Beer, beer and MORE beer!

I don't think it is possible to have too much beer on hand.  We just bottled 2 cases of a really good tasting black IPA made from a kit sold by The Beverage People, Santa Rosa, CA. 

Last night I made up the priming sugar syrup and let it cool, put it in the fridge overnight.  I also put 60 beer bottles in the dishwasher and ran it on the sanitize cycle. 

So this morning right after breakfast, we began by sterilizing a primary fermenter (plastic bucket with a spigot on it), some plastic hose and a bottle filler(must be a better name for it but I don't know what that would be).  Michael then decanted the beer from the carboy to the bucket.  Once in the bucket, he attached the hose and filler to the spigot.  I got ready with the bottle caps all nice and sanitized from last night and the bottle capper.  Michael filled, I capped and placed the filled bottles in six packs.  We ended up with exactly 48 bottles (3 of them pints) of beery goodness.  They are resting at room temperature for 10 days and then they will be ready to go into the fridge.  I hope to wait another week or so before actually breaking one open.

We did have 1 short bottle so we had about 4 oz. each of 'green' beer.  Beware this is potent stuff.  We are lightweight drinkers anyway but this brew packs a kick.  It tastes good, no skunkiness, no 'band-aid' after taste.  A great beer for our efforts which were, it seemed, minimal - 4 hours of brewing time and 1 hour bottling.  We'll have to do this again, sometime soon!

Eatwell Farm CSA Box Coming this week 5/1/2013

I can hardly wait for this week's box from Eatwell Farm.  Strawberries!  Yum.  And other goodies too -
California Late Green Garlic
Fresh Green Onions
Chandler and Albion Strawberries
Head of lettuce
Carrots
Green Cabbage
Sugar Snap Peas
Green Chard
Red Beets
Florence Fennel
Eureka Lemons
Rosemary

Hmm, roasted whole chicken stuffed with lemons and rosemary - very yummy as a main course.  Braised fennel would make a great side dish for this meal.  The snap peas along with green garlic, chard and chicken for a stir fry served over rice.  I would shred the red beets and green cabbage for a tasty slaw along with some carrots.  Or maybe some carrots and onions in a tasty soup?  I'm not even concerned about what to do with the strawberries - breakfast smoothies come to mind.  Lettuce, carrots and snap peas for a tasty salad as well.  So many possibilities!

 

 

The Ultimate in Reuse - Spent Grain Bread

A week ago we made a batch of Black IPA beer.  We saved the grain from the mash and divided it into 3/4 cup portions, frozen for future use in bread.  This past week I made one loaf with the grain and it was entirely edible and delicious.  Today I made a second loaf for us to use as toasting bread.  The recipe is from Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads book.  It's a tasty loaf with a rich brown color due to the grains.  Tasty too!

 

A crumb shot of the bread -

 

We have really been enjoying this bread toasted with peanut butter and orange marmalade for breakfast.  I will definitely make more of this bread in the future.

 







Fresh Green Peas at the Market

We couldn't help ourselves this past week at the Farmer's Market.  There they were, fresh English peas in the pods. It was time for our all time favorite (and not cheap) fresh pea soup with butter dumplings.  This is not a soup for someone who cannot have butter.  There is tons of it in this soup, so we only make it once a year.  The recipe is from the Vegetarian Epicure.

Fresh Pea Soup with Butter Dumplings

For the soup -
4 cups fresh peas, shelled (about 4 lbs. of peas in their shells)
4 1/2 cups water
1 tsp. brown sugar

4 1/2 TBSP butter
4 1/2 TBSP flour
1/2 cup dry white wine

For the dumplings -
6 TBSP softened butter
1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Make the dumplings first, by working the softened butter into a mix of flour, salt and nutmeg.  Work the eggs into the mixture and set aside.

For the soup, bring the water to a boil in a sauce pan.  Add the sugar and the peas.  Simmer for 10 minutes until the peas are tender.  Remove from heat and puree the peas and water together using an immersion blender or a regular blender.  Set the blended puree aside.  In another sauce pan, melt the butter, add the flour and mix over low heat stirring constantly for 3 minutes.  Gradually add the pea puree to the pot, mixing thoroughly after each addition in order to avoid lumps.  Once all the puree has been added to the pot, mix in the 1/2 cup white wine, salt and pepper to taste.  Bring the soup to a gentle boil and add the dumplings by dropping 1/2 teaspoonfuls of dough into the soup.  When the dumplings float to the top, cook 5 more minutes.   Ladle into bowls and enjoy!

Time for Fava Beans--

Yay, it's spring and fava beans are back at the Farmer's Market here in California.  I LOVE fava beans.  Yes, they are some work, but oh, they are so rich tasting and delicious.  I've been making some fava bean puree based on Alice Waters' recipe in her cookbook 'The Green Kitchen'.  Here's my take on this recipe.  I've pared down the amount of fat (olive oil) and used water in it's place.

Fava Bean Puree

1 lb. Fava Beans in their shells
2 TBSP olive oil
1/4 cup water
1 stalk green spring garlic, sliced into rings
salt
pepper
1 tsp. dried Italian seasonings

Remove the beans from their puffy green shells and place in a small sauce pan with water to cover them.  Bring to a boil, boil for about 1 minutes, then rinse the beans in cool water in a colander.  Allow the beans to cool.  Pop the green beans out of their pods. 

In a small saute/fry pan, heat the olive oil.  Add the green garlic and sautee for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the beans, season with salt and pepper.  Toss with the garlic and oil for a minute or so.  Lower the heat and add the water and Italian seasoning. Simmer for 5 minutes or until beans are softened.  Remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool thoroughly.  Puree the mixture using a blender or a small food processor (I really like the small processor that comes with the Cuisinart stick blender and whisk for this job).  Process until smooth. Remove to a small container, refrigerate for future use or use immediately.  I like the puree spread on a slice of good bread or even in a sandwich as a replacement for mayonnaise.   Enjoy!

What's Brewing --

Today, we are brewing beer from a kit bought from The Beverage People in Santa Rosa, CA.  It's called Black IPA and it is very dark.  I'll also be taking the spent grain and making bread soon, using a recipe from Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads.   Here's the setup we had to chill the wort. The wort chiller is in the beer kettle on the stove, cold ice water flows from the bucket on the fridge into the wort chiller and then out a hose strung across the kitchen to the sink - pretty neat gravity feed setup!  In two weeks we'll bottle the brew wait a bit more and then enjoy.

Rye Bread Encore

I couldn't help myself.  I had enough rye starter for another batch of Eric's Favorite Rye Bread and I'd given away all the leftover bread from the potluck.  One loaf went to the guest of honor, Louise, who turned 90 that day.  The potluck was a celebration in her honor at our quilt room.  We feasted on sauerbraten, potato dumplings, cooked red cabbage, sauerkraut, chili mac and other wonderful stuff.  It was great. 

When I got home it didn't take me long to realize I needed to make more of the rye bread so Michael and I could have some with soups and as a base for some awesome pastrami sandwiches (Michael's favorite).  Soooo the loaves are baking now and the house smells wonderful.  Making my mouth water with the aromas of onions and caraway.  Yum.