Now that winter
has officially arrived, there’s no escaping it: Winter is the dreariest time of
the year. It’s cold and wet, and the days are short and the nights are long.
Throughout history, we humans have needed a little extra sustenance to get us
through the winter. It’s no coincidence that the holidays are scheduled around
this time of year—any excuse for the warm companionship of friends and family
against the backdrop of chilly winter. Winter is also a time for great beer.
The ales we drink
during the winter months are different from the lighter, refreshing beer we
drink in the spring, summer and even fall: darker, sometimes spicy, heavier and
frequently higher in alcohol. The foods are different, too: heartier and often
cooked slowly over low heat. The warmth and aroma of chili, or lamb or stew
braised in ale permeates the kitchen and makes staying indoors more cozy.
We asked some beer
industry professionals what beers and foods sustain them during the dreary
months of winter.
Christopher Wong, Chef, Social Kitchen
San Francisco
http://socialkitchenandbrewery.com
My
favorite fall/winter dishes are the long braised or hearty fares: stews, soups,
chilis, pasta's and the like. More specifically, pork, black bean and chipotle
chili, osso buco with risotto, Rigatoncini with sausage and roast tomatoes.
This coming brewmaster’s dinner, I am making braised lamb shoulder with root vegetables and citrus gremolata—right
down my cold weather alley. We are pairing it with Kim's West Side IPA. A perfect match of earthiness and citrus.
Julia Herz, Craft Beer Program Director, Brewers
Association
http://www.brewersassociation.org
Chicken with Beer
Here is one of my
FAVORITE, easy, go-to comfort cooking recipes with craft beer. The dish makes
you feel happy, warm and loved, and no longer dreary.
The final dish is
always different, based on what is in fridge. The first picture is right when I
added ale, the second picture is when the dish is almost ready for serving:
- Dry rub chicken
breast with favorite herbs.
- Throw a few pads
of butter into a frying pan.
- Sear chicken on
high heat for 2-3 minutes each side so it browns.
- Then pour ½
bottle of favorite low-bitter craft beer (that night I used a Scotch ale) into the
pan.
- Then pour about
½ cup ranch salad dressing or other favorite (I used Annie’s Greek Goddess)
into pan.
- Mix everything
around in pan.
- Once the alcohol
has evaporated, cover the pan.
- Now basically
you are steaming chicken on medium low heat in a great sauce.
- Cook for 20
minutes, flipping often to keep the surface of both sides moist.
- During the last
5 minutes, throw in black and green olives.
- Toss in fresh
herbs (like chopped parsley; fresh from garden is best).
Pair it with what you
cooked with. ESB is one of my
regulars.
Photos by Julia
Herz, Brewers Association/CraftBeer.com.
Marcos Villagran, Chef, Pyramid Brewing
http://www.pyramidbrew.com
Here
are my favorite pairings for this wet winter:
Oatmeal Stout
One
of our customers’ favorite is the Cottage
Pie or even a Shepherd’s Pie.
The difference is that the cottage pie is made with beef vs. lamb on the
Shepherd’s Pie.
Snow Cap
We
had this on our menu year round because of customers’ requests. I love serving
the tender pieces of pot roast with oven-roasted
veggies like carrots, turnips, garlic cauliflower and some whipped mashed
red potatoes to soak up that gravy. The Snow Cap gravy is what makes the dish.
Super Snow Cap
My
wife makes this for me at home during long, gloomy, rainy days. You know, the
kind of days where it never looks like the sun came out. The dish is black-eyed peas with braised, crispy pork
belly. I get into canning on my time off so I will jar some black eyed peas
from dry and when we need a quick dish we will pull out some left over pork
belly from the night before, dice it, crisp it on a sauté pan with minced
onions and add the jarred black eyed peas. This one is my ultimate favorite. My
problem is that I can’t stop eating and drinking “Super.” I just make sure not
to have plans of leaving the house afterwards.
Kelsey Williams, Director of Marketing,
Drakes Brewing
http://drinkdrakes.com/site/
Chili
As a born Texan, for me, a good bowl of chili cannot be
topped as the ultimate cold weather meal. Give me a bowl of hot, smoky, rich
and spicy chili, and I'm a happy camper. Recently, I've discovered the
brilliance of replacing water in any chili recipe with a good dark beer. Given
my day job, I have been using Drake's
Black Robusto Porter with its big malt flavor, bittersweet chocolate
character and slight roastiness to enhance my chili. With long simmering with
the beer, the chili gains an amazing depth of flavor as the malt melds all the
spices together, the chocolate character works with the chilis for an almost
mole-like experience, and the roast beautifully compliments any smoky chipotle
or meat flavors in the bowl. Top the whole thing off by pairing with the same
beer (or any other medium to dry stout or porter) and the experience is better
than eating cookies with Santa Claus for a warming holiday experience.
