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....

Whew! Ms. Chops, chops.

Ummm...where am I? No, I didn't swallow crushed glass in a bottle of Sam Ad's. I was apparently abducted by task-master aliens who have made me cut down trees, chop, split and stack wood for the last week. Apparently, my performance has pleased the aliens because they set me free for a couple hours to catch up on blogging. The good news is, that we have enough fire wood for next year. The bad news is no one is reading my blog anymore. But wait!!!! Have you heard about Bacon Salt????? I have the review coming up.

Sam Ad's Recall

This just in: Sam Adams has reported that some of their beer bottles are defective and contain glass particles. The recall is for 12 oz. brown bottled stamped with N35 followed by 0I. If you have any Sam's at home, read on here for info about returning product, etc: http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2008/04/glass_particles.html?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed3

If you don't have any Sam Ad's at home, give yourself a nice smug little pat on the back for making your way past gateway beers.

Bernanke Must Drink Cheap Beer

OK, so I have been voicing a lot of complaints recently. What can I say, I got stuck on the soap box and found out the extra height is slimming. So here's my next rant: the falling value of the dollar is making imported beer way too expensive! I am all for paying more for a quality product but, that is not the issue here. Yes, the FED has told you that the AVERAGE American will not really notice the devaluation of the dollar and only people who travel a lot will. But what about us, supposedly "unaverage" people who like good beer? Well, " Helicopter Ben", I'm pretty sure anyone who likes imported beer has noticed. I really noticed when I called my supplier and he informed me that the price of my next keg went up 55 dollars because the dollar is so weak. I guess I should just console myself with the fact that a keg of, gag, Corona might not be going up anytime soon. Maybe that's what Ben drinks with his dinner every night. Somehow, I doubt it. On the other hand, if the Canadian dollar rises anymore, we probably won't be able to afford Labatt's. I realize, the price of everything is going up, blah..blah...blah. I, personally, am willing to drag myself to work on bare bloody stumps to save on gas, but forgo imported beer? This is an outrage!!! I don't want to pay for other people's bad mortgages, or banks that made bad investments, and I refuse to drink Budweiser! I just want good, affordable beer. Is that really too much for this average American to ask Ben?

For Hire: Beer Sommelier

Excuse me! I have detected a serious problem in the world of beer! There are virtually no "beer sommeliers". In fact, there are still people out there debating why you can't call someone who can pair beer and food a sommelier at all. HMMMMMPF! We can't just let those lousy wine snobs have all fun!! Perhaps this may be the root of the whole problem with beers diminished status- there are no fancy beer ambassadors out there to teach the willing how to enjoy good food with the appropriate beer. Although it has been reported that there may be a few people officially calling themselves beer sommeliers, (one of note in Los Angeles and the other in New York City) there seems to be a grave deficiency here.

I would argue though, that there are many dedicated beer lovers out there that already qualify for this position. For instance, the staff of the Dirty Truth, would be a good example. The owner of the Dirty Truth generously arranges for his staff to take an intensive beer tour every year. They visit breweries and beer establishments all over Europe and come back brimming with beer excitement, first hand beer knowledge and -I can only imagine- toxified livers. Every time I have visited the Dirty Truth, I have had a delightful conversation with a knowledgeable and young person. Their ages are of note here because the East Coast beer scene is conspicuously dominated by men over forty. At beer tastings, I am usually the youngest person in the room, and most often, the only female. It is refreshing to see a next generation of beer enthusiasts stepping up to set an example. One of these lovely staff members even did me the service of recommending what will now be our next beer on tap: Monschof Schwarzbier! A beer I may never have gotten to know if not for his suggestion. The other example of real world beer sommeliers that come to mind are the staff of just about any quality beer establishment in Belgium. I suppose this is just natural when quality beer is a source of a country's national pride. I still think the term "sommelier" might be a little stuffy for the beer world. But, if people need a stuffy term to get excited about beer, well, I'm on board. I'm also for hire as one, if anyone is interested!

IPA- Spawn of Pale Ale

Recently, a friend wrote concerning the difference between pale ales and India pale ales. Upon first thought, I supposed that the true difference between the two was that an IPA is usually hoppier, and has a higher alcohol content. Although this is true, there is a way more intriguing story behind it all. In the beginning, there was English pale ale. Pale, being mostly a color distinction between a light beer and darker stouts. Then came the colonization of India. And, as everybody knows, you can't properly colonize a country without beer. So, the English were understandably peeved when they found out that their beloved ales were arriving in India sour and undrinkable. Due to the fact that India was seen as a huge new open market for beer, English brewers scrambled to solve the problem. After many failures, a fellow by the name of George Hodgson surmounted this challenge with beer's two best preservative friends: Mr. Hops and Mr. Alcohol. And voila, IPA was born! Due to the huge temperature fluctuations in carrying ale aboard ships, the beer was probably still arriving skunked. However, due to the magic of heavy hopping and heavy alcohol (up to 10%) no one really cared or could taste the sourness. Thus, the Limeys were free again to subjugate the masses, unimpeded by lack of beer. If you would like to read the whole interesting story of how the British learned how to ship good beer to India, etc. visit this site, http://brewingtechniques.com/library/styles/2_2style.html where you will get a far more detailed, and politically neutral version of what went on. It really is very interesting. Almost as interesting as actually drinking an IPA- well not really. If you are ambivalent about which IPA to sample while reading the story- and it will make you want a beer- try Stone Coast's extra hoppy 420 IPA or, the safer, more popular, and easy to find Dogfish 60 minute. Dogfish also makes a 90 minute IPA (9%) which is pretty close to the alcohol strength of the original IPAs shipped to India and 120 minute IPA that is very very strong (20%) and a could make you act like an English soccer hooligan if you had too many. I think it would be great experiment to try carrying around a Dogfish 90 minute in the trunk of a car for a summer and seeing if it holds up to it's well-preserved heritage. Now that would be impressive.