egg to the dry stuff after it's been mixed, and combine all that and let it sit while you peel and chop enough apples to mostly fill the pan. Once you get that done, dump the crusty stuff in to the pan, and the pour the butter over the top of it all. Bake for 45 minutes, or until it's crispy and bubbling in the center.

Herb Mix For Vegetables

This is from August 10, 2008.   I made it specifically for taking with some friends on a camping trip.   It wound up going on a vegetable mix (potatoes, zucchini, squash, tomatoes, peppers), with some oil and a few ounces of Old Chub in a foil pouch, and then cooked in a fire pit for 20-30 minutes (basically, until the potatoes were cooked through).  Quite tasty.

It would also be good in scrambled eggs, baked fish, and probably in an herb bread, too.

--------------
4t parsley
2t thyme
1t marjoram
1t basil
1/2t rosemary
1/2t tarragon
1/2t black pepper
1/2t kosher salt

Mix and put on whatever.