Confessions of a Wayward Blogger

In the spirit of the new year I have looked deeply inside myself and realized these truths about my blog: 1) I possess subconscious, deep-seeded guilt about not blogging 2) I am much better at blogging in the winter, preferably when crippled. 3)I actually need my blog because otherwise, I have no idea what the hell I did last year.

So, since being crippled isn't an attractive option, my New Year's resolution will be to bank my blog entries when I have the time (winter) and distribute them evenly throughout the year so as not to frustrate my Mom and the very few other regular readers who have not forsaken me. Also, while I am confessing- I actually promised to persist with Hops and Chops because I sold my soul to Miss Yum Yum for this box of free Dove chocolates.

I do feel that the key to having a guilt-free blog means maintaining consistency. I feel readers should expect something at least every week. Therefore, I will try to make one weekly post, perhaps more. This should not be too difficult considering there is so much to tell. This would be a lot easier as well if some of you lurkers would come out of the shadows and help me like I asked.

At the risk of sounding like my boss- I really have been very busy. Although, unlike my boss who uses this phrase as a euphemism for "I have to go to the yacht club and put my boat in the water" I really do have a lot of stuff to blog about.

The Naughty Nurse is responsible for much of this new found content of interest.

If you had a Hops and Chops time line you would see that the same time we met the Naughty Nurse directly corresponds with the egregious lack of blog entries. This is because our new found friend is not only a very knowledgeable home brewer, but also a very serious task-master. As a result, we have had a very full beer schedule in 2008. The good news is- Mr. Chops and I have been learning to brew beer! We attended home brew beer meetings, and home brew competitions, and learned to brew beer using all grain. We have also been introduced to the wonderful world of making hard cider. Not only this- but the Nurse has also showed us to how to roast coffee at home! All this, of course, would keep any normal people busy, but not us! We have also made our first confit, venison sausage, malt vinegar, gone on a smoked meat pilgrimage and discovered goose bacon.

There is one bit of bad news- I still can't bring myself to eat a squirrel. But perhaps, if Mr. Goodbar and Ms. Yum Yum had called us when they had six of them living in their house, we could have crossed that one of our list and had a delicious dinner to boot!

Blame Canada

Hello again! No, I didn't enter the witness protection program- I just went on vacation and forgot to tell anyone. Or perhaps that was on purpose so no one would raid the kegerator while we were gone. But as consolation for all those long weeks with out any new H&C, I have tales from Nova Scotia to serve up soon as I figure out how to pay all these bills that piled up while I was away. But first- I have to warn all those unsuspecting folk out there who might be packing up for Nova Scotia: Pack your own beer friends! So what if the Canadian Government says you can only bring one case into the country without penalty! Trust me- whatever the penalty is- it is not nearly as grim as having to drink Nova Scotian beer!

Clams and Beer

In the summertime, we eat a lot of clams, and, as you may already know- beer goes well with clams. Especially nice is this Hazed and Infused Ale from Boulder Brewing. You may remember this brew from my post about really hoppy beers. It is a consummate summer beer; low in alcohol, high in refreshing hops, and very finely carbonated. It is brewed with chinook, willamette, and cascade hops and then dry hopped with crystal and centennial hops. We like it so much we bought a keg of it so we could have it on tap.

As I have stated previously, there are few redeeming qualities to living in CT when it comes to beer and beer culture. However, we are lucky enough to have easy access to fresh clams at wholesale prices. We buy cherry stones, right off the boat, one hundred count at a time, and leave them in our beer fridge where they stay fresh and delicious for two weeks or more (as long as you keep them dry, no ice or salted water please!). Mr. Chops likes them raw, straight up. But we both like them grilled. We throw a whole bunch on the grill, cover them until they start to open up, ripping the empty side of the shell off so the clam side sits flat on the grill. Then douse the side with the clam in mixture of garlic simmered in butter, lemon, hot sauce, and parsley. We pull them off as the butter starts to simmer inside the shell. Of course, there are many variations to be had on this according to taste. If I feel like going all out, I put little pieces of crispy bacon in too. Yum! These make a really easy appetizer too. My usual ratio is 1 stick of butter, 2 cloves of garlic, juices of half a lemon, a handful of parsley and a couple teaspoons of hot sauce. Sometimes I put the mixture in a squeezy bottle to make it easier to squirt in the clams shells, but recently I have just been using a spoon with a long handle and scooping a little of the mix into each shell. Hazed and Infused is the perfect foil for briny clams and the richness of the garlic and butter.

Sake Update

A few of you have asked how the sake is coming along. Well, things are actually pretty good.

After some serious self doubt, I have concluded that the whole process went pretty well for a first try at fermenting. So far, here's what I have learned:

First: Sake definitely is easier to make if you start it in colder months like I was instructed, but then foolishly ignored

Second: I now know that you need something finer than cheese cloth to strain your sake, I had way too much solid in my finished product which wasted as much as a half gallon of sake overall.

Third: Bob Taylor, the sake guru, is a most patient and helpful man. I would have been pretty lost if not for his constant cooperation in my endeavor. Cheers to him and his excellent blog. Thanks Bob!

Fourth: I think the most enjoyable sake was the unpasteurized sake right out of the fermenter. It had a very light fresh taste with hints of vanilla, coconut, and flowers. After it was pasteurized, the fresh flowery taste disappeared.

Fifth: Now, my sake seems to be better if it is opened and allowed to breath for a day before drinking. The flavor mellows a bit and loses its sharper overtones. It is very full-flavored robust sake. It has a dry finish which I like, but there's fruity, almost acid quality I am not so sure about. Perhaps I should age it some more? Bob, any thoughts on this?

So there you have it! I think I am going to take a bottle and save it for a couple more months to see if the taste improves any. Perhaps by then, Geof and Carla will be brave enough to revisit Sue's sake and give me another review? Perhaps they could even come up with a name for it like those really fancy sakes have like, "Misty Maiden's Folly" or perhaps "Wandering Lunatic" or even "Drunken Deer". But seriously, I really enjoyed making sake, and would recommend it to anyone who has an interest.

More From Lady Pilsner on Walnut Liqueur

My sister sent me an unusual contra-band present this year for xmas. It was a very mysterious unlabeled glass bottle full of inky liquid wrapped entirely in clear packing tape to prevent spillage in its 1500 mile journey from central Europe to the States. There was a small handwritten note explaining that this was nocino, or walnut liqueur, and that baby Jesus wanted us to have some. We figured that if baby Jesus wanted us to have it we better damn' well try some. After examining it for a good long while, shaking it, sniffing it, and staring at it in a glass we finally got up enough courage to try it. It was earthy, nutty, sweet, spicy and mmm mmm good! Perfect for the holidays. We also tried it in coffee and hot chocolate with favorable results. So now, my sis, the L o' P, has been good enough to share with us how nocino is made...

I had almost forgotten about Nocino or, in Czech, Orechovka or in plain English, walnut liqueur. My friend (also American, also here in E. Bohemia but with years in Italy behind her) reminded me of it when I was at her house last week, but I forgot about it until today, a good 2+ weeks late. The trick to Nocino is to catch the walnuts when they are still soft enough to eat after being saturated for 2 months in alcohol. Warning! This is not a treat for the faint of heart! I wasn't able to manage perfect timing this year, but I'm sure the Nocino will be fine, though I'm trying to forget this image I have of me gnawing away on those boozy nuts amidst Christmas festivities....



