Whining about beer, etc.

OK, I have been remiss in posting. I freely admit it. I got out of my cast the other day and confess to having a serious case of spring fever. Or, stump pulling fever. I am making room on the top of our hill for a bigger vegetable garden. Thus, removal of all shade-causing vegetation. So, out of a cast one day, taking down trees the next! This apparently results in much less blogging on my part. Oh yeah, and then there's that annoying other thing, my job. Yep, this is a whole lot of whining. But it gets worse. I have had nothing but bad beer experiences recently. All of my favorite haunts are now on my "S" list. I have gotten bad beer, skunked beer, beer from septic lines, too expensive beer and bad food to go with it! Need I go on? Is it really too much to ask for to have delicious beer on tap and good food? The Belgians seem to be able to pull it if with astonishing regularity. The truth is, the beer scene in CT is so small is doesn't take long to exhaust all the options. At least, we still have Maibock on tap. To tell the truth, I think I might become a beer hermit. I'll just stay home, with a nice clean, reasonbly priced, unseptic beer of my choosing. I'll just chop wood and drink beer. Maybe the Trappists and Benedictines have it right after all. Stay tuned for more positive things to come, soon, I promise.

Ham Pants

A while back I reviewed Stoltzfus bacon and now, in the name of research, I have personally inspected and savored one of their tasty hams. My brother and sister-in-law put on an awesome spread for Easter including an absolutely ginormous ham from Stoltzfus. It was the size of a small child- I am not kidding- it was almost 20 lbs!!! The ham was a big hit. It was tender, juicy, flavorful, and just plain delicious. In fact, I ate so much of it, and it was so yummy, I had to go home and put on my "ham pants". You know those comfy pants you wear after eating far too much? If only the uniform pants I wear to work were like ham pants. Sadly, they are not. And now, I am at back at work again having some conflicted, and constricted feelings about eating too much Easter ham.

Are You Getting Enough Beer?

Like your mother probably told you- everything in moderation. Although, it turns out, that this advice also applies to your drinking habits. The good news is that if you drink 1-2 glasses of beer a day, you have a better chance of being healthy later on in life! In fact, you have a better chance of being healthy than your tea-totalling neighbor who likes to eyeball your recycling bin chock full of beer bottles. You heard it here first! Not drinking is NOT healthy!! A recent study shows that a group of moderate drinkers age 65 and over were able to be more active, and perform more rigorous tasks than people in the same age group who drank a lot or not at all! Maybe I should be reviewing other people's empty recycling bins with equal indignation! Perhaps, like a Jehova, I should be knocking on people's doors on recycling day to preech the gospel of beer. "Excuse me", I would say, "I noticed you haven't been drinking enough recently. I'd like to talk with you about how drinking more beer will make you a healthier person." This would beat a copy of the Watch Tower every time!

Although the consensus is that drinking 1-2 glasses of any type of alcohol is ultimately beneficial, I like to think beer is a better choice. It's time for those red wine snobs to make room in the spotlight! Quality beer, especially bottle conditioned types, has many nutritional benefits from living yeast, vitamin A, vitamins B6, B2, B1, and trace minerals chromium, potassium, iron. And let's not forget hops either. The medicinal value of hops has been known for centuries: it is anti-inflammatory, anti-stress, and, like red wine, contains anti-oxidant compounds. Beer has a lot more to offer than that shot of JD for sure. Women have also reported a very hoppy beer like a IPA, helps with symptoms of PMS! You hear that gentlemen? When was the last time you offered your wife a quality beer? It could actually do more for you than a lousy bouquet of flowers.

Where, you ask, did all these pearls of wisdom originate? Well, those crafty Belgians have come up with yet another good idea: a whole website devoted to beer and health related issues! The site, http://www.beerandhealth.com/, is run by physician/journalist Dr. Marleen Finoulst, and sponsored by the professional federation of Belgian Brewers. You just have to love Belgium!

Here is a list of fast beer substitutions that will improve your health!

