by | August 19, 2011 · 11:35 pm

Mockery and Repetition

Remember how I mentioned that I’ve been dreaming about that Toppers pizza? I know I had it only two nights ago, but I wanted NEEDED it again!
Homestyle! Thank you, Trader Joe’s, for your whole wheat pizza crust and pizza sauce. You make my life easy. I love you.
Pepperoni, jalapenos (a few (or a ton of) seeds included), pineapple, cheese, more cheese, just a touch more cheese…
It took about twenty minutes to cook. I could’ve sat around twiddling my thumbs, but I decided this would be a better way to spend my time. LOVE this beer! I’m going to pick up another one and try aging it!
Oh. Yes.
Pizza just isn’t good if it doesn’t make your eyes water and your nose run. So deliciously spicy!

On another note – tomorrow is brew day at Enegren Brewing! My attempt at weaseling into the brewery worked! I’ll be helping pour in the tap room and documenting the brew process for a wonderfully mashy, boozy post. I thought that making my Oatmeal Stout Brownies with Caramelized Bacon would be a good tradition to start for brew days. This time though, I cheated…
Please forgive me!

I used the mix, one egg, 1/4 cup of vegetable oil and 1/3 cup of Stockyard Oatmeal Stout. I decided to throw some of the caramelized bacon INTO the brownies, as well as on top, and weaved a little fudge ripple throughout.
I’m pretty sure I’ll be forgiven for taking the easy way out… We’ll find out tomorrey!

Brew day starts at 5am. I now have 4 hours and 56 minutes to sleep. But really, who’s counting?

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by | August 18, 2011 · 11:31 pm

FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!

In order to weasel my way into the hearts, and into the brewery of Enegren Brewing (speaking of which – check out the latest, most amazing blog full of epicness written by Joe, Enegren’s brew chief), I willingly accepted their challenge to give Surf Brewery another try.
The verdict? It was okay… The carbonation has definitely mellowed out since the last time I was there. I didn’t drink the first two – both a little too close to water for my liking, but the Surf Patrol Black IPA was not bad! Pretty low on the IBU, but passable. After finishing most of the sampler, we ordered a pint to split amongst the four of us. I jokingly asked the server for straws. She brought straws.
That server is my hero. Naturally, we didn’t want to let this precious moment go to waste.
How could I not?
Matt, Chris and Brie – willing to go the extra step for the sake of beer. Awesome.

While I’m still not officially a fan of the brewery, I am slightly more willing to go back and try some of their new brews. They have improved since their soft grand opening.

Since it was still semi-early, and since we’re real people who can’t solely subsist on beer, as much as we’d like to believe, we went over to what used to be a creepy old abandoned restaurant in the Channel Islands Harbor – now refurbished into a Toppers Pizza.
When Toppers first destroyed the beautiful destitute remains of the brick building – complete with shattered windows, dead leaves littering the faded carpet, and wooden booths with cushions ripping at the seams, I was bummed out. But then we ordered a “Fire in the Hole” pizza – pepperoni, jalapenos and pineapple.
Toppers, you are completely forgiven for destroying the history of the crumbling restaurant formerly known as “Harbor Lights”. You are TOTALLY forgiven. I may have dreamt about this pizza last night, and talked nonstop about it today. Maybe…

After that deliciously cheesy, sweet and painfully spicy pizza, we went over to the old mental institution to walk around. Seriously, how can you end a night WITHOUT trespassing into old abandoned courtyards littered with old cafeteria chairs and balconies that have ominous ropes dangling from them at midnight? Pictures to follow:
I couldn’t believe I got a picture of that! Seriously creepy, right?Yeah, I didn’t actually take any pictures there… I’ll put my ridiculously fancy camera at risk at midnight at an old mental institution sometime soon though, I promise. Matt, Chris and Brie – good luck getting rid of me. Anyone who’ll gorge on pizza, drink craft beers with straws and then traipse around creepy abandoned buildings in the dark is… well, just plain awesome.

Something beautiful came in the mail today…
My official Certified Beer Server pin! I’m officially official now!
That sums up my life about now. And what a wonderful life I lead!