Nocino
1.5 L vodka or slivovice (plum brandy) in my case
30 green walnuts – ideally picked at the end of June – between the 24th and 25th to be precise
2 cinnamon sticks
10 cloves
the cut up rind of one lemon in strips
3 cups of sugar
Quarter the nuts and mix them in a mason jar with all the remaining ingredients. Place the mason jar in a warm place and let sit for 2 months. Filter and bottle. Age for 6 months in a cool dark place.
The Czech recipe I found is surprisingly similar – they substitute “5 circles of orange rind in sugar” for the lemon rind and halve the amount of cloves and cinnamon. As to the taste – maybe Ms. Chops can describe it better (she got a bottle for Christmas last year ) – it is definitely not a walnut liqueur on the lines of amaretto. The liqueur is strong and (as I recall) somewhat herbal, and there's definitely bitter mixed in with the sweet. Right now, two days in, my nocino is this inky green tourmaline color, but it turns nearly black with time.
I can't say last year's batch made it past Christmas, so much for the aging 6 months. By its rate of disappearance, it seemed that last year's batch – my first – was a success. I think the toughest customer was a friend's father (and a court psychiatrist at that) who is a strict follower of the Czech/Moravian cult of slivovice. The look of disdain on his face when offered this walnut liqueur was daunting, but after being assured that it was no weak girly drink and was indeed based on slivovice, he managed to down a good couple shots of the stuff.

Not too hot to bake!

Today it is 95 in the shade. Definitely not the kind of day you'd want to be baking bread. But, I confess dear readers, this is what I am up to. Remember way back when I told you all about the 5 minute artisan bread recipe? Well, I am still baking bread- in fact, I can't stop! It is a personal crusade of mine to not buy bread from the store if I can help it. But since it's so hot, I have discovered that I can bake bread in my grill with the top down. This, I actually discovered this past winter when, I broke the stove. How do you break a stove, you ask? Well, you take it apart so well you can't get it back together again! This left us with no stove for over two weeks while we waited for our new one to arrive. It was an interesting psychological experiment though because, having no stove, it turns out, instantly transforms me into a raving lunatic. The minute I didn't have a working oven all I could think of to eat were things that had to be baked, broiled, or roasted. One day, in a moment of desperation, I just threw the baking stone on a medium high grill and when it heated up to about 450, I put the bread in and cooked until done! Surprisingly enough, it turned out great. This method is now my preferred way to bake bread in the summer so I don't have to heat up the house with 450 degree oven. So far, I have had good results with the white/wheat french loaf, oat bran bread, rolls, and even challah (in a loaf pan)!

More about Elderflowers

I was intrigued by the thought of elderflower soda, so I did some research on elderflowers and came up with a bunch of factoids. First, I will answer my own question- Elderflowers taste, not like elders, but slightly like anisette as best I can guess. St. Germaine liqueur is made out of elderflower. Though Sambuca, which is named after elder (the species name for elder is Sambucus) is not made out of elder. In Hungary they make an elderflower wine and apparently Europeans employ elderflowers and elderberries in many other applications such as tea, syrups, sodas (Fanta makes an elder flavored soda believe it or not). Who knew? Secondly, wiccan folklore has it that if you remove an eldertree from your land, a spirit called an "elder mother" will seek revenge upon you. Third, the woodear fungus made famous by Asian cuisine, prefers elder trees as its host. Fourth, biblical legend has it that Judas hanged himself from an eldertree so woodear fungus is also called judas ear fungus. Sounds delicious, right? So there you go! I also think I found a variety of elder growing on my own property, although it doesn't taste very good. Too bad! Now I have to do some more research to see if American Elder is good for anything...

H&C Tea Totals- And Just In Time For Summer!

Well, thank goodness for Lady Pilsner- that's all I gotta say! She is out there in central Europe innovating in the kitchen while I toil like a migrant farm hand here on the other side of the pond. Although I, Ms. Chops, have no real intention of actually quitting my beer habit- this time of year it is good to have other alternative refreshments on hand. Especially if you sweat as much as me, and it's before noon.

Anyhow, Lady Pilsner has decided to brew some ginger beer and share her experience. Which is kind of a coincidence, because just the other day our friend/beer brewing guru told me he takes water, mixes it with lime juice and powdered ginger and then puts it into a keg, carbonates it w/ CO2 and has it on tap in his kitchen. How cool is that? Perhaps someone will come up with a way to merge these two similar and refreshing beverages into one?

"Brewing Ginger Beer" by Lady Pilsner

I've been fascinated by non-alcoholic fermented beverages for a while, and finally managed to inspire myself to make a "traditional" ginger beer. Maybe it was my friend (whose grandmother is an herbalist) mentioning that she makes this type of beverage from elder flower each year when they are in season, maybe it was that I finally had the idea at the same time I had the available ingredients. Anyway, I decided to save my dried elder flowers for tea, and dug into my Nourishing Traditions cookbook for the ginger ale recipe:


3 / 4 c. ginger peeled and finely chopped or grated
1 / 2 c. fresh lime juice
1 /4 – 1 / 2 c. sucanat (I used regular sugar)
2 tsp. sea salt
1 / 4 c. whey
2 qts. filtered water


Combine, cover tightly, and leave at room temperature for 2 days. Filter and serve 1:1 with sparkling water.

Combine, cover tightly, and leave at room temperature for 2 days. Filter and serve 1:1 with sparkling water.
I ended up making approx. 2/3 the recipe b/c it fits nicely into our 1.5 L drink bottles, using a little less ginger (reason - husband) and lime juice (reason – no more limes) than recommended. It was ready today and, even though I didn't have the sparkling water, I was surprised that you do get to taste the fizz even 1:1 with tap water.
Czech beverage manufacturers, who have recently introduced "gently carbonated" waters would be jealous of my ginger beer. It definitely had more of a "buzz" or "fizz" than actual harsh bubbles. I might lessen the salt next time, but, even with the weird saltiness, I quite liked it. And just think how utterly healthy it is! As I understand it, the whey and salt change the type of fermentation from the traditional alcohol-producing one to a lactic-acid producing one, so without them, the drink would be slightly alcoholic. Next time, I may try it without the salt.
After leaving it a few more days I think the salt flavor subsided as the drink "aged" - Now, a few days later, the taste is better than it was the first day.

I've also been trying to find a tried and true Czech recipe for the elderflower drink, but had to resort to the internet because my two sources haven't come through yet. I haven't tried this recipe myself, though I may try it with my dried elder flowers or just wait for next year.

Elder Flower "Soda"

4 quarts water
4 elder flower florets
1 lemon
350-400 g sugar
1 / 2 tsp. yeast (this is pressed cake yeast, I think it would be about 1/3 tsp. dry yeast)


Boil the water, pour into a 5 quart container, mix the sugar into the hot water, squeeze the lemon into the container, then cut up the rest of the lemon into rings and add to the mix. When the water is luke warm, add the yeast and flowers and mix well. After 24 hrs, filter into bottles and refrigerate.

And P.S.-
I just have one last question for the illustrious Lady Pilsner. What in tarnation does an elder flower taste like? Hopefully not elders....

Please Stand By....

I have been horribly negligent in posting. I hope my three readers forgive me. The problem is, I just can't stop planting things. This time of year, it seems I am only capable of doing two things- sweating constantly, and digging holes. Every winter, when it's cold, grey, and miserable and I curl up next to the wood stove and think- 'wouldn't it be great to have 40 more delphiniums, and 40 more echinaceas, and grow lots more herbs, and try planting some husk cherrys...and...and...and'. And before I know it it's the 4th of July and all my 200 seedlings are crying to get out of their cell packs and I have no more space in my present gardens. And the sweating, and digging, and cussing of rocks begins. I promise I'll be back soon...lots more fun to come.