1. Skip the gym and drink a beer: moderate beer drinkers statistically weigh less overall than people who don't drink. They also have lower levels of triglycerides (bad cholesterol) than non-drinkers
2. Skip the soda and drink a beer: a regular sized soda contains twice the calories as a beer of similar size!
3. Skip the tofu and drink a beer: some beers containing hops are as good a source of favorable estrogens as soybeans
4. Skip the chocolate bunny and drink a beer: a person who consumes the same amount of calories from beer vs. the same amount of calories from chocolate will not gain as much weight! (Sorry about this Ms. Yum Yum!)

Pillaging vs.Drinking Beer

Spring has been ushered in with a half barrel of Hofbrau maibock. The traditional German spring beer is neither like a summer wheat, nor a winter bock but rather somewhere in between. It is an rich amber colored brew with a fresh spicey, almost peppery taste. It has hint of sweetness with notes of caramel, but finishes pleasantly hoppy, but not at all bitter. By in large, one of our favorite German beers. Like most German beers, it also goes very well with food. According to Hofbrau, when Sweden invaded Munich during the Thirty Years War in 1632, they were given 1000 buckets of beer (including 361 buckets of Maibock) to convince them not to pillage the city. Of course, those sensible Swedes took the deal. Sounds like an awfully good deal to me. Pillage a city, or drink beer? I say the choice is obvious.

Shanks For The Memories.

Our friend Martin is shipping off to Nepal this week. Before embarking upon adventures fueled by rice and dehydrated peas, he had one last request: German beer and a massive pork shank. Well, you can see why we love this man! Neil and I immediately arranged to meet at the one place certain to fulfill this request in proper style: The Old Heidelberg Restaurant in Bethel, CT. If you are not familiar with the pork shank at the O.H., well, you should be. It is a heroically proportioned, lovely, tender piece of meat, encased in perfectly crispy brown skin. Generally, when a patron actually manages to finish this amount of pork, they are greeted with an appreciable amount of dismay. You then have the added esteem of being remembered the next time you walk in as "the guy (or gal) who actually finished the shank". Enviously, we watched while Martin consumed his epic hunk of pork at a steady and confident pace. He paused only to flash a suspicious eye at the waitress if she came too close to his plate or to sip on his mammoth stein of beer. Did I mention the OH also has mammoth steins of delicious German beer?? Well they do! A true Hops and Chops hangout! In the end, only a few meager bones were left and Martin actually reviewed the dessert plate with some serious interest. Bravo, a fine performance! We are looking forward to Martin's book about his treks in Nepal sometime next year. Check out his new website for more info. Safe travels Martin! Call us when you get back for more pork and beer!

Westvleteren- The True "King of Beers"

If you are a beer snob, Westvleteren beer is the stuff of legends. These beers, made by the Vleteren Monks, have been named some of the best beers in the world by all sorts of beer gurus. And what really sends all of us beer nerds into frenzies is the fact that they are nearly impossible to procure. You literally, have to go to the Abbey of St. Sixtus gates in Ypres, Belgium where this is made and wait in line to get your greedy little mits on this stuff. This is because this beer is made by monks who don't care if people are clamoring to get more of it. They make enough beer to support their monastery, period. These guys are the ultimate in quality control. They make beers of epic complexity and quality- largely due to the fact that they simply refuse to alter their brewing process to make more beer, faster. How novel! They only sell their beer at the monastery gates and across the street in the cafe. What's more, this beer is never advertised and never exported- at least not by them. If it was up to the monks, this beer would never make it out of Belgium. Somehow- I can only assume by some divine miracle- a bottle appeared in our beer cellar. I just hope the monks aren't too upset. I hope they understand my need for delicious beer sometimes leads me into temptation. I realize you can order contraband cases of this stuff through online beer warehouses and pay big $$ for it. But I believe that this would be disrespectful, not to mention being condemned to hell for all eternity for stealing from those nice beer brewing monks. But back to the miracle beer, which we managed to cellar for a year. For the purpose of scientific tasting studies and the overall betterment of mankind- I'll have you know! The Westvleteren 8 and the 12 are both known for cellaring well, although the 12 is known for cellaring with improved results for up to 10 years! Lord knows what kind of sick, hoarding, madman managed to hold onto a case of Westvleteren beer for that long. We tried the Westvleteren 8, a year ago, and it was spectacular- but dare I say it- the flavor and sweetness were almost too much. A year later it is still a dark, fresh, finely carbonated beer with a tight and lofty head. The flavor has evened out a bit though, subtle hints of licorice, and a glorious, grapey aroma, but only the slightest sweetness. The finish was amazingly crisp and dry, belying it's relatively high alcohol content and dark color. Needless to say, it left us panting for more. It is worth noting, that although this is undoubtedly a wonderful beer, there are so many others that can be enjoyed without traveling to Belgium or spending a huge amounts of money. St. Bernardus, for instance, did all of the brewing for Wesvleteren for many years and their St. Bernardus 12 in the 750ml bottle is a pretty tasty relative of the Westvleteren 12.