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by | August 17, 2011 · 4:14 pm

Simplicity: Part I

Sometime all you need in life is to sit back, relax and enjoy the simple things in life.
A beautiful, warm summer morning.
A hot boiled egg.
A green monsta made with a handful of spinach, splash of almond milk, a peach, 3 sprigs of asparagus, a lemon, half a banana and a cup of frozen berries. (Everything tastes better when it’s sipped from a pint glass…)
Super simple, yet simply Magical Bread Pudding…


Life is good. Simply good.

Beer tasting tonight makes it even better!

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by | August 15, 2011 · 9:39 pm

Grilled Portabella Mushroom Sammich

I didn’t spend ten minutes trying to find out the true spelling of Portabella… Okay, maybe I did, but it’s all in the name of journalistic honesty! The Mushroom Council has officially designated the spelling for those gigantic, steak-like shrooms. Portobello/Portabella no more! Portabella is the way to go. I’m a research junkie.

ANYWAY. I’ve been wanting to recreate a portabella sammich ever since my first one EVER at Breckenridge Brewery. Yes, I did spell it portobello then, when I was uneducated. ANYWAY AGAIN. I made one tonight!
Ingredients assembled! You can get a print-out version of the recipe HERE.

Grilled Portabella and Roasted Red Pepper Sammich
1 portabella mushroom
1 red pepper
2 slices of bread (ciabatta or foccacia recommended)
3 tbsp goat cheese
3.4 basil leaves, chopped
2-3 sundried tomatoes, diced
A handful of spinach
Olive oil
Salt + pepper

1. Take the portabella mushroom and clean it with a damp towel/mushroom brush.
2. After washing, scrape out the gills of the mushroom with a spoon.
3. Try not to mutilate the mushroom like I did…
Oops…. I’m pretty sure that’s a portabella mushroom there… I think…
4. Brush what’s left of the portabella with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and set aside.
5. Take the red pepper and a pair of tongs and blister the pepper over medium-high heat on the stovetop. (A grill works as well if you don’t want your smoke alarms going off. Oops again…)
I’d also recommend hot pads for your hands. Metal tends to conduct heat. Oops times three…
Deliciously burned!
6. Place the blistered pepper in a Ziploc, seal and let it rest for 15-20 minutes, or until cool enough to handle.
7. Once the pepper is cool enough to handle, remove it from the Ziploc and peel of the skin. It’ll come off very easily thanks to the steaming effect of the Ziploc. This is not an ad for Ziploc. I swear.
8. In a mixing bowl, combine the goat cheese, basil and sundried tomatoes.
I prefer the sundried tomatoes that are soaked in olive oil. They have much more flavor than the boring, chewy dry ones.
9. Place the portabella mushroom on a preheated grill/grill pan and grill for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until grill marks appear.
GRILL MARKS! Ignore the fact that these are on chicken. My camera failed to successfully document the marks on the mushroom, thanks to a little irritating smoke that came out of the grill press almost immediately after I placed the mushrooms in it. TOO MANY OOPS! Learn from my mistakes! I’ve adjusted all the times/temperatures so that your recipe won’t burst into flames, no worries!
10.  Slice the grilled mushrooms and red bell pepper into bite sized pieces.
11. Slather the slices of bread with the goat cheese mixture and layer with the mushrooms, bell pepper and spinach.
12. Place the sandwich in the grill press and cook until warmed through – about five minutes.
13. This sammich is ridiculously hot, so enjoy it with a chilly brew that has enough flavor to bring out the tang of the goat cheese, the rich herbs of the sun dried tomatoes and basil, and the rich, savory umami of the mushrooms.
Old Chub Scotch Ale by Oskar Blues Brewery. Malty, boozy and smooth. A wonderful combo!

For no reason at all – some wonderful pictures that my lovely new camera has taken.
My most eager model.
OOPS! That’s not a picture from my camera, that’s my new business card!

I’m legit.

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by | August 14, 2011 · 4:56 pm

Wolf Creek Restaurant & Brewing Company

First things first: I AM NOW OFFICIALLY A CICERONE CERTIFIED BEER SERVER!
I took the test yesterday morning and passed with flying colors! WOOHOO!!!! In order to celebrate, I figured it was time to get something I’ve been drooling over for a long time.
I GOT A DigiSLR!!! A Nikon D3100 to be precise. After lots of research, I was deciding between the D3100 and the D5100. Since I won’t be focusing on video, I figured this one would be perfect. I’m in love!