Found: New Bar and Beer

Mr. Chops and I met up with my cousin Sally and her husband Jan for a beer at a new Belgian- style beer bar in Portland ME called Novare Res. Our usual haunt in Portland is the Great Lost Bear, which, although it has an impressive beer line up (4o taps)- it has a very sports bar/ collegey feel to it. It's a dark, boisterous, chicken wing kind of place that sometimes plays excruciating butt-rock. So Novare Res was a nice change of pace. The bar is a basement level brick lined "cave" with what appeared to be three separate rooms. The main taproom has long common tables with benches, which seems like a fun idea. There was an outside area too, but sadly, they had not gotten any umbrellas for the tables yet, so me and my pigment-deprived skin had to stick with the inside seating. The menu was sparse, meat and cheese a la carte, an olive and bread plate, beef carpaccio, a salad, and a sandwich special. The food was delicious, and fresh with an emphasis on artisanal quality and local suppliers. The beer menu offered 25 beers on tap and an extensive selection of 200 + bottles. They also try to offer two cask selections (not available when we we there). The pick of the afternoon was the Leipzinger gose beer (on tap)that Neil and Jan ordered. It was spritzy, refreshingly acidic, but still very much like a weiss beer. It was so unusual and tasty I had to look into it further. Of course, it is imported by enterprising people at B. United. Here's what they have to say about it
"Leipziger Gose is a top-fermenting wheat beer {60% wheat, 40% barley malt} with coriander, salt, and lactic acid bacteria added in the boil. It is a 4.5% alc/vol eclectic beer whose name evokes a close relationship to the renowned Lambic/Geuze breweries in the Valley Senne nearby Brussels, Belgium."
Sounds good huh? Apparently this particular beer had been extinct since from the mid 1960's up until 2000 when it was mercifully ressurected by an enterprising German by the name of Schneider (no relation to the other brewing Schneiders).

Portland has always been a great place for good beer. The Portland area is also home to a number of popular breweries including Stone Coast (now owned by Shipyard), Shipyard, Allagash, Gritty's and the list goes on. Recently, Portland has added a few new bars dedicated solely to beer. Aside from Novare Res, we stopped at some another German-themed place which had opened just that weekend featuring quite a few taps which, I am embarrassed to say, I forget the name of. This may be a blessing in disguise because they were still working out the kinks in their routine so it would have been unfair to pass judgement yet. However, I am sure, even with the glitches, it will attract a loyal male clientele considering they dress their female waitresses in outfits that are an unfortunate cross between traditional Bavarian barmaid and cheap dime-store hooker. And no, I am not including a picture!

A Hops and Chops Night Out

Guess what??? Last week Mr. Chops and I were invited to a regularly scheduled meeting of the oldest beer club in New England! Many beer brewing heavy hitters were there. The night was peppered with lively banter, biting sarcasm, sharp wit and many insightful observations on beer. We tasted a bunch of different beers, mostly brewed by people in attendance. It was fascinating to compare beers of the same style brewed with different yeasts or the same beer brewed by two different people or under slightly different conditions. There was also a very lively discussion regarding the Brooklyn-Schneider hopfen weiss, the Schneider-Brooklyn hopfen weiss, and the clone brew brewed by an attendee designed after the same recipe. I am sure Hans-Peter Drexler's and Garret Oliver's ears were burning! In the end, I can't decide what was more fun- meeting all the characters present, or getting a chance to discuss beer with such a knowledgeable and accomplished group of beer enthusiasts.

The Good Things In Life

I had an outrageously bad day at work. It was just one of those days where everything went wrong, including a rip in the seat of my new uniform pants and a painful sunburn. When I got home, I promptly spilled a full glass of beer all over the carpet. Needless to say I was pretty cranked up. But just when things could have gotten worse, they didn't! Mr. Chops informed me that we had received two lovely gifts! Gerry stopped by with freshly home-roasted coffee beans AND Farmer Kate had passed along some wonderful chicken manure tea for my tomato plants! Nothing brightens a day like coffee and poop! Now, if only someone would drop by with some extra skin pigment I'd be all set!

I Have Become That Person!

When I started thinking about learning to brew, one of the first things I became afraid of was being that person. You know, the person that is so proud that they fermented anything, that they can't tell whether or not it's any good? That person who gives you a bottle of home-made wine as a serious gift, like it was from a famous chateau in France. Inevitably, they ask you how it was and you smile and promptly begin lying. I remember a certain instance where a man wanted to thank my father-in-law (who doesn't drink) for helping him build a porch by giving him a case of homemade wine. Well, guess who got stuck w/ a majority of those bottles? Needless to say, it was terrible. The label said "Merlot" but it tasted like grape juice mixed with moonshine.

Anyhow, the other day I finally siphoned off the sake I'm making into their secondary fermenters! When this is done, I choose to save a little and drink it fresh as nigorizake. I took about two pints, pasteurized them, and chilled them. I was so excited!!! I tasted it, and I swear to you- it wasn't the pride talking- it really did taste good. Cautiously, I had Mr. Chops taste it, and he confirmed that it was drinkable and actually pretty good. Then, the next thing that popped into my head was, I needed a third opinion! So, I immediately thought of Geof and Carla. They are nice enough to read my blog, so I thought they wouldn't mind being guinea pigs. I called them up and they procured a sample. I felt pretty good about this because, well, I had tasted it, and it seemed pretty much on the mark. They both have excellent taste, so I told them to be honest, and that if it sucked I wanted to know. Fortunately, I spared them the interrogation and ended up answering my own question.

I opened another jar of the fresh sake last night and to my horror, it tasted slightly off and the smell was definitely off. I guess I must have done something wrong. Which is strange, because the jar I had tasted first was prepared exactly the same way and tasted pretty good. Oh dear, I am that person! Sorry Geof and Carla! At least I didn't send over a case.

Squirrels, Poised and Ready For Attack

Recently, I have been doing a little soul-searching regarding alternate sources of protein. This started when I noticed an unnatural abundance of squirrels in our yard. They delight in digging in my vegetable garden. Not to eat, which would be understandable, but just to dig up whatever seedlings I just planted. People don't believe me, but I am convinced these little buggers suffer from serious passive aggressive streak. I once had a squirrel bring a perfectly ripe melon onto my porch, take one large bite out of it, and leave it there so I would be sure to see it. There are just so many things wrong with rodents exhibiting this sort of behavior.

For a while, I prayed for more predators in my back yard. Nature has a way of taking care of itself, right? Surely, I wasn't the only one to notice the abundance, of fat juicy squirrels. Amazingly, my prayers were answered and since this winter we have gained a resident pair of red shouldered hawks, a very large coyote, and most recently, a family of red foxes. Unfortunately, they just can't keep up, because, as my friend Mike observed; you could swing a cat and hit five or six of them!

But wait! Aren't humans predators? Shouldn't I be helping balance the rodent to predator ratio too? How many times do I get the opportunity to solve a problem by eating it? Killing two squirrels with one stone so to speak.

The real question here is, do I actually want to consume a rodent? Is a "tree rat" a little too close to a regular rat? But the truth is, as much as I hesitate, secretly I am also rather curious as to what these little grey annoyances taste like. I imagine them tasting like rabbit, although an article I read suggested they taste more like duck. Mmmm...furry duck, that has potential.

Cautiously, I have begun seeking out recipes. I started with the only preparation I had ever heard about for squirrel- Brunswick stew. Sounds pretty benign and almost sophisticated until you read the ingredients. This is a stew made with, gasp- okra (one of the very few foods I will not eat), corn, lima beans, large quantities of KETCHUP, Worcestershire sauce, stewed tomatoes, chicken broth. Ketchup in stew? A resounding blech! Oh, and like burgoo, the type of meat you choose for this culinary disaster is optional. It could be squirrel, but could also include everything from chicken, rabbit, opossum, raccoon, woodchuck etc. etc. Oh, the horror! Eating on the lower side of the food chain seems like a very slippery slope.