For The "Fighting Irish"

For all those militant irish football hooligans out there, take this survey to find out how many five-year-olds you can take in a fight.

http://www.howmanyfiveyearoldscouldyoutakeinafight.com/

I can take 26, how about you?

The Polack Who Stole St. Patty's Day

Well, this is supposed to be a big day for the world of meat and beer. I should be happy, I know. The only problem is that although St. Patrick's Day is the quintessential day for imbibing beer and consuming vast quantities of corned beef- all of which I am usually extremely grateful for- today I am feeling strangely apathetic. Maybe it's because I'm Polish and secretly jealous that there isn't a national Polish-American day where everyone eats sausage and pierogi and knocks back Okocim instead of Guinness. Martha Stewart is Polish after all. You would think she would be able to orchestrate a pretty good party for the rest of us Polacks. But, perhaps my problem is just the green beer. Green beer is not an Irish invention. No, only an American would drink green beer. Why? Well, if we drink Coors, Miller and the like, so we're not exactly concerned about the flavor of our beer. So why then would we be interested in the color of our beer either? Sadly, green beer is a just another reminder that beer, for many, is just a cheep means to a not-so-glorious end.

I will admit, however, that the saving grace of St. Patty's is Guinness. First of all, it's dark color prevents people from turning it green. But, secondly, I have always had a fondness for this beer. It is the shining star on the mediocre tap line up found in most bars around the country. Unimaginative and ubiquitous perhaps, but it never disappoints. If poured well, it has a nice creamy head, and pleasingly low carbonation. It is relatively light bodied and high in flavor. Guinness is, as Neil puts it "a gateway beer". So, I console myself with the thought that on St. Patty's day there are silly lager-swilling people all over the U.S. ordering a halfway decent beer for a change. They are having a fleeting brush with a beer that possesses actual character. Perhaps, every St. Patrick's day a few more folks order a Guinness and think, "Damn' this is good! I wonder what other beers have flavor? " This thought warms my cold, bitter, little Eastern European heart.

Kraut Sunday

Some may think this is Palm Sunday but I beg to differ. It's actually "Kraut Sunday". You may say, how can sauerkraut top Jesus Christ? Well, let's take a look at how lowly old kraut has nourished us over the centuries. In China, it kept the laborers who built the Great Wall from starving. Who could have guessed that one of the only man-made monuments you can see from space was fueled by fermented cabbage? In the Hundred Years War in Europe the only thing that assured victory was whether or not either side had an ample supply of sauerkraut. In the U.S. civil war, barrels of kraut were commonly seized to nourish troops. Sauerkraut was also on a list of patriotic foods to make at home during World War II.

Most importantly, sauerkraut is highly prized in eastern European cultures for it's digestive properties. Made in the late fall and early winter, fermented cabbage's beneficial enzymes supposedly help the digestion of heavy winter diets laden with sausage and smoked meats. Apparently, they really take this point to heart. We recently overheard our Slovak waitress loudly chastising her co-worker for eating sausages at lunch without kraut.

