Other

In celebration of passing the bar, I finally made it to this venerable New York establishment.  (Thank you Fayaz for picking up the tab.)  In addition to being any red blooded carnivore’s dream, it’s hard to walk through these doors and not feel like you’re trapping into a little piece of history. The ambiance of the bar and the perfectly made Gibsons alone are enough of a reason to try this place.

For the start of the 2011 countdown we reach all the way back to February to recall Angry (Devil) Mussels.  These spicy crustaceans were great the first time around, but they made their way into the top ten because I couldn’t help making them a few more times throughout the year.

Before these guys showed-up at a roomate dinner, Fayaz swore he would never eat mussels; but after being tempted by spice and just a few he was taking them down just as fast as he could get ’em out their shell.  As cheap as they are easy to make, I can’t wait to cook-up some more in 2012.

As we reach the end of 2011, it’s time to look back and countdown the top 10 epicurean encounters of the year. Join me as I lay back, pat my stomach, and look back on a year of great food and drink.

Danny, Craig and I (With Emmy, Eddie and Gus in front)

Unlike many of my fellow Tundra inhabitants, I happen to enjoy living in Minnesota. I’ve got a 4×4 Jeep Cherokee (and a nice layer of insulation) to get me through the winter, fishing and swimming to get me through the summer, and hunting of all kinds to entertain me during the fall. Pheasant hunting is one of my favorite ways to spend a weekend. What could be better than a weekend with family, dogs and guns? Not to mention that because we spend all day walking the fields, we can justify having huge breakfasts with eggs, bacon and cornbread!

The weekend before Thanksgiving, I hit the fields with my brother Dan, my uncle Craig and my cousin’s husband, Ben. We had ourselves a grand old time and possibly our most bountiful harvest yet. There was one point where we let two pheasants get away because most of us were out of shells in our guns. But after the fun of actually hunting, you’re left with a lot of pheasant meat which can be very tricky to do well. I find that most of the time I have pheasant it turns out pretty dry, almost without regard to the manner in which it was cooked. So you can either serve it in stew, serve it with a rich gravy, or brine it. Having never tried that last option with a pheasant, that’s the way I decided to go and I may never go back again. The recipe for the brine is:

• 8 cups water
• 1/2 cup kosher salt
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup real maple syrup
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 tsp black pepper corns, whole
• 1-2 dashes of worcestershire sauce
• 1 pinch ground cloves (I used whole because that’s what I had)
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 dash cayenne pepper

After trying Brooklyn Local One, I knew I had to get my hands on a bottle of Brooklyn Local Two.  The Local Two, a Belgian Strong Dark Ale  with a 9.00% ABV, is a completely different beer from the Local One.

Appearance:  This beer is dark brown, like a well brewed coffee.  The head is extremely solid with a white/brown color.  Both the texture and appearance of head reminded me of a substantial foam on a cappuccino after its been stirred and taken on a slight coffee color.

(The coffee analogies end at appearance–there is no hint of it in the smell or flavor.)

Smell:  Yeasty, like fresh bread or bread dough.

Taste:  It’s like a cinnamon roll without the cinnamon.  There is some mild yeasty tartness balanced with caramel flavor and a little sweetness.

Overall:  It’s a good beer, but I’m just not head over heels for this style in general.  If you like the style I’m sure you’d love this beer, but I’ll be keeping my eyes open for the Local One.

Sure, the temperature was hovering in the low 40s or high 30s, but Fayaz and I are Minnesotans, and knew it was perfect grilling weather.  And a fine beer is perfect match for the grilling prep work.  I’ve been meaning to try the Brooklyn Local One since I learned of its existence on a Brooklyn Brewery Tour a few years back.   After sampling more than my share of Brooklyn’s standard brews, I’ve learned to trust what they do.

The Details:

The Brooklyn Local One is in the Belgian Strong Pale Ale style packing a 9% ABV.  Part of Brooklyn Brewery’s process is an in bottle fermentation–similar to the method used to give champagne its sparkle.

Appearance: A bright, but cloudy, yellow gold with a solid head.

Smell:  A very weak nose, just mild yeast.

Taste:  Strong yeast and some malt flavor.  A bitterness balance with with an almost nutty savoriness and light honey—a little sweet but strong on whatever the non-sweet flavor of honey is.  The finish was short, savory, and yeasty.