Then, a well-timed article from Ms. Yum Yum came to the rescue. It was a story about how in Britain, a natural food store can't keep their free range squirrel meat from selling out. It included a recipe for squirrel meat pie that really buoyed my enthusiasm. Truthfully, it made me feel a whole lot better knowing that there were people, other than straving toothless red necks with unexplained extra appendages, that ate squirrels. Then came another recipe for squirrels with cream sauce! And finally, squirrel and sausage gumbo. Hussah! This is a little more like it. Now that I am armed with some solid culinary guidance all I need is a couple of squirrels. Waste not, want not and cue up that theme music from Jaws....

Don't Be So Bitter

I have been talking with people about IPA's and the trend towards ultra- hoppy beers. In my impromptu survey, it seems that more men than women are into this phenomenon. An acquaintance who runs a bar remarked to me that women almost never order IPA's but the ones who like them are addicts. If a woman likes IPA's that is all they tend to order. Hmmmmm... why all this contention over hoppiness? I have also read that men like bitter tastes more than women due to the fact that in general they consume more zinc than women. Zinc, it appears, effects the way bitter foods taste. The more zinc you have in your diet, the more you like bitter flavors. As for me, I am on the fence. I like the flowery citrusy qualities of hops, and some bitterness but an overwhelming, lingering bitterness turns me off. A good example of this serious bitterness is Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Ale. I just can't figure out why this much bitterness would be a considered a good thing. I know some people- all men- who love this beer. It has been suggested to me that a lack of appreciation for bitterness equals an unsophisticated palate. Well, although this may be true, I just can't help but think extreme bitterness is form of taste bud torture. Frankly, it reminds me of the taste of gourds. I know, you're wondering what beer has to do with gourds. You are also probably wondering how I know what one tastes like. I offer this story: When my sister and I were kids we were un-satisfied with carving boring old pumpkins at Halloween. We felt we needed to carve a cucurbit with a little more panache, like say, gourds. What we didn't realize was that pumpkins are the time honored squash of choice for carving because they are ideally suited for it. Unlike pumpkins, gourds are rock hard, have a very small inner void and disproportionately thick walls. So, after a long struggle and many failed efforts at finding very tiny candles to fit in our mini-lanterns, we realized yet another reason people don't carve gourds- the taste. Long after we had cleaned up and washed our hands, anytime our fingers came in contact with our mouths we were assaulted by a horrible extremely bitter taste that lingered even after drinks of water or washing. The taste was so terrible we decided that this bitter gourd flavor could be a form of torture. A person would be forced to lick a piece of gourd thereby having to endure that bitter unpleasant taste for all eternity. Or perhaps, now that we're older and wiser we could just skip the gourds and substitute a Bigfoot Ale. There, you see? I can blame my dislike of the very bitter on my childhood. Freud be praised!

So to improve my unsophisticated palate I have popped some zinc tablets and done some research. I have come up with a few beers in this ultra hopped style that I do like. My top pick is Hazed and Infused, an unfiltered dry-hopped English style ale. My second pick is Hop Devil by Victory Brewing. These, in my opinion, have a goodly amount of hop flavor, and an enjoyably bitter but not gourd-like finish. And, Mr. Goodbar- for your information Victory Brewing is in PA so I would consider it local. Hooray!

Moromi Magic

The sake saga continues. Over the past couple days I went from chilling the sake porridge (moromi) in the root cellar at 50 degrees for five days to adding more koji and steamed rice and warming it back to 70 degrees. As I have continued on in this process, I have added three more batches of koji and steamed rice. Each time an additon was made, I cooled the steamed rice by stirring it in cold water and then adding it to the moromi. After this, I had to stir the rice/ yeast/ koji mix for a half an hour non-stop with my hands to break up any clumps of rice. Yes that's right- I was elbow deep in lukewarm in rice porridge. At first, it was kind of boring to sit there with my hands in a bucket of mushy rice, but I have to say after the third addition of rice, I was actually sad I didn't have to do it again. The mixture was pleasantly warm, and smelled deliciously of rice, yeast, and alcohol. As I stirred, a fizzy creamy foam of bubbling of yeast comes to the surface. It smelled so good, I found myself wanting to take a bath in the stuff. I thought it would be kind of like an oatmeal bath- a very expensive, labor intensive, oatmeal bath that is. And now- 3 weeks in the root cellar, which means only 3 more weeks until nigorisake! I really hope it stays cold enough. Note to self: start sake one month earlier next time! The Japanese usually brew this type of sake in winter for the express reason of keeping it cold during the initial fermentation process (they think they are sooo smart). Anyhow, if I was smarter and more motivated I would have done the same and brewed in winter to avoid biting my nails next to the root cellar thermometer every day.

Maggie Had A Little Lamb (More Meat Musings From Lady Pilsner)

Eating healthy is important me and my husband but when we moved to the Czech republic we had very minimal access to organic meat. Since we had a field designated for pasture behind our house, the first thing that came to mind was to raise some. The first question we had was which type of livestock requires the least maintenance? We initially thought about rabbits and sheep, but heard that rabbits were susceptible to disease while sheep were reputed to be "easy." Seeing as neither my husband nor I are serious farmers, sheep won out. We started raising sheep with a group of friends, each party having between 1 and 4 sheep, most of which were less than a year old. Our first year wasn't that successful -- losses included one of our yearlings and two of the first year's lambs. This was due largely to lack of resources and lack of experience. Then there was the time that our ram launched himself through one of the windows in the back of our house. But that’s another story. It didn't take us too long to get the hang of things, though. Lambing was unnerving but exciting. I fondly recall the first warm days in early spring when we'd let the sheep out for a while in the back yard and watch "sheep TV" through our bedroom window.

For years, I had actually been a vegetarian. I wondered whether I would be able to view these cute little lambs as food. However, it did help that even in all my meat free years I still reminisced fondly about Mom's perfect medium rare lamb chops. In the end, I was able to handle "knowing" the meat I was eating. I have always thought that there is something hypocritical about buying meat in a form where its easy to forget that it was ever a living creature. Also, by the time a lamb is ready to slaughter, the adorable factor is gone. Best of all, it has been an absolute luxury to have an abundance of lamb in the freezer.

This winter, however, my husband spent about two and a half months in Moscow for work, leaving me alone with the stamping, bah-ing, gate-kicking oat-addicts in their shed. Which is, why I'm not so sad that he wanted to give up the sheep this year. What makes this easier is that we've had to take down the fence on our field (I'm sure the EU is behind those codes...) So, the sheep are summering on a friend's field, and this year's lambs will be our last, for now, at least.....Anyone know how to raise free-range rabbits?

Here are some things I learned about lamb along the way:

Lamb ribs - cook on high to render the fat as much as possible, then braise a good long while (blackberry jam works for a sweet-and-sour touch)

Ram meat - three year old un-castrated ram meat is NOT too strong, nor are the chops too tough; eliminate as much fat as possible to make the meat milder; leg meat is good in long-cooked stews;

Sausage- 1/3 ram to 2/3 pork meat is good for sausages (with ewes, it seems to be 1/2 and 1/2)

Roasting - insert cloves of garlic and/or pieces of lemon rind into the meat, serve w/ jalapeño or garlic jelly-Yum!

Stews -- a Moroccan stew w/prunes from Nourishing Traditions (marinate overnight w/cumin, ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, olive oil, and lots of pepper; add prunes and grated lemon rind near the end of the cooking time) and a tinkered-with version of this Tuscan stew by the American lamb board were among the favorites:

And, if you plan on raising sheep- oats are to sheep as crack cocaine is to humans -- they do become addicted, and when the oat junkies hear you coming (or just opening the front door), the noise is deafening.