After snapping dozens of photos around the house, I decided to take Nikita aka Nikki aka my new beloved camera, for a test drive.
Allie and I went to Wolf Creek Restaurant & Brewing Company in Calabasas.
The interior is bright, cheery and earthy. I love the rustic wood and gorgeous streaks of ruby paint racing across the walls.
I love the floor to ceiling windows! If you need natural light to test out your beautiful new camera, this is the perfect place for it!
They immediately brought out piping hot fresh bread with a funky purple dipping sauce. I forwent the sauce and just shoveled hunk after hunk of scorching sourdough into my mouth. Drool.
They brew their own beer on site. Awesome!
And the beer! From the top left: Golden Eagle – their blonde ale, Howlin’ Hef – self explanatory, Wolf Dog – A hoppy amber, Wild Angels – a sweet tripel, Midnite Howl – a mix of IPA and stout, and Oatmeal Stout – their guest brew on tap from Anderson Valley. Wolf Dog was my favorite – a nice, dry, beautifully hopped amber that finishes with a healthy bite of citrus hops.
SO good to have more options in local brews!
Allie and I split the Chicken and Brie sandwich – grilled chicken breast, gooey brie cheese, guacamole, sundried tomatoes and chipotle mayo on ciabatta bread. We subbed the sweet potato fries for the regular chipotle. DROOL AGAIN! Any place that has sweet potato fries is a win on my list.
Dessert was – COMPLIMENTARY! The waitress brought out this amazing sculpture of maple ice cream studded with vanilla beans, sandwiched between sweet waffles, drizzled with a maple cream and fresh berries. They served maple syrup on the side, but it was sweet enough without. This definitely cemented my adoration for Wolf Creek.

And to finish, I had to share (with Allie’s permission of course) – Allie (not a fan of bitter beers) tries her first sip of a black IPA.
I love my cousin. And my new camera that was able to capture, in succession, this amazing piece of history.

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by | August 12, 2011 · 7:49 pm

Honey Basil Chicken

I feel… I feel… I feel… HAPPY OF MYSELF!!!!

I was inspired to create a meal to pair with Bison Brewing’s Honey Basil Ale. A few months ago, I’d tried making a balsamic and sesame chicken and figured I could use some of the same techniques to create:

Honey Basil Chicken and Bell Peppers – You can find the printable recipe HERE.
Ingredients:
3-4 chicken breasts
3 bell peppers, sliced into strips
The juice and zest from 1 orange
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
A handful of fresh basil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
A splash of olive oil (1-3tbsp)
Pinch of salt and pepper
1-2 bottles Bison Brewing Honey Basil Ale

1. Open up a bottle of Honey Basil Ale and pour into a perfect pint glass to get you in the mood.
2. Wash the fresh basil, then roll it and Chiffonade.
Roll…
And snap! I mean, and slice thinly…
3. Prepare all the other ingredients, mise en place.
4. In a large baking pan, combine the orange juice, zest, honey, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, minced garlic, salt, pepper and basil, and stir well.
5. Add the bell peppers and chicken and toss to coat.
6. Cover and let sit for 2-4 hours in the fridge, tossing often so all ingredients marry.
7. After marinating, pull the chicken and bell peppers out, and pour the marinade into a small saucepan.
8. Bring the marinade to a boil to kill off all the evil salmonella/raw chicken poisons.
9. Put the bell peppers in a grill pan and place the chicken on a grill over medium heat.
10. After 5-12 minutes (depending on thickness) flip the chicken.
Beautiful grill marks!!!
11. Spoon the marinade over both the chicken and the bell peppers (stirring the bell peppers continuously).
12. After 5-12 minutes, flip the chicken once more and spoon more marinade over the first-cooked side.
13. Remove the chicken breasts from the grill and let rest for about five more minutes while the bell peppers finish cooking.
14. Serve and enjoy on a gorgeous summer evening in the backyard with another bottle of Bison Brewing Honey Basil Ale.
15. Like Bites ‘n Brews on Facebook and then follow me on Twitter. Then eat more.

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by | August 11, 2011 · 8:34 pm

So. Much. Beer.

I have my Cicerone test to become a Certified Beer Server on Saturday, so my day was spent like this:
Healthy monsta to start! We had a peach that was about to pass its prime, so I threw it in the Vitamix. Nothing like getting two cups of spinach in before 9am!
Then I got down to business.
My plan was to start studying at 10am, and not stop until all fifty-six of these styles’ ABVs, IBUs and SRMs were memorized!
But then I started posting pictures of what I was preparing to study for on my Bites ‘n Brews Facebook page and forgot to actually BEGIN the studying part… (I was even wearing my Odell IPA sweatshirt to mentally prepare!)