Not surprisingly, the sauerkraut you get in stores lacks digestive enzymes. The high heat canning process kills all the good cooties. This is probably what inspired my sausage-loving German husband to spend his day off making homemade sauerkraut. Like many oldie timey foods, I assumed that there was some sort of magic that goes into making it. Amazingly, it's pretty easy. Basically, all you do is slice up some cabbage, salt it, and smash the crap out of it with a potato masher (or whatever you have available). Then let it ferment, covered, for about 3 weeks at 60-70 degrees and hope like hell that your entire house doesn't smell like rotten cabbage! I'll report later on how it turns out! Here's a simple recipe if you're interested: http://www.kitchengardeners.org/sauerkraut.html

BAR is Back!

It was with high hopes on thursday night that we slid into a stall at the Bru Room @ Bar in New Haven. For those unfamiliar with the establishment, Bar features a modest selection of micro brews (toasted blonde, amBar ale, damn' good stout, and pale ale) and dynamite wood oven fired pizzas. We were breaking a self-imposed boycott after we ordered beers here a while back that were served out of really nasty septic lines. There aren't that many micro-brew establishments in CT, so it hurt us to take this place off our list of regular haunts. But the other day, we were tipped off that the management recently spent some serious $$ to replace their lines and tap equipment. So, we ordered their new and improved toasted blonde and took a big whiff. Clean and fresh! Hussah! Then the 1st sip: crisp, mild, with a very toasty caramel finish. Light on carbonation, alcohol, and on calories (107 calories to be exact!) Not the kind of beer that makes the earth move, but it was a lovely accompaniment our tasty 'roni and 'shroom pizza. Our confidence is reestablished! I can't wait to go back. It might be a while though, my husband is still recovering from the noxious pizza burps I had for the rest of the evening.

Spring = Meat

I hobbled outside on my crutches and found, surprisingly, a rare nice day in early New England spring. And guess what? Spring actually sprung and here are the crocuses to prove it! Friends, this can only mean one thing: almost time to grill some meat! Here's a cheater recipe for smokey grilled ribs:

1 or 2 frozen racks of pork ribs (whatever you prefer- st. lois style, baby back, or spare ribs) We prefer spare ribs because they're relatively cheap, meaty, and caveman-like.

If you want to smoke your ribs: pre-soak some wood chips (hickory, fruit wood etc.) in water overnight. On grilling day wrap the chips in tin, poke holes on the top of the packet and place over the flame side of your grill. You can totally skip this if you feel like it's too much trouble the ribs will come out fine regardless. I know this is totally un-gourmet, but sometimes Neil and I forget about soaking chips and just find a damp chunk of hickory lying around in our wood pile and toss it on the grill for good measure. If you opt for this method, just check in with a spray bottle full of water from time to time and make sure the log isn't burning. Smoldering = good, inferno = fire department!

1st, heat up the grill. We have a gas grill with 3 burners so we turn only one burner on medium heat to maintain a temp of about 300-325 degrees. You could do the same with a charcoal grill- heat up the coals and then when they are ready, move the fire to one side, keeping in mind that half way through your cooking, you will have to heat up some more coals to supplement your first batch.

Mix together in a small bowl: 1/2 Cup brown Sugar, 2 tsp. summer savory or thyme, 2 cloves fresh crushed garlic, 1 Tb. good quality sweet paprika ( or smoked paprika if you can find it), 1/8 tsp. cloves, 1 cup Dijon mustard, 1 tsp. cayenne pepper, or more to taste, 1 Tb. good quality chili powder, 1 tsp. dry mustard. This should make a thick paste.

Slather paste mixture on frozen ribs. Wrap thoroughly in tin to avoid leakage and place meat side up, on the non-flame (or coal) side of the grill. Put top down on grill and walk away! Come back in a 2-3 hours to turn ribs and check temp. Walk away again. In about another two hours your ribs should be pretty tender and falling off the bone. At this point, unwrap them and throw them back on the grill. Turn up the heat to brown lightly on both sides. If you like your ribs saucy, top with your favorite barbecue sauce and then brown and serve. Kick back and enjoy with the quintessential beer of summer: Schneider's Wiesen Edel-Weisse

Keg Kicked! Mom to Blame!