Radish Sandwich

Radishes, I am told, are a traditional European accompaniment to beer. Germans and Belgians in particular. I always wondered how this worked. Do they just serve big ol' piles of radishes layed out on a plate? Since the radishes I planted earlier this spring are ready for harvest, I was just dying to know how to serve them appropriately with beer. That's when Lynne Rossetto Kasper's Splendid Table, a public radio show about food, came to my rescue with a recipe for a Belgian tartine. I discovered The Splendid Table this winter while I was sacked out on the couch with my foot in a cast. Since then, I have been whipping through the podcast archive and subsequently boring my friends and family with fascinating factoids from the show. So much so, that I have shortened "The Splendid Table" to just "the S.T." The thing is, that the show seems to read my mind. I think about radishes and beer, and there's Lynne with a recipe. I wonder what to do with all my leftover goose fat- Lynne is suddenly full of suggestions. Anyhow, I heard Lynne mention a radish sandwich, or tartine, as perfect accompaniment to beer. You better belive my ears perked up! Here's her recipe: basically cut up some crusty bread, and spread it with a soft, tasty cheese- I chose goat cheese because that was what I had around. Thinly slice radishes and fan them over the top of your bread and cheese. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Problem solved! Delicious! Lynne suggested a Belgian wit beer, but we have Schneider Edel Weiss on tap and I must say it seemed to do the trick!

Boundary Bay

Every once in a while, we are blessed with a visitor from the West Coast. And no visit from a "west coaster" is complete without sumptuous tales of delicious locally roasted coffee, micro-breweries a-plenty, weekends in wine country, exotic cuisine, the miraculous lack of mosquitoes, black flies, and bad attitudes. So, when Mr. Chops's friend from Bellingham came to stay last weekend, we were not surprised that he came with tales of the totally hip beer scene in Washington. However, being a consummate excellent house guest- he also brought some samples! And yes, these two beers were truly delicious.


Usually, I object to showing off photos of beer I've sampled and most of my local readers can't find anywhere, but in this case, I made an exception. These beers were really tasty and they came from brew pub. Being from CT, when I hear "brew pub", I think of insipid beers and lackluster food in a buffed up over-priced bar/restaurant. There's usually an unused brewing set up in the middle of the dining room for "atmosphere". I thought perhaps some of these CT brew pubs might like to go and take notes from Boundary Bay on how it's really done. I hear the place has a nice atmosphere, beer garden, decent food, live music, and of course, really good beer. Judging from the two samples we had, I believe this is true. The IPA was clean, refreshing, nicely hopped and pretty much everything an IPA should be. The scotch ale was surprisingly balanced with a malty nose, subtle sweetness, and pleasantly dry hoppy finish. According to their website, Boundary Bay also just brought home a silver medal from the 2008 World Beer Cup for their brew "Cabin Fever". At any rate, they must be doing something right because Boundary has also just been crowned "largest brew pub" selling over 5300 barrels of beer in 2007. That's a lot of beer. But, in Bellingham, "the City of Subdued Excitement", one would expect nothing less.

Some Updates

I know all of you stay up a night wondering how Mr. Chop's kraut came out. I am happy to report it did come out wonderfully, but sadly, the persistent human need to mess with perfection won out in the end. The kraut was really good, it tasted quite a bit like "Bubbie's Sauerkraut" the specialty natural kraut we found from the health food store. Fresh tasting, crunchy, slightly sour, and generally yummy- not like that steamed, mushy, vinegary glop you get on top of a ballpark frank. It didn't even smell up the house! Anyhow, the only problem was that there wasn't quite enough kraut juice to cover the cabbage, so Mr. Chops figured he'd add some more water and salt to the crock the way he did when he first put the mix together. Well, within days the cabbage was a slimy moldy mess. Sniff! Sniff! In hind sight, he admitted he should have boiled the extra brine before adding it. I guess there's always next time when we'll use fresh cabbage from the garden. This way, we'll be sure to have plenty of cabbage juice.

Also, we are on day 15 of brewing sake, with a month and a half left to go. So far, I'm still playing with fermented rice porridge, or, as the Japanese say, "moto". Ooh, the anticipation! Actually, this is torture for me, I am not really into deferred gratification.

Beer Makes News!

Not to brag, but, it just so happens that two of my recent blog topics have made NPR this week: women brewing AND the rising price of beer. What can I say? You read it here first!

The biggest news is that for the first time EVER a woman won the Brewmaster Award at the World Beer Cup. Way to go, Tanya Cornett of Bend Brewing Company in Colorado! Sadly, Tanya's beer is only available in Bend. I included the link to the interview on "The Bryant Park Project" here out of respect for Tanya, but it's kind of dumb. The guy interviewing this poor lady describes himself as a "big beer guy" and then goes on to ask if bock beer means that the beer is made from scraping the bottom of beer barrels. Huh? Then they discuss maibock and he asks if a maibock is "one of those thick beers?" What?????

Link to interview:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90425216

Then, while listening to "All Things Considered" I thought I had found a small sliver of solace in this short commentary by Dennis O'Toole about the rising price of beer.

Link to interview:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90483748

But the solace was short lived and just made me get on this here soap box.



The rising price of beer is certainly not a new topic, so I think the only way Mr. O'Toole got his lame piece accepted was through some gratuitous democratic candidate name-dropping to keep things "current". He mentions in his commentary that Obama was seen drinking a Pabst Blue Ribbon. He gives us this random tidbit to prove that Barack might care about the rising price of beer. All I've got to say is- anyone drinking a PBR definitely doesn't care about the cost of beer, or beer at all for that matter. Clearly, there must have been an ulterior motive. Um, I don't know- maybe he's drinking it for political points? Have you been listening to all the media blather labeling this guy an "elitist"? Personally, I have no problem with a presidential candidate being an elitist. I don't want "average guys" running the free world- that's how we got the Bush administration. We can probably surmise that Obama got way more out of publicly imbibing this classic "average guy beer" than any of the poor shmoes that actually drink it. I guess this is what actually links a guy like Barack to the "average guy"- they're both not drinking Pabst for the taste. On the contrary, Mr. O'Toole! This beer wasn't expensive! It was probably the CHEAPEST public relations play Barack made in years. What a deal! Drink a crappy brew and look instantly "average" for 5 bucks or less! (assuming he payed for it, which he probably didn't)
I'm just trying to imagine the conversation.
Obama to Bartender: "Make it a Pabst!"
Bartender to Obama: "OK, that'll be five dollars."
Obama to bartender and roaring of the crowd of average admirers:
"Hey now, beer is getting more and more expensive, isn't it? Don't worry people! Change is on the way!"


However, perhaps there might be a glimmer of hope here. At least Obama, unlike Bush, is allowed to drink a beer in public. This is because, unlike George W., Barack knows when to say when.


Recently, there was a huge media twit over Bush drinking what turned out to be a non-alcoholic beer with Angela Merkel in France at the G8 summit. Oh no! Bush is off the wagon! Trust me here folks, this is the least of our concerns. Which brings me to the question: if we can't trust our president with a non-alcoholic beer, just what can we trust him with?




Here he is folks, Mr. Average Guy! Nothing elite here! Admire the poise, the dignity, the patronizing look on Ms. Merkel's face.... I bet she had a couple glasses of scotch and a tranquilizer after having to spend the whole day with George. Now what do you suppose Ms. Clinton and Mr. McCain drink?



http://gawker.com/news/pretty-dry/george-w-bush-actually-isnt-drinking-again-yet-267173.php

A Word From The Carnivorous Regalis!

