beer Archives | with a Side of Sneakers

Father’s Day Feastin

The husband’s first father’s Day was packed full if the best things in life: family & food.

We started the day with a neighborhood walk with Mimi {my mom} who was visiting for the weekend while the dads slept in a bit.

Then we showered daddy in homemade father’s day gifts:

Matching daddy-baby tie shirts!

After my parents left {enter giant pouty faces here} the husband and I took our little man to the park to check out the baby swings. Success! He loved the swing! But parenting 101 fail: we didn’t bring a hat or sunglasses or sunscreen, so our adventure didn’t last long.

After our park trip we moved on the next adventure of the day: letting the non-cool husband cook dinner. The inlaws brought the makings for a Greek salad. We kept things separate to accommodate various food preferences {read: me being picky. I hate almost everything about Greek cuisine}.

The husband contributed his piece de resistance: grilled kabobs. He marinated some chicken and veggies in Italian dressing, paprika, pepper, and Old Bay. {Everything gets Old Bay when he cooks.}

Along with the chicken we had red onions, green peppers, mushrooms, potatoes, and tomatoes. {Again separate so we could all be choosy. The perfect meal for a picky audience.}

Then came my contribution: dessert. 🙂

I made Phoebe’s grandma’s secret cookie recipe {a la Nestle Tollhouse}, with only 2 changes: 75% cacao dark chocolate and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

I’ve made these hundreds of times but instead of coming out like nice chewy cookie bars per usual, they came out soft & cake like instead.

Food science experts! What happened?! Did I cream the butter & sugar too long? Did I beat the eggs too much? Bake it funny? I’m used to strange results when I make a thousand substitutions, but not when I stick to the recipe.

Anyway, the cookies were still delicious. Dark chocolate is the way to go.

We finished up our celebrations with a sleeping baby {momentarily} and split one of the most satisfying beers to ever cross my lips: Epic Brewing Copper Cone Pale Ale from Salt Lake City. Although the bottle coat more than the wine I drink so we probably won’t be indulging in it again anytime soon. {Note: I drink really cheap wine so this isn’t as extravagant as it sounds.}

All in all, I’d say it was a pretty good first father’s day!

Grilled Fruit Coconut Shrimp Salad with Citrus Wit Bier Dressing

Recipe

While I could eat the grilled jalapeno-peach crostini for a meal by itself, I went the mature route and made a salad to go with them.

A giant, grilled fruit, coconut shrimp salad. And don’t worry, there’s a vegan version too.

First up, the coconut shrimp.

Grilled Coconut Shrimp

1/2 lb shrimp

4 Tbsp cornstarch

1/4 tsp cayenne

dash of cumin

1/4 cup orange juice

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

Set up three small bowls with the following: cornstarch, cayenne, & cumin in one; orange juice; coconut flakes.

Dip de-shelled shrimp into the cornstarch mixture. Wipe off extra cornstarch so there’s just a light coating. Dip into orange juice, then coconut flakes.

Place shrimp on hot grill. Cook a few minutes on each side, until shrimp just turns pink. Alternatively you can bake them in 350 degree oven for 15 minutes.

Now time for the salad. Grilled fruit is 10x better than sliced bread. I haven’t met a fruit I don’t like better grilled…this was just my excuse to eat a lot of it.

Grilled Fruit Salad

1 head romaine

1/2 pineapple

1 mango

1 orange bell pepper

Slice fruit and pepper into long strips.

Heat on grill.

Chop lettuce and top with grilled fruit.

And of course you can’t have salad without salad dressing. {Well you can, but it’s way better if you do.}

This dressing is probably best made a day ahead so the flavors can meld together, but if you have to, you can make it last minute. {Just make extra so it’s really good the next time. Winking smile }

Citrus Witbier Salad Dressing

3 Tbsp olive oil

2 tsp diced shallot

1/2 garlic clove, diced

2 tsp dijon mustard

3 Tbsp wit bier {like New Belgium’s Mothership Wit}

splash of honey

If you can’t make the dressing the day before, you might want to pop the shallot and the garlic on the grill for a few minutes before dicing- it’ll mellow the sharp flavors of the fresh shallot and garlic so they don’t overwhelm your dressing. Otherwise, just leave them raw.

Place ingredients in a jar and shake to combine. Couldn’t be easier.