Eventually, I DID get down to business! I spent a good three hours learning about the off-flavors you can encounter in beer, how adding oats to the brew creates an oily or silky texture to the mouthfeel, that lowering the mash temp will create a thinner, crisp finish, that umami surfaces in beer with a taste of soy sauce, that having DMS (Dimethyl Sulfide) present in the beer creates a canned corn taste…
Yeah. And that’s just a small part of the perception of flavor section.

Luckily for my sanity, I had plans to meet up with Janelle and her hubby, Andrew at Wades Wines for a beer flight night!
There wasn’t a style setup this night, unlike the previous beer tastings we’ve been to, but an introduction to some new beers they have on tap. I’d already tried both of the Heretic brews at Ladyface with Janelle last month, but needed another look.
Any brewery that has their own coasters AND temporary tattoos has made it!
Of all the four beers, the last two stood out most to me. Heretic’s Evil Twin is HOPPY! The Bruery’s Humulus Lager is… different. Big hops on the nose and taste, but they fade immediately after the swallow. Here’s the confusing part: Evil Twin = 45IBU. Humulus = 70IBU. Whaaaa? There’s a HUGE difference in the bitterness of the Evil Twin vs. the Humulus. Evil Twin almost bowled me over, but Humulus seemed pretty tame. I had to come home and find out how IBUs are rated.

I came home, ready to research how IBUs are determined, but I opened my fridge to this:
That’s not including the Dogfish Head Sah’tea and Labyrinth Black Ale I picked up after the tasting tonight… Needless to say, I opened a Boont ESB and promptly forgot about IBUs. Until tomorrow…

Random catch-up time! I asked on Twitter yesterday if pairing a CoCoNut PorTeR from Maui Brewing Company with a super spicy butternut squash and leek soup was a bad decision. Two people responded to me, recommending that I stick with an ESB instead…
I received those recommendations halfway through the bowl of soup and glass of porter. Oops. I’m happy to report that the coconut porter does NOT overwhelm the soup! In fact, I couldn’t detect any of the “hand toasted coconut” in the porter. It smelled like a dense, rich coffee porter stuffed with chocolate malts. I enjoyed a can (or two) to soothe my blazing mouth while I watched Black Swan.
It was an intense night.

And now, I’m going to retire to the soft couch that beckons me from the living room, and rot my exhausted, beer fact-riddled brain and watch a stupid comedy. G’night!

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by | August 9, 2011 · 7:03 pm

Jack’s Brewing Company

For the show in Fremont, I hoped against all odds that there would be some type of place in the area that served craft beer. Using my handy BeerWhere application on my phone, I found a brewery! In Fremont! Yessssss!
Jack’s Brewing is a little sports pub in the middle of downtown Fremont. It’s not labeled well and if not for the “Jack’s Brewing Company” van parked out front, I may have never found it.
Their selection of beer was decent. They had the standards: wheat, APA, amber, IPA, porter, plus a seasonal pilsner and double IPA.
Lemon in the wheat. Grumble grumble grumble. Overall I enjoyed the double IPA and amber the best. The wheat was watery, unflavorful and meh, but everything else surprised me with quality! All the beers were sweeter and malty with unfermented sugars, but it wasn’t off-putting. Decent sessionable beers with low ABVs.
I would like to add that this was the best pilsner I’ve had to date! I’m not a fan of the style, but I think the malty body really made me enjoy this pilsner. I’m fairly certain that the SRM is way too high to qualify as a true pils, but I sure enjoyed it!
We split an order of the artichoke dip – holy freaking delicious. I stole all of the cheese and inhaled giant dollops of this on the chips they provided. I was full before we even looked at the entrees.
And yet, somehow, I was able to fit more food in. The grilled salmon salad. I didn’t eat the salad – that’s just filler. The salmon was wonderful! Tender, juicy, caramelized on top from the grill. I love me some salmon!
Dessert? I couldn’t. Pecan-apple bread pudding? Okay, fine! Stop badgering me! We got this plate to split amongst four of us. I ate the entire thing. You snooze, you lose when it comes to bread pudding and me. This spiced bread was studded with candied pecans and sweet, juicy bites of apple, and drizzled with raspberry and caramel sauce. I would have licked the plate, but that would make me appear less of a lady.