Those of you loyal followers of my blog already know that the "Carnivorous Regalis" is my dad- the consummate meatatarian. This is a man that can pack in an entire roast beef in a single sitting. He refers to this affectionately as a "Piggy Dinner". This dinner may or may not include a potato side dish. Vegetables? Clearly, you jest! Anyhow, my Dad, who in all my years of living in the same house with me, has only cooked me one thing that I can remember- scrambled eggs. When I was three. That's it. As a graduate of MIT, and a bonafide original computer geek, his interests were understandably elsewhere. He is still the only person I know that uses all the math I never learned in school on a daily basis. But now, for the first time ever, math and cooking have melded for my dad in his endeavor to cook a perfect prime rib! He referred me to this article on How To Cook A Prime Rib from the extremely informative site http://www.cookingforengineers.com/

Carnivorous Regalis writes....

"I ran across this recipe a while ago, and thought you might be interested, given your web site. It was amazing to see guys time-graphing the roast temperature every 20 minutes or so, or another guy using a calibrated lab thermometer to measure his roast. It was really that old anal-retentive engineer approach to cooking that I thought you might find amusing.

Then, I decided to try the "roast in 200 F oven" technique described in the article on a tenderized / marinated eye round roast.
FANTASTIC!
It was, as they described almost uniformly, beautifully medium-rare pink right to within 1/8" of the edge of the meat.
I probably pigged down about 2 lbs. tonight, with the rest for dinner tomorrow (maybe with a potato next time to make up for the shorter ration).

My differences:
* roast 3.5 lbs.
* took 4 hours, almost 68 mins / pound
* my digital, probe in the meat, display outside the oven thermometer read 150 F when pulled it out.

Just to show you how anal retentive your father is, I now have 3 digital thermos of the type described above, plus 2 ostensibly high-quality glass dial-type thermometers (looks like a great big thumb tack).
* all 3 digitals read within 1 degree of each other, from 130 F to 208 F (boiling water at 2600 ft)
* The 2 glass thermos read within approx. 5 degrees (lower) than the digitals in hot water tests on the stove.
* When you use both types in a real roast, the glass thermos read anywhere between 6 to 16 degrees lower than any of the digitals. The glass thermos hit around 135 F (claimed to be medium rare) when the digitals hit 150 F (almost medium). The 135 glass / 150 digital reading seems to produce what I consider "perfect medium rare".
* I've googled my brains out trying to find out why the difference, and why the difference gets worse in real-life cooking, but so far nothing."

Sake anyone?

Brewing sake? What happened to brewing beer? Technically, I can actually say I am brewing beer- sort of. Sake, although we like to call it "rice wine", is actually more like an un-carbonated beer. Wine, by definition is a one step fermentation process involving soft fruit or vegetable matter. Beer on the other hand is a grain-based process that involves more than one fermentation step. Sake basically falls into the latter description, but, in the end it is not carbonated, but filtered, pasteurized, and aged for a brief time, more like wine. So you see where we westerners could get confused.


So why the hell am I brewing sake? I just started reading about it and it intrigued me. I read that if you live in Japan, you aren't allowed to brew sake in your home! For this reason, there are many of the old-style rice wines Japanese people traditionally use for ceremonies and cooking that are becoming extinct. Also, the more I read, the more I found out about all the different kinds of sake that aren't available in the United States. Particularly a "fresh" version of sake called namazake that is unpasteurized, unfiltered and only available in Japan early in spring at the end of the sake brewing season. It's human nature to obsess over things you can't have right? That's why I've got to have namazake! Sake also seemed to be a simpler, less ingredient intensive process to me than beer making, but now I am not so sure. What you lack in special ingredients, you make up for in the intricate process.


Basically all you need to brew sake is:


Quality sushi grade rice
Koji (rice inoculated w/ yeast that breaks down rice starch)
Brewing Yeast (Sake #9)
Yeast nutrient
Water
A rice steamer
Fermentation Container (like for brewing beer)
3 Gallon jugs for storing your sake


It's what you do with these ingredients that's the key. It all starts with soaking koji and rice over night in water and then steaming the rice the next day and adding it to the koji in the fermentation bucket. This starts the "moto" which is basically a porridgey mixture of koji, rice and yeast that builds up alcohol converting strength that then leads to primary fermentation. This process lasts 17 days. I know- primary fermentation for beer only takes a couple hours. For sake you must add more yeast, rice, koji, and take the mixture from a warm 70 degree environment back to 50 degree temp for varying amounts of time. So far, it's like agreeing to feed your neighbor's hamster- out of sight, out of mind. I have a constant feeling like I'm forgetting something. The rice mixture (or hamster) sits so silently in the corner that you forget it's there. Every couple of days you think- oh my Gosh! I forgot to stir the moto/ Oh no! I starved the hamster! Well, so far I have not forgotten my moto, and thank god I am not babysitting anyone's pet rodent! But there are 14 more days to go for step one, so let's hope for the best.


If anyone is interested in joining the sake brewing challenge I got my instructions fro this excellent website:
http://www.taylor-madeak.org/index.php


This site is an exhaustive collection of info on sake including a glossary for Japanese sake vocab:

http://www.sake-world.com/index.html

Trout Season

Sometimes there's an up side to being slow at work- you get to go fishing instead! Mr. Chops brought back these beauties for lunch the other day. You just can't beat a couple of nice fresh trout. Just gut, dredge in seasoned flour, and fry whole. Serve with salad, and a beer of your choice. As Mr. Chops remarked, it reminded him of his trip to Germany. You know what would go well this spread? Schneider Brooklyner hopfen-weiss. This beer is a cooperative effort between, as you would assume from the name, Schneider and Sons and Brooklyn Brewery. Head brewmasters Hans-Peter Drexler and Garret Oliver both brew their own batches of the same beer recipe. Personally, my taste lends towards the Schneider Brooklyner, not the Brooklyn Schneider- however, it would be fun to compare and decide for yourself. I find the Schneider version is less sweet and more balanced with a lovely extra-hoppy finish- which is pretty unusual for a German brew. This is only the second year both breweries have released this special beer and supplies are limited. Last year, I had to wrestle the owners of more than one liquor store to buy the last bottles on the shelf that they had secretly been hoarding for themselves. Bastards!

Meat from Way Back

A friend from the Bellingham, Washington sent me this gem of a website, http://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/spec.html. It contains excerpts from a book called the "Gallery of Regrettable Food". The author, James Lileks has compiled a truly exhaustive collection of vintage meat, vegetable, and jello illustrations (such as the one pictured above) from antique cook books. For the main course try Meat!, Meat!, Meat!. Go for a side dish with the Unbearable Sadness of Vegetables. And when you're ready for dessert, why not try some Jello? This site is chock full of food nostalgia and twisted humor. It reminds me of being a kid and looking through all my Mom's New York Times Cookbooks from the 1970's, only scarier. I was always so fascinated by those Jello molds...

Forget Burning Your Bra, Brew Beer Instead!

Traditionally, beer was brewed at home by housewives-at least until the church and the government got involved. Yes, you heard that right, it was a wifely duty to brew beer. In the 1700's, female brewers were the norm. In England during the 1700s, a survey found 78% of licensed brewers were women. In fact, certain laws stated that the tools used in brewing were solely the woman's property. Hah! Back off, man! Git yer hands off MY fermentin' vessel!