Well, we thought a 20 liter keg would last a month on average. And then, Mom came to visit. You wouldn't know she was so thirsty from her innocent exterior. She's always smiling innocently and saying things like "I just love these fancy beers!" but in reality she's guzzling the stuff when your back is turned. To add insult to injury, she totally whipped my butt in cribbage! Parents! All joking aside, we can't entirely blame it on Mom that our keg of La Chouffe has come to it's sad, yeasty end. It was a very enjoyable beer on tap- quite dry and easy to pair with food. It had subtle flavors of coriander and citrus peel and a pleasing hint of hoppy bitterness in the finish. I think it's perhaps slightly hoppier in the keg than in the bottle. Now, we just have to decide how to fill the void in the cooler until the maibock gets here. Also, if you are wondering just how fast you would go through 20 liters of beer, here's our stats: at a rate of one or two beers a piece, per night, (factoring in for dinner guests, or a thirsty Mom), 20 liters lasts about 3 weeks!

Pork online?

You just gotta love a guy that shows up a your door with pork products! My father-in-law showed up at the house last week with the most delicious bacon. He and my Amish-o-file brother-in-law just came back from Pennsylvania with 12 packs of the stuff! He said it was "Amish-made" bacon and that there was a website where you could order it online! We scratched our heads over this for along time. How could the Amish have a website? It just didn't make any sense. But wouldn't it be so cool if they did? I imagined ordering huge sides of smoked pork from a man in a funny straw hat with a funny accent named "Brother Obediah" or something. Then I found the website and to my disappointment the Stoltzfus family are not Amish. But they used to sell their products at an Amish farm stand. You can see the confusion. The good news is that they still make some pretty awesome bacon. It has finer texture, a more rich and less salty, really subtle, smokey sweet flavor. It's got it all over that garden variety supermarket stuff. And, *news flash* if you want to order a Stoltzfus Ham for Easter, tomorrow is the deadline! My brother-in-law is ordering one, so I'll be sure to sample it and report back. He also added that their ham loaf is "to die for". So order up some pork product. And while you're at it, get some of that delicious bacon for your special someone. Nothing says love quite like bacon.


http://www.stoltzfusmeats.com/index.php

When Your Goose Is Cooked

Our nieces and nephews call us "Weird Uncle Neil and Aunt Sue". It seems to stem from our reputation for eating just about anything. I suppose that's why our friend offered us her geese. She had too many and couldn't afford to feed them through the winter. As it was mid-December, we couldn't get the thought of Christmas goose out of our heads. The problem was: Geese not Goose. Oh yeah, and the fact that we had never cooked one, eaten one, or butchered one before. While we weren't quite up to eating all eight, we figured we could help our friend by pawning a couple off on friends and family. Giddy with holiday spirit, we generously volunteered to deliver cleaned birds to all who wanted them. This, we found out, was an exceptionally bad idea.

The deal was, we were chiefs-in-charge of catching, killing, and plucking and dressing these beauties ourselves. No time like the present for a crash course on butchering fowl! So we caught a quick primer from our indispensable copy of "The Encyclopedia of Country Living"by Carla Emery. The day arrived and we butchered the geese and hung them. This part went pretty smooth. After the geese were thoroughly bled, we brought them up to the barn where we had prepared a hot water bath to scald the birds before plucking. Here's where things got tougher. Turns out geese are impossible to pluck! Given their naturally water repellent nature, it seems the hot water doesn't easily permeate the feathers down to the skin. This was a messy, hard, process that took many hours. Our friend, who thankfully helped us, had heard skinning was easier, and since she was keeping some of the older geese for her dogs Xmas dinner, we decided to try this. After we were through, we really couldn't tell if it had even been any sort of bird let alone the kind you might want to eat. So save yourself the trouble and don't skin a goose! Since we were unsure of the ages of all these geese we decided to hang them for a week to see if that tenderized them a bit. Actually, you really shouldn't eat a goose that's more than 9 months old, but we were willing to gamble. It was pretty strange to see eight goose carcasses strung up in the garage! We silently hoped none of our neighbors were comming by unannounced to borrow yard tools! I wish I had a photo, but this was B. B. (before blog).