Mouth:  Well carbonated with small velvety bubbles.

Overall:  A great freak’n beer at a reasonable price.  I could see this guy pairing well with a little spice, a savory cheese, or a salty game day snack.

Next up: the Brooklyn Local Two.

Our glimmer of hope

This has been a disappointing football season so far, as any Vikings fan will tell you. Not only are the Purple stinking it up, but they’re doing so in the most frustrating way possible. They have some pretty damn good players (Kevin Williams, Jared Allen, AP, Antoine Winfield, Percy Harvin) but they prove week after week to be entirely incapable of playing like professionals. What’s more, they aren’t even in full blown re-building mode, as evidenced by the fact that before they re-structured Adrian Peterson’s and Chad Greenway’s deal they were right at the salary cap. I can accept losing from a team that’s trying to get young or is trying to free up cap space to make some moves, but we’re doing neither and sucking royally. 

But at least we have something to look forward to now that Donovan “Chunky” McNabb has been benched for our first round pick, Christian Ponder. He may not be any better than McNabb… no, wait, I’m not going to go with that disclaimer. He will be better than McNabb. He showed a couple of things in his debut last week which are going to be huge upgrades. 1. He’s accurate, or at least far more so than D McB. He was putting passes right in front of people IN STRIDE, as opposed to 2 feet above a receivers head and 3 yards behind them. 2. He’s got some mobility and he’s able to throw on the run. Did you see that safety McNabb took last week? He saw a blitzer coming up the middle and just laid down in the end zone. Ponder looked pretty good at avoiding the rush. Finally, I think Ponder cares about winning. If the Vikes wanted McNabb last offseason they should have given him a contract so loaded with incentives that he would have earned slightly above minimum wage in that week 1 stinker where he piled up 39 yards over the course of the game, because you can absolutely tell he does not give a shit what happens in these games because he’s making $5 million in his last year in the NFL.

Enough football talk, time for football food. The other week Rick and I had another of our patented football ho-downs with 10.5 straight hours of food, beer, smoking and football. During this particular one, I got to try out a new Food Network recipe which turned out amazing. The only downside of it is that it’s pretty heavy and somewhat greasy, so if you’re not careful you will eventually have wished that you had a bit more self control as you nurse an over-full belly.

• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil*
• 1/2 pound Spanish or Mexican chorizo
• 1/2 pound mushroom caps, quartered
• 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced

*note: The olive oil is only neccesary if you are using the more solid  Spanish Chorizo which is a cured sausage like Andouille. All I was able to find was fresh ground Mexican Chorizo,

Spanish Chorizo

which has more than enough fat to render out without adding additional oil.

It is officially autumn here in the Tundra, and I’m loving it. You pretty much have to appreciate fall if you live in Minnesota because the winters are a test of will for even the hardiest of Scandanavian descendents. The spring is always wet and muddy as the piles of snow melt away, so if you’re no fan of fall then you’re pretty much stuck with just June, July and August. I was able to get out to a local Park last week and do some hiking and the crisp air and beautiful foliage really got me into the mood to enjoy fall and all it offers.

One of my favorite things about fall is the apple crop in Minnesota. Apples are one thing we do pretty damn well. The University of Minnesota has a long history of introducing new varieties of apples and they’re all pretty good. My favorites are definitely the Zestar and the Fireside apples for eating raw. And with all the apples coming ripe in early-mid fall, there is apple cider everywhere you look around here. I’m somewhat surprised that I’ve never before tried to make a drink with apple cider considering how much I fiddle around with making random cocktails, but no time like the present, right? I don’t have a whole lot of experience in making new cocktail recipes which can be recreated by others. so here goes the first try:

• 2 shots of bourbon (I used Maker’s Mark)
• 2 shots of Apple Cider
• 1/3-1/2 shot of fresh lemon juice
• 2 tsp of REAL maple syrup
• Dash of ground cinnamon

Tragically, I have no clever backstory for this cheese.  Fayaz just showed-up with it one night after making a Union Market stop on his way home.  The cheese itself will have to be story enough.

Saint Nectaire is a semi-soft cheese made from cow’s milk in the Auvergne region of France.

This particular cheese had a medium sized and soft rind. The flavor was medium to light, savory, and creamy.  The savory flavor took on a nutty (maybe almond) flavor.

All-in-all a solid cheese that might pair well with a beer.