It is said that in medieval times, female herbalists and healers used to make the best beer of all. But, that gave these industrious women too much status and power- so the Catholic church took that power away from them. These women then became widely known as "witches". From this time on, monasteries took over most of the brewing of beer and used the proceeds to supplement there cost of living. Now, fast forward a couple hundred years to that ugly thing called prohibition (perpetuated by housewives I am embarrassed to say). Thank God Jimmy Carter finally put an end to that when he signed the bill that allowed people to brew beer at home again! Finally, a president who did something useful AND democratic. The truth is, that beer making has almost always been associated with power, and financial independence. And who doesn't want that, right? Ahhh, imagine if you will, that instead of having to work full time jobs and endlessly driving children to soccer practice, violin lessons, etc. women all over the world were brewing beer instead!

Previously, I have wondered why I should learn to brew when there are so many beers out there that I already liked. But what's a beer drinkin' lady like myself supposed to do when my favorite beers are now priced out of my budget? REVOLT!!! I guess I finally have to show all these greedy capitalists how it's done and brew some beer of my own. And, since I am a chick, no doubt I'll be really good at it. So ladies, let's go where Martha Stewart has never gone before, and get back to some real hardcore domesticity! Forget Desperate Housewives and making beaded napkin rings! Make your kid late for gymnastics and brew the good stuff! I'm guessing your husband wouldn't mind a bit. Except, perhaps, when you lord your newly acquired power over him by pronouncing that no more beer will be brewed for the summer unless he gets his butt out there and mows the lawn..... To be fair though, this could really work both ways. She or he who brews the best beer gets to wear the pants!

Rascally Rabbit

What's more fun than Hops and Chops? H & C with guest contributors!!! I can hardly contain my excitement. The truth is, sometimes I bore myself, and probably you too, so I'd like to introduce you to my sister. She lives in the Czech Republic with her husband (pictured at the top of my Blog as the "Lord of Pilsner"). She has been known to do all sorts of cool things, such as: speak fluent czech, raise her own sheep for meat, make her own soap from scratch, cure her own lamb sausages, and stand up to my merciless teasing. Basically, she's everything a sister should be. So feast your eyes on her latest post! PETA Members Be Forewarned: the following photo is not for sissies.

"Rascally Rabbit" posted by My Sister, Lady Pilsner

My sister, Ms. Chops, invited me to write a bit for Hops and Chops. And, by chance, it seems that I encountered some meat she hasn't yet featured in my "catch" of the morning – a freshly skinned rabbit from my egg lady. To give a little background, I live in a small village in the Czech Republic where small scale farmers still exist. Though, who knows how long this will last, given all sorts of new EU regulations. Any number of people in my village have chickens, but it took a while to find someone who would sell me a reasonable amount of eggs even throughout the winter when eggs are scarce. Hence, my egg lady, who offhandedly offered me a fresh rabbit this morning! We've cooked rabbits before, but don't have a reliable source, so needless to say, it was a welcomed treat.
My husband and I have actually have had a bit of a saga where cooking rabbit is concerned. Our first try was dry, and managed to have patches on it that tasted like turpentine! The only thing I can think of to blame for this was the Czech powdered rosemary. Because rabbit doesn't have much fat and tends to be dry, I've tried brining it. This definitely helps, and we've had some tasty rabbits, but I think I can finally say today's rabbit was a tender, juicy, and flavorful success! In the Hops and Chops tradition: I can't necessarily write an exact recipe, but I brined the rabbit for most of the day in a roughly 16:1 water to salt mixture (as pictured above), cut it into pieces, browned them and then braised the pieces in a covered pan with water, crushed garlic cloves, pepper and juniper berries. Sue seemed to think that an hour sounded like a lot, but I think the rabbit was in there for more than an hour and a half. I added some cream and flour to the juices and managed to satisfy my Czech husband's never-ending and very Czech obsession with sauce (it has something to do with their dumplings, I think.) Anyway, I'm sure the dumplings will have an entry of their own sometime...

Who Needs Belgians When There's La Merle?

As I have mentioned previously, my recent beer field trips have been so disappointing. But our latest trip was so bad it almost made my poor husband cry. Given the latest rash of bad beer experiences, we figured our trip to Poughkeepsie would be a ringer. Granted, it's an hour's drive from home- but when there's great beer and food involved, no distance is too far! Half Time (or, as my husband refers to it, Beer Disneyland) and the restaurant Crew comprise one of the sweetest package deals we have found for beer buying/drinking. Crew is staffed by the local culinary school where- GASP!- you can indeed have a lovely dinner, AND a really good draught beer (no chicken wings or Miller Lite anywhere to be seen). Then, to top off the evening, you wander next door to Half Time and buy a cart full of yummy hard-to-find beers from one of the best international beer selections in the whole tri-state area. What a delightful trip, right? Wrong. The first disappointment was pulling up to Crew and discovering that it had been closed by the Feds a week prior for tax evasion. Like I need any other reasons to hate the IRS! Sigh, but we still have Beer Disneyland, right? Um, yeah, I guess. Half Time still has a really good selection of beers. However, the disappointment is that all the Belgian beers we love are all- and I am not exaggerating here- a good 5 to 7 dollars more expensive than they were the last time we were here 6 months ago! $20 for a bottle of Cantillon Rose de Gambrinus, $17 for a bottle of De Ranke XX Bitter, and $6 for a small bottle of Rochefort 8! What a kick in the crotch!

Now, I realize there are many factors that contribute to rising beer prices. The de-valued dollar, the rising euro, the hop shortage, rising energy costs, the gaining popularity of beer, blah, blah, blah. I realize that $20 is a bargain for a quality bottle of wine and that I should be happy that beer is gaining status in the world. I love wine, but one of the many reasons we love beer is that it always seemed you could get a better beer for a better price- a truly exceptional bottle of beer for $9-$10 vs. a truly exceptional wine for $25 and up. What's worse, is that every microbrewery in the US is running with the "artisan beer" thing and using it to justify really pricey beers of their own. Dogfish, the apparent darling of American microbreweries, now has their "Extreme Beer" series that run about $20 for a 750 ml bottle. Dogfish also generously offers some of these rare brews in a 12 oz bottle for $8 a piece. Who buys these? I guess people that have a lot of disposable income. Other breweries are offering some special higher priced series of beers such as Harpoon's "Hundred Barrel" series, Southhampton's "XXII" series, and Allagash's "Tribute" and "Barrel Aged" Series. I know I sound like a total whining cheapskate- but beer has always been "the people's drink". I do think it's great to have really special American-made crafty beers. It's a step in the right direction. But could we concentrate a little more on making really tasty, yet affordable beer? There seems to be some serious discrepancy in the market between special series beers and the average brew. I think we, as Americans, tend to get a little carried away. We think "artisanal" and what comes out is a beer made with organic barley, hand-picked by monkeys, smoked with Indonesian green tea leaves and aged in an 100-year-old antique whiskey barrel made by the King of England' s second cousin. Sounds impressive- but would you want to drink it everyday?



Until a more enlightened day arrives, I will console myself with the moderately priced and dang' good (but still woefully hard to find in CT)- La Merle by North Coast Brewing. This beer is the finest example of what I consider to be the great potential of American breweries to make quality, yet moderately priced, Belgian style ales. The North Coast People suggest pairing it with some ahi tuna ceviche- which sounds totally awesome. I recommend, in honor of the start of fishing season, a nice fresh crispy fried whole trout with an almond-butter pan sauce. If you want this recipe- let me know and I'll send it you. If anyone has any other favorite American Belgian-style brews, give me a shout out. I'd love to hear what you have to say on this matter!