In the end, our Christmas goose very tasty, but a little on the tough side. I think we lost the younggoose/old goose lottery. Our friends and family seemed to have better luck. The true reward though, wasn't the warm fuzzy feeling of doling out fresh Xmas geese to our friends- it was actually the eight ultra fresh and juicy goose livers!!! Now, I have tried foie gras, but I don't think that it's much better than plain old goose liver. I know there are French folk and foodies scowling as I write this, but the process by which foie gras is produced is really at the border of what seems fair to do to an animal. At our holiday get-togethers we featured fresh goose liver pate which turned out to be absolutely divine. It was rich and creamy with a surprisingly mild liver taste. I'm not one to gnash on a big ol' hunk of liver, but this pate is really good! Even Madame Yum Yum (who claims that pate gives her the shivers) had a bite!

Anyhow, if you are ever faced an over-abundance of goose liver, here's what you should do with it: http://www.roastgoose.com/recipes/goose_liver_pate.htm

The only part of this recipe we skipped was the port syrup. We felt the pate didn't need any accompaniment- save crusty pieces of bread. Port syrup does sound really good though. This recipe is from Shiltz Goose Farm. They have a great site for goose and goose products including livers, and cruelty-free fattened goose liver if you just can't hang up that craving for foie gras.

Sew your wild hops

I have the good fortune to have a sister that lives in the heart one of the finest beer countries in Europe. She resides in "Pilsner Central" a.k.a. the Czech Republic. My Czech brother-in-law would say it is the only place you can drink true pilsner. For family reasons, I am not, in any way, prepared to contradict this. I think he is still mad at us for bringing Belgian beer to his house for Christmas. Anyway, my sister reminded me today that Europe is full of wild hops. She said that she had some growing on her fence and would like to send some to me. Of course, I could never condone that sort of behavior because I know it is highly illegal to send unauthorized produce through the mail! Apparently though, there are wild hops growing all over the world- even in China and Japan! This got me thinking about the current hops shortage. I think there's gotta be someone out there willing to brew with wild hops. Just think of all the mysterious new brews! Beer brewed with "local, wild hops"- sounds like something that would send Barbara Kingsolver and her locavores into raptures.

In Pursuit of Fiber

Sometimes I want a little something to eat besides meat. No matter what those anti-carb freaks say, bread is always a good choice. Until just recently, I've been a miserable failure at bread baking. Without describing all the lumpy, pathetic attempts, I will tell you this: what usually comes out after kneading, proofing, shaping, rising again, and baking never seems particularly worth the effort, time and clean up. Then Lynne Rosetto-Kasper of The Splendid Table saved my life. As some of you know, I have had one leg in a cast for the last five weeks. No doubt about it, this truly sucks. I don't watch any TV, so I pass a lot of my time listening to stuff online and checking out other people's blogs. A couple weeks ago Lynne's show featured the authors of "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day", J. Hertzberg and Z. Francois. Lynne was good enough to post the basic recipe on her website http://www.splendidtable.org/ . I couldn't hobble out to the kitchen fast enough to try it! This is a truly easy way to make bread especially if you're like me and refuse to buy a bread machine. No kneading, No proofing, No raising dough! The dough is kept in the refrigerator until you decide to bake as little or as much as you want, whenever you want, for up to two weeks! I urge you to try this recipe. It is a life changing experience. The photo above is an example of the tasty rye bread recipe, which Neil now claims is the only bread he will ever need. I haven't bought supermarket bread now in over a month. But that may be have more to do with the fact that my butt is permanently grafted to the couch......

The Great Monkey Kegerator!