To put it all together: top romaine with fruit and coconut shrimp, then drizzle dressing on top.

Goes great with jalapeno-peach goat cheese crostini. The shrimp taste great dipped into the jalapeno-peach jelly mixture too.

Don’t eat shrimp? Make grilled coconut tempeh!

How’s that for beer pairing?

New Belgium Pairing: Grilled Jalapeno-Peach Goat Cheese Crostini

Recipe

When Foodbuzz asked several featured publishers to come up with a meal that paired well with any of the New Belgium brews, I knew exactly what to make:

A grilled-fruit salad with coconut shrimp and wit bier dressing.

It made perfect sense: wheat beers and citrus go together like peanut butter and jelly. {Think orange slices in pints…} Fruit plus tangy dressing- I was set.

But I need a little more than salad to satisfy me, so I started thinking outside the box.

See, wine and food pairing has been an art for ages. Luckily for those of us that like beer, beer and food pairing is becoming just as popular.

Just like wine pairings, there are a few basic guidelines to get you started. Like red wines with meat and white wines with chicken or fish, the same goes for beer: dark lagers with meat and light ales with chicken or fish. The same way each type of wine has a distinct flavor composition that’s brought out even more by certain foods, the same goes for beer. And of course for both wine and beer, the rules are meant to broken: drink what you like!

Back to the menu plan:

The New Belgium {most famous for their Fat Tire} beer I chose was the Mothership Wit, an organic wheat beer brewed with barley malt, coriander, and orange peel.

I asked a beer-brewing-connoisseur friend what went well with orange and coriander spiced beers besides, well, orange. As soon as he said goat cheese, my ears perked up. But just adding goat cheese to the salad would be boring and overdone…

Wit bier, a Belgian style brew, traditionally pairs well with spicy foods– the cool, lightly citrus flavored beverage refreshingly washes away the burn on your tongue.

So citrus, spicy, & goat cheese? Forget the salad. I had a better idea.

Grilled Jalapeno-Peach Spiced Goat Cheese Crostini

4 Tablespoons peach preserves

~ 20 slices pickled jalapeno

red pepper flakes

splash of lime juice

2 oz spreadable goat cheese {not pre-crumbled}

1 loaf crusty bread {such as French or ciabatta}

Cut bread into 1/4 inch slices.

Place on grill {or in the oven} just until the bread starts to toast- keep it crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside. {I used a white wheat bread, feel free to choose whatever kind you like, as long as it’ll support the toppings.}

Dice jalapeno into small pieces.

Stir into peach preserves along with red pepper flakes and lime juice. Use more or less jalapeno & red pepper flakes depending on your spice preference. The sweet preserves do a good job at toning down the spice or the jalapenos, so if you’re not a spice fan, don’t be nervous; if you are a spice fan, ramp up those ‘penos!

Spread goat cheese onto grilled bread slices.

Top with peach-jalapeno jelly.

Eat while still warm, or enjoy cooled.

Enjoy with a nice, cold, Mothership Wit.

After sitting down with our drinks, we realized the bottle came with drinking instructions.

So we followed them:

Pour.

Swirl.

Finish.

Now drink.

Oh, and you might want to make extra jalapeno crostini. I’ve already made them twice and devoured them all. I need another loaf of bread…

Check back tomorrow for the grilled-fruit coconut shrimp salad with citrus-wit bier dressing tomorrow- the perfect accompaniment to the jalapeno crostini.

This meal was made fiscally possible by the Foodbuzz Featured Publisher program. Consider this my FTC statement.

Tour de KERFville

Travel

Charlottesville is hands down one of my favorite towns. Because of it’s location and it’s entertainment options, Cville has become the rendezvous point for my mom and I since I moved to NC. It’s exactly between the two of us, and there’s always something to do.

We’ve been to wineries, breweries, restaurants, historical touristy attractions, and more. But never have I gotten to enjoy the town with friends and such good food. Smile This weekend Cville turned to KERFville!

The place: Cville

The occasion: Kath’s b-day

The crew: Meghann, Sarah, Allie, Christine, and the birthday girl herself. (Plus Cara & Brittany & more!)

I pulled into Cville just in time for lunch at the Downtown Mall- a trendy-yet-quaint outdoor shopping & dining spot in the center of town.

Soup, salad, and pumpkin bread at Eppie’s was just the start of good weekend of eats.