Roast Duck- The Un-Leftover

So what's better than a crispy roasted duck? The same duck, re-heated the next day! I am so totally obsessed with roast duck. When done correctly, it is as close to a religious experience as I get. I know, everybody thinks of duck as a fall or winter dish- but there is absolutely nothing like duck roasted over an open fire. Therefore nice weather for a fire = roast duck. I used to do this whole kakamamie ritual that involved taking the duck two days before I cooked it and par boiling it, bathing it in sake, salting it, and leaving it to dry out for a crispier skin, but this it totally unnecessary- especially if you have access to a place to cook over fire. Real fire- not a gas grill. Now, I just grab that duck out of the fridge, separate the skin from the breast and thigh meat, prick holes in the skin all over with a fork, and then rub fresh grated garlic, ginger and kosher salt and lots of pepper in between the skin and the meat, in the cavity, and all over the outside. At this point, you can let it sit uncovered in the refrigerator for the day until you're ready to cook it. To get the duck started, I prep my fire outside and then put the duck in a hot (450 F) oven for about an hour while the coals heat up. When the coals are ready, throw your duck on the grill and crisp the skin to your heart's content or about another 45 minutes depending on the fire and the size of your duck. The browner the better. At this point, you can eat your duck as is, or for an even more delicious crispy duck, let it cool, put it in the fridge, and heat it up the next day in a hot oven on a rack at 375 F until re-warmed and really crispy. Turn occasionally for maximized crispiness. For some reason this tends to be even more delicious and crispy than the first day. Yum. Serve with beer. My recommendation of the day is Hitachino Nest White Ale. Come to think of it, Hitachino Red Rice Ale might actually be better with the full flavor of the duck. While you are waiting for your duck to cook over the fire, drink the white, then drink the red with your meal. Then you don't have to decide. MMMMMMM. Hitachino, Hitachino, Hitachino, Hitachino! It's just so fun to say.

A Self Pity Theme Song for My F'ing Foot

So here I am on the couch again. I went for surgery on my foot and seeing as the sign at the Hospital where I registered said AMBULATORY SURGERY I figured I'd be WALKING out. Well, no, in fact I am in a splint that was bigger than the cast I was in for 8 weeks this winter. And worse- no weight bearing on this foot. I am in such a pathetic state- it reminds me of that song by the Statler Brothers, "Flowers on The Wall".

I keep hearin' you're concerned about my happiness
But all that thought you're givin' me is conscience I guess
If I was walkin' in your shoes, I wouldn't worry none
While you 'n' your friends are worried about me I'm havin' lots of fun

[Chorus:]Countin' flowers on the wall
That don't bother me at all
Playin' solitaire till dawn with a deck of fifty-one
Smokin' cigarettes and watchin' Captain Kangaroo
Now don't tell me I've nothin' to do

Last night I dressed in tails, pretended I was on the town
As long as I can dream it's hard to slow this swinger down
So please don't give a thought to me, I'm really doin' fine
You can always find me here, I'm havin' quite a time
[Chorus:]
It's good to see you, I must go, I know I look a fright
Anyway my eyes are not accustomed to this light
And my shoes are not accustomed to this hard concrete
So I must go back to my room and make my day complete
Countin' flowers on the wall....

I think Frances, my anesthesiologist, should have put me to sleep for three weeks until I could walk again. Oh, the wallowing!

Drink This, Not That

OK, I'm sure I am not shocking you by saying that beer does contain quite a few calories. All beers are not created equal and I am not talking about Bud versus Bud light. Some beers are surprisingly more caloric than others. A good rule of thumb is that the more alcohol by percentage in your beer, the more calories it has, although there are some exceptions. Belgian beers, for example, almost always have a higher calorie content because they are almost always more alcoholic. Most beers worth drinking have no indication of how many calories they contain, and well, that's just fine by me. Sam Adams and Dogfish are two of the only companies I have found that list the caloric contents of their beers on their websites. Dogfish, of course, prefaces their listings with "in case you care". Which I think is probably the best attitude. It seems like everywhere we look we are confronted with what is "bad" for you. I recently discovered some literature by an enterprising guy, David Zinczenko, who has written a book, Eat This, Not That. He suggests that we can merely substitute certain high calorie foods and beverages for similar things with lower calorie contents. I personally take issue with his list of beers. Neither the high calorie beer nor the substitutes seemed worth drinking. Come on, Yuengling light? You've got to be kidding me! Michelob Ultra? Preposterous! I propose this solution instead: drink good beer, not bad beer. In fact, try one of those high calorie, stronger Belgian beers because you won't have to drink as many of them to get a buzz. Oh, and you might be more satisfied, due to the fact that the beer you are drinking actually has flavor- something Zinczenko seems to have forgotten about. What? Eating and drinking is about taste?? Here's another idea; eat less junk food and drink more beer. Or, exercise more and drink whatever you want. And on and on. Why be obsessed with quantity instead of quality? Americans! When will we ever get our consumption priorities straight? No wonder the French and the rest of Europe think we are so silly.

Democracy and the Weather

I know this has nothing to do with beer or meat, but perhaps it has to do with the freedom to drink beer and eat meat or at least the freedom not to be taxed to death while doing so. It was just reported on NPR that voter turnout in the Pennsylvania primary was high due to the pleasant weather. Similarly, this winter, it was frequently noted that primary turnout was low in certain areas due to bad weather. Does anyone else see a problem with this??? Granted, its probably true. But doesn't this conger up the most namby pamby image of the average American??? Do you mean to tell me that American citizens can't get their lazy butts of the couch to pursue their democratic duty unless it's a nice outside??? I mean come on, it's not like we even walk anywhere anymore. What image does this present to the rest of the world? I mean, if nothing else, Americans are supposed to be tough. Perhaps not sensitive, or particularly subtle, but at least tough enough to brave some wind, rain, or cold to spend a minute or two in a voting booth before going back to the safety of their wide screen TVs. And to think our forefathers fought for this country's freedom from Britain without proper food or clothing or shoes in all kinds of weather for years on end. And we look outside and say, "Hmmm, it's raining, I guess I won't vote for the next prospective leader of the free world today". Maybe we are talking about food- milk toast, perhaps.

Bacon Martinis?

A friend of Hops and Chops expressed serious interest in Bacon Salt so I decided to give it a try. Dave and Justin, the "bacontreprenuers" behind Bacon Salt, kindly sent me some samples. I have to say that I do love their slogan- "Everything Should Taste Like Bacon". And they do have a point, bacon does make almost everything taste better. But does Bacon Salt make everything taste better? Well, I am not so sure. Here's the deal- if you like bacon bits or Bacos- you will love bacon salt. The salt comes in Original, Hickory, and Peppered flavors. I tried the hickory salt on my baked potato, and it was tasty enough. The next day I tried the original flavor on my eggs but I just found myself pining for real bacon. Of the four flavors- I definitely like the Hickory flavor the best. If you are dieting, and can't have real bacon I can see where this would be really handy. Take a look at Dave and Justin's Bacon Salt recipes at http://baconsalt.com/recipes/. They have compiled a bunch of really appealing recipes that would be terrific for the bacon-deprived. Since Bacon Salt is also vegetarian, it seems like the perfect thing to put on items like tofu, T.V.P., or vegetarian chili to add some meaty flavor to otherwise tasteless icky stuff. This makes me think of my sister, who, for many years, was a devout vegetarian- except that she ate bacon. When I tell people this story, I have found that she was not the only "vegetarian" to make this exception. There is just something magical and undeniably delicious about bacon. Even people who don't eat meat can't deny it. Perhaps Bacon Salt is the answer for these heretical bacon-eating vegetarians.

Being a health foodie, my biggest beef with this product is the ingredient list which is over 40 items long and includes MSG, artificial colors, and artificial flavorings. However, I do find myself dreaming of a maple-flavored martini with bacon salt around the rim. If only I had a maple-bacon flavored lollipop to stir this with....