After two weeks on the road, it’s so wonderful to be home! I brought back many good memories, and I’m ready to make some new ones.
Stone Brewing Japanese Green Tea IPA – had it last night. Adding green tea to the second dry hop and calling it a green tea IPA? It doesn’t work that way! There wasn’t a hint of green tea in the aroma or flavor. A delicious, wonderfully hoppy IPA nonetheless. I’ll be working through the rest of these soon!

I’m also on the hunt for a good DigiSLR under $1200. Any recommendations? I’m gonna get all professional and stuffs. And then I’ll drink more beer!

Stay tuned for a mass amount of recipes this week! I’m home again and my kitchen needs cooking/baking/sauteing/FOODING!

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by | August 7, 2011 · 10:08 pm

Skyping with Sonoma

My dog can’t see herself in the mirror. She ignores the television, and her own reflection. If something’s outside of a glass window, she doesn’t acknowledge it. That’s what makes this so amazing. Prepare for cuteness overload!

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by | August 6, 2011 · 10:25 pm

Deschutes Brewery

We stayed overnight in Vancouver, Washington the other day (because I’m the one who made the itinerary), so I found it necessary to visit a brewery or two in Portland, which happened to be incredibly close (because I’m the one who made the itinerary)! After asking for all of your recommendations, I ran like crazy to the bus station, hopped the 105 Express to Portland and went to the brewery that was within walking distance of that bus stop. Enter: Deschutes Brewery!
You know you’ve made it as a brewery when you get your own coasters!
It was around 5pm on a Thursday, so the bar was pretty packed for happy hour. My one complaint: the windows are not big enough to fully enjoy the brewery behind them. Let’s just make the entire back of the bar with glass, yes?
The restaurant is big, open and airy, and full of wonderful rustic wooden beams that give it an earthy ambiance.
The beer list was extensive. I was able to rule out two beers – the Black Butte Porter and the Mirror Pond, since I’ve had them both multiple times before.
That didn’t really make my decision any easier…
I opted for these six and comforted myself with the thought that I could always try something else afterwards.
It’s so beautiful! Let’s see it from another angle…
How about some “Blue Steel”?
Perfect! You were made for the camera, babe!

I’m a nerd.
I ordered a side of sweet potato fries to help keep the tipsyness down, since I had to find my way back to the bus later.

1. Bachelor Bitter – 5% ABV, 43 IBU. This is a traditional bitter. I enjoyed the first sip, but much preferred to let it warm up a little, which reduced the carbonation and brought out more caramel on the nose. A very caramel malt body. Delicious and flavorful!

2. Lebuj Tonip – 6.7% ABV, 60 IBU. This beer had intense raisin on the nose. A very sweet, rich body with a noticeable boozy flavor that ended with a blanket of warmth that slowly melted down my spine.

3. Armory XPA – 6% ABV, 58 IBU. Nice amount of Cascade on the nose. Medium, malty smooth mouthfeel. The hops ended it, but not in an overpowering/biting fashion.

4. Inversion IPA – 6.8% ABV, 80 IBU. This one smelled kind of funky. Not sure if it was the glass or the beer, because the taste was good. Honestly though, the smell distracted me from taking any good notes. Whoops.

5. Hop-in-the-Dark – 6.9% ABV, 90 IBU. This one had a good amount of hops on the nose. The flavor is rounded with slight chocolate and raisin. At this point, my notes were becoming less and less legible…

6. Imperial Hop-in-the-Dark – 9.5% ABV, 85 IBU. I’m going to type, verbatim, what I wrote on my notes for this: Not hoppy on nose. Warmer fnish, not as smooooth as 5. WARM! 😀 (And yes, I did in fact draw a smiley face)

As you can probably tell, I didn’t need to try anything more. I sheepishly thanked the waiter for letting me use his pen to take my elegant and refined notes, and made my way back to the brewery.
I gazed adoringly through the glass doors, drooled a little in jealously, and wandered out into the heart of Portland.
I proceeded to fall in love with the gigantic bookstore, Powell’s Books, but was overwhelmed by the massive amounts of bookage and had to leave to catch my breath and the bus.
Oh, Portland, you’ve also won a piece of my heart!

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