So a while back I mentioned I got a kegerator for my birthday. I thought those of you who don't already have one would like to know how easy they are to make. As I was never into Greek society in college, I didn't have any first hand knowledge. Actually, I agonized over the possibilities for about 6 months. Do I get one of those fancy pre-fab keg coolers? One tap or two? Would it be easy to make my own? What is the price difference? Will it really save money? After much research and soul-searching, I decided to call Terry Boyd of Mountview Plaza Wines and Liquors in Naugatuck CT. If you are ever in the area check this place out!Terry has an excellent assortment of imported and domestic bottled beer. But most importantly, he also has access to an impressive variety of kegs at a very fair price. Not only this, but as I found out, he knows a thing or two about kegerators. His store even sells some spare parts for them! It's a good thing I called Terry because he had some wise words:
1: Go with a two tap system (if you have room). It's not that much more expensive and in the long run, and two taps offer a lot more versatility. For instance, Chimay for you and Bud Light for your guests who don't know any better.
2: If you are planning to drink wheat beers or stouts its way better to go for the G-mix system. G-mix is the term to describe a gas tank that combines CO2 with nitrogen, making it less reactive with certain types of beer. Although you can pour all other beers on a G-mix system, the same arrangement does not apply for a CO2 system. Your results could be very foamy, problematic, and ultimately cause serious depression.
3. Get two air tanks because you will never run out of Co2 unless you're having a party and it is a holiday weekend.
4. Place your order for a keg conversion kit with Micromatic.com because they have pretty amazing service. This turned out to be true. When we finally ordered our kit, it came the next day (no special shipping charges) and only cost $210! This is great news if you are in a hurry to drink delicious beer on tap!

The truth is, when we accepted our free refrigerator, we had no idea how perfect it would be for a tap system. It's a compact (freezer on top) model. It turns out we can fit three logs (2 tapped and 1 chilling) or a half barrel plus the 20lb. g-mix tank fits in the door! Other than taking out the shelves, all we really had to do was drill two holes through the front door and the rest was totally easy. Just screw in the taps, hook up the hoses, and order yourself a keg! Oh yeah, and put up a drip tray. Micromatic sells drip trays with their conversion kits but Neil decided to get crafty add these hip monkeys instead. It was a fun way to add a custom touch. Besides, we're not holding frat parties or serving Bud, so why should our kegerator look like it? All in all we only spent about $260: Kit- $210, full g-mix tank -$50, monkeys and tray- priceless! Not bad considering the $700 I almost dropped on a new pre-fab cooler, which, mind you, does not come with monkeys!

If you'd like to look at pre-fabs coolers http://www.beveragefactory.com/ is a good place to start. They also have great directions for installing conversion kits at http://www.beveragefactory.com/draftbeer/conversion-kits/tower-kits/How+to+Build+Kegerator.shtml

The Language of Beer

Neil and I visited Belgium about a year ago. It is a beer lover's paradise. First rate beer and chocolate- not to mention a culture of serious foodies. What more could anyone ask for? You just have to love a culture whose idea of a quick snack is mussels and cream sauce. I realize all other European countries have their own private jokes about Belgium, but the truth is- they are just jealous. Belgium really has it all and that is why I want to be Belgian. Almost everybody in Belgium speaks at least 3 languages, Flemish (Dutch), French, German, English and usually a couple of others. This made me feel really silly and language-challenged. While taking in some exceptional beer in Bruges, we struck up a conversation with this really nice local lady. We asked her what the etiquette was for language and who spoke what language, where, etc. She replied that although most people spoke french and Flemish, you had to speak Flemish to become a citizen. This was all I needed to hear, hence, Flemish lessons. I couldn't find any podcasts in Flemish so Dutch is the next closest thing. Here's the website: http://www.lauraspeaksdutch.info/?paged=3
Check out Episode #26 and #27. I wish I had found this before I went to Belgium! While delivering some completely impossible-to-pronounce Dutch phrases, he gives a very brief but informative history of Belgium, and then goes into a little description of the language issues there. In episode #27 he explains how to say some really helpful things in Dutch like, "Thank you" "What kind of food should I order?" and "What Beer should I order with this meal?" not to mention explaining how to say "waterzooi". Perhaps, some day I will actually learn to speak Flemish and become an honorary Belgian. I dare to dream.