Spinach, date, corn, and goat cheese salad. Good at first, but by the end I was over it. The extra pumpkin bread may have hitched a ride in my purse. Winking smile

Followed by peppermint patty fro yo & brownie goo at Arch’s.

Forget about the fro yo- it was all about the ooey gooey side of brownie batter.

Just in case ice cream & brownies weren’t enough for birthday celebrating, we hit up two local wineries: Blenheim & Kluge, both of which I find extremely difficult to pronounce, even before you factor in the wine.

First up, Blenheim:

I took copious notes. See?

(Why take notes when you can just drink?!)

I’ve never met a wine I didn’t like, but I wasn’t blown away by any of them.

Next up: Kluge

It didn’t matter what the wine tasted like, they get automatic kudos for presentation style. (But the wine was really good.)

We might have split 14 wine samples between the 7 of us.

So far: good meal, good dessert, good wine… what more could you want?!

How about some serious beer sampling?!

Homebrews a la Matt. The oatmeal stout was like coffee & beer all combined into one (my kind of beer!).

I don’t even need to tell you the pumpkin brew was delicious.

We even got a lesson in the history of pumpkin beer, followed by a showdown of bottled pumpkin brews. I think I might have found a rival for my beer-nerd buddy Ian…

First there was one. Then two.Then three.

Let the showdown begin!

The Cottonwood & Schlafly’s were the clear winners. Cottonwood for multiple bottle consumption, Schlafly’s for enjoying pie in a bottle. (Try saying Schlafly’s 3x fast. I can hardly spell it.)

Of course there was good food too. I can’t even begin to tell you what was there.

All I know was Andrea’s butternut squash & mushroom empanadas were to die for, the pumpkin goat cheese rocked my socks off, and those gingerbread cookies were as good as they look. Yum.

Just in case all of that wasn’t enough, the celebration ended the next morning with a giant batch of the infamous KERF oatmeal.

Kath: putting the glamorous back in oatmeal.

How do you think this selection of toppings worked out for my incredibly indecisive nature? Too.many.choices!

Some of everything’s the way to go. Winking smile Coconut peanut butter, buckwheat granola, ginger pear preserves, Allie bars… I’m sure there was more…

I’m pretty sure I need to start eating oatmeal on my porch. If only my porch looked like this…

So glad to see my North Face buddies, Cara & Meghann! Smile (They were at the scene of the knee crime…)

And thanks to Cara for being the hostess with the mostest! Smile

And with that, the weekend was over in a flash. Whew. (Picture overload much?)

Goose Island Brewery Tour & Tasting

HLS

After a whirlwind of a weekend in Chicago, I’ve finally made it home in one piece- let the recaps begin!

A late flight out on Sunday meant time for some extra Chicago fun. Theodora, Kate, and I hit the “L” and headed to Goose Island Brewery to take a tour and taste some of their freshly brewed beer.

I proceeded to skillfully navigate us to the wrong Goose Island location- oops. Unfortunately we were not interested in touring the receiving plant.

Lost face.

So sad. (They were polite enough not to strangle me- phew!)

Luckily the iPhone came to the rescue with a cab app that brought us Ali, and soon we made it to the right spot- just in time for a tour.

The Goose Island Brew-Pub:

(It’s a “brew pub” because they brew it and serve it- clever, eh?)

Brewer Miguel gave a quick talk about how beer is made, then led us to the fun part—> the tasting room, where we sampled six of the pub’s many selections.

Beer making talk.

Beer is made with four ingredients: water, hops, malt, and yeast. (Read more about the beer making process.)

A look at the brewing equipment:

Time for tasting!

But for real, tasting time:

From left to right: Sai-Shon Tea, Liquid Dark, IPA, Honkers, Nut Brown Ale, and Willow Street White.

Tasting beer is as an elaborate of a process as tasting wine.

I have to say I was quite impressed. I’ve never tasted beer that had so much flavor- each one was distinct from the one before it. The Saison, Honkers, and Willow Street White knocked my socks off.

Apparently I “taste” beer fast- hey, I told you it was good!

Lunch

After the tour it was well past time for lunch. Veggie burgers & fries to the rescue! Along with a 312 Urban Wheat beer on Kate’s recommendation. (Plus a sample of Matilda on the waitress’ recommendation- it was fantastic!)