For the recipe, go to
Bryan Keilty, head brewer, Lompoc
Brewing, LLC, Portland, OR
http://www.lompocbrewing.com
Fall
and winter are my favorite times of the year for food, and braising and stewing
are two of my favorite cooking methods. Here is a recipe that I have used
many times. The beer that I use is Monster
Mash, an Imperial Porter and our Halloween seasonal.
Monster Mash Beef Stew
3 lbs. beef stew meat
Salt and pepper for seasoning beef (to taste)
3 T. olive oil
3 large onions, sliced
3 T. paprika
1 T. salt (more or less as desired)
22 oz. Monster Mash Imperial Porter
1 c. chicken stock
6 oz. tomato paste
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
4 large potatoes, cubed
6 carrots, thickly sliced
1. Heat olive oil in stew pot. Season
beef with salt and pepper and add to pot, searing over med-high heat until
lightly browned. Remove beef.
2. Reduce heat to medium. Add onions and
cook until translucent. Add beer, chicken stock, beef, tomato paste, paprika,
salt and Worcestershire sauce. Stir. Cook until the beef is tender, about 1
hour. Add carrots and potatoes. Simmer for an additional 30 minutes.
This
is great for parties or sitting around playing board games while the stew is
simmering. And you can smell it in every room of my home. By the time the meat
is tender, everybody is ready for bowl and a pint of Monster Mash!
David L Hauslein, Beer Manager, Healthy Spirits San
Francisco
http://healthy-spirits.blogspot.com
Braised oxtail with Rodenbach Grand Cru
The
tart, fruity acidity of Rodenbach
cuts through the fat without overwhelming the rich, flavorful meat. Make sure
you have some crusty bread on hand for the bone marrow.
Baked brie in a puff pastry with raspberry jam is
well complemented by Fuller's Vintage
Ale. Bready and biscuity, with a rich, concentrated pale malt sweetness.
Not for the calorie conscious, but very satisfying on a cold, rainy night.
Sean Paxton, The Homebrew Chef
Here
are a few of my favorite recipes for the cold, wet and long dark nights:
Chicken Braised in Dubbel with Leaks
Grand Cru Braised Lamb Shanks
Pictures courtesy Sean Paxton
Wendy Littlefield
of Vanburg and DeWulf Belgian Beer Exporters
http://belgianexperts.com
Christmas goose with Dupont Avec les
Bons Voeux because it
is a great pairing that cuts the fat. We coat the goose with caraway seeds,
which complements the goose and the beer.
Buche de noel with Scaldis Prestige de
Nuits. What could
be a better combination?
New Year's Eve toasts with caviar and Saison Dupont,
Hop Ruiter, Contessa and Castelain. Compare and contrast the Beluga with
the beers.
Post holiday vegetarian detox: vegetable
soup and tofu, spring rolls with Witkap Singel and Lambrucha—what the
monks drink for lunch (or what we think they should).
January and February: Long winter's night suppers of
creamed herring, rye bread, radishes and Lava Smoked Imperial Stout
or winter composed salads with country breads: beets, spinach, salade
frisee, blood orange, goat cheese with Castelain
or Vicaris Tripel Gueuze with gueuze
in the vinaigrette.
Squash soup with whole grain bread and Posca Rustica, Biere de Miel, Bastarda
Rossa Chestnut beer.
Black
rice and spicy fish stew with Moinette
Brune: simply perfect.
Josie Berg-Hammond, Account
Coordinator, Louis Glunz Beer Distributor
http://www.glunzbeers.com/Site/Home.aspx
Cookies and Beer
Children
around the city will be celebrating with cookies and candy this holiday season,
but adults can celebrate with something a little more grown up: beer. This year
Santa doesn’t want milk and cookies, he wants beer and cookies.
Holiday
cheer, snow on the ground and a blistery wind, Santa might need more than a
glass of milk to get him through his trip this winter and Louis Glunz Beer Inc.
has the perfect beers to pair with cookies. Hearty, higher alcohol-content
brews with hoppy and malt-like flavors are often a great match with sweet
cookies. The Anchor Christmas Ale is a rich and dark ale with heavy
spice notes that pairs perfectly with the sweet spice of a ginger crisp.
Oatmeal cookies are a great complement to the sturdy Breckenridge Christmas
Ale and, with the addition of butterscotch chips, the cookies help to bring
out the brew’s hints of caramel and chocolate. A brew like the Chimay Blue
Cap, with a thick, dry finish and strong notes of caramel can hold up to
buttery hazelnut, chocolate and coffee shortbread cookies. With beers that
match so well with cookies, the team at Louis Glunz Beer Inc. thinks you might
want to fill that milk glass with beer.