Tongue For Breakfast

Our farmer friend who supplies us with beef isn't really an adventurous eater. She often pulls some mysterious package of beef out of the freezer and asks us what the heck to do with it. Her favorite type of beef seems to be hamburgers. Understandably so, since her grass-fed ground beef is some of the tastiest we have ever had. However, I think she has nominated us "most likely to clean out her freezer" because our orders of beef usually come with one or two curiosities, which we always readily accept. I think there's a novelty factor to getting an unusual food item and deciding how to make it delicious.
Well this was just the challenge we were confronted with when we were asked us if we'd like a beef tongue. Yes! Beef tongue! How novel! We were genuinely excited until we realized that we were now committed to eating it, as a meal, for dinner, that night. Since Neil had brought it home, he took it upon himself to be the chef. The recipe he settled on seemed basically like corned beef, boiling meat in seasoned water. The part that seemed unusual were the instructions for peeling the tongue- until we opened the package and saw what it looked like- a big gnarly muscle encased in a spiny, white, fibrous skin. Perhaps we had made a mistake. Perhaps tongue wasn't readily available in the supermarkets for a reason. Perhaps we would be ordering pizza later instead. But, there was no turning back so into the boiling pot of water it went. 2 1/2 hours later, Neil peeled it, sliced it and made a mustard and horseradish cream sauce.
We were both uncharacteristically hesitant. Even sliced and covered with sauce it was still very, ahem, tonguey. But with no alternatives, or dog to pawn it off on, we dug in. Surprisingly, it did taste like a very tender corned beef. Neil was able to eat his but confessed to being haunted by having to peel the taste buds off his meat before eating it. Not being privy to the tongue peeling, I had a more positive experience and thought the somewhat velvety texture and subtle flavor was really enjoyable. Regardless, neither of us were brave enough for seconds. However, we still couldn't bear to waste it. Another recipe we saw had suggested tongue hash. Hopeful, I took the rest of the tongue and shredded it into benign looking little pieces for breakfast the next morning. And, let me tell you, that if you ever find yourself with an opportunity to cook beef tongue- make hash! You will not be sorry! This was the most delicious hash I have ever ingested! Tender, tasty, and less salty than the usual corned beef. Who knew beef tongue could be so yummy? I guess now we have to decide what to do with this beef heart...any suggestions?

Recipe from epicurious: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/103380
The only change to this recipe was we didn't add the anise to the water. We thought the flavor would be too strong.

Tongue Hash:

1/2 a boiled tongue per recipe above then chopped
two small potatoes boiled and chopped
2 small boiled carrots also chopped
1 medium onion chopped and lightly browned with butter in a non-stick pan
Paprika
hot sauce
salt/ pepper to taste
Dash of onion and/or garlic powder

Add boiled potato and carrot, and tongue to pan with browned onions, season everything in pan to taste. Mush the mixture down flat in pan and let brown adding butter or oil if necessary. Let brown until crusty on both sides, break up and re-brown, serve with eggs (over-easy) on top and rye toast.

A Beer Secret

Maredsous 8. In our opinion, not a bad beer, but not a great beer either. In all fairness, Neil and I don't drink too many dubbels, they can be really delicious, but tend to be too sweet and heavy for our taste. However, I read in Tim Webb's book "Good Beer Guide To Belgium" that he suggests cellaring this particular beer for year for a better effect. Now, I don't know about you, but I have trouble cellaring anything. Like any silly American, I just get too thirsty for deferred gratification. However, the planets really aligned in this case. We found Maredsous 8 on sale and bought a few bottles. We didn't really like it much, and so it sat in the cellar, miraculously untouched, for an entire year! In a moment of desperation the other night, probably a Sunday (because of the archaic blue laws in CT you can't buy liquor on Sunday). We popped open a bottle of Maredsous 8. It was distinctly different! Much drier and more well balanced than we had remembered. A truly delightful, easy drinking beer- if you're the patient, hoarding, type.